They eventually placed seven limpets on the tanker's stern before making their getaway, arriving at their rendezvous more than an hour late, and with the canoe so filled with water that it would have sunk within 15 minutes. The book is a fascinating and compelling insight into the men of the LRDG and much is revealed in the tale's telling of both their tactics and their character. It's evident that the author has really done his homework.

The two men soon went their separate ways: Courtney to develop the SBS whose multiple roles included landing secret agents, assisting commando operations, and destroying ships and coastal infrastructure; and Willmott to create, in December 1942, the brilliant maritime special operations unit known as COPP (Combined Operations Pilotage Parties) that provided beach intelligence for the great amphibious landings in Sicily, Italy, Normandy and later the Far East. The SBS traces its roots to WWII, just as the SAS do, but their ancestors are the Canoe borne and submarine launched raiders drawn originally from the Commandos. Impressed by Italian Frogmen/MiniSub raiding, Churchill supported several small groups trying those methods. Then the allied liberation of Europe and the Far East required a group to do beach reconnaissances. By the end of the war all these groups were amalgamated into one group. The skills were going to die there, when the Cold War made their retention a priority. The parallels with the US SEAL program are there to see. The book ends with the Falklands and Gulf War II deployments, showing how those skills were essential to those Victories.The operation is recounted in a superbly detailed way. Nicols focuses on several key characters and the reader follows them through the battle.

Zero Six Bravo is a fantastic record of special forces soldiering but, more than that, it sets the record straight about this controversial operation. A must read. He must have been about 70 years old," recalled Courtney, "and had a brown leathery wiriness remarkable in a man of that age. He had come about 500 miles in a week, but he apologised mildly for being late; he stated that he had stopped once or twice along the coast to sample the seaweed."

The training regime in Courtney's SBS was brutal and relentless. One punishing exercise lasted three days and nights, remembered recruit Stan Weatherall, as they paddled the more than 80 miles across the Firth of Clyde where they "effected a landing at Craignish Point". The book is told through the eyes of an SBS veteran with the moniker, 'Grey', who commands a Pinkie driven by 'Moth' and its HMG manned a U.S. SOF embed known as 'the dude'.

Yet their many improbable achievements – destroying enemy ships and infrastructure, landing secret agents, tying up enemy forces, spreading fear and uncertainty, and, most importantly, preparing the ground for D-Day – helped to make an Allied victory possible. A compact but fact-filled book which charts SAS history from World War 2 all the way until the current war on terror. There's plenty of colour photos throughout, along with little snippets of info on weapons, tactics etc, which makes this a great resource for dipping into every now and then. Two of Courtney's best operators were Lieutenant Robert "Tug" Wilson and Marine Wally Hughes who would, over eight months in 1941, execute a succession of daring operations. This is the story of a unit that seems very difficult to tell. Part of the problem may be the missions of the unit itself. The other part may be the secrecy that the unit maintains; but telling the story of the Special Boat Service seems to be quite problematic.It was an unlikely partnership. Courtney was a big-picture person "with a flair for improvisation in a tight corner", while Willmott was a details man. This combination of vision and precision would be the making of the SBS. Montanaro who, on April 12, 1942, pulled off one of the most astonishing missions of the war. Tasked with sinking a German tanker filled with copper ore in Boulogne Harbour, Montanaro and his paddler Sergeant Freddie Preece were dropped off by motor launch three miles from the harbour entrance just after midnight.

A controversial examination of the events as told by McNab and Ryan in their memoirs. Asher, a former territorial SAS member, repudiates the more gung ho aspects of the B20 myth with eye witness accounts from Iraqis. Falconer served the majority of his military service with the SBS. During his time in the military, he also served with the SAS, and 14 Intelligence Detachment, deployed to Northern Ireland with each for one year and two and a half years respectively. After he left the Detachment he took a sabbatical for a year before returning to the SBS where he was posted to MAT ("Maritime Anti-Terrorism") operations in which he was involved in a number of exercises retaking oil rigs and tankers. [3] After the SBS [ edit ]This is a terrific book, written with all the gusto, thrills and heady excitement these SBS operations richly deserve. It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year. Ashdown, a former SBS man himself, would be proud. Put ashore in the wrong place, the American troops were massacred. More than 2,000 died on Omaha on June 6, 1944. The value of beach markers was demonstrated a short way to the east of Omaha where Coppist teams in two midget submarines ‑ X20 and X23 ‑ successfully guided in British and Canadian landing craft. Falconer joined the British Royal Marines at the age of 18. At 19 years of age, he attended SBS selection in Poole Dorset and was one of nine Marines to successfully complete the course out of 147 men. Most candidates are required to serve some time in a Commando unit before applying, however Duncan was given an exception. This was due to many SBS operatives leaving to instead work as deep sea divers in the North Sea for the lucrative salaries. The SBS briefly allowed recruits from CTCRM to apply for selection before serving the usual minimum time in a commando unit. Later he was posted to 42 Commando as a career broadening opportunity. [2] It is incredibly refreshing to read of these fabulously daring missions: of men of astonishing courage blowing up bridges, surveying invasion beaches, sinking ships in harbour and making clandestine rendezvous with secret agents – all by canoe and midget submarine …This is a terrific book, written with all the gusto, thrills and heady excitement these SBS operations richly deserve. It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year’