Bravo Two Zero - The True Story Of An SAS Patrol Behind Enemy Lines In Iraq

by Andy McNab

Book Overview

Their mission: To take out the scuds. Eight went out. Five came back. Their story had been closed in secrecy. Until now. They were British Special Forces, trained to be the best. In January 1991 a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0552141275
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Corgi Books
• Length: 411 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 1.0" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Amazing story of survival

The first time I heard about this story was from a History Channel special. Needless to say, I was intrigued. A few months later I saw the movie. I didn't want to do myself an injustice and not read the book that the TV special and movie were based upon.Sergeant Andy McNab, was the commander of an 8-man British SAS (Special Air Service) squad charged with doing reconnaissance of a main supply road and to destroy SCUDs deep behind enemy lines in Iraq during the Gulf War. The SAS is one Britain's elite military groups similar to the US Navy SEALs or Army Delta Force. The mission quickly went sour and the entire squad was compromised. This book details the escape and evasion of the 8-man squad (from McNab's point of view, obviously) and the eventual capture of half of the squad. One man managed to trek over 100 miles to the safety of the Syrian border. Three men did not escape with their lives. The four men that were captured were brutally tortured and beaten. It's amazing that these four weren't killed while held captive. At times throughout the book I found myself wincing from the things that were done to McNab (and his squad members) while a prisoner of war (POW). I've never thought that being a POW would ever be a walk in the park, but I was a little shocked and appalled at some of the things that McNab had to endure. I also laughed at some of the things McNab had to say with his cheeky, British humor. Some of the vocabulary and phrases may be a little difficult to decipher, but there's a glossary in the back of the book and a lot of things can be made clear from the context.There isn't a whole lot of action in the traditional sense of military books (shooting and things blowing up everywhere), but this book is definitely not boring. Read this book, if for no other reason than to get a glimpse of how Allied POWs were treated during the Gulf War. This book is the dog's bollocks; I highly recommend it. :)

Tells it like it was

Bravo Two Zero tells the secret story of what went on during the Gulf War - never mind the all-American hero bit. Sorry, guys, I know you were there doing your high-tech thing, and I acknowledge that you played a VERY major part in the rapid sucess of the skirmish, but a lot of what went on - intelligence reporting and deep penetration hits - was undertaken by a few very brave men of the British SAS.On the night of 22nd January 1991, at a remote airfield in Saudi Arabia, under cover of darkness and in conditions of the utmost secrecy, eight members of the SAS regiment boarded a helicopter that was to infiltrate them deep behind enemy lines. Their call-sign was "Bravo Two-Zero", and their mission, under the command of Sergeant Andy McNab, was to sever the underground communication link between Baghdad and north-west Iraq, and to seek and destroy mobile Scud launchers before Israel was provoked into entering the war. Unfortunately they were discovered and had to try to fight their way out - eight men versus large chunks of the Iraq army. The gun fights in which, despite being massively outnumbered, they still wreaked havoc - the distances they had to walk causing their feet almost to fall of - the hypothermia - the hunger and thirst they suffered - can only be summarized by the word IMPRESSIVE. And then, worst of all, the extensive torturing some had to go through when they were caught. At the same time, they remained humane, not killing one single Iraqi civilian, even when that might have significantly improved their chances of survivalA few people have read the book and think it's a bit far-fetched (some even think it's a work of fiction), but they don't realise that during the Gulf War, patrols like that did go out and if you were found by the enemy, you were tortured until you gave the answers they wanted. The fact that, against the odds, some of McNab's patrol survived, and mostly with morale intact, shows what the human spirit is capable of and how much punishment the body can take without the mind giving up. A lot of authors can talk the talk but only McNab can walk the walk. Having read the book, I have nothing but respect for a man who has gone through hell and come out the side to tell the tale. And a nice ending to the tale is that Andy McNab is now making a living as a successful writer. Check out his other books too. (Immediate Action, The One that got Away, and Remote Control)

It took guts!

