Special Forces History

Goose Green was the first land battle of the Falklands War. It was also the longest, the hardest-fought, the most controversial and the most important to win. What began as a raid became a vicious 14-hour infantry struggle, in which 2 Para—outnumbered, exhausted, forced to attack across open ground in full daylight, and with inadequate fire support—lost their commanding officer and almost lost the action. This is the only detailed full-length account of this crucial battle.

The SAS was born under the leadership of David Stirling in the Libyan desert in July 1941 often called the ‘Originals.’ Other legends such as Jock Lewes and Paddy Mayne were pivotal in the early success of the SAS rouge heroes. The very first SAS raid ended without a single hit on the enemy, along with 34 men dead, injured or missing; only 21 returned to base. Using their motto ‘Who Dares Wins’ the SAS continued to dare with big losses and small gains. In North Africa, the SAS became a nuisance to the enemy. Many aircraft were shot up and airfields temporarily put out of action. In ...

The soldiers of one of the world's most famous fighting forces, the Paras, tell the gripping story of the regiment in their own words. Published to coincide with 75th anniversary of its formation, this is the definitive history of the iconic Parachute Regiment, told through the voices of more than 200 of the soldiers themselves.

June 1942. The Third Reich is victorious everywhere. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria who escaped to Britain just before the War. Many have lost their families, their homes - their whole worlds. And now, in the crucial final battles against the Nazis, they will stop at nothing to defeat them. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop.

The Benghazi crisis that occurred exactly 11 years after September 11, 2001 led to the loss of the US ambassador, Christopher Stevens and, hence, stands as one of the worst attacks against the US. This book goes beyond the events of September 11, 2012. It explores what went wrong; the things that could have been prevented; the best kept secrets of CIA operations abroad; and presents recommendations that may avoid the loss of more lives as the inevitable war against terror rages on.

Go! Go! Go! tells the action-packed story of the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege. It is a comprehensive and gripping account of an unforgettable six-day drama that shook Britain - and the wider world - to the core. Drawing on original and unseen source material from ex-SAS soldier Rusty Firmin, the police and the British government, Go! Go! Go! takes us to the heart of the whole operation.

The operation known as "Market Garden" - made famous in the book and film A Bridge Too Far - was the largest airborne assault in history up to that time. A high-risk Allied invasion of enemy territory that has become a legend of World War II, it still invites criticism from historians. Now a thrilling and revelatory new book re-creates the operation as never before, revealing for the first time the full adventures of the bold "Jedburgh" paratroopers whose exploits were almost unimaginably risky and heroic.

Code Name VFO565 - With everything in life, there is a beginning and the end is not always known. If you had told me that I would be at OATH OF EVIL - The War on Protestantism, GMJ 51, when I was writing Code Name VFO565 - the first GMJ novel, just after the unexpected passing of my wife in 2014, I would have shaken my head in disbelief. Writing the GMJ Books has kept me sane. They take me to another world and one that I thought I had left behind. But it was not to be. I now understand that it takes more than two roubles to get out of the Great Game. Of course, you are warned by the old ...

Award-winning historian Chris Bellamy uncovers the Gurkhas` origins in the Hills of Nepal, the extraordinary circumstances in which the British decided to recruit them, and their rapid emergence as elite troops. Bellamy looks at the wars the Gurkhas have fought this century, from the two world wars through the Falklands to Iraq and Afghanistan, and examines their remarkable status now, when each year 11,000 hopefuls apply for just over 170 places in the British Army Gurkhas.

An unprecedented new collection of true stories from the brave men and women who served in the Marine Corps. Behind one of the most established military branches in America are the riveting, untold tales of the courageous warriors who fought on the front lines.

The famous 'Surrender' in Bavaria of the Nazi/NASA scientists, was staged, it has been cited as fact in all literature and film since the war, 76 years! But they just happened to 'surrender' to a translator accompanied by a film crew? This is the real story....

