''Bravo Two Zero'' is a 1993 book written under the pseudonym '

Andy McNab Steven Billy Mitchell, (born 28 December 1959), usually known by the pseudonym and pen-name of Andy McNab, is a novelist and former British Army infantry soldier. He came into public prominence in 1993 when he published a book entitled '' Bra ...

'. The book is a partially fictional account of an SAS patrol that becomes compromised while operating behind enemy lines in Iraq, in 1991. The patrol was led by the author and included another writer, '

Chris Ryan Colin Armstrong (born 1961), usually known by the pseudonym and pen-name of Chris Ryan, is an author, television presenter, security consultant and former Special Air Service sergeant. After the publication of fellow patrol member Andy McNa ...

Controversy

The content of the book was criticised by fellow

Bravo Two Zero Bravo Two Zero was the call sign of an eight-man British Army Special Air Service (SAS) patrol, deployed into Iraq during the First Gulf War in January 1991. According to Chris Ryan's account, the patrol was given the task of gathering intelli ...

patrol member, Malcolm MacGown, who stated "incidents such as teeth extraction and burning with a heated spoon did not happen. It is inconceivable that any such incidents could have occurred without them being discussed or being physically obvious". Michael Asher's investigative book ''The Real Bravo Two Zero'' criticised McNab's estimation of the number of soldiers the patrol encountered. According to Asher, the patrol never actually encountered soldiers, only police and armed civilians. According to the book, at one stage, the patrol evicted all occupants from a taxi and drove until they reached a military checkpoint, where Lane shot and killed one soldier, while the others in the group killed two more. According to patrol member Chris Ryan's second-hand account (presumably taken from the Regimental debrief), the group were actually driven to a police checkpoint by one of the Iraqi occupants of the taxi. They discreetly exited the vehicle with plans to rendezvous on the other side of the checkpoint, but the driver alerted the police, and the group was forced to continue on foot. Asher's investigation supported Ryan's version of events with no reported soldiers, no reported armed contact, and no reported Iraqi casualties. The SAS's

Regimental Sergeant Major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by warrant officers class 1 (WO1) in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, including Australia ...

at the time the book is set, and fellow

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

veteran Peter Ratcliffe said of the book (and of '' The One That Got Away'' (1995), "

t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...

insensitive on yan'sand cNab'sparts to hide behind pseudonyms when they named their dead colleagues in their books, in deliberate contravention of the Regiment's traditions". Ratcliffe further wrote in his own book, ''Eye of the Storm'', "I was somewhat taken aback by many of cNab'sanecdotes. He made no mention of the meetings he had with the CO and myself nwhich we tried to persuade him to take a vehicle or cut down on the amount of kit the patrol would be carrying". As with Asher, Ratcliffe also cited McNab's estimate of 250 enemy casualties as counter to any proven theory of military kill ratios, but most importantly, the figure was never mentioned in any of the Regimental debriefs given by McNab at the time.

Subsequent introduction of confidentiality agreements

One of the effects of the book's publication and other memoirs resulted in the MoD introducing confidentiality agreements. These meant that serving members could no longer publish memoirs or accounts without the prior agreement of the MoD. Soldiers who refused to sign these agreements faced being RTU'd: the author of ''

Soldier Five ''Soldier Five – The Real Truth About the Bravo Two Zero Mission'' is the third book about the Bravo Two Zero mission during the Gulf War to have been written by a member of the eight-man patrol involved. It is published under the pseudonym " ...

'' was pursued through the New Zealand courts to stop the publication of his book. Those who did publish their experiences, or were suspected of having been sources for journalists, were blacklisted and cut off from any association with Hereford.Neville, Leigh, ''The SAS 1983–2014 (Elite)'', Osprey Publishing, 2016, , p.29,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bravo Two Zero (Novel) 1993 British novels Books by Andy McNab British novels adapted into films Novels set during the Gulf War Works about the Special Air Service Bantam Press books

Controversy

Subsequent introduction of confidentiality agreements

See also

References