Sierra Leone is a former British colony in West Africa, about the size of Scotland and has been wracked by civil war since 1991, when rebels calling themselves the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) attempted to bring down the government. A militia calling itself “The West Side Niggaz”, later amended to “The West Side Boys”, originally fought on the rebel side but later changed allegiance to the government and were expected to assimilate into the newly reformed Sierra Leone Army, but they refused and began operating as bandits from the abandoned villages of Magbeni and Gberi Bana on opposite sides of Rokel Creek.
Like many African militia groups, the West Side Boys were a dangerous mix of ex soldiers and civilians with little discipline and greatly influenced by American rap and gangsta style music. They were heavy users of marijuana and heroin, bought with conflict diamonds. Many members of the group were children, abducted after their parents were killed by the “recruiters” while others were forced to participate in the killing of their families to brutalise and dehumanise them. It was thought that the gang’s total strength was around 600, but that some 400 were in the two villages.
The gang terrified local inhabitants by dressing up in monkey skins, abducting children for rape, torture and mutilation. Their motto was “What makes the grass grow? Blood, Blood, Blood”. Their camp also contained captured male villagers used as servants as well as women sex slaves. The gang revelled in the notoriety raised by their savage activities and played up to the media, including the BBC, who wrote about them, describing their bizarre clothing such as pink sunglasses, shower caps, women’s wigs and flip flops and being almost permanently drunk.
By May 2000, the RUF controlled large areas of the country and began advancing towards the capital Freetown and, by doing so cut the road between it and the main airfield at Lungi. At the government’s request, British forces were deployed to Sierra Leone, initially in a non combatant role, tasked with aiding the evacuation of foreign nationals, particularly those from Britain or Commonwealth countries. British troops from 1st Para secured the airport and surrounding areas to aid the evacuation. Within two days the majority of those wishing to leave had gone, but following the British arrival, many chose to stay. British personnel and aircraft remained ready to evacuate any entitled persons who had been unable to reach Freetown earlier and to evacuate the British High Commission if the security situation deteriorated.
Following the evacuation the British mandate began to expand, assisting in the rescue of besieged peacekeepers, plus aiding the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (known as UNAMSIL) and the Sierra Leone Army (SLA).
On the 17th of May, British paratroops came into direct contact with the RUF when the rebels attacked British defences at Lungi Loi, a village a few miles from the airport. The village was garrisoned by the Para’s Pathfinder Patrol who opened fire on the group of some 40 rebels and radioed back to Lungi for support. Two Chinook helicopters inserted Paras from C Company plus a mortar team and then strafed the surrounding bush to suppress enemy fire. An army Gazelle flew overhead spotting for the mortar team as they pounded the RUF with high explosives. The Paras were also helped by a unit of Nigerians operating under the UN who protected the village’s rear approach. The RUF hurriedly withdrew leaving four dead and a number of wounded. Harriers from HMS Illustrious stationed off the coast, flew patrols over the area to deter any further attacks.
Having secured Freetown and Lungi, the Paras left and were replaced by a Short Term Training Team (STTT) whose mission was to train and rebuild the Sierra Leone Army. In July 2000, the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment were sent to take over from the outgoing 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment. On the 25th a patrol of 1st Irish was sent out to check on a unit of Jordanian peacekeepers attached to UNAMSIL, based at the village of Makiaka. While there, they were told by the Jordanians that, despite their earlier reluctance, the West Side Boys militia were now prepared to disarm and the commander, Major Alan Marshall, against standing orders decided to divert the patrol to investigate en route back to their base.
The patrol turned off the road and on to a track that led to Magbeni, the village where the West Side Boys were based, but as they approached the village the track was blocked by a Bedford truck with an anti aircraft gun mounted on it. The patrol halted and was quickly surrounded by a large group of West Side Boys who forced them into canoes on Rokel Creek and took them to Gberi Bana, the village on the other side of the creek, threatening to kill them as part of a plan to drive the British from Sierra Leone. The rebels then issued a number of wild demands in return for the release of the patrol.
