Peter McAleese (born 7 September 1942) is a Scottish former soldier and

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

. He served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's Parachute Regiment and

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

(SAS), the

Rhodesian Special Air Service The Rhodesian Special Air Service or Rhodesian SAS was a Rhodesian special forces unit. It comprised: *C Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment (Malayan Emergency (1951–1953) *"C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service (1961–1978) *1 (Rhodes ...

and

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, from ...

, and South Africa's

44 Parachute Brigade 44 may refer to: * 44 (number) * one of the years 44 BC, AD 44, 1944, 2044 Military *44M Tas, a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II *44M Tas Rohamlöveg, a Hungarian tank destroyer design of World War II, derived from the 44M Tas ta ...

. As a mercenary or contractor, he worked in countries including South Africa, Angola, Colombia, Russia, Algeria and Iraq. He is the author of the book ''No Mean Soldier''.

Early life

Peter McAleese was born into a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, within sight of

Barlinnie Prison HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, ...

, and spent his childhood years in the city's

Shettleston Shettleston ( sco, Shuttlestoun, gd, Baile Nighean Sheadna) is a district in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name 'Shettleston' is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a multi ...

district. Growing up he was often beaten by his father, who had served in the military and had a reputation for being an aggressive fighting man, which contributed to Peter's use of fighting to solve conflicts later in life.

Military career

McAleese enlisted with the British Army's Parachute Regiment in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in 1960 at the age of 17. After basic training at the Parachute Regiment's

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

depot, he was assigned to the

1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment The 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (1 PARA), is a battalion of the British Army's Parachute Regiment. Along with various other regiments and corps from across the British Armed Forces, it is part of Special Forces Support Group. A specia ...

's mortar platoon. In 1962 McAleese transferred to 'D' Squadron,

22 SAS The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

, where he served with the squadron's Mobility troop in

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

. After a few months he was

returned to unit Returned To Unit or RTU refers to a military member being returned to their home base or home unit, either due to their being medically unfit, their requesting to be withdrawn from training, or their being unfit for training or otherwise disorderly. ...

from the SAS for disciplinary reasons, re-joining 1 Para, where he was posted to

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

in 1962–64. In 1964 he re-joined the SAS and served with 'D' Squadron's 16 (Air) Troop in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

and in the

Aden Emergency The Aden Emergency, also known as the Radfan Uprising (), was an armed rebellion by NLF and FLOSY during the Cold War against the Federation of South Arabia, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, which now forms part of Yemen. Partly inspire ...

. In 1968 he was again returned to the Parachute Regiment by the SAS for disciplinary offences related to violent disorder, rejoining 1 Para, which he served with from 1968 to 1969 as a sergeant-instructor. In 1969 McAleese resigned from the British Army.Interview audio tape (No.15433) with Pater McAleese, Sound Archive, Imperial War Museum, 1995
He served three prison sentences in the early 1970s following convictions for violence and was incarcerated at HMP Gloucester. On release from prison for the third time he left the United Kingdom for Africa, where he was a mercenary soldier in the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

for several months in 1976, fighting for the

National Liberation Front of Angola The National Front for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola; abbreviated FNLA) is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independenc ...

, assuming command of the formation after the capture of Costas Georgiou. In early 1977, McAleese moved to

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

and enlisted with the

, being assigned to its 'A' Squadron, fighting in the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...

with the rank of a non-commissioned officer. In 1979 he joined the

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

operating in South Rhodesia. After the fall of Rhodesia in 1980, he enlisted with the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

, where he served as a Warrant Officer Class 2 to 1984. He assisted with the creation of a new

pathfinder Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder ( ...

reconnaissance unit, and took part in the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

Security contracting career

In the mid-1980s McAleese set up a family home in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, and became an employee of the COIN Security Group, a military/police private contractor based in South Africa. After a near-death parachuting display accident, he moved back to live in the United Kingdom. At the end of the 1980s he spent two years as a security contractor working for the government forces in the

Colombian Conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left gue ...

. In the mid-1990s he worked in Moscow as a bodyguard training instructor, and undertook security work in Algeria and Iraq for several years. McAleese was contracted in 1989 by the Colombian

Cali Cartel The Cali Cartel ( es, Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca. Its founders were the brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. They broke away fr ...

to assassinate their rival,

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...

. He and his team of mercenaries failed in their attempt, which was the subject of the 2021 UK documentary film ''Killing Escobar''. Filmed interviews with him and some of his colleagues form the core of the narrative.

Retirement

In his latter years McAleese was a pub landlord in England. In 1993 he published his memoir, entitled ''No Mean Soldier'', which has been reprinted several times.'Beyond No Mean Soldier', Helion Company publisher's profile of P. McAleese (2019). https://www.helion.co.uk/beyond-no-mean-soldier-the-explosive-recollections-of-a-former-special-forces-operator.html

Publications

* * *McAleese, Peter (2015). ''Beyond No Mean Soldier'' (an updated and more detailed revision of ''No Mean Soldier''). Helion & Co., Ltd. . *

References

External links

* https://www.petermcaleese.com/ Personal website
Training Russian Bodyguards
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAleese, Peter British Parachute Regiment soldiers British mercenaries Foreign volunteers in the Rhodesian Security Forces Rhodesian Special Air Service personnel South African military personnel of the Border War People of the Angolan Civil War Special Air Service soldiers Military personnel from Glasgow 1942 births Living people British South Africa Police officers