Historic Commando Special Operations

Historic Spec Ops Of The Various Elite Special Forces All Over The World

Battle of Mirbat

Defense of a Commando Base Camp Battle Of Mirbat, Dhofar
On 19th July 1972, a 9-Man SAS Batt Team defended the Dhofar Gendarmerie Fort; an SAS Base from 40 Adoo Rebels who had attacked the Sultan Qaboo Regime in Oman. Victory was achieved by the SAS by desperately holding on to a 25-Pound Howitzer despite the odds.

TACTICAL: BATTLE OF MIRBAT, DHOFAR
1. The SAS was stationed at SAS BATT house 400 mts away from the Dhofar Fort and 400 mts away from Mirbat village. There were two dozen Gendarmerie stationed at Dhofar fort. In between BATT house and Dhofar fort lay Walis fort where the Wali of Dhofar resided. 30 local Omani tribesmen formed a perimeter defense for camp. 40 Adoo men surrounded perimeter defense and fired mortars ,MGs and RPGs into BATT house and DG fort .
2. 1 SAS man, Corporal Laba Laba ran and took position at gunpit ( 25 lbs)
3. 40 Adoo suddenly broke cover and moved in through barbed wires.
4. HMG Batt house and DG Police from Dg fort opened fire on them.
5. Corporal Laba Laba defended with 25 pounder gun .His jaw was smashed ,called for help on his walkie talkie .1 SAS buddy , Sevesaki sprinted 400 mts to help him under intense LMG fire.
6. Adoo fired heavily on gunpit .Sevesaki was hit .Laba Laba continued on his own till he died .
7. Capt Mike Kealy –a freshie and Commanding Offr, Baby rupert ran towards the gun along with RMO under gun fire .SAS covered their gun. RMO was killed by stray bullet in the gunpit.
8. Adoo reached close to pit and started grenading. From the skies British strike jets swept low and fired sheet of lead.
9. 3 hrs later SAS troopers arrived on choppers and Adoos fled .
10. The mortars Commander had to clasp mortar against his chest to fire at the very close Adoos !! [ almost vertical]

Hijack Counter Measures & Hostage Rescue – Op Magic Fire

On 17th Oct, 1977, Ten GSG-9 (Gren Schutz Gruppe) German Commandos were involved in the rescue of the hijacked West German Lufthansa 181 in Mogadishu, Somalia from 4 RAF terrorists who wanted the release of Baader & Meinhoff)
NOTE: The Spain to Germany flight, was instead taken to Mogadishu after many stopovers while in pursuit by Commando planes over a 5 day drama. Captain Walter Mahmood wanted 11 terrorists released from a W. Germany Jail, including Baader & his girlfriend Meinhoff (RAF, BMG). They held 82 passengers & 5 crew hostage. Baader Meinhoff Gang was called RAF after 1972. When the hijack attempt failed, Meinhoff hanged herself in prison and Baader shot himself in a West German Jail.
TACTICAL: GSG-9 RESCUE; OP MAGIC FIRE
1. The hijackers gave the final deadline of 40 mins at 0150 hrs before blowing up the plane.
2. GSG-9 followed the hijack plane for 5 days from country to country armed with Pistols, MP5 and G3SG snipers with infrared sights.
3. They slowly approached the airplane at 0200 hrs by crawling stealthily, faces camouflaged. One waited under the nose, one waited under wings and one under the tail.
4. Lightweight metal ladders were placed against right side front & rear doors of the aircraft slowly & explosives attached. Commandos climbed on the wings near the emergency doors.
5. A fire was lit on the runway and the German Secretary of State radioed hijackers & said there was a hitch in giving them their demands to create a diversion. All hijackers gathered together in the cockpit.
6. In the meanwhile, the two doors were ripped apart by frame charge explosives. (These are magnetic, adhesive explosive strips which were attached to the door frame & near hinges, and flexible detonating cord bent all around the frame).
7. Using special cables, the emergency windows of emergency wing doors were lifted up by the commandos and lobbed in two stun grenades which explode with blinding flash and deafening noise,
8. At the same time the Commandos closed their eyes for a few seconds & entered in through the doors with tinted goggles, radio headsets (to prevent noise) and gas masks. They are trained to operate in such environments.
9. The commandos shouted to passengers “everybody down!”
10. Hijackers emerged from the cockpit. They were killed by burst fire from the MP5s.
11. The hijackers lobbed two grenades before dying which luckily exploded harmlessly under the seats in the forward lobby.
12. A female terrorist entered the toilet and fired, but only injured one trooper Commando, before she was shot.

