Stories of Special Forces Operators

In September 2000, British special forces launched a daring rescue operation deep inside Sierra Leone after an armed militia known as the West Side Boys captured eleven British soldiers. The mission brought together the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service, and Parachute Regiment in a coordinated helicopter assault against heavily armed insurgents holding hostages in the jungle. This episode examines Operation Barras, the intelligence gathering, military planning, and extraordinary combat that turned a hostage rescue into one of Britain’s most celebrated modern special operations missions.

In September 1943, German commandos launched one of World War II's most audacious rescue operations, landing gliders on a remote Italian mountaintop to free imprisoned dictator Benito Mussolini. The mission involved Luftwaffe paratroopers, SS personnel, and Otto Skorzeny, a German officer who would later become one of Nazi Germany's most famous commandos. This episode examines Operation Oak, the extraordinary mountain assault, the deception that prevented a firefight, and how Nazi propaganda transformed a carefully coordinated military operation into the legend of one man.

In February 1943, a small team of Norwegian commandos crossed the frozen mountains of occupied Norway to destroy a facility producing heavy water, a substance important to Nazi Germany’s nuclear research program. Operating under British Special Operations Executive direction, the saboteurs infiltrated the heavily guarded Vemork industrial complex, planted explosives, and escaped without suffering a single casualty. This episode examines Operation Gunnerside, one of World War II’s most remarkable sabotage missions, and how a handful of specially trained resistance fighters disrupted a strategically important component of Germany’s nuclear ambitions.

On March 4, 2002, a nighttime insertion into Afghanistan’s Shah-i-Kot Valley turned into one of the most desperate battles of the early war on terrorism. What began as an effort to establish a reconnaissance position became a deadly engagement involving Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Air Force combat controllers, and pararescuemen fighting against entrenched al-Qaeda militants. This episode examines the Battle of Takur Ghar, also known as the Battle of Roberts Ridge, and the intelligence failures, communications problems, and extraordinary acts of courage that cost seven Americans their lives.

On July 19, 1972, a small detachment of British Special Air Service soldiers and their Omani allies found themselves defending the coastal town of Mirbat against a much larger communist-backed insurgent force. Armed with rifles, machine guns, mortars, and an aging 25-pounder artillery gun, the defenders fought a desperate battle that would become one of the most celebrated engagements in SAS history. This episode examines the Dhofar Rebellion, the extraordinary actions of the defenders, and the tactical decisions that helped a small force withstand a determined assault.