"SAS: A Soldier's Story" & "McNab's Tour

[just_me]

Just watched both of these on ITV4, I think they are series and although some of you may have heard/ already seen them, it's all new to me.

21:30-22:00 - SAS: A Soldier's Story
Doc about the SAS, was a bit skeptic about it but it was fine. A bit short, this one was about the SAS taking out Scud Missiles in the Gulf War.

22:00-23:05 McNab's Tour of Duty
This is a Doc presented by Andy McNab, about various contacts. This one was about Cimic House with the PWWR (Princess of Wales Royal Regiment). Found this familiar as I just finished reading Sniper One less than a month ago. It has to be said though, the programme was a bit cheesy, other than that it was fine.

Umm...anyone catch these as well today or any other time?
I think it's a series, not sure when the next ones are on though.

....thanks for reading

[lil_dinger_bell]

Sounds like some good piece of entertainment...with the key word being entertainment.

The SAS are very tight lipped when it comes to thier endevours but black-balled ex SAS embellishers & falsifiers like Mcnab do make for some entertaining stories...even if they're not true.

[mark.f]

Do you have any idea when part 2 of andy mcnabs tour of duty is on?

[just_me]

Well there's a repeat of yesterdays on Sun, 15 June, ITV4 at 22:00.
The Part Two is on Tue, 17 June, ITV4 at 22:00 also.

SAS: A Soldier's story is on Mon, 16 June, ITV4 at 22:30. This one is:
"First-hand accounts of the bloody battle of Mirbat, which took place in Oman during 1972"

Another one is on Tue, 17 June, ITV4 at 21:30. This one is:
"The gruelling training programme, including a reconstruction of a week-long escape and evasion exercise"

[AJtothemax]

Focused mainly on CIMIC house in Al Amarah in 2004. The brave lads of Y Company. The next one is definately worth a look.
Buy Sniper One if you don't already have it.

[davidemmerson]

Sounds like some good piece of entertainment...with the key word being entertainment.

The SAS are very tight lipped when it comes to thier endevours but black-balled ex SAS embellishers & falsifiers like Mcnab do make for some entertaining stories...even if they're not true.

Before you slag McNab off, you might like to consider he's got further in the military than you have, as of yet.

What ever happened during Bravo Two Zero will probably remain unknown, but at the end of the day a SAS patrol got lost behind enemy lines. Sure, he may have written Immediate Action and Bravo Two Zero with a pinch of salt but who are you or I to argue with him? His fiction books, are in my opinion a god read, but they aren't going to set the literary world alight. He's made a lot of money through them (fiction books), good on him.

What about Chris Ryan? His face is on TV, he's written a book on Bravo Two Zero and he's also written a string of fiction books. Plus he helped with the first series of Ultimate Force. Do people accuse him of being a 'falsifier'? No.

At the end of the day dinger, it's TV. Get over it. Yeah McNab might have been a bit gangster-ish on the programme with the hand movements but so what? He's not slagging off the SAS, the Army, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's simply a bit of bloody TV, doesn't show the British forces in a bad light. In fact, it's the opposite, puts them in a good light.

I admit that I don't know how the MOD/SAS/Army or his former colleauges view him having become a 'minor' celebrity in his 'field of expertise' or his programmes et al or what the 'unwritten rules' are regarding this. Sure, loads of ex-soldiers don't go down the same road as McNab but so what if McNab has decided too?

It's TV, not even on a prime channel nor during prime time viewing. Don't get so worked up over it.

David

[lil_dinger_bell]

I don't slag off his accomplishments just the fact that he lies in his books when claiming it to be real (Bravo Two Zero). And so did Chris Ryan in The Real Bravo Two Zero so I would call him a falsifier,.... Just Me didn't mention him so I thought I would leave him out.

[quote]Before you slag McNab off, you might like to consider he's got further in the military than you have, as of yet.[quote]

I have never been a scientist but I can rightly slag one off that falsifies his findings just for fame.

He can right fiction books until he's blue in the face but my slagging starts when he falsifies true stories,making himself look like a cowboy..especially when real people died in the process.

Also I protest the fact that he writes the majority of his books (fiction or not) based on missions he has done or heard of men doing. (drug dens of Columbia). There is a strict code of honour in the SAS which states the necessity for one keeping thier mouths shut...and that's why he's blackballed. I know this from a reliable source who has servedwith both. His old troop wont even speak to him.

