MRF Shadow Troop cover art

MRF Shadow Troop

The Untold True Story of Top Secret British Military Intelligence Undercover Operations in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1972-1974

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MRF Shadow Troop

By: Simon Cursey
Narrated by: Johnathan Rufus Welsh
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About this listen

Some thought it stood for "Military Reconnaissance Force", others "Mobile Reconnaissance Force". Many people thought it didn't exist at all....

For decades there has been argument in the media and amongst politicians about the possible existence and extent of a shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland. MRF Shadow Troop confirms there was such an agenda in the early, chaotic days of British military intervention across the Irish Sea. But amongst the mountain of speculation there is little of any accuracy or authority relating to this period.

The speculation about the unit's name and mission only added to the uncertainty amongst their targets: members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the IRA, the provos. Simon Cursey was recruited into the Military Reaction Force - the unit's true name - in 1972. This book is his personal account of his time with the group and in it he reveals the truth about their operations-the briefings, missions, political wrangling, and government-sanctioned law-bending.

MRF Shadow Troop is a fascinating, exciting but above all accurate historical audiobook about the pioneers of counter-terrorism.

©2013 Simon Cursey (P)2021 Tantor Military & War Military Northern Ireland

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All stars
Most relevant
An absolute
cracking read.
A look into the world of undercover warfare
During the the troubles in Northern Ireland in the seventies.

Outstanding

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I loved it. Told very well by the narrator. I was glue from start to finish, definitely one to go back to

100% true story. Told as it happen in the early 70s.

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Impossible to put down. The undercover war on British soil in the 1970s between a highly secret British Army unit and then the world's most deadly terrorist organisation. The author is the real deal and doesn't pull any punches about how he and other tough men dealt with tough situations when coming up against a murderous terrorist organisation, with many members who were actual psychopaths. Much is made of the so called shoot to kill policy the army operated then , but the terrorists had a shoot to kill policy. This book also touches on the ironic situation of many of the relatives of those terrorists now trying to use the British legal system to prosecute the men who neutralised those terrorists who despised the British legal system and murdered without warning or mercy.

gripping account of a vicious undercover war

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An audiobook I couldn’t switch off!!! A brilliant insight into a group of exceptionally brave men standing toe to toe with a ruthless unforgiving enemy during the mayhem of 1970’s Belfast …Hugely enjoyable

Outstanding!

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I really enjoyed the story as a whole as there were lots of intricate details such as songs that were in the charts, news headlines,which celeb was dating who, makes and models of cars etc…..
Great knowledge and memory of the authors time spent in the province doing this dangerous undercover work.
The worse thing I didn’t like was the narrator. Every paragraph of so u could hear the noise of his saliva as he opened his mouth to read the next line, never heard that before in an audiobook and almost made me give up listening 🤬.
All in all a great book.

Great knowledge/memory of Northern Ireland

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