A Special Kind of Courage

by Chris Ryder

The most decorated unit in the British Army 321 Squadron was posted to Northern Ireland to provide bomb disposal expertise. It has attended 50,000 bomb scares, and it is impossible to estimate the number of lives saved by its work. This is a story of incredible human courage, describing the pioneering counterterrorist techniques that have made the squadron so admired. Chris Ryder is a writer and journalist. He lives in Belfast.

Genres: Nonfiction, Military Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jordan Larsen]

An in-depth, engaging and visceral glimpse into one of the world's most celebrated and experienced military bomb disposal squads! Enter the valiant men and women of the British Army's elite 321 EOD Squadron, England's elite bomb squad. Tasked with the world's most dangerous job: defusing a litany of devious and deadly Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). From the Felix Unit's origins confronting the IRA, a malevolent terrorist group in Hong Kong, to the crucible of rendering safe thousands of devices in Iraq and Afghanistan as front line combatants in "The War on Terror." If there was a Hall of Fame for bomb squads, the Felix Unit and the exploits of its valiant bomb techs over more than thirty years would require three entire wings.

British Journalist Chris Ryder, is granted unprecedented access to the reclusive world of the Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO) and the dangerous world of the High Threat Operator who possesses the skills and the courage to boldly go downrange into some of the world's most foreboding environments. Highlighting the evolution of robotic technologies use to thwart danger from a distance, explosive detection dogs uncovering weapons caches and tracking terrorist bombers, to the appearance of brave women into the close-knit brotherhood of bomb disposal.

This book covers virtually every aspect of the British Army EOD Technician's world. If you're a fan
of Chris Hunter's harrowing memoirs: "Extreme Risk" and "Eight Lives Down," then "A Special Kind of Courage" is a must-have for anyone interested in the history and the valor of England's bomb disposal technicians!