Escape & Evade: Mandol Gun Position

In 1971, a team of 9-PARA SF raided the Mandol Gun Position in PoK against 100 soldiers successfully. They destroyed the guns and escaped back to Indian lines under heavy artillery fire.

Room Intervention Op Darulaman Palace Raid

On 26 Dec, 1979, The Soviet Spetsnaz raided the Darulaman Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan in an attempt to assassinate King Amin. The Palace was guarded by 8 Tanks and Afghan Presidential Guards and troops.
TACTICAL-DARULAMAN PALACE RAID
1. The Spetsnaz came in two transport aircrafts outfitted with afghan uniforms at Kabul airport.
2. The aircraft cargo hold carried vehicles bearing afghan name plates.
3. Meanwhile previous troops had secured the airport.
4. The Spetsnaz sped towards the palace.
5. 8 tanks guarding the palace were destroyed by antitank weapons.
6. Palace gates were rammed by a personnel carrier. It got stuck at the gate and CQB ensued with the Presidential Guards.
7. The Spetsnaz entered the palace with a classic room entry Op. They kicked doors, lobbed grenades & fired at those exiting out.
8. President Amin was shot dead in his bar.
9. CO, Col Bayernov accidently got shot by cutoffs as he exited the palace to call reinforcements! Cutoffs were ordered to shoot anyone leaving the palace.
10. The remaining Afghan troops were shot down by helicopter gun ships.

Hostage Rescue Of Prisoners Op Thunderbolt

On 27th June, 1976, Ten Israeli Commandos were involved in the res- cue of 250 hostages from PLO hijackers and Ugandan Army in Enteb- be Airport, Uganda. PLO Terrorists wanted 52 terrorists imprisoned in Israel, France, West Germany, Switzerland & Kenya to be freed. They hijacked Air France 139 & blamed France for supplying Israel with nu- clear weapons & mirage aircraft.
Note: In a 6 day drama, the Air France 139 from Tel Aviv to Paris, was taken to Uganda after many stopovers. The hostages kept in Old termi- nal bldg were guarded by Ugandan soldiers under order of President Idi Amin who used to come in a black Mercedes to visit the hostages with a convoy of Presidential Guards (and PLO cars with supporters)
TACTICAL: OPERATION THUNDERBOLT ENTEBBE AIRPORT RESCUE
1. The hostages were moved to the Old Entebbe Airport Terminal & were watched by 20 Ugandan soldiers.
2. President Amin of Uganda hand in hand with the terrorists was actually on PLOs side and was credited for the release of 143 hostages out of 250.
3. 3 planes carrying commandos along with diplomat planes took off from Israel towards Entebbe. The Commandos had few personnel who were familiar with Entebbe Airport.
4. From the aircraft, a black Mercedes resembling President Amin’s car was unloaded with an Israeli commando dressed up like the President followed by mock escort cars.
5. As the vehicles started towards the old terminal, the Ugandan soldiers even saluted!
6. Three hijackers were shot by Israelis using silenced Berettas outside the terminal.
7. The fourth hijacker rushed inside but was killed.
8. The CO, Col. Netanyahu who remained outside the building to supervise was killed by a Ugandan sniper.
9. The assault team in charge of VIP lounge found the door locked. They went inside the terminal, entered from the back door to the VIP lounge and killed the 2 remaining terrorists (total 6).
10. During the retreat, the Ugandan soldiers in the tower started firing and killed the CO.
11. Three Armored Personnel Cars arrived from another aircraft & fired at Ugandan soldiers from the control towers.
12. One APC destroyed 10 MIGs stationed at airport to prevent pursuit.
13. A “Golani” infantry unit alighted & set up a perimeter defense.
14. The hostages were quickly filled into waiting aircraft & airlifted after headcount.
15. 4 terrorists were killed in 45 secs + 2 terrorists killed in next 1 min 16. The whole op from landing of 3 C- 130 aircraft took 53 mins only! 17. The Israeli air fleet consisted of :
a. 3 C-130 Hercules with Commandos & APCs infantry
b. 2 C-130 Hercules with fuel & reinforcements
c. 1 C-130 Hercules with Radio Station
d. 1 Boeing 707 – Flying Command – Air Force Gen Benny
e. 1 Boeing 707 – hospital with 33 Doctors
f. 8 Jet fighters
g. 3 Tankers with fuel for jets TOTAL= 19 planes

