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  Version 1.0

  Epub ISBN 9781409046721

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

  A RED FOX BOOK 978 1 849 41346 6

  First published in Great Britain by Red Fox,

  an imprint of Random House Children’s Books

  A Random House Group Company

  This edition published 2010

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Copyright © Chris Ryan, 2010

  Adapted for younger readers from The One That Got Away,

  first published in the UK in 1995 by Century, an imprint of Cornerstone,

  a Random House Group Company.

  The right of Chris Ryan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

  Red Fox Books are published by Random House Children’s Books,

  61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA

  www.kidsatrandomhouse.co.uk

  www.rbooks.co.uk

  Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:

  www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

  THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP Limited Reg. No. 954009

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  For Sarah

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Also by the Author

  About the Author

  Reader Notes

  Map

  Glossary

  1 Stand by . . . Stand by . . . Go!

  2 Bravo Two Zero

  3 Insertion

  4 Contact!

  5 Disaster Strikes

  6 Down to Two

  7 Looking Back

  8 Down to One

  9 Boxing Clever

  10 Echoes of Africa

  11 Them or Me

  12 Over the Border

  13 Safe or Sorry?

  14 The Secret Police

  15 Friends in High Places

  16 Back to Base

  17 Counting the Cost

  Author Note

  Prologue

  Part One

  Chapter 1

  Also available by Chris Ryan, and published by

  Random House Children’s Books:

  CODE RED

  Flash Flood

  Wildfire

  Outbreak

  Vortex

  Twister

  Battleground

  ALPHA FORCE

  Survival

  Rat-Catcher

  Desert Pursuit

  Hostage

  Red Centre

  Hunted

  Blood Money

  Fault Line

  Black Gold

  Untouchable

  Published by the Random House Group for adult readers:

  NON-FICTION

  The One That Got Away

  Chris Ryan’s SAS Fitness Book

  Chris Ryan’s Ultimate Survival Guide

  Fight to Win: Deadly Skills of the Elite Forces

  FICTION

  Stand By, Stand By

  Zero Option

  The Kremlin Device

  Tenth Man Down

  Hit List

  The Watchman

  Land of Fire

  Greed

  The Increment

  Blackout

  Ultimate Weapon

  Strike Back

  Firefight

  Who Dares Wins

  One Good Turn (Adult Quick Read for World Book Day 2008)

  • Joined the SAS in 1984, serving in military hot zones across the world.

  • Expert in overt and covert operations in war zones, including Northern Ireland, Africa, the Middle East and other classified territories.

  • Commander of the Sniper squad within the anti-terrorist team.

  • Part of an 8-man patrol on the Bravo Two Zero Gulf War mission in Iraq.

  • The mission was compromised. 3 fellow soldiers died, and 4 more were captured as POWs. Ryan was the only person to defy the enemy, evading capture and escaping to Syria on foot over a distance of 300 kilometres.

  • His ordeal made history as the longest escape and evasion by an SAS trooper, for which he was awarded the Military Medal.

  • His books are dedicated to the men and women who risk their lives fighting for the armed forces.

  Dear Reader,

  The thing I am asked most about when I meet you and do talks and events is my time in the SAS – especially the Bravo Two Zero mission during the Gulf war in 1991.

  It’s now almost exactly twenty years since I walked out of the Iraqi desert. Over my seven-day escape, I lost over sixteen kilos in weight, my gums had receded so that the roots of my teeth were exposed, my nails had all fallen off and my mouth was constantly burning.

  It is apparently the longest escape and evasion in SAS history. But I didn’t understand why I was given a medal afterwards – or the other guys from Bravo Two Zero, for that matter. There were soldiers who stayed more than forty days behind enemy lines and took part in big actions. They didn’t get medals. My friends Stan and Dinger didn’t get medals.

  I coped because I knew what I had to do. It was something I was trained to do, and I did it. Although I had reached the edge of my physical and mental limits, I stayed alert. I avoided capture.

  When you’re given a task to do in the SAS, you get on and do it. I did just that.

  So here it is. This is my story. I hope you enjoy it.

