![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/army1-6538889.jpg\" "\\"West")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Members of the West Side Boys militia in Sierra Leone in 2000 (Image: Getty )<\/p>\n
Within seconds they were surrounded. Hundreds of men burst from the jungle on either side of the convoy of British Army Land Rovers. Behind them, a truck mounted with a heavy machine gun covered the only route of escape. This was the moment things went horribly wrong for 11 soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment who found themselves ambushed by militants in war-torn Sierra Leone.<\/a><\/p>\n The unit had been on a peacekeeping operation on August 25, 2000, when they turned down a track on their way to a remote village and came face-to-face with the notorious West Side Boys \u2013 infamous for lopping off the limbs of their enemies with machetes. Now hordes of the furious, hollering rebels had encircled the soldiers and were trying to fight them for their weapons. Army training in an ambush is to \u201creact instantly\u201d recalls Ian Getty, then a 20-year-old Ranger serving his first overseas deployment.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOne of my mates went to shoot, which is a pretty standard drill, but just at that moment, the Boss said \u2018no\u2019.\u201d That call probably saved the lives of the 11 men and their local interpreter, Musa. But their fate was now in the hands of one of the most feared and unpredictable insurgent groups in Africa. What unfolded over the next 17 days would change the course of history for the West African nation and send shockwaves which still resonate to this day.<\/p>\n Read more: The beautiful country that\u2019s the \u2018Hawaii of Africa\u2019 with golden beaches and 30C <\/a><\/p>\n Read more: Incredible map shows UK military bases around world – full list of 42 countries <\/a><\/p>\n Ian Getty was just 20 when his patrol was taken hostage in Sierra Leone (Image: Supplied )<\/p>\n It was codenamed Operation Barras and, earlier this year, a memorial was unveiled to Bombardier Bradley Tinnion, 28, who was mortally wounded while taking part in the rescue.<\/p>\n Back in 2000, the UK and UN were supporting and training the military of the former British colony of Sierra Leone. Then Prime Minister Tony Blair had agreed to aid the Sierra Leonean government in a brutal civil war against fighters from the Revolutionary United Front, and a breakaway faction \u2013 known as the West Side Boys.<\/p>\n Ian\u2019s deployment had started off \u201cpretty standard\u201d, serving as \u201cguard duty\u201d at a camp where British troops were training the Sierra Leonean Army about 30 miles north of the capital Freetown. \u201cAll the action had been happening up country a little bit, the RUF and the West Side Boys were maniacs,\u201d he recalls. \u201cBut they weren\u2019t coming into Freetown or at us.\u201d<\/p>\n That would change on August 25.<\/p>\n The ambush happened along the Rokel Creek, the largest waterway in Sierra Leone, which is bordered by thick impenetrable jungle, dangerous shifting mudflats and mangrove swamps.<\/p>\n Having subdued their captives, a UN helicopter flew overhead and \u201cspooked\u201d the WSB who transported the captured men in boats to one of their village strongholds, Gberi Bana. Ian, telling the story to mark Remembrance Sunday tomorrow, said it was \u201chorrible\u201d to realise he and his patrol were \u201cnot in control anymore\u201d, but he added: \u201cAt the same time, everyone is thinking, \u2018What can I do here to turn the tables?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n All the men were put in the same three-metre-by-three-metre room in a single-story mud-baked building. It had iron bars on the windows. The tropical heat was intense, barely quenched by the heavy downpours of the rainy season. \u201cIt was a dump, we called it the White House,\u201d recalls Ian. \u201cThat night we heard a guy being tortured to death in the room beside us, we could hear everything that was happening to him. He was actually a West Side Boy who had gone home to see his wife and kid in a village nearby, and he was unlucky to turn up on the same day we arrived \u2013 they blamed him for leading us in, which was nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n Ian with some of the rescuers who took part in Operation Barras (Image: Supplied )<\/p>\n Despite this, Ian and his fellow soldiers were stoic in their resolve not to show weakness, and to work out how they were going to get out of there. In those first hours and days, the erratic hierarchy of the WSB began coming up with demands for the British and the Sierra Leoneans to meet in exchange for the return of the soldiers. \u201cThey were senseless things like, \u2018Tony Blair has to give us a gold bar\u2019, or \u2018Tony Blair has to free all the prisoners in Freetown in half an hour\u2019,\u201d recalls Ian, now 45, today.<\/p>\n While this was going on, the Royal Irish men faced an agonising wait for either a rescue or a similar fate to the poor soul they had heard on their first night. Over the next few days, the men were given a single tin of rice and \u201cgreen stuff\u201d to share between them. Luckily, they were allowed to keep their malaria meds and water purification tablets, perhaps a good sign, Ian thought.<\/p>\n \u201cSierra Leone rebels were famous for chopping off arms and stuff during torture,\u201d said Ian. \u201cOurs was more mental torture, with mock executions being a big one. They came in with a gun, kneel you down and number you off, 1,2,3,4,5\u2026 but there would be no bang.\u201d<\/p>\n Around 16 civilians had also been seized by the WSB, including Musa, the patrol\u2019s much-liked interpreter who had been thrown into a pit by their captors in a separate part of the village. When he had to engage with the WSB, Ian tried to use the international language of football to help ease the tension and show humanity.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m an Everton fan and I did give some joking abuse to one of the West Side Boys wearing a Manchester United<\/a> shirt. It probably wasn\u2019t smart at the time because he turned out to be an absolute maniac,\u201d laughs Ian. \u201cThere was another guy, we called him \u2018Calm Down Fresh\u2019, what his wife used to say to him when he was losing his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n After five days, news came in that the WSB were willing to let five soldiers go in exchange for a satellite phone. Ian remembers: \u201cThe officer commanding and platoon sergeant volunteered to stay, which was absolutely immense, and then we had four privates, four rangers, we drew straws\u2026 not my best game!\u201d<\/p>\n Left with the remaining six soldiers, Ian said he still had no idea a rescue might be on the way. The senior ranks, who were conducting negotiations, kept it quiet in case any hint was given away by a new mood amongst the captives. Then, on the morning of September 10, the \u201cworld exploded\u201d. \u201cThe choppers came in… we heard the helicopter right over the top and there was gunfire and within seconds there was a guy at the door,\u201d Ian explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bloke that kicked the door open was the calmest man I\u2019ve ever met, he said something like \u2018Morning lads, everybody good?\u2019, and then gave a thumbs up.\u201d<\/p>\n Ian with the locals now who have enjoyed years of peace (Image: Supplied )<\/p>\n Read more: The greatest SAS mission you’ve never heard of \u2013 told after 82 years <\/a><\/p>\n![\"Ian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/barras8-6538893.jpg\" "\\"Ian")
<\/p>\n![\"Ian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Barras1-6538894.jpg\" "\\"Ian")
<\/p>\n![\"Ian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/barras3-6538895.jpg\" "\\"Ian")
<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/barras5-6538903.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\n