No Mean Soldier

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Because of the secretive nature in which the SAS is run – for all the right reasons – it’s sometimes very hard for the collector to find out the story behind the medals, but not in this case. It’s all there in the books. “This group represents a unique insight into the tough world of a professional soldier.” McAleese, Peter (2015). Beyond No Mean Soldier (an updated and more detailed revision of No Mean Soldier) . Helion & Co., Ltd. ISBN 978-1-910294-01-7. I’m just an ordinary person who happened to find himself doing extraordinary things,” he says. “I mean that from the bottom of my heart. They are the classic British troops dropped behind enemy lines and working undercover – no different to the modern SAS. “From a collectors’ point of view, whenever groups like this come on the market they’re always sought after because of the story to tell. Former SAS trooper Peter McAleese is bidding a farewell to arms – in fact his entire archive documenting his explosive career is coming up for auction in Lichfield. What's going under the hammer...

Peter McAleese who is bidding a farewell to arms – in fact his entire archive documenting his explosive career is coming up for auction in Lichfield. The divorced dad-of-three has decided to part with the archive after downsizing to a one-bed flat in his adopted Birmingham, where he once ran The Gunmakers Arms pub.Beyond No Mean Soldier: The explosive recollections of a former Special Forces Operator', publisher's profile of P. McAleese". 2019. Archived from the original on 28 August 2015 . Retrieved 24 January 2019. Interview with McAleese, 'Pathfinder Company, S.A.D.F.', published on Youtube 9 March 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gxumw_iSAg&t=381s He left the British Army in 1969 and after a stint on the North Sea oil rigs in 1975, took up a new career as a professional soldier fighting in the Angolan Civil War on behalf of the National Liberation Front of Angola, even assuming command of the formation after the capture of British mercenary Costas Georgiou, who was executed by firing squad following the Luanda Trial. Associated Press filmed interview with McAleese, 'McAleese on mercenaries' killings', recorded 18 February 1976. Published on YouTube 23 July 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-lWbwYMIks That’s when he completed the legendary selection course to become a member of 22 Regiment SAS. McAleese subsequently went to train with US Special Forces at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, one of the first SAS troopers to complete HALO parachute training with the US Green Berets.

I’ve had a great life. I’m extremely happy at the moment and I have a marvellous relationship with my family. McAleese has detailed his extensive experiences in several books, including the stone-cold classic No Mean Soldier. a b c d Interview audio tape (No.15433) with Pater McAleese, Sound Archive, Imperial War Museum, 1995. Peter enlisted with the British Army's Parachute Regiment in Aberdeen in 1960 at the age of 17. After basic training at the Parachute Regiment's Aldershot depot, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment's mortar platoon.

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He enlisted in the Parachute Regiment in Aberdeen at the age of 17 and after basic training became a member of the 1st Battalion Mortar Platoon until 1962. In early 1977, McAleese moved to Rhodesia and enlisted with the Rhodesian Special Air Service, being assigned to its 'A' Squadron, fighting in the Rhodesian Bush War with the rank of a non-commissioned officer. In 1979, he joined the British South Africa Police's Special Branch operating in South Rhodesia. In 1964 he re-joined the SAS and served with 'D' Squadron's 16 (Air) Troop in Borneo and in the Aden Emergency.

In 1962 Peter transferred to 'D' Squadron, 22 SAS, where he served with the squadron's Mobility troop in Aden. After a few months he was Returned to Unit from the SAS for disciplinary reasons, re-joining 1 Para, where he was posted to Bahrain and Cyprus in 1962–64. In early 1977, McAleese went to Rhodesia where he enlisted with the Rhodesian SAS as a non-commissioned officer. Two years later, he joined the Special Branch in South Rhodesia and in 1980 enlisted with the South Africa Defence Forces 44 Parachute Brigade, where he served as colour sergeant. Read More Related Articles Beyond No Mean Soldier" does exactly that, going deep and further beyond the experience of "No Mean Soldier". Over many months and into the early hours, McAleese reflected on his wide and expansive experiences - the men he's served with and the operations he'd conducted. Here in startling detail are the Aden insurgency, covert operations with the Rhodesian SAS and one of the first ever operational HALO inserts in British military history. Heart pumping assaults on SWAPO positions with 44 Para's Pathfinder Company and the sheer terror of flawed mercenary operations in Angola with the likes of 'Colonel Callan'; near death in Colombia when an assassination attempt went terribly wrong. At the end of the 1980s he spent two years working for government forces in the Colombian drug wars, joining a covert operation to locate and “deal with” narcotics baron Pablo Escobar.In 1969 Peter resigned from the British Army. Peter was involved in the Hilton Assignment project, being recruited by James Kent and David Sterling of Watchguard, as team leader. This was an attempt to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi, by raiding one of his prisons in Libya and releasing a large group of political prisoners who would then join in with an already in progress coup. However it was stopped by the American CIA after they applied pressure to the Italian and British Governments. At that time it was thought that Gaddafi was anti communist and would be friendly to the west. How wrong they were. In the 1970s Peter left the United Kingdom for Africa, where he was a mercenary soldier in the Angolan Civil War for several months in 1976, fighting for the National Liberation Front of Angola, assuming command of the formation after the capture of Costas Georgiou.

McAleese’s personal collection goes under the hammer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers’ Fine Arts and Specialist Sale on Saturday, March 24. Taking place at The Lichfield Auction Centre, Fradley Park, the collection includes his three-bar General Service Medal, dedicated simply to “Trooper SAS”. He added: “I’ve ended up with quite a lot of personal militaria relating to my career and there was just too much stuff – it was just gathering dust.”Parachute Regiment, Special Air Service, the Rhodesian Special Air Service, British South Africa Police, 44 Parachute Brigade In later life Peter became an author publishing 2 books "No Mean Soldier" and "McAleese's Fighting Manual". He served three prison sentences in the early 1970s following convictions for violence and was incarcerated at HMP Gloucester. On release from prison for the third time he left the United Kingdom for Africa, where he was a mercenary soldier in the Angolan Civil War for several months in 1976, fighting for the National Liberation Front of Angola, assuming command of the formation after the capture of Costas Georgiou. [4] [3]