  GLOSSARY

  Bergen

  Haversack

  Bivvy bag

  A cross between a sleeping bag and a tent

  Casevac

  Casualty evacuation

  CO

  Commanding officer of the regiment

  Comms

  Communications

  Contact

  In action against the enemy, using weapons

  Director, the

  Officer commanding Special Forces, generally a brigadier

  Dishdash

  Cotton robes, worn by people in the Middle East who live or work in deserts

  DPM

  Disruptive pattern material camouflage clothes

  Escape map

  A lightweight map with basic details, carried on operations

  FMB

  Forward Mounting Base

  GPS

  Global positioning system

  Gulf War

  A war between Iraq (led by Saddam Hussein) and 34 coalition countries who were against the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. It lasted 2 August 1990–28 February 1991

  Int

  Intelligence

  Laager point

  A camp, especially one surrounded by a ring of vehicles

  Loadie

  Crewman on RAF military flight

  LUP

  Lying-up point

  Mag

  Weapons magazine, holding roun
ds

  NBC

  Nuclear, biological and chemical

  OC

  Officer commanding the squadron

  OP

  Observation post

  Regiment, the

  The SAS

  Rounds

  Bullets

  RV

  Rendezvous

  Sangar

  Fortified enclosure

  Satcom

  Telephone using satellite transmission

  Scuds

  Missiles, transported and fired from mobile launchers

  Shamag

  Shawl used by Arabs as a headdress

  SOP

  Standard operating procedure

  SP Team

  Special projects or counter-terrorist team

  SQMS

  Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant

  SSM

  Squadron Sergeant Major

  Stand By

  To get ready for action

  Stag

  Sentry duty

  Tabbing

  Progressing at speed across country, often with heavy loads

  TACBE

  Tactical rescue beacon

  TEL

  Transporter-erector-launcher vehicle

  Wadi

  A watercourse in a desert region; dry, except in the rainy season

  Zero a weapon

  To set your sights to ensure the weapon is accurate

  MILITARY HARDWARE

  Tristar

  Aircraft used for air transport and in-air refuelling

  Hercules

  Large plane, used for troop transports

  Chinook

  Helicopter with two rotary blades

  B-52

  US bomber plane

  WEAPONS

  203

  Combination of 5.56 calibre automatic rifle (top barrel) and 40 mm grenade launcher below

  .50

  Heavy machine gun

  66

  Disposable rocket launcher

  AK-47

  Assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Kalashnikov

  Claymore mines

  Anti-personnel mines; unlike more conventional landmines, the claymore fires metal balls like a shotgun

  GPMG

  General-purpose machine gun, also known as a ‘gympi’

  LAW 90

  Rocket launcher

  Minimi

  5.56 calibre machine gun

  M19

  Rapid-fire grenade launcher

  SA80

  British small arms (Small Arms for the 80s); includes rifles that are the standard issue for the British Army

  ‘You have personally made SAS history.’

  General Peter de la Billière,

  Director of UK Special Forces,

  Commander in Chief British Forces

  Our target was a disused mental hospital.

  Five terrorists were inside, holding nine hostages captive. After a three-day siege, matters were moving swiftly to a head.

  As commander of the SAS eight-man sniper team of ‘B’ Squadron, I was in charge of seven other men. We were positioned with our rifles at observation points in outhouses, trees and on the ground. Two men were watching each face of the hospital and sending back running commentaries over their throat-mike radios to the command centre. This had been set up in a separate building 200 metres from the front door. Each face of the hospital had been given a special code so that everyone knew which bit they were talking about.

  From the command centre a police negotiator was talking to the chief terrorist. The terrorist was demanding safe conduct to Heathrow airport for himself and his colleagues; otherwise he would shoot one of the hostages. Meanwhile, the military officer commanding the SP (Special Projects, or counter-terrorist) team was working out how to attack the building if the negotiations failed.

  Suddenly a shot cracked out from within the hospital. A hostage had been executed. The terrorists called for a stretcher party to take the body away. The front door opened briefly, and a limp figure was bundled out. A four-man team ran over to collect it. Then the chief terrorist threatened to kill another hostage in half an hour if his demands were not met.

  The moment had come for the police to hand over to the military. The police chief signed a written order passing command to the OC (Officer Commanding) of ‘B’ Squadron, the senior SAS officer present. The OC then gave the three eight-man assault teams their orders. The moment he had finished, the men moved to their entry points.