I was recommended this true-life adventure by a correspondent in the American Special Forces. It is the account of an eight-man team of the British SAS during Desert Storm: their "suicide" mission and subsequent capture and torture by Iraqi forces. The episodes of their sadistic "beasting" at the hands of their captors are difficult enough just to *read* about! Yet such was the specialized training of these commandos, that they not only endured without breaking, but actually sustained themselves throughout their ordeal with grim humor. "At least they can't make us pregnant," they joke amongst themselves. Despite the graphic violence I very much enjoyed the writing style and dialogue of this narrative; it's very earthy and English. And also very sobering. The Gulf War was so "sanitized" by CNN that it was easy to overlook how dangerous it was, especially for the elite warriors who went in behind enemy lines. For action and drama, this memoir reads like an exciting novel.

New meaning to the English adage of the "stiff upper lip"

What an amazing story. Bravo Two Zero tells the tale of a squad of British SAS soldiers on a mission in Iraq during the Gulf War to take out mobile Scud launchers. When I started reading the book, I expected to read about the detailed accounts of how the launchers were wiped out and how Sgt. Andy McNab's team contributed to this effort. I was shocked as a chain of unfortunate events ruined the mission and put McNab's team in great peril. Several of them died and some were captured by Iraqi troops.Bravo Two Zero is not for the faint of heart. The detailed account of McNab's torture and brutal beatings at the hand of the Iraqis is tough reading. I'm in awe of the fortitude and subtle defiance that he and his men exhibited in the face of such terrible cruelty.But don't mistake this book for a "prison journal." It's anything but. McNab goes into great detail about how the Scud hunting missions and special forces missions in general are planned and executed. You begin to realize that even the best-laid plans can be subject to failure if minute details are overlooked. As McNab points out however, in a speech he recalls from his regimental commander, the true mettle of a soldier is measured not only by his successes, but by how he performs when all hell has broken loose and the mission seems to be a total failure. Bravo Two Zero is not only an amazing real-life adventure story, but also a testament to the endurance, determination and courage of the British SAS troops who took part in the Gulf War, playing a crucial role in the defeat of Sadaam Hussein.

This is why the SAS are the best in the business.

This book is the true story of operation gone horribly wrong during the Gulf War. An eight-man team of the elite British Special Air Service were dropped by helicopter into the desert of western Iraq, each carrying well over 200 lbs. of equipment. Their mission was to watch a road for military traffic and hunt for mobile Iraqi SCUD missile launchers. They were soon discovered by a local shepherd boy. The local Iraqi militia were called out, and the poop hit the fan.Their radios didn't work, and so they had no way to call for an extraction. They decided to trek 100 miles west to the Syrian border. But one man had injured his leg during the evasion of the Iraqi forces. Another had been wearing his thermal underwear since the compromise, and so had sweating profusely the entire time and was now dangerously dehydrated. How any managed to survive is a true testament to the power of the human will, and to the rigorous standards to which the SAS trains its men.The overall book is excellent. McNab has put together one of the most readable military stories I've ever come across. It's a cliche, but this book is a real page-turner. There's military jargon galore, but he usually explains it for the layman reader. A glossary at the back helps with that, and with some of the British army slang, but the regular British stuff you have to figure out by context.It's the little things McNab adds that make this book so readable and "enjoyable," (if you can use that word about a book in which a man describes himself and his friends being tortured, and some dying gruesome deaths.) To a military professional, the tactics and gear of the SAS are an interesting part of the book. [To my grunt bubbas, make sure to check out the pictures of the packs and gear they carried.] But even the average person can find things to identify with in the book: The joking between the members of the patrol, even after they've been discovered; The story about the old Iraqi farmer who they run into while escaping. There are others, but I won't spoil the entire book for you.This is one of the most no-holds-barred looks at warfare I've ever read. The only book I can compare it to, for realism and readability purposes, is "Nam" by Mark Baker. If you enjoy military books, or true stories of adventure and survival against all odds, you'll like this book.BTW, if you already read this book, McNab's account of his life before the Gulf War, "Immediate Action," would be well worth your time also. I've also heard the BBC (or some British TV station) did an excellent movie version of this story, starring Sean Bean ("Sharpe" movies, "GoldenEye,") as McNab. I haven't seen it, but that'd probably be worth checking out, too.