Book description
First in - the official motto of one of the British Army's smallest and
most secretive units, 16 Air Assault Brigade's Pathfinder Platoon.
Unofficially, they are the bastard son of the SAS. And like their
counterparts in Hereford, the job of the Pathfinders is to operate
unseen and undetected deep behind enemy lines.
When British forces deployed to Iraq in 2003, Captain David Blakeley
was given command of a reconnaissance mission of such critical
importance that it could change the course of the war. It's the story of
nine men, operating alone and unsupported, fifty miles ahead of a US
Recon Marine advance and head straight into a hornets nest, teeming with
thousands of heavily-armed enemy forces. This is the first account of
that extraordinary mission - abandoned by coalition command, left with
no option but to fight their way out of the enemy's backyard.
And it provides a gripping insight into the Pathfinders themselves, a
shadowy unit, just forty-five men strong, that plies its trade from the
skies. Trained to parachute in to enemy territory far beyond the forward
edge of battle - freefalling from high altitude breathing bottled oxygen
and employing the latest skydiving technology - the PF are unique.
Because of new rules introduced since the publication of Bravo Two Zero
, there have been no first-hand accounts of British Special Forces
waging modern-day warfare for nearly a decade. And no member of the
Pathfinders has ever told their story before. Until now. Pathfinder
is the only first-hand account of a UKSF mission to emerge for nearly a
generation. And it could be the last. Captain David Blakeley was
second in command of the elite Pathfinder Platoon and fought in the Iraq
war in 2003 and in Afghanistan after 9/11. Before that, with 1 PARA he
saw action in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Northern Ireland and was, at one
point, the youngest Captain in the British Army. After being seriously
injured in Iraq he fought his way back to physical fitness and went on
to undertake SAS selection. He now works as a military consultant to TV
and film production companies. Pathfinder
is his first book. He lives in London.
