In addition to Bravo Two Zero he has written two other autobiographies and a number of fiction books.
Andy McNab, Chris Ryan and Bravo Two Zero feature here at The Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail within our SAS Who Dares Wins Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) exhibition, so if you are in the area please do drop by and pay a visit .
AN INTERVIEW WITH SAS HERO ANDY McNAB ABOUT BRAVO TWO ZERO.
BELOW IS A PICTURE OF THE ORIGINAL BRAVO TWO ZERO PATROL MEMBERS
(Bravo Two Zero patrol members. From left to right: Ryan, Consiglio, MacGown (obscured), Lane, Coburn (obscured), McNab (obscured), Phillips, Pring (obscured).
Trooper ‘Mike “Kiwi”Coburn’ (pseudonym) former NZSAS Captured by the enemy, later released. Author of Soldier Five (2004). Referred to as ‘Mark the Kiwi’ in the books.
BELOW IS A BRILLIANT BATTLE SCENE CLIP FROM THE BRAVO TWO ZERO FILM STARRING SEAN BEAN AS ANDY McNAB
BELOW IS A BRIEF GALLERY OF SOME OF THE PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION ITEMS FROM ANDY McNAB , CHRIS RYAN AND OTHER SAS MEMBERS NOW ON DISPLAY HERE AT THE SAS EXHIBITION WHICH ARE FEATURED IN AND AMONGST VARIOUS OTHER BRAVO TWO ZERO RELATED EXHIBIT ITEMS .
FORMER SAS BRAVO TWO ZERO HERO CHRIS RYAN SEEN PICTURED HERE WITH ANDY JONES FROM THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
BELOW IS A HAND SIGNED PICTURE OF SAS HERO CHRIS RYAN
HAND SIGNED BY CHRIS RYAN ,
BELOW IS A LINK TO THE WIKIPEDIA PAGE ON THE COVERING OF SAS MISSION IN IRAQ DURING THE FIRST GULF WAR- BRAVO TWO ZERO
” TERRORISM AND COUNTER TERRORISM ” HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
Here is some more interactive and historic documentary footage as well as some brief informative insight into one of the UK’s most feared terrorism movements . Featured here too at the Crime Through Time Collection , Littledean Jail .
Certainly controversial and taboo subject matters that insight a thought provoking debate
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is the largest]loyalistparamilitary and vigilante] group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during “The Troubles“. It used the name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) when it wished to claim responsibility for attacks—because the two claimed to be separate organisations, the UDA was able to remain legal for over twenty years. The United Kingdom outlawed the “UFF” in November 1973 and the UDA itself was classified as a terrorist group on 10 August 1992.
The UDA’s/UFF’s declared goal was to defend loyalist areas from attack and to combat Irish republicanism. However, most of its victims were unarmed civilians according to the Sutton Index of Deaths. The majority of them were Irish Catholics, killed in what the group called retaliation for attacks on Protestants. High-profile attacks carried out by the group include the Milltown massacre, theSean Graham bookmakers’ shooting, the Castlerock killings and the Greysteel massacre. The UDA/UFF declared a ceasefire in 1994, although sporadic attacks continued until it officially ended its armed campaign in November 2007.
The UDA were often referred to by their Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) rivals as the “Wombles”, derived from the furry fictional creatures,The Wombles, or “Japs” owing to their mass rallies and marches in combat clothing.
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair (born 27 October 1963) is an Ulster loyalist and the former leader of the “C Company”, 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the “Ulster Freedom Fighters” (UFF). This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary organisation. Adair was expelled from the organisation in 2002 following a violent internal power struggle. Since 2003, he, his family and a number of supporters have been forced to leave Northern Ireland by the mainstream UDA.
” TERRORISM AND COUNTER TERRORISM ” HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
Here is some more interactive and historic documentary footage as well as some brief informative insight into one of the UK’s most feared terrorism movements . Featured here too at the Crime Through Time Collection , Littledean Jail A certainly controversial and taboo subject matter that insights a thought provoking debate
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann[) was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916. In 1919, the Irish Republic that had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising was formally established by an elected assembly (Dáil Éireann), and the Irish Volunteers were recognised by Dáil Éireann as its legitimate army. Thereafter, the IRA waged a guerrilla campaign against British rule in Ireland in the 1919–21 Irish War of Independence.