  Now it was just a question of waiting for my snipers to get as many terrorists in their sights as possible. Listening to our commentaries on the radio, the OC suddenly called out the order we’d all been waiting for:

  ‘I have control. STAND BY . . . STAND BY . . . GO!’

  For the past two days the grounds of the old hospital had been eerily silent. Now the whole place erupted into action. Two vehicles screamed up to the building and a swarm of black-clad assaulters jumped out. Explosive charges blew in the windows. Within seconds, a Chinook helicopter was poised above the roof and more black figures were fast-roping out of it, abseiling down to the windows or entering through the skylights. Stun grenades blasted off; smoke poured out. The radio carried a babble of shots, shouts, explosions and orders.

  In a matter of minutes the building had been cleared, the five terrorists killed and the remaining eight hostages rescued. The assault commander reported that he had control, and command was formally handed back to the police.

  On this occasion, this had all been just an exercise – but as always, the assault had been realistic in every detail, and had been excellent training. Just another day for the Regiment, as members of the SAS refer to themselves. And exactly the kind of task we could at any time be called upon to perform, efficiently and explosively. Practice was essential.

  ‘Well done, everybody,’ the OC told us. ‘That was pretty good.’

  We packed our kit into the vehicles and set out for SAS headquarters in Hereford. But on the way events took an unexpected turn.

  It was 2 August 1990, and on the news we heard that Saddam Hussein, the tyrannical leader of Iraq, had just invaded Kuwait, a small country on his southern border.

  ‘So what?’ said one of the guys scornfully. ‘Saddam’s an idiot.’

  ‘Don’t be too sure of it,’ said someone else. ‘It’ll make big trouble, and we’ll probably find ourselves out there.’

  He was right. Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait was the opening salvo of the 1990–1991 Gulf War. I don’t think any of us realized just how this news would change our lives.

  For the next two months, nobody knew what was going to happen. The leaders of different governments around the world got together to discuss the situation and the UN Security Council called for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait – and gave them a deadline. When the Iraqis did not leave Kuwait, a war was inevitable. In total thirty-four countries joined together in a coalition to oppose Saddam Hussein. These countries included not only the USA and Great Britain but also Arab countries in the Middle East region, like Egypt and Syria.

  ‘A’ and ‘D’ Squadron went out to the Gulf for build-up training; but me and my mates in ‘B’ Squadron were told we wouldn’t be going, as it was our turn to take over what are known in the SAS as team tasks – assignments for which small teams of men are needed in various parts of the world.

  The SAS is made up of four squadrons – A, B, D and G. Each squadron is made up of four troops – Air Troop, Mountain Troop, Boat Troop and Mobility Troop. There should be sixteen men in each troop, but because it is so difficult to get into the SAS, there are often as few as eight.

  Rumours started to fly. Some people said we might become sky-marshals on civilian flights to the Middle East. It would mean pretending to be normal passengers, but in fact carrying weapons to deal with any terrorist who might attempt a hijack. The idea seemed quite likely – on the SP team we’d done lots of assaults on and inside aircraft, so we knew what to do.
r />   But then, a week before Christmas, we were dragged into the briefing room at Hereford and told that half of ‘B’ Squadron was going to deploy to the Middle East after all.

  That meant me.

  When I heard the news, I went home and said to Janet, my wife: ‘Listen, we’re heading out.’ Normally, as so many missions are top secret, SAS guys say nothing to their wives and families about what they’re doing, but in this case it was obvious where we were going. After Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait, there had been so much coverage on television and in the newspapers, our destination could only have been the Gulf.

  Christmas was not a relaxed time. The Regiment was stood-to throughout the holiday period, and we were busy getting our ‘green’ kit ready. In the SAS, ‘green’ refers to normal military operations, as opposed to ‘black’ work, like that on the SP team, for which you wear black gear from head to foot. I’d been in black roles for at least three years, so now I brought my webbing and bergen home to paint them in desert camouflage colours. We were having an extension built onto our house, and a builder called John was digging the footings. Seeing me at work outside, he came up and asked what I was doing.