British forces in Sierra Leone were operating under the authority of the Sierra Leone government, but President Ahmad Kabbah gave permission for the British to conduct their own negotiations for the patrol’s release. The commanding officer of 1st Irish, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Fordham and a small group met with the rebel leader, the self styled “Brigadier” Foday Kallay to negotiate the release of the patrol. Talks dragged on and at the meeting on the 29th August, Fordham demanded proof that the captive soldiers were still alive. Kallay produced two officers from the patrol group, Major Marshall and Captain Flaherty who, while shaking hands with Fordham, secretly passed him a sketch map of Gberi Bana, showing the layout of the village and the building in which the soldiers of the patrol were being held.
Two days later Fordham managed to negotiate the release of five of the hostages in exchange for a satellite phone and some medical supplies. Kallay stated that the remaining prisoners would not be released until all his demands had been met and used the phone to contact the BBC for a lengthy interview and to outline a series of demands which included immunity from prosecution, safe passage to the UK to take up university courses and guaranteed acceptance into the Sierra Leone Army.
The behaviour of Kallay and his men during the negotiations was erratic, due to their prolonged use of cannabis and cocaine and made progress difficult because the drugs made the gang forget previous discussions. The British were fearful that the gang might simply take the hostages and disappear deeper into the bush where the task of rescuing them would be impossible and began to make plans for a rescue mission which they called Operation Barras.
It was originally intended that a surprise attack by SAS and SBS forces would be launched, but given the size of the gang and the two locations on both sides of the river, the operation could not be carried out by Special Forces alone and it was decided to deploy a company of paratroops to support the mission. Soldiers from A Company, 1st Para, commanded by Major Matthew Lowe, plus some specialist units including signals group, snipers, heavy machine gun sections and a mortar section, were ordered to prepare for action and moved to South Cerney in Gloucester where they were briefed on the mission and then flown to Dakar in Senegal to be close when required.
British planners realised that should the West Side Boys learn of
troops arriving in the area, they might well just kill the hostages, so it became important that no news of the deployment leaked out. Meanwhile units from the SAS and SBS infiltrated the area around the two villages and began to gather intelligence of layout and numbers as well as identifying landing sites for helicopters.
Planners looked at various ways to attack the two bases and finally decided that the insertions would be made with three CH 47 Chinooks from the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing (JSFAW), plus two Lynx Mark 7 attack helicopters from 657 Squadron Army Air Corps and a Mil-24 Hind gunship flown by local forces.
By the 5th of September, the British press were speculating that an operation would be launched to free the remaining hostages and reported the next day that British forces had arrived in Sierra Leone. The interest surrounding the arrival of the Paras allowed D Squadron, 22 SAS with SBS support to enter the country without notice.
The SAS team established a base at Hastings, a village 30 miles south of Freetown and were joined by the 130 Paras of A Company. At Hastings, the Paras began live firing exercises and rehearsed various scenarios in a scale replica of Magbeni which had been constructed at the camp. This also gave an opportunity for them to acclimatise to the tropical heat and led commanders to the decision that the Paras would go into battle with minimal equipment to reduce the risk of heat exhaustion, excluding weapons and ammunition, they would carry only water and field dressings.
On the 9th of September, the rebels announced that the remaining 6 members of the Royal Irish, who had now been held for over a fortnight, would only be released after a new government was formed in Sierra Leone. On the same day, the SAS/SBS team near the West Side Boys base reported that they had seen no sign of the captives for the last four days. British commanders decided that an assault would be made at first light the next day. The two villagers were to be attacked simultaneously, the SAS and SBS to take Gberi Bana where the hostages were held and the Paras to attack Magbeni and prevent the rebels there from coming to the aid of those across the creek. The SAS were also tasked with the extraction of Lieutenant Musa Bangura, an SLA liaison officer attached to the original patrol, plus a number of Sierra Leone civilians who were being held by the West Side Boys.
