JOIN SAS LEGEND PHIL CAMPION AS HE SHARES HIS DEEPLY PERSONAL LIFE STORY, WARTS AND ALL In WHO DARES WINS Big Phil Campion reveals his chequered past, from terrible abuse suffered in a string of kids' homes to psychological abuse suffered at a top public school. Phil guides you through his soldiering career, from the so called "green army" to the brutal trial of SAS selection and all that followed. This includes years spent providing private military services across war-torn and risk-laden Africa; in between he was body-guarded the likes of Led Zep, Oasis, Kasabian, Dizzy Rascal and Pro Green. Phil takes you on his gripping, behind-the-scenes adventure acting as a roving reporter for Sky TV in Syria and Northern Iraq, more often than not under fire. Brave, riveting and truly revelatory, WHO DARES WINS is packed full of jaw-dropping stories to quicken the blood, while also telling of the psychological toll a life in conflict took on the author. 'One of the best first-hand accounts of life in combat ever written' Andy McNab on Born Fearless

This title examines the bitter conflict between two highly tactical armies as they battled across challenging terrain to gain control of strategically significant Northern Finland. On the one side were the invading Soviet troops, hoping to liberate an area full of rich resources and littered with bases that that would enable the arrival of Arctic convoys from Britain. They employed naval infantry in abundance, not only to make amphibious landings to capture strategically significant port facilities, but also on deep outflanking manoeuvres inland. Their opponents were the elite Gebirgsjager from XIX Gebirgskorps; trained to be self-sufficient and resourceful and equipped with a range of bespoke weaponry, this mountain division was ideally suited to operate in the harsh climate. Combat conditions were unique: the extremely rough terrain, laced with bogs, streams, boulder fields, and large rivers, presented a significant challenge in its own right, even without the added threat of attacks by highly trained soldiers. This illustrated title tells the story of this unique and bitter struggle in the far North, an epic battle between two elite forces fighting in a demanding environment. With bird's-eye views and maps of key battlefields, this is a comprehensive guide to one of the most challenging campaigns of the Eastern Front.

This is a marine's account of the human aspects of combat. The small island of Iwo Jima lies 660 miles south of Tokyo. As US forces moved north toward the Japanese home islands in World War II, Iwo stood out as a desirable location for capture, as it would afford a much needed airbase for attacks on Japan. US military leaders underestimated the size and quality of the Japanese defense force and overestimated the effectiveness of an intense naval bombardment; artillery shells often exploded harmlessly in the island's blanket of black volcanic sand. On the morning of February 19, 1945, the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions stormed ashore from a naval support force. Among them was green young lieutenant Pat Caruso. Within hours Caruso became de facto company commander when the five officers ranking him were killed or wounded. He led his rapidly diminishing force steadily forward for the next few days, when a day's gains were measured in yards. Caruso was eventually wounded himself and was evacuated to an offshore hospital ship. Realizing that the actions and heroism of so many of his comrades would be lost forever by the decimation of his unit, Caruso latched onto any paper he could find and filled every blank space with his memory of the fighting. This book consists of those records, fleshed out by the stories of other survivors who Caruso searched out years later. This enhanced edition has been augmented by a new introduction and index, errors in the first edition have been corrected, and boasts nine new photographs and a map of the action. It resumes its place as a classic account of the experience of being in close, direct, and constant contact with a determined enemy at close quarters. Many did not survive; those who did were changed forever.

Revered by some as the ultimate warrior, and condemned by others as ruthless assassins, the combat sniper is more than just a crack shot. These are highly disciplined individuals, calm professionals skilled in marksmanship, reconnaissance and camouflage. During the Second World War these lethal fighters were deployed by all sides to deadly effect. This collection of biographies written by sniper experts from around the world explores the careers of the top marksmen between 1939 and 1945. As well as providing incisive technical information, each author offers a glimpse of the character and personality of their chosen sniper, giving them a human face that is often missing in standard portrayals. These gripping, in-depth narratives go beyond the cursory treatment in existing histories and will be essential reading for anyone wanting to learn about the role and technique of the sniper during the Second World War. The impressive list of contributors to The Sniper Anthology includes Mark Spicer writing on Harry M. Furness, the last surviving British sniper who went ashore on D-Day; Martin Pegler, who details the famous Soviet sniper Vassili Zaitsev; Adrian Gilbert on the Wehrmacht sharpshooter and lone wolf Sepp Allerberger; and Roger Moorhouse on Simo Hayha, the man with the most confirmed kills in any major war.

