Military History

Situated in southern England, near the town of Welwyn, lies a stately mansion known as the “Frythe.” During the Second World War, this once-private residence became home to Station IX, a research and development center created by Great Britain’s Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.), an organization responsible for running agents and supplying resistance movements behind enemy […]

In this SOFREP exclusive interview, we sat down with Keith Nell, the Rhodesian Special Air Service operator who was assigned to hunt down and eliminate the terrorists responsible for what has been called “Rhodesia’s 9/11.” By 1978, the Rhodesian Bush War between ZIPRA and ZANLA communist terrorists had terrorized the local villages in the area. […]

There is a saying in EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) school that “the rules of the publications were written in blood”. This comes from the British bomb disposal units from World War II, who through sacrifice, trial, and error, paved the way for modern EOD. The current publications span decades, and are an expansive library of […]

In this SOFREP exclusive interview, we sat down with Keith Nell, the Rhodesian Special Air Service operator who was assigned to hunt down and eliminate the terrorists responsible for what has been called “Rhodesia’s 9/11.” By 1978, the Rhodesian Bush War between ZIPRA and ZANLA communist terrorists had terrorized the local villages in the area. […]

This article will speak about two vital weapons that served U.S. Special Forces during their service in the Vietnam War. They were the M-14 Anti-Personnel mine, more commonly known as the “Toe Popper,” and the V40 Mini-Fragmentation Grenade. Over the course of the conflict, these miniature terrors drew much blood against the North Vietnamese Army […]

In this SOFREP exclusive interview, we sat down with Keith Nell, the Rhodesian Special Air Service operator who was assigned to hunt down and eliminate the terrorists responsible for what has been called “Rhodesia’s 9/11.” By 1978, the Rhodesian Bush War between ZIPRA and ZANLA communist terrorists had terrorized the local villages in the area. Keith Nell begins the interview speaking about flight RH […]

A good buddy of mine and former squadron mate, Dave “Sex” Fravor, has one of the most bizarre aviation stories of all time.  It is a story that stretches credibility, so I’ll start off by building up Dave’s bona fides. For what it’s worth, I know him personally — very well.  We flew A-6s together for […]

The Special Forces Sergeant pulled the small rectangular Claymore mine from its pouch. Though he couldn’t see the Soviet-built truck, he smelled its fumes. The distinctive low rasp of its diesel engine spewed a heavy, acrid odor that hung under the dense jungle canopy for hundreds of yards. Unwinding the detonation wire, he sensed the […]

While rehearsing for the operation at Ascension Island, the seventy troopers of B Squadron that would perform the raid had rebranded it as Operation Certain Death.

“Action stations! Action stations! This is not a drill!” was the only alert the duty officer of HMS Sheffield managed to give before the impact. The warning came too late. Seconds later, an Exocet missile, fired by a sea-skimming Argentinian aircraft, rammed the ship’s starboard side, hitting it between the galley and the forward engine room. An […]

Any fans of the dead sexy Rockwell (Boeing) B-1B Lancer out there? If you’ve ever wondered what makes the B-1 truly “bad to the bone”, here 10 facts that should illustrate why this airplane is so badass. Fact #1: The Bone carries the largest payload of both guided and unguided munitions in the entire United […]

Meanwhile, the second patrol was enduring its own adventure. Like Hamilton’s patrol they had been observing their Argentinian target for seven days and radioing their intelligence back to the Task Force.