Room Entry Operation – Op Nimrod

On 30 April, 1980, Twenty two SAS Commandos entered into the 5 Storey Iranian Embassy at Princes Gate, London to rescue 22 Iranian Hostages from 6 Iraqi Terrorists.
Note: Terrorists killed the Chief Press Officer and flung his body out and locked the glass doors of the entrance. The terrorist leader was Amin Ali Mohammad who demanded the release of 92 Arabs from Irani Jails and their safe passage. There were 2 teams of 24 each (22 SAS).
TACTICAL DETAILS: IRANIAN EMBASSY HOSTAGE RESCUE – OP NIMROD
6 Armed terrorists with LMGs, grenades and rifles took 22 Embassy mem- bers in London hostage. Democratic Revolutionary Front demanded re- lease of 92 Arabs from Iranian jails.
1. Police negotiators started talking on telephone and Scotland Yard cordoned 5 storey building, stalled terrorists for 6 days before the SAS moved in.
2. Terrorists killed Chief PRO and threw his body out.
3. Red Team SAS (24 troops) and Reserve Blue Team arrived quietly.
4. At 1900 hrs, the Red Team studied full size building model made by Army Engineers in great detail.
5. Snipers surrounded the building in order to cut out the escaping terrorists during the Op.
6. Snipers fired CS gas inside the first floor balcony to distract the terrorists.
7. The Red Team got on to the tiled roof of the building from the backside via adjacent buildings.
8. Red Team rappelled down from roof and took care of 2, 3, 4 floors.
9. One team of 8 went into the 4th floor “8 went into 3rd floor” 8 went into 2nd floor
10. Abseiling down into the balconys, they used sledgehammers to break the glass panes of windows. The Top Team of 8 blew the sky light and entered the 4th floor.
11. The Blue Team entered by Frame charges on the 1st floor windows by climbing onto the balcony from adjacent buildings as the glass here was bullet proof. Fire broke loose due to the explosives.
12. Sledgehammers were used to enter windows of the basement and 1st floor.
13. Inside they threw stun grenades to deafen and blind terrorists before entering inside with gas masks and headsets. They killed 1 terrorist.
14. Then 3 terrorists assembled hostages in Telex room and started shooting – shot one and injured two – The SAS then stormed in and killed the terrorists.
15. 1 terrorist was killed among hostages trying to lob a grenade (he held it in his hand)
16. 1 terrorist mixed with the hostages and was captured during head count and hostage identification.
17. Entire op took 17 minutes only and was telecast live on UK television.
Statistics:
5 terrorists killed
1 captured
1 PRO killed
1 hostage killed
1 injured
19 hostages rescued

Sabotage Of Enemy Bridge – Op Harling

On 25th Nov, 1942, 200 Commandos of the British SOE (Force 133) demolished Gorgopotomos Bridge Railtrack in Greece guarded by 80 Italians Army Soldiers during World War II.
TACTICAL: OP HARLING – DEMOLITION OF GORGOPOTOMOS BRIDGE
1. Recce party on 21 Nov studied approaches to the bridge.
2. The entire force moved on 24th Nov to a place, 6 hours away from the bridge.
3. 25 Nov at 2300 hrs, one group of 15 Commandos reached 1 km
north of bridge. 2nd group of 15 Commandos reached south of the bridge. Both parties cut telephone lines and prepared charges (British Engineers).
3rd group of 40 nos attacked the south end of the bridge.
4th group of 30 nos attack North end.
4. Demolition group was made of 8 Officers only with explosives on mules.
5. Party One and Two would sabotage Railway line 1 km from bridge only if enemy reinforcements or any train arrives. Then the element of surprise on the bridge would be lost.
6. The battle at both ends was quickly over. The Italians fled and flares (very light) were lit. The Demolition party moved in, took 40 minutes for bringing down steel piers (pillars) and 21 meter steel spans (rail) were brought down and these were destroyed by explosives to prevent reuse during repair. Another 40
minutes was taken for demolishing the other steel piers and span.
7. Italian reinforcements were being held at the North end 11⁄2 km away by an Officer. The railway line, 1km away was blown and signal given for withdrawing.
8. 6 weeks later the Germans repaired bridge and executed 12 Greek civilians as a reprisal.