Officially called Operation Barras, but known to the men on the ground as Operation Certain Death, it was a joint operation between the Paras, the SBS, the Navy and the RAF, but spearheaded by the SAS. Because of the traditional secrecy surrounding Special Forces operations this story has never before been told, but it is one the men themselves wanted telling. This book is that story in their own words. It is the single most daring Special Forces rescue mission since World War Two.
[ realy happened ]
Background
Eleven members of the British Army's Royal Irish Regiment led by Major Alan Marshall[2] and their Sierra Leone Army liaison officer, Lieutenant Mousa Bangura[4] were held hostage by an armed rebel group known as the West Side Boys led by Foday Kallay on August 25, 2000. Some controversy exists regarding the mission of the British troops; British sources initially maintained that the soldiers were returning to Freetown from a meeting with Jordanian United Nations forces when they were captured, however, the Nigerian UN commander, General Garba, claims that the British soldiers never met with the Jordanian troops. British authorities later admitted that their soldiers may have been captured while deep in rebel territory.[1]
On September 3,[5] five of the eleven British soldiers were released in exchange for a satellite phone and medical supplies. Further negotiations then broke down and Foday Kallay threatened to kill the remaining hostages. It was then that British Prime Minister Tony Blair authorized the mission.[2]
the operation
At 6:16 in the morning of September 10, three Boeing Chinooks and two or three Westland Lynx helicopters took off from the Freetown airport and headed for Rokel Creek, upon the banks of which was located the West Side Boys' camp. On the northern bank was the village of Geri Bana, where the remaining British soldiers were being kept. On the opposite bank were two more villages, Magbeni and Forodugu, also occupied by the rebels. The Land Rovers used by the hostaged soldiers had been taken to Magbeni.
The attack on the rebel camps commenced at around 6:30 as the helicopters came in and disgorged troops almost simultaneously on both northern and southern target locations. In Geri Bana, SAS observation teams, which had been inserted days before and had kept the rebels under surveillance ever since, began to engage them. The rescuers, SAS troopers, extracted the remaining six British soldiers and the Sierra Leonean lieutenant within twenty minutes. They were flown out to the RFA Sir Percivale moored in Freetown harbour at about 7:00 that morning. In Magbeni, the Paratroopers engaged the awakened rebels. A second wave soon brought the Paras to full strength as they continued the assault. This attack diverted attention from the rescue attempt on the opposite bank in Geri Bana. Most of the action was over by 8:00, although the last British troops pulled out at 14:00 in the afternoon, after conducting mopping-up operations that saw the capture of Foday Kallay and the recovery of the Land Rovers.
British and allied units involved
-130 paratroopers from the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment
-40 members of the SAS
-Royal Irish Regiment
-RFA Sir Percivale
-HMS Argyll
-Three Boeing Chinook helicopters providing transport
-Three Westland Lynx helicopters providing armed escort and close air -support
Hostages
-Major Alan Marshall
-Captain Flaherty
-CSM Head
-Sergeant Smith
-Lieutenant Mousa Bangura
-Corporal Sampson
-Corporal Ryan
-Corporal Mackenzie
-Ranger Guant
-Ranger McVeigh
-Ranger Rowell
-Ranger MaGuire
Casualties
-25 rebels confirmed killed although far more are thought to have died
-18 rebels captured including Foday Kallay
-1 British SAS soldier killed in action; identified as Bradley Tinnion
-12 British soldiers wounded (1 severely, 11 minor)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barras
i have seen some stuff of this mission on discovery/national geographic channel and on the internet.
Please take a look at this map idea, since it happened in R/L and has been an memorial mission. (thats what i think),
i hope it isnt move in a negative way
