Operation Mayhem, Steve Heaney, MC
Operation Mayhem, Steve Heaney, MC
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

Operation Mayhem

Author: Steve Heaney, MC, Damien Lewis

Narrator: Steve Heaney, MC

Unabridged: 12 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/16/2023


Synopsis

'Captures the confusion, black humour, raw courage and sheer exhilaration of combat brilliantly' THE TIMES

'Read this account of his stint with the 26-man strong X Platoon in the sweltering jungle, living on grubs, outnumbered 80 to one, battling heavily armed rebels with bamboo sticks and home-made grenades, and you'll be asking the question... Why wasn't he given TWO MCs?' SUNDAY SPORT

2,000 blood-crazed rebels. 26 elite British soldiers. One man's explosive true story.

Airlifted into the heart of the Sierra Leone jungle in the midst of the bloody civil war in 2000, 26 elite operators from the secret British elite unit X Platoon were sent into combat against thousands of Sierra Leonean rebels.

Notorious for their brutality, the rebels were manned with captured UN armour, machine-guns and grenade-launchers, while the men of X Platoon were kitted with pitiful supplies of ammunition, malfunctioning rifles, and no body armour, grenades or heavy weapons.

Intended to last only 48 hours, the mission mutated into a 16-day siege against the rebels, as X Platoon were denied the back-up and air support they had been promised, and were forced to make their stand alone. The half-starved soldiers, surviving on bush tucker, fought with grenades made from old food-tins and defended themselves with barricades made of sharpened sticks.

Sergeant Steve Heaney won the Military Cross for his initiative in taking command after the platoon lost their commanding officer. OPERATION MAYHEM recounts his amazing untold true story, full of the rough-and-ready humour and steely fortitude with which these elite soldiers carried out operations far into hostile terrain.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Igor on February 17, 2018

An excellent military book. This is the British version of Black Hawk Down, with a happy ending. Pathfinders, a hardy group of special forces (they claim they are tougher than SAS) are sent to Sierra Leone to stop the bloodthirsty RUF from overrunning the international airport while the evacuation of......more

Goodreads review by John on January 11, 2021

I'd previously read X platoon by the same authors, the narrative has the same taught quality which goes over detail without assuming prior military knoweldge and without feeling like it's dumbing anything down. Some parts of X platoon are duplicated in short detail (giving background as to Heaney's......more

Goodreads review by DAVID NEWMAN on May 17, 2022

One word would actually suffice for this review: compelling. I just couldn't put it down. I'd read Steve Heaney's first book just before this and Operation Mayhem follows on seamlessly with a minimum of repetition. I know I'm biased, having been brought up with the belief that we have the best armed......more

Goodreads review by Scott on December 30, 2018

This book excelled beyond all expectations, its reads very well and is captivating from start to finish. Gave a great insight into an elite British army unit I knew next to nothing about. The descriptions of combat are candid, Left me wanting a lot more, but it sticks true to actual events. Really e......more

Goodreads review by Abdul on December 18, 2022

It reminds me of the seven Samurai defending a village but in this case its 26. The main action starts from pages 180 onwards, before that it's all about preparation, strategy etc not to forget the banter with Lieutenant Mojo, so comical.......more


Quotes

Sergeant Steve Heaney captures the confusion, black humour, raw courage and sheer exhilaration of combat brilliantly. This book is one of the best accounts of low-level tactical soldiering since Fred Majdalany's WW2 classic Patrol. But Heaney tells a broader tale that has rarely been captured so well... I commend it to the professional soldier and layman alike. THE TIMES

'... read this account of his [Steve Heaney] stint with the 26-man strong X Platoon in the sweltering jungle, living on grubs, outnumbered 80 to one, battling heavily armed rebels with bamboo sticks and home-made grenades, and you'll be asking the question... Why wasn't he given TWO MCs?' Sunday Sport