Following the signing in 1921 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which ended the War of Independence, a split occurred within the IRA. Members who supported the treaty formed the nucleus of the Irish National Army founded by IRA leader Michael Collins. However, much of the IRA was opposed to the treaty. The anti-treaty IRA fought a civil war with their former comrades in 1922–23, with the intention of creating a fully independent all-Ireland republic. Having lost the civil war, this group remained in existence, with the intention of overthrowing both the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland and achieving the Irish Republic proclaimed in 1916.
BELOW ARE A COUPLE OF INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE ON THE IRA AND ALSO THE 1984 BOMBING AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE THEN BRITISH PRIME MINISTER … MARGARET THATCHER AND THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT, AS THEY SLEPT AT THE GRAND HOTEL IN BRIGHTON , UK
Since its formation, the RIRA has waged a campaign in Northern Ireland against the British Army and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), formerly the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). The RIRA is the biggest and most active of the “dissident republican” paramilitaries operating againstthe British security forces. It has targeted the security forces in gun attacks and bombings, as well as with grenades, mortars and rockets. The organisation has also been responsible for a number of bombings in Northern Ireland and England with the goal of causing economic harm and/or disruption. The most notable of these was the 15 August 1998 Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people. After the bombing, the RIRA went on ceasefire, but began operations again in 2000. On 7 March 2009 RIRA members claimed responsibility for an attack on Massereene Barracks that killed two British soldiers, the first to be killed in Northern Ireland since 1997.
On 26 July 2012, it was reported that Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other independent republican paramilitary groups were merging with the Real IRA. As before, the group continues to refer to itself as “the Irish Republican Army”
IF IN THE AREA (FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE) DO COME VISIT AND SEE OUR OWN UNIQUE AND ALWAYS EXPANDING SAS EXHIBITION WHICH IS NOW PART OF OUR TERRORISM AND COUNTER-TERRORISM COLLECTIONS ON DISPLAY HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .
PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT SUCH MATERIAL IS VERY SCARCE TO SOURCE AND OBTAIN … FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. SO PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT TO SEE A MASS OF SUCH EXHIBIT MATERIAL HERE ON DISPLAY . WE ONLY PROVIDE A VERY BRIEF INSIGHT INTO THIS STILL VERY MUCH SECRETIVE BRITISH ARMY UNIT .
Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is the principal special forces organisation of the British Army. Formed in 1941 to conduct raids behind German lines in North Africa, with the Long Range Desert Group, it today serves as a model for similar units fielded by many other countries.
The SAS is a small and secretive organisation, but attracts a disproportionate amount of media coverage. It forms part of the United Kingdom Special Forces, alongside the Special Boat Service (SBS) and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR).
The SAS is widely regarded as one of the finest and best trained special forces units in the world.
Hereford (22nd Regiment)
London (21st Regiment)
Wolverhampton (23rd Regiment)
Colonel in Chief:
Colonel of the Regiment:
General The Rt Hon Charles Ronald Llewellyn (Guthrie), Baron Guthrie, GCB, LVO, OBE, ADC
Nickname:
The Regiment
Motto:
Who Dares Wins
Hardest Training in the World: SAS (Special Air Service)
So you might have heard from somewhere that SAS training involves being spun around in a chair blind-folded and then dropped into a pool in the dark where you have to swim to the surface. Is this true? Do the SAS really ‘’shoot to kill’’ and is there any point taking the test when the training motto from their superiors goes like, ‘’we don’t try to fail you – we try to kill you’’?
An SAS trooper has to survive one of the toughest and most rigorous training processes in the world. I want to disperse any myths and go behind enemy lines and into the heart of the SAS training regime.
There are 3 main training stages:
1. Selection: designed to weed out the men who do not have the mental or physical stamina required by the regiment. 2. Jungle training: designed to see whether the men have the tactical and operational skills to function in this elite force under extreme conditions. 3. Survival training: designed to see whether the men can overcome interrogation and learn to survive on their wits and the surrounding environment.
To be considered for selection, a hopeful must have at least three months experience in their own regiment and at least three years left to serve. The selection ordeal will last four weeks, with three build-up weeks and one test week. Many have tried and even more have failed, it’s notoriously tough as you will see.
There are two selections a year, one in winter and the other in summer. The general idea is that you either suffer from hypothermia in winter, or suffer from heat stroke in summer. I’ve always wondered to myself for some twisted reason that if I was to be stranded and left for dead, would I prefer to be stuck in the hot or the cold? For those about to ask themselves the same, I’d take jungle heat and desert dehydration over frost bite and unforgiving icy mountains.
First the recruits go to Stirling Lines, Hereford to have a medical and pass the Body Fitness Test (BFT). 10% fail here. The rest are issued the equipment that they need for selection. Then they are sent out to the steep Brecon Beacon hills, where selection starts and the ‘fun’ really begins.
