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Hugh McManners
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Falklands Commando Paperback – January 1, 2002

by Hugh McManners (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 296 ratings
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The first-hand account of one special forces team's operations in the Falklands War in 1982. The book preparation and departure; at sea; planners and hoaxers; Ascension Island; and HMS Intrepid in "bomb alley".
Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harpercollins Pub Ltd
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    4.5 x 1 x 7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0007141750
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0007141753
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harpercollins Pub Ltd; 2nd edition (January 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0007141750
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007141753
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.5 x 1 x 7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 296 ratings

About the author

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Hugh McManners

Hugh McManners

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Born in Oxford, raised in Australia, trained by the British Army, educated at Oxford University, after 13 years with Commando Forces (out of an 18-year military career), writes books and songs, plays music and lives in central Leicester.

"My happiest times were with the elite 148 Commando Forward Observation Battery where I enjoyed five enjoyable years at Royal Marines Poole. The apogee of my military career was the Falklands War of 1982, in which we fought with the Special Boat Squadron.

"I also really liked Australia, so at the age of 13, it was a nightmare coming back to grey, dismal UK, where sounding like Crocodile Dundee's nightmare nephew, I had to learn Latin from scratch in a class that was already reading Horace (or some such thing that was a great mystery to me).

"But after then attending one of the UK's first comprehensive schools - as a guinea pig in the great 'Leicestershire Plan', there was no choice but to join the Army.

"The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was a severe culture shock. But after a couple of very happy years in the commando artillery battery "Black Eight", three years at Oxford University reading geography and doing boxing (note the verbs) were both antidote and stimulus to further military adventures.

'At 148 Battery we worked with the SBS, plus I ran the British Army's central American jungle warfare training school. I was an Army Diving Supervisor, and ran our small amphibious ops group, and FO1 - Forward Observation team one.

"But thereafter my military career was an anti-climax: to Staff College Camberley, MoD staff appointments and a rather jolly final few years commanding an artillery gun battery: in Northern Ireland, Thorney Island, and beside a lake with ducks in northern Germany.

"Since then, I've produced television documentaries, spent five interesting years ad the Sunday Time's defence correspondent, whilst writing the sort of books Amazon so efficiently sells under my name on this site.

"I lived in central Oxford as the Director of the neuroscience medical research foundation "The Scars of War". And moved back to the Leicester of my teenage years just before the Covid lockdowns.

More information, blogs and various guides to the Army, survival and other related subjects at www . hughmcmanners .com / books

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
296 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent ! !
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2014
Verified Purchase
An in-your-face account of maybe the last proper war....excellent read and wittily written. This is a must read for anyone interested in the Falklands War
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T.A.L. Dozer
4.0 out of 5 stars The F@#$-an-Islands!
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2012
The F@#$-an-Islands!

In this Royal Artillery captain's memoir of the Falkland Islands campaign, Hugh McManners book "Falklands Commando" describes his daily routines and provides a personal view of a soldier aboard ships and in battle. Because of his assignment with the 148 Commando Forward Observation Battery of the Royal Artillery, whose main purpose was to control naval gunfire, he personally witnessed many significant actions in this campaign.
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kevin baesler
5.0 out of 5 stars A whole different perspective to Operation Corporate.
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
A well written book by a veteran of a most accomplished, and unique, Special Forces unit.
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Braveheart
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2017
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An inspiring read!
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Cliff Richard
3.0 out of 5 stars A solid three stars: could have been four but for the personal ramblings of a clearly disaffected person.
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
This would be a four star book but for the rant at the beginning of the book in which the author slams the MoD over and over. He might have some valid points, but it just comes across as bitter and immature, when the book itself is witty and sometimes enthralling. I'd recommend skipping the pre amble and go to the first chapter. A decent book with some good humour, interspersed - as with any war - with a good deal of tragedy. It does make you wonder reading this book that if the Argentine army had been half as courageous and well trained as their Air Force what the outcome might have been.
I knew little about the role of a military soldiers' role as a forward observation operative, but this portrays it well for the lay person.
Worth a read once you get past the whinging.
One thing the author does do well is convey the importance of supporting soldiers who have been through a traumatic time and the need for proper communications, it's just a shame this is a bit lost at the beginning.
One person found this helpful
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HMS Warspite
5.0 out of 5 stars War in the South Atlantic...
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2011
"Falklands Commando" is Captain Hugh McManners' well-written memoire of his service as a commando forward observer with the British Army in the short, fiercely contested 1982 war with Argentina over the remote Falkland Islands.

The sudden Argentine invasion of the Falklands took Britain by surprise. McManners captures the controlled chaos of the departure of an expeditionary force to the South Atlantic to retake the islands. At sea, his small party had limited opportunities to train and prepare aboard over-crowded ships. Once off the Falklands, horrendous weather, difficult terrain, and the Argentine military itself created additional challenges to getting ashore and coming to grips with the enemy.

With more than a little understated humor and much fascinating personal detail, McManners describes the operations ashore, as his team leap-frogged across the islands, calling in naval gunfire in support of special operations forces. His narrative columinates with the British Army in command of the heights above Port Stanley and the Argentine military hopelessly trapped.

The Falkslands War is a long way back in the rear view mirror, but "Falklands Commando" has plenty to offer in the way of lessons learned for war on an austere budget in a remote location. It is highly recommended to students of expeditionary warfare.
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Mr. D. Gerecht
5.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth Reading
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2014
A very well put together and even enthralling book, McManners gets into the nitty gritty of his own war, something that many books on The Falklands are lacking.
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Erl Gould Purnell
3.0 out of 5 stars Insight into the Falklands War
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2016
Verified Purchase
Hugh McManners is a professional soldier, a commando, forward observation and artillery expert. Cold, wet and often bored, yet he and his comrades rained naval gun fire onto Argentine positions with trained and remarkable accuracy. The shells came from no where to the Argentinians, plotted exactly by McManners and his crew hidden in the peat bogs and rock outcroppings of nearby ridges. These were brave guys doing an important, but unsung mission. Unfortunately, way too many details without much action. All in all, job well done for the Brits.
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Not the book that i thought it was
Reviewed in Canada on August 4, 2023
Verified Purchase
My error as i thought this was another book.
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Lagrange
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent perspective!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2015
Verified Purchase
I have read many witness accounts of the Falklands - in fact I served with 2 Para there during the battles. I have found them all to be the same with only a slightly different perspective. This is a radical departure from that perspective and a fascinating description of events coming from the Royal Marines rather than the Army. I had met most of the individuals mentioned so this had a personal connection and empathy but most of all it is well written, well observed and funny where it needs to be. It also discloses the extent of the involvement of 148 Battery who seem to have been all over the place in their small groups but that is the point. Theirs was not a major unit like a Commando or a Parachute Batallion whose perspective has been thoroughly written of but it is a special forces team perspective which makes the book such a pleasant surprise and a real complement to the existing library of that conflict. The disclosure of the shelling incident had to be made because it has been buried. The discussion on how the RN was affronted about the self centred view that the Paras had won the war single handed was interesting because that was certainly the message that appeared - whether disseminated deliberately or not. Well written, engaging and exciting on its own, but it also comes from a different perspective than the other books.
6 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on July 15, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great read about the human side of the conflict
One person found this helpful
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Barry G. Sermon
4.0 out of 5 stars A good first-hand account of SF life during the Falklands War
Reviewed in Australia on November 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
A good warts-and-all read of Brit SF life during the Falklands conflict. Also a good insight into the problems faced by military organisations that need to train for war during the peace.
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norrie linn
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in Canada on November 9, 2016
Verified Purchase
Informative
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