Before there was American Sniper Chris Kyle, there was Adelbert "Bert" Waldron. Waldron had over 109 confirmed kills in the Vietnam War. He received two Distinguished Service Crosses as well as a Silver Star for his exploits and heroism during the war. Yet he remains largely unknown to the public. This book discusses some of the mystery and myths regarding Waldron, his number of his kills, the reasons behind his questionable discharge, and his shady dealings with international arms dealer Mitchell Werbell III.

A captain in 29 Commando, Johnny Mercer served in the army for 12 years. On his third tour of Afghanistan, he was a joint fires controller, with the pressurized job of bringing down artillery and air strikes in close proximity to his own troops. Based in an area of Northern Helmand that was riddled with Taliban leaders, he walked into danger with every patrol, determined to protect them. Then, one morning, in brutal close-quarter combat, everything changed....

"I never thought it would be a foregone conclusion that I would be seeing a fight when I entered the Teams. I thought that perhaps I would get the chance to answer that call, but I never knew for sure until today. I hope that I never get in a rough situation, but if I do, I hope I will have the courage to see it through." Less than four years later, on June 28, 2005, Matthew Gene Axelson answered his own question.

Ryan and his Spectre team are the brightest and the best there is. They clean up the messes other nations hide in deep, dark shadows. But this time, Ryan and the Spectre team are facing a mess that goes beyond nations. Beyond nations to the very roots of hell itself. Ryan’s daughter has been kidnapped! No one messes with Ryan’s family and gets away with it! Ryan reunites the men and women who can help him bring justice and save his daughter…the Spectre team. Ryan is determined to discover who took his sweet little princess and make them pay…big time! And just because demons did it, ...

South African Army Special Forces are highly rated in the Special Forces Community. Their standards are way above anything that the West can achieve with Selection failure levels of 95% on average and at least once, 100% where not one man made it. In their first 40 years history, more than 100,000 men (and no women) tried to make Selection, 482 succeeded. The Selection, with all its phases, takes a full year to complete. The training cycle takes three years and in between top secret operations are conducted to earn the operator’s badge which is highly valued. There is no unit anywhere in ...

Code Name Green 41 deals with the interdicting of drug smuggling routes by using Special Forces and secret agents only. No police, no costly public trials, no arrests, just summary justice as it should be. Things that go “boom” at night and no one knows why, except those that are smirking in delight, shaking hands on a job well done. The question I wanted to answer is, can hard drugs be used as a weapon of war? If you somehow could flood an enemy army with drugs as was done apparently in Vietnam to the American Army, will you win the war? In more recent times we look at Afghanistan and ...

Code Name Casselberry is about evacuating trapped citizens from hostile countries by unconventional means. In Africa, things are different than in the rest of the world and are often more confusing. A nation that seems peaceful and can be peaceful for years may explode into violence overnight. It is hard to predict such events because the signs of unrest are always there. If violence does erupt, one must act very quickly, and the usual Western way is to evacuate trapped citizens by securing an airport or airfield. Once this happens, the citizens are led onboard onto cargo planes or other ...

Code Name One Alpha looks at human trafficking in much detail and the link with counter-terrorism. I knew about human trafficking, from the news and have read articles, however, I did not understand the true scope of the problem. As Angelique explains in Chapter 7, there are currently 40 to 43 million slaves in the world. That is close to double Australia’s population, half of that of Britain and France and about 90% of South Africa’s. Serious figures that I found difficult to comprehend. If you were to look at everyone walking around in a city like New York and imagine them in shackles...

Code Name OST-M deals with deviousness. We show how a good man can end up working for the enemy and not even know it. The scenario is to run a red flag operation on him. You let the person working for you believe that he is working for someone else, someone he has sympathy with. Older readers will recall Sean Connery in “From Russia with Love.” In this film, the Russian female cypher clerk thinks she is working for the KGB but actually she is recruited by and is working for a criminal organisation. In another case, the FBI, before they became the “Clinton Whitewash Bureau,” ...