The task force left Hastings and flew towards the rebel base, then stayed in a holding position to give the SAS observation teams time to get into position to prevent the West Side Boys from attacking any of the hostages before the extraction teams could land.
Once this had been achieved, the helicopters proceeded up the line of Rokel Creek, flying low enough that the downdraft tore the corrugated tin roofs off many of the huts in the village including the one holding the hostages. As the Chinooks approached, the SAS observation teams opened fire on the base while attack helicopters strafed the area of both villages.
Over Gberi Bana, the SAS/SBS assault fast roped to the ground and immediately came under fire from the West Side Boys, one bullet hitting Trooper Bradley Tinnion in the chest leaving him seriously wounded. He was dragged back to a helicopter by his comrades and flown to the RFA Sir Percival stationed off the coast, but died en route.
The SAS fought their way through the village, crushing all resistance and capturing those who surrendered, including the leader, Fodey Kallay. The hostages identified themselves by shouting “British Army!, British Army!” and were collected up and evacuated, but it proved more difficult to locate Lieutenant Bangura. He was found in a squalid open pit which had been used by the rebels as a lavatory and had been beaten and starved during his captivity. In less than 20 minutes after the arrival of the SAS, the hostages were evacuated from the area.
The rebel prisoners and bodies were airlifted to the Jordanian UNAMSIL base where the bodies were to be identified and buried. Those prisoners identified as West Side Boys were to be handed over to the Sierra Leone government. The rescued civilians were also taken to the base for identification.
While Gberi Bana was being attacked, the third Chinook carrying part of the Para force arrived over Magbeni, hovering low as the Paras jumped from the tail ramp. They had been warned by the observation teams that the ground was wet, but found themselves jumping into a chest deep swamp. They quickly waded out and gained the cover of the tree line. As the Chinook returned with the remainder of the Paras, it came under machine gun fire from the village. An Army Air Corps Lynx helicopter strafed the area and silenced the gun.
The group began to move towards the village when a mortar shell exploded, injuring seven men including Major Lowe. A signaller called in a casualty report and one of the Chinooks collecting from Gberi Bana, landed on a nearby track and evacuated the wounded men.
The Paras then attacked the village, each platoon assaulting a different cluster of buildings to which they had been assigned during training in the replica village at Hastings. The rebels fought fiercely and, high on drugs, were without fear. The Paras located and secured the rebel’s ammunition store and once all the buildings had been secured, the Paras took up defensive positions around the village and laid Claymore mines in the approaches in case of a counter attack. Patrols were then sent out into the surrounding jungle to search for any escaping rebels. By 8.00, the village was completely secure and the troops set about destroying rebel vehicles including the Bedford truck that had blocked the track. The Paras also recovered the Royal Irish patrol’s Land Rovers which were slung under the Chinooks and removed. The Paras were picked up and flown to RFA Argus, the last leaving at 2.pm.
Troper Tinnion was the only fatal casualty in the battle, but twelve others were wounded. The British government were unwilling acknowledge that Special Forces wee involved in the action and also played down the rebel casualties which stood officially at twenty five, with an unknown number probably killed in the jungle strafing by the gunships. Information released later however, confirms that the rebel death toll was much higher. The Special Forces troops remained in the area for a further 4 hours, seeking out those rebels who had escaped the initial assault. A captured rebel survivor recalls that he could see laser sights moving across the trees and heard the British soldiers shouting, “Come out West Side Boys, Come out if you are a f*****g man”.
Soldiers were said to have taken pictures of themselves posing beside rows of bodies. The corpses were collected up and buried in mass graves while others were thrown into Rokel Creek. Others were simply left where they fell.
The MOD later released a statement noting that, “The West Side Boys fought fiercely and engaged in sporadic follow up fighting for some time while the UK forces were preparing for self extraction”. It is thought that the true death toll was around 200. The Jordanians confirmed that in the following few days, over 350 rebels surrendered to them and the power of the West Side Boys was broken.
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