Image Gallery
Most of the images in this gallery have never been published, and they provide a rich backdrop to the books. They have either been taken by the author, his friends and colleagues, or - particularly in the case of Bloody Heroes, for example - by those depicted in the books themselves.
Cobra Gold | Operation Certain Death | Bloody Heroes | Slave | Desert Claw
Cobra Gold
Operation Certain Death
Including images from Operation Barras itself - the training and the assault - from Sierra Leone during and after the civil war, and from the rebel bases of the West Side Boys as they are today.
View Operation Certain Death Image GalleryBloody Heroes
I was provided with hundreds of photographs taken by the soldiers themselves of the operations portrayed in Bloody Heroes. A small selection of these were printed in the book. These images bring a reader closer to the reality of life as a Special Forces soldier than perhaps anything else is able to. They reflect the immense hardship and physical challenges these men fought and operated under, and the harsh beauty of the landscapes within which they operated. Sometimes, they give a sense of the brutal intensity of the battles, a feel for the loss of a wounded fellow soldier. Occasionally, they catch the unique humour of the moment – for a sense of humour is vital to what these men do. A selection of further images is available on this website, in the Photo Gallery section.
View Bloody Heroes Image Gallery
Niall Adams, an ex-SAS soldier and close friend, painted some images of the battle of Qala-I-Janghi itself. In the past, Niall had painted images of the SAS assaults in Sierra Leone under Operation Barras, and several other SAS missions. These paintings are included in Bloody Heroes and they show the British Special Forces soldiers and their Afghan allies – the soldiers of the Northern Alliance – in action during the first day of the fort siege, when they were fighting against overwhelming odds for their very survival. Much of the raw ferocity of that firefight comes through in these images, when some two-dozen British and US Special Forces soldiers had to stop 600 enemy breaking out of the Qala-I-Janghi fort. View these powerful images on this website under the Paintings Gallery section.
View Niall Adams Gallery.Slave
Including fascinating images from Mende Nazer's life today - her friends, work and fun times - plus some of the Awards and accolades she has received in the UK, Germany and elsewhere.
View Slave Image GalleryDesert Claw
Some of the research images behind the book Desert Claw, including the vehicles featured and the Van Gogh painting in question.
View Desert Claw Image Gallery