I never said he put the SAS or UK in 'bad light' ( I guess you just made that up) - I'm emerely talking about Mcnabb.

And I'm not geting worked up (if you re-read my first post it's clearly a light hearted jab at the man)..maybe I am a littleworked up now but thats form your poor reasoning skills...if anything my light-hearted message got you a little worked up no?

[aspinall]

And also he was on Big Brother doing a task so there....

[AJtothemax]

He was in the SAS. Enough said. What average person is going to approach that bloke and say "you're a w*nker for publishing Bravo Two Zero" or something to that effect. Bollocks would they.
Lot's of brave keyboard warrior's on here isn't there!
Before that he was in the Royal Green Jackets which also had a reputation for being a f*cking hard bunch of blokes anyway.

Stop banging on about that sort of stuff. We'll never know what happened and who's talking the real deal. So why bother?

[davidemmerson]

Ding,

I'm so sorry my 'poor reasoning skills' got you so worked up, you must have a pretty short fuse.

Light hearted jab? If I called you a falsifier, I doubt you would find it so funny.

I still find it odd how you are so sure that Bravo Two Zero has been 'falsified' or whatever you want to call it. As I mentioned before, I haven't taken every word in his books as gospel but doesn't mean I think he is bullshitting.

Does he make himself look like a cowboy? I didn't think so, maybe when you read it you were already reading it from a biased point of fuse?

As for the fiction stuff, some of it is based on SAS missions? Lets face it, stuff about the SAS is so widley known that anyone with half a brain could write a book 'based' on SAS missions.

David

[lil_dinger_bell]

I will say this and move on because there are alot of 'keyboard warriors' out there who could continue this debate with little knowledge, as you two have proven.

Im basing my opinions and comments on an ex SAS soldier who is dear to me, who I trust greatly, and who has worked with 'Andy'....and the couple survivng soldiers who were caught on that fateful night.

And yes 'Andy' does portray himself like a cowboy, claiming he "stole a car and got into a giant firefight with a patrol during a routine road stop -point." When in fact he asked for a ride and wasn't confronted by any armed patrol....same goes for Ryan when he claims to have blown up a three car convoy (but thats a whole other matter because no one was there to validate).

HE HAS MARIT BECUASE HE IS IN SAS,don't get me wrong, but he claims his Bravo Two Zero story to be 100% true when it's not. I don't care too too much about his fiction work. It's when he claims non-fiction while falsifying truth.

And I don't have a short fuse, I just like a healthy debate.


In sum, he's a great soldier, bieng a troop commander of the SAS (one of thehardest things to do in the world) but he lost alot of respect by his men when he lied about bravo 2 zero, and aired SAS news....thats all.

[jammin87]

Dinger - I'm not getting into this as what do I know, but a couple of questions.

The parts about "McNab" asking for a ride - was that in Michael Asher's book? And the same with Ryan and the three car convoy? Or were some parts from Asher's book, and others perhaps told to you by the near and dear from stories swapped after the war (as in the two of them told their stories around the mess or whatever, and then a few years later their printed versions were released)?

It's been a few years since reading Asher. I remember that at the time, reading it about five years after reading Bravo Two Zero (in Canada incidentally), it was a pretty big let down to the image my 13 year old mind had built up.

[lil_dinger_bell]

To tell you the truth mate I do not know. My near and dear was in the regiment with all of the soldiers from the Bravo Two Zero patrol. And considering he is a busy busy man that doesn't have time to read I am assuming he is getting his information frist hand from his mates and the suvivors, save ryan and mcnabb.

And its funny because the same happended to me. I read B2Z while travelling and loved its real grit....but I was deflated when I got home to hear of its imbelishments.

[Artist]

My Oppo Sgt Vince Phillips was a member of B20. He died on his own in the middle of a blizzard when the patrol split up due to McNabs lack of leadership skills and was made out to be an overweight past his sell by date waste of space by Mr McNab and Mr Ryan. His family were mortified to see and hear what was written about Vince by his so called "Friends" as were his "Real Friends".

Vince was a soldiers soldier. He joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corp. Did the All Arms Commando course, P coy and the SAS selection course and passed them all with flying colours. He was one of the fittest people I've ever met. A great Rugby Player. In fact Vince excelled at everything he did.

It's just a shame that he can't come back and set the record straight with those two gentlemen.

R.I.P. Vince, someday the truth will come out mate.

Artist

[lil_dinger_bell]

Sorry to hear that Artist.

I guess we will leave it at that out of respect.