'Absence of self is my sword' comprises the final line in 'The Warrior's Creed,' a 14th century poem written by an unknown Japanese samurai, and this is the code Master Sergeant Roger Sparks embodied as a Recon Marine turned Alaskan Pararescueman. A living legend in the military, Sparks first made a name for himself within elite Marine Reconnaissance units. He went on to become an instructor where he trained future Reconnaissance Marines with unorthodox and ancient indigenous warrior techniques. A decade later, the same methods would keep him and others alive, when he hoisted into a maelstrom of violence to rescue an embattled platoon in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Introduced to a tough code of honor, family, and brotherhood from birth, Roger Sparks rose to become a distinguished instructor in Marine Reconnaissance and a Silver Star recipient as an Alaska Pararescueman. A raw and exhilarating tale of guts, grit, and heart, Warrior's Creed recounts the hidden side of special operations training, heroic and heartbreaking Alaskan wilderness rescues, and the surreal and deadly rescues during Operation Bulldog Bite in Afghanistan's Watapur Valley. This powerful and inspirational story is as much of a self-help book as it is an edge of your seat military memoir. Warrior's Creed reveals a motivating and mindful approach to over coming the odds, facing the impossible, and finding mercy and grace in the aftermath.

During the Seven Years' War (1755-63), a number of independent light-infantry outfits served under British command and dedicated light companies were added to the British Army's regular infantry battalions. The light companies were disbanded after the war but the prominent role played by light infantry was not forgotten, and in 1771-72 light-infantry companies were reinstated in every regiment in the British Isles. Although William Howe formed a training camp at Salisbury in 1774 specifically to practise light-infantry doctrine, the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775 found the British Army wanting, and the light companies were no different. After evacuating Boston in March 1776, Howe began to remodel and drill his army at Halifax, standardizing lighter uniform and emphasizing more open-order tactics. He also brigaded his light companies together into composite battalions, which went on to fight in almost every major engagement during the American Revolution. They spearheaded British assaults, using night-time surprise and relying upon the bayonet in engagements such as Paoli and Old Tappan. They also matched their regular and irregular opponents in bush-fighting, and at times fought in far-flung detachments alongside Native American and Loyalist allies on the frontier. Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this book offers a comprehensive guide to the formation, uniform, equipment, doctrines and tactics of these elite light infantry companies and battalions, and considers how, over the course of the war they developed a fearsome reputation, and exemplified the psychological characteristics exhibited by crack military units across history.

The Secret War in Laos was one of the first "Long Wars" for special operations, spanning a period of about thirteen years. It was one of the largest CIA-paramilitary operations of the time, kept out of the view of the American public until now. Between 1959 and 1974, Green Berets were covertly deployed to Laos to prevent a communist take-over or at least preserve the kingdom's neutrality. Operators dressed in civilian clothes, armed with cover stories and answering only to "Mister", were delivered to the country by Air America, where they answered to the U.S. Ambassador. There they were faced with the complexities of the three factions in Laos, as well as operating with limited resources - maps of the country often had large blank areas and essential supplies often didn't arrive at all. In challenging tropical conditions they trained and undertook combat advisory duties with native and tribal forces. Veterans remember Hmong guerrillas and Lao soldiers who were often shorter than the M1 rifles they carried. The Green Berets' service in Laos was the first strategic challenge since its formation in 1952, and proved one of the first major applications of special warfare doctrine. Clouded in secrey until the 1990s, this story is comprehensively told for the first time using official archival documents and interviews with veterans.

Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Churchill and Stalin secretly agreed that Britain would infiltrate Soviet agents into occupied Western Europe. Liaison began between the NKVD and the SOE, each country's secret service. Transported in convoys across the Arctic Ocean and often attacked by German U-Boats, thirty-four men and women arrived in Scotland. To stop people finding out that Britain was helping the Communists, the agents were given false identities and provided with accommodation and training at remote country houses in southern England, including Beaulieu. Codenamed PICKAXES, they were sent for parachute practice at Ringway aerodrome, provided with documents, cover stories and wireless sets and sent on clandestine missions into France, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Germany and Italy. Whilst most were sent from RAF Tempsford, Churchill's Most Secret airfield, one was sent by boat across the Channel and another by submarine into Northern Italy. Only a few survived the war as most were caught, interrogated and executed. Based on extensive research, Bernard O'Connor tells their human stories enmeshed in a web of political intrigue and diplomacy.

The idea of the sword-wielding samurai, beholden to a strict ethical code and trained in deadly martial arts, dominates popular conceptions of the samurai. As early as the late seventeenth century, they were heavily featured in literature, art, theater, and even comedy, from the Tale of the Heike to the kabuki retellings of the 47 Ronin. This legacy remains with us today in the legendary Akira Kurosawa films, the shoguns of HBO's Westworld, and countless renditions of samurai history in anime, manga, and video games. Acknowledging these common depictions, this book gives readers access to the real samurai as they lived, fought, and served. Much as they capture the modern imagination, the samurai commanded influence over the politics, arts, philosophy and religion of their own time, and ultimately controlled Japan from the fourteenth century until their demise in the mid-nineteenth century. On and off the battlefield, whether charging an enemy on horseback or currying favor at the imperial court, their story is one of adventures and intrigues, heroics and misdeeds, unlikely victories and devastating defeats. This book traces the samurai throughout this history, exploring their roles in watershed events such as Japan's invasions of Korea at the close of the sixteenth century and the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Coming alive in these accounts are the samurai, both famed and ordinary, who shaped Japanese history.

When the Navy sends their elite, they send the SEALs. When the SEALs send their elite, they send SEAL Team Six.

In this dramatic, behind-the-scenes chronicle, Howard E. Wasdin takes readers deep inside the world of Navy SEALS and Special Forces snipers, beginning with the grueling selection process of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S)--the toughest and longest military training in the world. After graduating, Wasdin saw combat in Operation Desert Storm as a member of SEAL Team Two. Then the Green Course: the selection process to join the legendary SEAL Team Six--a secret unit tasked with counterterrorism, hostage rescue, and counterinsurgency. As a member of Team Six, sniper school followed and Wasdin became one of the best snipers on the planet.

Soon he was fighting for his life. The mission: capture or kill Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. From rooftops, helicopters, and alleys, Wasdin hunted Aidid and killed his men whenever possible. But everything went quickly to hell. The Battle of Mogadishu, as it become known, left eighteen American soldiers dead and seventy-three wounded. Wasdin's tale is one of the most thrilling and inspiring military memoirs in years.

When the US Navy send their elite, they send the SEALs. When the SEALs send their elite, they send SEAL Team Six. SEAL Team Six is a clandestine unit tasked with counterterrorism, hostage rescue and counterinsurgency. Until recently its existence was a closely-guarded secret. Then ST6 took down Osama bin Laden, and the operatives within it were thrust into the global spotlight. In this internationally bestselling chronicle, former ST6 shooter Howard Wasdin takes readers deep inside the world of Navy SEALs and Special Forces snipers. From the inside track on the operation that killed the world's most wanted man to his own experience of the gruelling ST6 selection processes to his terrifying ordeal at the 'Black Hawk Down' battle in Somalia, Wasdin's book is one of the most explosive military memoirs in years.

In a compelling new study, Gutmann offers an in-depth examination of the Swedish, Swiss and Danish men who worked and fought for the SS, during the Second World War. Dispelling a host of myths regarding foreign collaboration with Hitler's regime, it reveals how these men were highly motivated to affect a National Socialist revolution across North-Western or 'Germanic' Europe. Working behind Berlin desks, they played a pivotal part in shaping the Nazi New Order and actively participated in the regime's brutal atrocities on the Eastern Front and on the streets of Western Europe. The book argues that these men became a focal point for infighting in the regime regarding the role of non-Germans in National Socialism. Building a Nazi Europe sheds new light on historical conceptions of fascism, collaboration, transnational history and the Holocaust.

