The One That Got Away: My SAS Mission Behind Enemy Lines (1998) - Plot & Excerpts
Shortly after reading Andy McNab's engrossing and aptly titled book "Bravo Two Zero", I was impelled to read Chris Ryan's personal rendition of the ill fated British SAS patrol. Bravo Two Zero's mission was to infiltrate and exfiltrate behind enemy lines with a single objective: to eradicate scud missiles. It didn't go quite to plan...Four of the men were captured and held captive, beaten, and starved by the Iraqi "Secret Police" and another three died; two of hypothermia and one in combat...not exactly a summer holiday in Dorking, I'm sure you'll agree. Mike Coburn - the Kiwi of the battalion - conveys his account in his book "Soldier Five" which is commonly discerned to be a much more realistic account of the BTZ Escape & Evasion operation. In other words, no embellishment on his part, unlike McNab's gritty 1993 bestseller and Ryan's caliginous narrative. What struck me initially about "The One That Got Away" was Chris Ryan's impertinent propensity to disparage his fellow patrol member Sgt. Vince Phillips; who was party to the deceased three. Ryan was convinced Phillips lacked the ability to fully function on the mission, and in the book, often berates his skills as a soldier. Despite Ryan's frequent condemnation of Vince's mental (and physical) aptitude, he commends paratrooper Bob Consiglio, another deceased member of the squadron. Therefore, I surmised that Chris didn't necessarily utilise Vince's death as a green light to exonerate himself from his own fallibility, but rather that he simply didn't gel with him. So, the story itself is a gripping, realistic, and awe inspiring contingency. After losing contact with the rest of the patrol, Chris "Geordie" Ryan trekked 180km in search of the Syrian border for safety. While maybe not as eventful as Andy McNab's experience, Ryan sure did go through a hell of a lot, having going without food or water for 7 days - in the Iraqi desert. Fair play to him indeed for maintaining what is required of every SAS soldier: mental and physical endurance, perseverance, determination, valour and skill. He single handedly fought off two Iraqi RV's armed only with a 66 and 203 in addition to concealing his presence in what may as well be described as the middle of nowhere. If you want to know what happened on this mission then I will strongly recommend you read both McNab and Ryan's books as each provide different perspectives of the encounters that the 8 man patrol endured, which was, to put it lightly, not a success. This is an excellent read and I highly recommend it.
I wasn't crazy about this book, it had a bitter, angry tone. I suppose he has a right to be upset, but it's not nice to read. I see some of the other reviewers on here say that he comes across as egotistical... I looked out for that as I read it, but didn't really feel that he was full of himself until the last few pages.The fact that this is from a British perspective threw me. Even though I grew up with British English in our country, I am used to American television and literature. So MANY of the phrases in this book threw me. The English just seemed wrong. So be warned, if you don't like British English this book may annoy you. Phrases like "bollocks" and "knackered" abound.Pros:1. True Military survival2. A first-person account of what went wrong in a SAS mission in Iraq and how he escaped3. There's some survival in there. I say "some", because a lot of it was just laying low and walking at night. (I like survival books that tell you where to find drinkable water, etc, whereas this guy drank nuclear effluent and tried a 2nd sip!)4. There's some action.Cons:1. Bitter, angry tone. Lots of blame gets placed, deserved or undeserved I don't know, but I just don't like to read such angry works.2. I didn't get the humour. There wasn't much. Marcus Luttrell and Chris Kyle managed to add much more humour into their memoires. It's not supposed to be a funny story, true, but it does help to lighten the mood now and then. (However, I did find the room-service bit chuckle-worthy. "Ten cocktails!" "For how many people?" "One." "Which cocktail?" "ALL of them!")3. It's hard to know what is true and what not.4. From this work my basic impression of the British forces is that they are incompetent. I am sure they are not, but from what I read here... Men are sent in without proper gear, there's no clear E+E plan, the intel was wrong, the soldiers don't follow SOP's or orders, they're scared, steal from one another, etc. From all this, they just seem incompetent. Was it just me?5. I didn't like how Vince was portrayed. Sure, if that's what happened, fine... but don't tarnish his reputation by printing it.6. I think he lost me as a sympathetic reader when I read how he killed dogs, other peoples' and his own. 7. British English threw me.All in all, though I do not like Mr. Ryan, I am impressed by his (and his teammates') attempt at escape. It was an eye-opener. Respect.I'll try McNabb's next, but if the tone is the same as this one, I'm putting it down.
