Timing was key to Sierra Leone raid success

A British paratrooper maintains a lookout in Sierra Leone

By Dick Durham, CNN.com writer

LONDON -- The daring rescue of six British soldiers and a Sierra Leone liaison officer by UK paratroopers and the Special Air Service was a "classic dawn raid," Jane's Defence spokesman, Paul Beaver told CNN.com.

The West Side Boys, like every armed group, knew that if a raid to free the hostages was to be carried out it would be at dawn.

But even though such a raid may lack the element of surprise it is still the best time of day to launch an aggressive action, he said.

"Dawn is a good time to strike. Everyone knows that is when a strike will happen but that still doesn't alter the fact that the human body is not working properly at that time. It is not able to react properly in the early hours."

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And at 06.40 am the rescue team went in. They were flown to the rebel base in three Chinook helicopters. Two landed the paratroops to the south of Magbeni where the rebels were dug in with captured British Land Rovers and a heavy machine gun. The third one landed across the Rokel Creek at Geri Bana where the captives were being held.

The Chinook is a good workhorse helicopter, but giving cover was the Lynx helicopter armed with America II missiles making it an effective "tactical" weapon, Beaver said.

The soldiers then poured out of the giant Chinooks and opened fire with either SA8O rifles or the US manufactured M16 A2s.

Beaver said: "The operation was very much a success because of careful reconnaissance." Undercover soldiers had identified where the hostages were being held and what kind of daily routine they and their captors kept up.

Another factor in the success of the operation is that the West Side Boys are nowhere near as well-trained, or disciplined as the British paratroopers.

But alongside all the hi-tech fighting equipment was a humble garden potting shed - erected on the deck of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Sir Percival.

Beaver said: "It is just a practical answer to keeping things in. They need to keep certain pieces of kit dry and a shed does that job admirably!"

Beaver said the death of one paratrooper will obviously cause sadness in the regiment but he said British Army units went into battle expecting to suffer casualties and that the operation was highly successful.

He said British troops were in Sierra Leone to train the Sierra Leone Army so that the UN would then have a "peace to keep."

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The 1st Paratroopers Battalion
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