The gripping true story of the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara. Ever since the 1920s the popular legend of the French Foreign Legion has been formed by P.C. Wren's novel BEAU GESTE - a world of remote forts, warrior tribes, and desperate men of all nationalities enlisting under pseudonyms to fight and die under the desert sun. As with all cliches, the reality is far richer and more surprising than this. In this book Martin Windrow describes desert battles and famous last stands in gripping detail - but he also shows exactly what the Foreign Legion were doing in North Africa in the first place. He explains how French colonial methods there actually had their roots in the jungles of Vietnam, and how the political pressures that kept the empire expanding can be traced to battles on the streets of Paris itself. His description of the Berber tribesmen of Morocco also reveals some disturbing modern parallels: the formidable guerrillas of the 1920s were inspired by an Islamic fundamentalist who was adept at using the world's media to further his cause. Martin Windrow's previous book THE LAST VALLEY received fabulous reviews across the English-speaking world. This unique book, which is the first to examine the 'golden age' of the Foreign Legion has followed suit.

From SAS To Blood Diamond Wars is the story of an outstanding warrior, even by SAS standards.On the point of being demobbed from the SAS, Fred Marafono was recruited by David Stirling for his private security company. After Stirling's death, Fred found himself in the midst of Sierra Leone's Blood Diamond wars, and formed an unbreakable bonding with the country's champion of democracy, Chief Hinga Norman, whose leadership and tragic death are integral to the story.Fred was recruited by Simon Mann for the finest of all private military companies in Africa, Executive Outcomes. Fewer than two hundred of them defeated the rebels in their strongholds. Through political weakness, Executive Outcomes were made to leave the country, and chaos ensued. Committed men like Hinga Norman and British High Commissioner Peter Penfold saw that, in the absence of military commitment from the west, only highly professional former soldiers could spearhead the fight to restore democracy. Three of these veterans kept a vital air bridge open. Fred's final action was supporting the SAS in their brilliant hostage release, Operation Barras.Peter Penfold sums it all up in the book's foreword, writing of the, 'confidence, trust and admiration I have for this remarkable man. '

The New York Times-bestselling book by former Navy SEAL Mike Ritland that teaches all dog owners how to have the close relationship and exceptional training of combat dogs. In Team Dog, Ritland taps into fifteen years' worth of experience and shares, explaining in accessible and direct language, the science behind the importance of gaining a dog's trust and then offering invaluable steps for how to achieve any level of obedience. His unique approach uses entertaining examples and anecdotes from his work with dogs on and off the battlefield and direct tips from the Navy SEAL guidebook to teach dog owners how to: choose the perfect dog for their household, establish themselves as the -team leader, - master -command and control, - employ -situational awareness, - and to solidify their dog's position as the family's ultimate best friend. Team Dog introduces pet owners everywhere to the new and distinctive authority on how to train your dog . . . the Navy SEAL way.

The storied history of the US Army's elite 10th Mountain Division is presented here in precise detail by Dennis Chapman, a former officer in the division. The reader will first learn of the outfit's 1943 activation, then the dramatic story of their famous WWII Italian campaign. After successfully storming the near-vertical slope of Riva Ridge (thought unclimbable by their German opponents) and then seizing the strategic heights of the Mount Belvedere massif, the men of the 10th Mountain Division battered their way through the Apennine Mountains. Breaking out into the Po Valley, the 10th Mountain Division raced across the lowlands to the foot of the Austrian Alps, slamming the door shut on thousands of retreating Axis troops. The reader will also learn about the heroism of the 10th Mountain Division troops at the Battle of the Black Sea in Mogadishu-the famous story of "Black Hawk Down"-as well as its exploits during the early years of the global war on terror. Unlike most books of its kind, this book goes beyond those famous exploits, bringing together all the threads of the division's history. Chapman also recounts the history of the 10th Mountain Division in its Cold War incarnations at Fort Riley, Kansas, and in Germany. He also tells the story of the 87th Infantry Regiment, the last remaining of the division's three original regiments, and the only element of the division to continue in existence from the division's deactivation in 1958 until its reactivation in 1985.

