In the concluding part of our compelling series from Andy McNab s Gulf War memoir Bravo Two Zero, the remains of his SAS unit are cruelly taunted by their guards and learn the fate of their missing comrades.
Handcuffed and blindfolded, I was driven out of Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. It was gorgeous weather. I could hear the birds singing. But as so often during my captivity in Iraq, I was full of dread. Do you know where you re going now, Andy? the driver asked as we set off. We re taking you to the British Embassy. You will now be going home to your family.
To mark the anniversary, we are printing extracts from the worldwide bestseller.
Yesterday, McNab related how he was captured after being separated from the rest of his unit just short of reaching the safety of the Syrian border.
In the third part of our compelling series, he finds himself helpless in the hands of Iraqi troops.
The Iraqi squaddies hauled me out and dragged me on my back through some gates and into a courtyard. I remained passive.
If you do the hard-man routine, stick your chest out and say f you, they’ll fill you in again and that’s counter-productive.
In 1991 during the Gulf War, an SAS unit of eight men led by Andy McNab was dropped into Iraq on a dangerous covert mission.
Within days the men were compromised and pursued across the desert three of their number died and one escaped. The remaining four were captured.
Bravo Two Zero, McNab s book about their ordeal, which gripped readers around the world, has sold six million copies and has never been out of print.
Here, to mark the 30th anniversary of its publication, we present the first of four extracts from his compelling story of immense courage, mental strength and superhuman endurance which was, for these men, all in a day s work.