66 articles
TERROR IN WESTMINSTER we have seen it all before. This is a patriotic insight to an old age problem. Unfortunately London is no stranger to trouble so it’s always with an air of expectancy that you travel into town. The IRA blew the place up and even attacked horses. Hitler bombed the city to bits […]
Sensitive documents detailing the SAS involvement in the killing of eight IRA terrorists attempting to wipe out the Loughgall Police Station and its staff are to be handed over so that prosecutors can try to find loopholes and prosecute the soldiers involved. An eight man IRA unit had planned to blow apart the small police […]
Note: This is part of a series about Phil Campion’s experiences in SAS selection. You can read part one here. The door cracked open on the plane and within a millisecond, the whole plane was engulfed by a hot, sticky, humid heat. It was late and the orange glow of the airport’s lights obscured my view out […]
The time I spent in Hereford was hell on my body, even though it was almost healed from my ordeal on the hills. I had no toenails left, and the blister scars on my feet were still visible and hurt a little bit, especially when I put them in my new jungle boots to break them in. I […]
So, here I was in the Erbil Rotana, itching to get started on our documentary. But before we were headed anywhere, we had to do all the basic kit check and preparation required, as well as get the most up-to-date briefing on the situation on the ground. There was plenty to do. First was a trip […]
Residents from a small village in the Cotswolds have officially complained about the noise made by the SAS CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters flying in and out of their training center. With local properties changing hands for £1.2m or more, life is not exactly hard for the villagers of Tidenham in Gloucestershire. But they are having a massive moan-up as […]
The U.K. government is currently going after ex-servicemen for carrying out their duty in Northern Ireland. Special forces will feel the pinch most, as the majority of the terrorists killed there were killed by the SAS. While terror chiefs brokered a deal with Tony Blair giving them immunity from prosecution—whether guilty or not—soldiers who were obediently carrying […]
Was it ever going to be normal. Can you ever replace the buzz that is the best job in the world? Can you ever fit into Civvy street outright or will you always have one foot in the forces? A small piece on how I felt once I left the regiment. It was a day […]
There is not too much in the mainstream press nowadays about Northern Ireland. The grown-ups would have you believe it’s all gone away and that there is indeed peace over there. Old-school terrorism became unfashionable with the new wave of Islamic groups and the fact that they brought terrorism to U.S. shores. Revenue once pouring in […]
The old Cold War games are still being played. There is always something going on. I thought the Cold War was well and truly over; but in truth it’s probably just not as far up the agenda nowadays, so you don’t hear as much. But believe me when I say that everyone is still just […]
As if a trooper’s life isn’t hard enough when he or she comes home, they are now up against something new. Law firms in the U.K., desperate for work, have been going after soldiers for things that have happened on the battlefield. As lowdown and despicable as that seems, there have been cases where these so-called lawyers have lied […]
Turkish Airlines Flight 304 from Istanbul began its slow descent to Erbil, the main airport for the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq. Looking down below, I could see the strange contrast of the region’s snowcapped hills and the evergreen valleys. It was not the only thing about the area that was incongruous: While it […]