Happy living life as an ordinary young Aussie bloke of 19, bank teller Peter Collins' life is thrown into chaos when he finds himself a 'lucky' winner in Australia's National Service Scheme lottery of 1967. Passing the medical with flying colours, he is plucked from civilian life - complete with family, fledgling career, mates, and a girlfriend - to spend the next two years in the Australian Army.Follow Peter's journey as a Nasho as he undergoes Recruit and Infantry Training at 3TB...

For three decades one of the most secretive units in the British military has been a mystery force known as X Platoon.Officially there was no X Platoon. The forty men in its elite number were specially selected from across the Armed Forces, at which point they simply ceased to exist. X Platoon had no budget, no weaponry, no vehicles and no kit - apart from what its men could beg, borrow or steal from other military units.For the first time a highly decorated veteran of this...

Immediate Action is a no-holds-barred account of an extraordinary life, from the day Andy McNab was found in a carrier bag on the steps of Guy's Hospital to the day he went to fight in the Gulf War.As a delinquent youth he kicked against society. As a young soldier he waged war against the IRA in the streets and fields of South Armagh. As a member of 22 SAS Regiment he was at the centre of covert operations for nine years - on five continents.Recounting with grim h...

This WWII memoir of an NCO Royal Air Force pilot offers a vivid, personal account of wartime life and dangerous operations over Europe.In 1941, Graham White was passing a Royal Air Force recruiting center and, on the spur of the moment, signed up. As a non-commissioned RAF pilot, he went on to fly long-range night-fighters against the Luftwaffe. White experienced badly designed and dangerous aircraft, such as the Beaufighter with its Merlin engine. But he also flew...

Sit down and strap yourself in for an exhilarating ride to the sound barrier and beyond with a real life Topgun!Mac Tucker, or 'Serge' to use his callsign name, is one of an elite group of men trained to fly F-18 jets. Now, for the first time, Serge takes you behind the scenes of the fighter pilot world to reveal what it's really like.Find out how it feels to be shot at by SAS snipers, to be lost in a 50 million jet over Northern Australia with nothing but ...

In 1940, against the backdrop of the Battle of Britain, 66 Squadron's commanding officer, Squadron Leader Athol Forbes, asked ten of his pilots to record their experiences of flying one of the greatest aerial battles ever waged. The Ten Fighter Boys, published in 1942, comprised the first-hand accounts of pilot officers and sergeant pilots from all walks of life. Among them was Sergeant Jimmy Corbin, who wrote the third chapter. He was 23 – old by pilot standards ...

The truth about the battle that came to define our Vietnam War - from the men who were there.18th August, 1966. 1pm…D Company entered the plantation. They thought that, if they were lucky, they were closing in on perhaps 30 or 40 VC. They were horribly wrong.Over twelve long, bloody and brutal hours, 105 Australian soldiers and three New Zealanders fought off mortar attacks and heavy machine-gun fire, unaware they were facing up to 2500 Viet Cong a...

A compelling personal account of a young SAS soldier's experiences in Vietnam. Another urging hiss from behind me-okay hold onto your horses, I'm going. Five to ten paces takes me over the track, and now I scan the creek ahead trying to peer through the underbrush, to detect signs of enemy presence. Jesus, it's quiet; unnaturally quiet...another obviously more urgent hiss is sent out to attract my attention. Looking back over my shoulder I see the enemy soldier immediately; he is on the tr...

'A powerful, honest story of courage, redemption and finding purpose' - Bear GryllsForging resilienceFinding purposeMastering transformationHow do you rebuild your life when you've hit rock bottom?Mark Wales thought his life would end in a cornfield in Afghanistan.Mark and his SAS troops emerged from that scorched battlefield twelve hours later, his mentor gu...

From the bestselling author of Kokoda and Gallipoli comes the epic story of Australia's deadliest Vietnam War battle.4.31 pm: Enemy [on] left flank. Could be serious.5.01 pm: Enemy ... penetrating both flanks and to north and south.5.02: Running short of ammo. Require drop through trees.It was the afternoon of 18 August 1966, hot, humid with grey monsoonal skies. D Company, 6RAR were four kilometres...

In this intensely personal account, Barry Heard draws on his own experiences as a young conscript, along with those of his comrades, to look back at life before, during, and after the Vietnam War. The result is a sympathetic vision of a group of young men who were sent off to war completely unprepared for the emotional and psychological impact it would have on them. It is also a vivid and searingly honest portrayal of the author’s post-war, slow-motion breakdown, and how he dealt with it.

'We make and we break.'They were the forward scouts, the mine clearers, the bridge builders and the tunnel rats. They were frequently not just on the front line, but right at the sharp end of the action. They were the legendary Aussie sappers, the army engineers, who were literally everywhere in the fighting against the Vietcong.This special breed of soldier lived hard and played hard. They were there at the beginning of the war. They were also among the last to le...