The assassination of Osama bin Laden by SEAL Team 6 in May 2011 will certainly figure among the greatest achievements of US Special Forces. After nearly ten years of searching, they descended into his Pakistan compound in the middle of the night, killed him, and secreted the body back into Afghanistan. Interest in these forces had always been high, but it spiked to new levels following this success. There was a larger lesson here too. For serious jobs, the president invariably turns to the US Special Forces: the SEALs, Delta Force, the Green Berets, and the USAF's Special Tactics squad. Given that secretive grab-and-snatch operations in remote locales characterize contemporary warfare as much as traditional firefights, the Special Forces now fill a central role in American military strategy and tactics. Not surprisingly, the daring and secretive nature of these commando operations has generated a great deal of interest. The American public has an overwhelmingly favorable view of the forces, and nations around the world recognize them as the most capable fighting units: the tip of the American spear, so to speak. But how much do we know about them? What are their origins? What function do they fill in the larger military structure? Who can become a member? What do trainees have to go through? What sort of missions do Special Forces perform, and what are they expected to accomplish? Despite their importance, much of what they do remains a mystery because their operations are clandestine and the sources elusive. In The US Special Forces: What Everyone Needs to Know, eminent scholar John Prados brings his deep expertise to the subject and provides a pithy primer on the various components of America's special forces. The US military has long employed Special Forces in some form or another, but it was in the Cold War when they assumed their present form, and in Vietnam where they achieved critical mass. Interestingly, the Special Forces suffered a rapid decline in numbers after that conflict despite the fact that the United States had already identified terrorism as a growing security threat. The revival of Special Forces began under the Reagan administration. After 9/11 they experienced explosive growth, and are now integral to all US military missions. Prados traces how this happened and examines the various roles the Special Forces now play. They have taken over many functions of the regular military, a trend that Prados does not expect will end any time soon. This will be a definitive primer on the elite units in the most powerful military the world has ever known.

This is a comprehensive history of Italian mountain troops (the Alpine infantry "Alpini" and the mountain artillery "Artiglieria da Montagna") from the 1870s to the present. The Alpini suffered a crushing defeat to the Ethiopian army at Adwa in 1896. During WWI, the Italian mountain troops fought against Austrian Gebirgsjager high in the Alps. This fighting, known as the war of snow and ice, involved some of the most demanding mountaineering and high-elevation combat of the modern era. Grueling mountain battles continued during the Second World War, and the Alpini remained ready to fight through the Cold War and beyond. The book addresses unit organization and development, missions, and uniforms and equipment from the inception of these units, through both world wars, and to the present. The narrative history of the Alpini is accompanied by more than 300 photographs. This is the first English-language history of this elite troop.

Trunk Monkeys: The Life of a Contract Soldier in Iraq tells the true story of operators from a private military contractor working in Iraq shortly after the Gulf War. From the perspective of grizzled veteran Lewis Steiner who had left the British Army to join the gold rush in the living hell that was war-torn Iraq, Steiner grew disillusioned about the declining situation in the country as he believed that the joint US and UK invasion had made things far worse. This fascinating and often extremely violent book encompasses the highs and lows of operating throughout the country from Basra in the south up to Mosul in the north. Steiner recounts of friends lost due to negligence and poor planning to the realities of conducting a private war surrounded by civilians who might be the enemy. Ultimately injured in an incident that left two dead, Steiner decides to soldier on due to a misguided sense of duty. Armed with his belt-fed SAW machine gun, Steiner accepted a contract located near Tikrit. The missions rapidly become a death sentence to many of the contract soldiers and dogs of war. In some cases, these missions were pointless, costing men, vehicles and the sanity of brothers in arms. Steiner was in the thick of it from dodging enemy ambushes to taking out a suicide bomber and narrowly escaping death in 'Sniper Alley' collecting cranberry sauce for the US forces on Thanksgiving Day. With the pedal to the metal, his Humvee attracted the unwelcome attention of insurgents who tried to blow him up with RPGs. Forget the fictionalised works of Andy McNab, Tom Clancy and Chris Ryan: this is the real deal. This is a firsthand account of the men who decide to pay the ultimate price, but be warned, this tells the real story that the Government does not want you to know.