What do You think about The One That Got Away: My SAS Mission Behind Enemy Lines (1998)?
Seperti Bravo Two Zero,buku ini juga merupakan sebuah buku memoir separa autobiografi. Namun demikian,pada sudut pandang orang yang berbeza,iaitu Chris Ryan yang juga merupakan salah seorang anggota di dalam patrol 8 orang yang dipanggil Bravo Two Zero (B2Z) ketika Perang Teluk 1991. Chris Ryan merupakan satu-satunya ahli yang terselamat daripada ditangkap dan berjaya melarikan diri ke Syria yang bersempadan dengan Iraq.Saya tidak mahu mengulas mengenai sejarah pasukan kecil B2Z dan misi mereka ini. Anda boleh meneliti dan mengkaji sejarah mereka dengan mencari maklumat yang berkaitan di dalam internet. Sedikit perbincangan mengenai buku ini. Buku ini disusun hampir mirip seperti yang ditulis oleh Andy McNab. Terdapat juga beberapa gambar untuk membantu pemahaman para pembaca.Tidak seperti yang saya gambarkan atau saya sangkakan. Sebelum membaca buku ini,saya banyak mendengar khabar bahawa buku ini mengandungi ego penulis yang keterlaluan. Penulis dikatakan bersifat narcissist (suka membangga-banggakan diri) dan menyerang keperibadian seorang ahli B2Z,Vince Phillips yang dikatakan lemah dan tidak bersemangat ketika melaksanakan misi mereka.Namun demikian,selepas membaca buku ini,saya mempunyai tanggapan yang berbeza sama sekali. Tidak dinafikan,mungkin dia seorang yang agak bangga pada dirinya sendiri. Tetapi,ini tidak bermakna dia seorang yang pentingkan diri sendiri. Di beberapa ketika,seperti yang dinyatakan olehnya sendiri,dia berasa menyesal kerana tidak melakukan perkara yang lebih baik untuk membantu Vince.Secara keseluruhannya,ini merupakan sebuah buku memoir separa autobiografi yang baik mengenai B2Z khususnya. Buku yang sudah mencapai status klasik ini harus dibaca oleh mereka yang sukakan kisah-kisah pengalaman perang tentera.
—Hilmi Isa
I read the Andy McNab book, "Bravo Two Zero" and thoroughly enjoyed it so thought that I would read this too as it was about the same mission. I usually enjoy Chris Ryan's books more than McNab's as I personally prefer his writing style. I enjoyed this book and was glad I read it but for once I preferred McNab's version, although that doesn't take away anything from this one. I would recommend that anyone read both books because they both tell tales of extremely brave men who survive in the most extreme conditions. I don't think that I have read two braver tales and the fact that it is real makes it even more amazing.
—Grace
As the companion to Bravo Two-Zero this provides another point of view of the events that took place in Iraq during the first Iraq war. The major difference is that the author was one of the three which got separated from the other five members of the squad and was the only one to actually escape Iraq.It is always worthwhile seeing the same events from different points of view, as all memories are coloured by perspective. The main difference in these two accounts is that Andy takes most of the responsibility upon his own shoulders, whereas Chris blames others. This difference is going to draw you more to one account over the other depending on how you react.I wasn't taken with the 'blame' approach that Chris takes on in the earlier part of the book and I was alienated. When he then goes on to relate his solo exploits until he is safely back with his units, I am drawn more into his story. It gives an excellent insight into physical and mental hardships and damage that the extreme conditions inflicted upon Chris. It also shows the, at times, unbelievable situations that he has to endure with various British officials and officers - the head of the Jordanian secret police who is an object of abject terror to his countrymen treats him infinitely better than one of his own countrymen!Definitely worth a read, but it must be read with at least Bravo Two-Zero to get a more rounded view of events.
—James
