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SAS: Sea King Down

By: Mark Aston, Stuart Tootal
Narrated by: Simon Darwen
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The thrilling, edge-of-your-seat true story of one soldier's Special Forces operations in the Falklands War.

After passing the world's toughest Special Forces selection to get into D Squadron, 22 SAS, in 1979, Mark 'Splash' Aston thought he'd missed out on all the action. Too late to fight with the SAS in a decade-long secret war in Oman, when terrorists then seized the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980 Splash missed out again when responsibility for the counter-terror role was passed to their comrades in B Squadron just weeks earlier.

Then on April 2nd 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.

Days later D Squadron were on their way south as the cutting edge of Britain's campaign to retake the islands. And over the next six weeks of fighting, as one extraordinary episode followed another, the action never let up.

From the 100 mph winds and minus 25 degree temperatures atop South Georgia's Fortuna Glacier to a foxhole on West Falkland operating under the noses of the enemy, Splash and the men of D Squadron fought in contact after contact. And in doing so they burnished the legend of the SAS with the astonishing assault on the Argentine airfield on Pebble Island that decimated the enemy's ground attack capability and, in the dead of night, prevailed in their vicious close quarter battle with Argentine Special Forces defending Mount Kent.

But it was an event that was out of their control that came close to defining D Squadron's war: the night their Sea King helicopter crashed into the South Atlantic with 31 people on board. Splash was one of just seven survivors of a tragedy that caused the heaviest loss of life to the Regiment since World War II. Evacuated to a hospital ship to recover from his injuries, he defied orders and a suspected broken neck to escape back to his unit and rejoin the fight until it was won.

This is the remarkable story of Splash's war, but it feels like a thriller. An unstoppable, edge-of-the-seat insight into still classified Special Forces operations during the Falklands War, SAS: Sea King Down will take its place alongside classics like Bravo Two Zero as military adventure writing of the highest order.

©2021 Mark Aston, Stuart Tootal (P)2021 Penguin Audio
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What listeners say about SAS: Sea King Down

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A belting good book. !!

I have been listening to this book whilst commuting to and from work. It is read at a good pace, clearly voiced allows time to visualise what was happening to "Splash" and his colleagues. Thanks for sharing it. It's an eye opener and certainly makes you think about what we perceive as annoying day to day issues when compared to the exploits of 19 and 22 SAS and of course all the other regiments involved.

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superb

enjoyed every minute, highly recommended. an incredible story of bravery & valour under extreme circumstances

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Great listen

Sea King Down gives a great insight into the special forces operations that happened during the Falklands Conflict. It also shares the feelings and reflections of the individual soldier in a humble way that other books in the SAS genre do not.

The performance was clear and well read, but clearly not by someone with military knowledge.

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Straight to the point

Listened to this after reading Vulcan 607, and wanted to learn a little more about the war in the Falklands. It is a really interesting read/listen, no nonsense language and really engaging. Also good to hear about the experience of the Navy and their living conditions during the conflict. Narration is top class

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Honest and thrilling account

A thrilling and honest account of SAS soldiers at war in the Falklands. A lot more to the book than just the helicopter crash. Well worth a read or listen.

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Interesting take in life in the SAS during the Falkland campaign

An interesting story from one who lived and fought through the campaign. Showing the struggle of military life, the losses, the highs, lows and commitments of those who give so much for freedom of those they may never meet.

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More than a helicopter crash or three

This story gives a much wider perspective of the Falklands conflict than the title implies. Throughly good read/listen. A few lapses in the narrator’s knowledge of military slang pronunciation only slightly detract from the overall performance. I really don’t understand why the publisher doesn’t run the recording past the author to check such things.

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Really enjoyed this…

Last audio book on the falklands was MH’s brilliant work and great to hear he turned up in this one too!
40 years on and I was a snotty first year when this all went off, great to hear this account really enjoyed it.

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incredible

Amazing story of survival, triumph and tragedy during the 1982 Falkland conflict. Utterly absorbing

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.

Great story of the lads from D Squadron. Gripping from start to finish. Really enjoyed it

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