The leader of one of the most successful U. S. Marine long range reconnaissance teams during the Vietnam War, Andrew Finlayson recounts his team's experiences in the pivotal period in the war, the year leading up to the Tet Offensive of 1968. Using primary sources, such as Marine Corps unit histories and his own weekly letters home, he presents a highly personal account of the dangerous missions conducted by this team of young Marines as they searched for North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong units in such dangerous locales as Elephant Valley, the Enchanted Forest, Charlie Ridge, Happy Valley and the Que Son Mountains. Taking only six to eight men on each patrol, Killer Kane searches for the enemy far from friendly lines, often finding itself engaged in desperate fire fights with enemy forces that vastly outnumber this small band of brave Marines. In numerous close contacts with the enemy, Killer Kane fights for its survival against desperate odds, narrowly escaping death time and again. The book gives vivid descriptions of the life of recon Marines when they are not on patrol, the beauty of the landscape they traverse, and several of the author's Vietnamese friends. It also explains in detail the preparations for, and the conduct of, a successful long range reconnaissance patrol.

"One could not choose a worse place for fighting the Japanese," said Winston Churchill of North Burma, deeming it "the most forbidding fighting country imaginable." But it was here that the fledgling Office of Strategic Services conducted its most successful combat operations of World War II. Troy Sacquety takes readers into Burma's steaming jungles in the first book to fully cover the exploits and contributions of the OSS's Detachment 101 against the Japanese Imperial Army.

Functioning independently of both the U.S. Army and OSS headquarters--and with no operational or organizational model to follow--Detachment 101 was given enormous latitude in terms of developing its mission and methods. It grew from an inexperienced and poorly supported group of 21 agents training on the job in a lethal environment to a powerful force encompassing 10,000 guerrillas (spread across as many as 8 battalions), 60 long-range agents, and 400 short-range agents. By April 1945, it remained the only American ground force in North Burma while simultaneously conducting daring amphibious operations that contributed to the liberation of Rangoon.

With unrivaled access to OSS archives, Sacquety vividly recounts the 101's story with a depth of detail that makes the disease-plagued and monsoon-drenched Burmese theater come unnervingly alive. He describes the organizational evolution of Detachment 101 and shows how the unit's flexibility allowed it to evolve to meet the changing battlefield environment. He depicts the Detachment's two sharply contrasting field commanders: headstrong Colonel Carl Eifler, who pushed the unit beyond its capabilities, and the more measured Colonel William Peers, who molded it into a model special operations force. He also highlights the heroic Kachin tribesmen, fierce fighters defending their tribal homeland and instrumental in acclimating the Americans to terrain, weather, and cultures in ways that were vital to the success of the Detachment's operations.

While veterans' memoirs have discussed OSS activities in Burma, this is the first book to describe in detail how it achieved its success--portraying an operational unit that can be seen as a prototype for today's Special Forces. Featuring dozens of illustrations, The OSS in Burma rescues from oblivion the daring exploits of a key intelligence and military unit in Japan's defeat in World War II and tells a gripping story that will satisfy scholars and buffs alike.

As elite troops, the German Fallschirmjager (paratroopers) were regularly engaged in front line combat during the Second World War. Their famed actions such as the fighting in Scandinavia, the taking of the Belgian fortress Eden-Emal in May 1940, and the Battle for Crete just a year later, have given them the reputation of being determined, courageous and loyal soldiers. This book continues the pictorial history of the Fallschirmjager, focusing on the period following the bloody Battle for Crete. Used as elite infantry, first in the USSR and then in Africa, the Fallschirmjager were able to reconnect with their glorious past, whether in Italy or on the Greek Islands, as they jumped from their Ju 52s to engage the enemy. Their hard fighting in Italy helped to cement the legend of 'the Green Devils', with the British General Harold Alexander describing them as 'tenacious, highly-trained men, hardened by their many actions and combats'. However, during the fighting in Normandy, the Ardennes and on the Eastern Front, the number of veterans decreased, meaning it was the young German paratroopers who finally surrendered the III Reich on 8 May 1945.

Recent years have seen a growing role for private military contractors in national and international security. To understand the reasons for this, Elke Krahmann examines changing models of the state, the citizen and the soldier in the UK, the US and Germany. She focuses on both the national differences with regard to the outsourcing of military services to private companies and their specific consequences for the democratic control over the legitimate use of armed force. Tracing developments and debates from the late eighteenth century to the present, she explains the transition from the centralized warfare state of the Cold War era to the privatized and fragmented security governance, and the different national attitudes to the privatization of force.