- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: John Blake Publishing Ltd (30 April 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844543935
- ISBN-13: 978-1844543939
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 534,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"I wouldn't describe it as brave. It was do or die." Martin 'Jock' Wallace."
Product Description
SAS signalman Jock Wallace was pumped. It was the start of Operation Anaconda, the US-led military offensive designed to flush out and destroy Al-Qaeda and the Taliban from their last stronghold in the notorious Shai Kot valley in Afghanistan. Jock was riding into battle alongside 80 troops of the US Army's 10th Mountain Division. If intelligence reports were correct, there were between 100 and 250 enemy fighters holed up in the extensive cave network buried in the mountain ridges around the valley. But reports can be wrong. Minutes after the combat-ready troops stormed down the rear ramps of the Chinook helicopters, Jock's company came under heavy fire from the high ground overlooking their position in a dry riverbed. Pinned down by nearly 1000 enemy fighters in what was later nicknamed Hell's Halfpipe, Jock and his American comrades stared eventual death in the face. Eighteen relentless hours of hell were just beginning. With machine-gun bullets kicking up the dust and rock around their feet, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades bursting among them, and with a quarter of the troops sustaining injuries, it seemed that the soldiers had been cut off and trapped. But there was no way Jock was going down without a fight. Nor were the men he was with. Holding off the enemy at close range, rescuing the injured, dodging the bullets, counterattacking alone, reporting to base, calling up air support - Jock gave all that he had, and more. And as dusk and the enemy began to close in, he was determined he was not going to die on foreign soil, not at the hands of al Qaeda...This is the gripping true story of how an elite SAS soldier fought the fight of his life against the world's deadliest terrorists in the most dangerous corner on earth and came out victorious, a saviour to his fellow troops and a decorated hero in his homeland. It is the clearest account yet of one of the fiercest engagements in the history of the special forces war on terror.
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First Sentence
Jock Wallace was freezing his arse off. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Jock Wallace was freezing his arse off. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Badly told tale of extreme bravery,
By
This review is from: 18 Hours: The True Story of an SAS War Hero (Paperback)
Please don't take my 2 star review as a comment on the extreme bravery shown in this true tale.This relates to Operation Anaconda a mainly US led attack on an Al-Qaeda stronghold in Afganistan. The operation inserted a US force supported by local friendlies and some Aussie SAS into a valley known as Hells Halfpipe and then things started to go wrong. Poor weather, friendly fire and underestimating the enemy forces who should have been flattened by air strikes that did not happen. So you might think this was a typical US led balls up, but actually although there were errors, the guys on the ground (mainly in-experienced) got stuck in and there were many examples of extreme bravery and outstanding personal efforts. Jock Wallace as one of the attached SAS is the main character in this and he represents both his country and his regiment with great honour and deserves all the praise he got. For all the mistakes of Operation Anaconda, this represents the fighting men very well as going beyond their duty to get the job done. What sadly lets this book down is the writing. Written by an Australian journalist it is written 'in Australian' with use of slang and a strange light style. I could have lived with that but the story also jumps around and often repeats itself. One minute you are with Jock Wallace in a fox hole and the next you are dragged back to a chapter about the operational planning and it does distract. Sorry, but the brave exploits of the US soldiers and the Aussie SAS needed better telling then this.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LZ 13 HELLs HALF PIPE; FULL OF FUN AND ADVENTRUE!,
By bigbadmortarman (FT Drum NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: 18 Hours: The True Story of an SAS War Hero (Paperback)
Sandra's well written story of Jock Wallace's experience in Hells Half Pipe is awesome and about as accurate of an account of that battle as you could get. I couldn't put the book down and finished it in a day. I witnessed Jock's bravery several times that day; I have nothing but admiration for him and all the men of the Australian SAS. America has awesome friends and these guys are the tip of the spear. The leaders in 1-87 Infantry were the best I have ever served with and the soldiers were as good as they get. All you have to do as a leader is be willing to take the first step toward the sound of gun fire; Jock did that! Mistakes were made and corrected the next time out; 12 hours after we were extracted from the Pipe the men of the 120mm Mortar Platoon went back out to the valley in full strength this time was pay back; no repeat of 2 March.Peterson Master Sergeant (Retired) 1-87 Infantry Mortarz
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
COURAGEOUS SOLDIER BUT LET DOWN HIS VANITY,
By Ratboyslim32 (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: 18 Hours: The True Story of an SAS War Hero (Hardcover)
The operation this soldier was on and his contribution to it is without rebuke. I truly admire his and the soldiers he served with; their courage. However, reading this book, I did feel a bit of vanity being demonstrated by the story-teller, which you do not get in other SAS-type books, particularly ones written by British SAS personnel.Simply-put, he is trying a bit too hard to be a "soldier's soldier" and in my opinion does not do a very good job. If he had just kept it factual and to the point regarding the heroic operation he was involved in, this book would have been a much better read.
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