1. Selection
Selection is simple. Get from point A to B, from point B to C etc, within a set time frame. Start to finish is typically over 10km away. You may not think 10km is a long distance, but strap 50lbs of Bergen (a heavy-duty British Army rucksack) to your back and have a rethink. Another factor is that the distances the soldiers cover gradually increase each day, as do the loads they bear.
Extremely arduous routes are specifically picked to test their mental and physical limits. SAS operations are undertaken with utmost secrecy so patrols avoid using roads and established routes. Training soldiers get up at 4am every morning and use navigational landmarks to make up ground instead, moving with stealth from feature to feature. The ability of the SAS to march long distances carrying heavy loads into battle is legendary. It’s fundamental to the way the regiment operates.
Climbing the hills at Beacon is all about strengthening the mind and character of a person. After a couple of days, the old equipment the soldiers have been given gets going cutting deep into the skin, giving the men crippling blisters and sores. Nobody said it was easy. It takes self determination and self discipline; something that is lost in the work place and in people’s lives these days.
Test Week
Test week is the next part of selection and consists of six marches, the first five being 17 miles long requiring the soldier to march with the 501b Bergen on his back while map reading. These stiff seven days culminate in the ‘Long Drag’, a 40-mile march which has to be completed in less than 20 hours. Test week teaches the soldiers to break through mental barriers. The idea can be likened to that of a marathon runner. At some point during a race a marathon runner will hit a plateau, where physically they have no reserves left in their body but still fight through and keep on going, such is the strength of their will and determination. The SAS endurance is equivalent to running two marathons. Don’t forget the Bergen.
What’s more and something that is unique to the SAS unlike any other Special Force in the world is that selection is carried out alone. There is nobody in selection shouting encouragement – the soldier is left to motivate themselves. There are no instructors shouting at you to do better, or mates encouraging you not to drop out. The only person forcing you to go through hell is you. Direct Staff (DC’s) simply watch as the soldiers fight to survive. It is no doubt the ultimate way to instil self motivation and to strengthen a person’s will.
2. Jungle training
Jungle training is carried out immediately after selection and it lasts four weeks. The extreme conditions of the jungle make this phase of training one of the most physically demanding for potential recruits. The heat, humidity, insects and wildlife make it a completely inhospitable environment. Carrying barely enough to sustain you for 14 days in the blazing conditions is mind-blowing.
An SAS candidate must mentally and physically overcome shock if he is to survive. It is the true test of mental toughness; not to crack under intense pressure. It is here an SAS prospect receives all the knowledge he needs to fight in the jungle. I suspect those with emotional baggage will not fair too well under the vines especially with the long claustrophobic nights playing havoc with their ability to deal with what is required.
The training soldiers will be wet all the time, even out of the water, due to sweating in the scorching heat. It’s a very strange place the jungle but I sense the reason behind this phase of training is that if you can soldier on in the jungle environment you can be a soldier in any environment.
3. Survival training
The equipment the soldiers carry is crucial to their combat effectiveness. Typically one will carry rations, spare ammunition, spare batteries for radio/torches, night sights and claymores (not the drink although spirits are sometimes used to treat wounds), which have the scary ability to fire 300 metal balls 100 metres shredding everything in their way.
Interrogation
Interrogation is designed to explore the ‘’inner-man’’. It’s not enough being physically as hard as nails if you’re mental and emotional strengths are weak. Unbelievable. This session comes after days and nights of sleep deprivation, nutrient deprivation and physical degradation due to the extreme harsh and unnatural way of living. Showing any emotion in this stage will mean total failure. Add the psychological games the SAS use to induce delirium and the fact that there’s no way of really knowing the darker details without having gone through training yourself and suddenly your and my idea of what the training must be like comes across as a rather irrelevant term for consideration. The SAS train consistently to give them the edge in all contact situations. It’s this level of training that makes a Special Forces unit and the SAS one of the most elite out of all the Special Forces in the world.
Those who survive the selection and training are badged (in a ceremonial moment of anticlimax where the recruit simply swaps his beret.) They are now officically an SAS soldier.
It takes this much to be the best in the world. And it takes much more to remain the best.
FORMER SAS BRAVO TWO ZERO HERO CHRIS RYAN SEEN PICTURED HERE WITH ANDY JONES FROM THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
BELOW IS A HAND SIGNED PICTURE OF SAS HERO CHRIS RYAN
THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION .... HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK 