Operation Thunderbolt: Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History in Around the World in 80 Books

Feb 02, 2016 Jim rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, military-non-fiction

This is a decent offering from an author I had never read before. As in real life, comparatively little time is spent in action and way too much time is taken up with the political machinations leading up to deployment. Of course, this is unavoidable if one is to get the full story behind the deployment. As in any conflict, for every honest soldier frontally assaulting you there are a dozen oily backstabbers sending him on his way.

Full credit to the Israelis: this operation required a lot of ner
This is a decent offering from an author I had never read before. As in real life, comparatively little time is spent in action and way too much time is taken up with the political machinations leading up to deployment. Of course, this is unavoidable if one is to get the full story behind the deployment. As in any conflict, for every honest soldier frontally assaulting you there are a dozen oily backstabbers sending him on his way.

Full credit to the Israelis: this operation required a lot of nerve. It could have gone wrong in so many ways. In fact, had Entebbe been situated in any country other than a backwater like Uganda the mission to rescue the hostages would have been impossible. The rescuers counted on the fact that no one would have expected the Israeli military to have the capability to show up in total darkness in the middle of Africa, and they relied heavily on the probability that the Ugandan troops would be panicked and ineffective....which they were, for the most part, until the Israelis departed from the script and started shooting at soldiers on the way to the terminal. As it was, if only a few more Ugandan troops had stuck around the rescue force could have been stranded quite easily. The rescue relied as much on fortune as it did on skill.

This operation, if attempted today, would be unlikely to have any chance of ending happily. Our modern souped-up terrorist is a far cry from the almost benevolent PFLP type of the 1970s. The mixed bag of European and Middle Eastern hostage-takers were very permissive, turning a blind eye to alcohol consumption and even fornication among the hostages. And while they threatened much, they restricted their abuse to a couple of sound beatings, which, when you consider the whiny and rebellious nature of some hostages, was probably pretty mild compared to what would happen if the same provocation were to be offered to a modern terrorist.

The raid itself is so well known that most people will already know the outcome. One Israeli soldier dead, another crippled for life. Casualties among the hostages were miraculously light. Mr David goes on to record the reactions of hostages and their next of kin after the raid: the inexplicable stupidity of Israeli officials in telling a grieving father that his bullet-riddled son expired from a bout of asthma, for example. (No Sir, those are asthma holes). And the grief of the relatives of the fallen hostages, who had to endure the exultation of the relatives of returnees while mourning their own fallen.

This is a complete book, carefully crafted by Mr David to relate the story completely from start to finish. He has included photographs, diagrams, and a complete Bibliography. Sadly, one story remains untold: that of the unknown Ugandan soldier who single handedly engaged the Israeli troops from the control tower, staying at his post in the face of impossible odds. Good Sir, I salute you, and I hope some day you write your story. You fought for the wrong side, but you fought well and almost single-handedly stopped an entire assaulting force. Pity someone hasn't tracked you down to record your impressions of that very active night.

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