The Hard Way by Mark 'Billy' Billingham

Author:Mark 'Billy' Billingham [Billingham, Mark ‘Billy’]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

I enjoyed a much-needed break over the weekend with Julie and the kids, where I could recharge my body and brain – even if only for forty-eight hours. I had immediately fallen into bed when I got home, and then sat down at the dining room table and eaten for Britain. The hills had taken more out of me than I thought possible, but I was buoyed by the fact I had completed it. I had completed it! No one could take that away from me, and I was now in contention to take the next phases by the scruff of the neck and actually pass the whole bloody process – to gain entry to the Special Air Service: what I’d dreamed of doing, but did not dare believe could actually happen. Some seriously good blokes had failed the hills, yet here I was, anxious to crack on with the second phase. I headed back to Hereford to begin two weeks of training before I was due to fly out with the remaining guys. I was feeling pretty confident.

A lot of the details of the SAS selection process are shrouded in mystery, but, having already completed a tour and training in the jungles of Belize with the paras, I felt like whatever was coming next would be relatively easy for me.

Like all the lads, I was getting more and more excited following the hills, because there was a growing feeling that we were almost there. Personally, I thought, Well, I’ve done the hills now, so the rest’s going to be a piece of piss. I had no fears about what was coming next and, in fact, I was just enjoying all the preparation and training. As the next phase approached, I was completely relaxed about the whole thing, thinking to myself that this was going to be a walk in the park. How wrong I fucking was! This would test me beyond anything I had yet encountered, both physically and mentally, and I needed all my skills, toughness and stubbornness to complete it.

It’s no secret that I made selection to the SAS, nor that I served twenty-plus years with the world’s greatest elite force. But, when I signed up to serve with the Regiment, I did agree to maintain confidentiality as to my service with them, and I am bound to honour that agreement. My years spent serving in the Special Air Service were varied, exciting and often highly dangerous, across many arenas of conflict, and I have drawn from that experience in the course of the stories I have told in this book, while ensuring that I continue to protect national security, ongoing operations and the lives of others.

As one would expect, the Regiment served in areas where people can die or be seriously wounded – our own people, as well as civilians and the enemy. This book isn’t a story of glorifying conflict. But, for the record, we served with honour, integrity and bravery – always. I was

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