"How many are they?" The reply came in the finest traditions of accurate
situation reporting, "f***ing hundreds of them!" Mirbat, South Oman,
July 19, 1972 is one of the least-known yet most crucial battles of
modern times. "SASOperationStorm "is the inside story told by those who
took part of the greatest secret war in SAS history. The tipping point
was Mirbat, a secret battle which defines the world we all live in
today. If the SAS had been defeated at Mirbat, the Russian and Chinese
plan for a communist foothold in the Middle East would have succeeded,
with catastrophic consequences for the oil-hungry West.This is a
page-turning account of courage and resilience. Mirbat was a battle
fought and won by nine SAS soldiers and a similar number of brave local
people some as young as ten years old outnumbered by at least twenty
five to one. Thousands of bullets, rockets, shells, mortars, and
grenades were fired in a six hour fire-fight of staggering intensity,
the tipping point in a clandestine war which went unreported at the
time. Roger Cole, one of the SAS soldiers who took part, and writer
Richard Belfield have interviewed every SAS survivor who fought in the
battle from the beginning to the end the first time every single one of
them has revealed their experience. The authors have also talked to many
other survivors from both sides, including the pilots who flew with the
SAS, the SAS soldiers who joined the battle towards the end, and some of
the insurgents who fought against them."SASOperationStorm" is a classic
story of bravery against impossible odds minute by minute, bullet by
bullet."
