The Special Boat Service & the Sokoto Raid | March 2012 

Hi everyone, Been using some new editing software over the passed few weeks and working on some new animations for the videos, which make their debut in this video, namely improved Maps and Captions. Tell me what you think of them and if there are any improvements I can make to them for future videos! Also, I hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year and 2020! 🇬🇧

The SBS operators couldn't have been given a more shit set of circumstances to deal with.

Sbs dont get enough credit. Never. Shout out to them. They are among the best in the world

RIP to the two hostages.

As a Nigerian-American we thank you old British comrades 🤝

SBS Commander makes a recommendation based on his long years of service knowledge. Government: nah, don't do that. Just rush in at daytime while everyone's awake and alert.

I can't imagine how these men feel going into a mission which is almost guaranteed to fail. As soon as surprise element is lost, it's likely the hostages are dead soon after.

I would guess those SBS troops at some point were practically weeping in frustration knowing that such an assault would almost guarantee the death of the hostages.

Gentlemen. Thank you for being who you are, we the public need you and Respect you, please take care of each other....as I know you do.

I am sure the special operators did the absolute best that they could under the circumstances. The other disadvantage they had, the terrorists scum already possessed and obviously had Direct access to the victims. Any chance of recovering the victims alive was blown when they were spotted. A very high likelihood since it was a daylight operation.

Glad you posted again. Tragic story but never even heard of it so thank you

Found your channel while surfing through some stuff about UKSF and your channel is definitely a good one, you deserve a lot more subs than the ~28k that you do have! Watched all your videos in one afternoon, probably the best afternoon in a while! Also, happy new year🥳

Another outstanding video mate, no cheesy shit music in the background, just well researched facts and operational footage and pictures when available. Well done Sir!

Thanks for this! Love your videos, man! Especially ones with special forces involved. Thanks again! Happy New Year!

Reassuring to know if you are a citizen and you find yourself at peril. There’s men like the SF to aid. Big respect

Another amazing video, great production and superb narration. Best on youTube!!

Thank you for again bringing to light military operations we might otherwise have never even heard of. I hope all the viewers of this video remember the words of the SF personel. We never plan on failure. But it happens. With better logistics and susequent better planning the chances of success increases dramatically. But the only real failure is our own apathy. Thank God there are men like these who do care. More than needing them, we need be inspired into some action by them. For those that haven't returned. RIP. Please continue keeping us informed.

Fantastic video, editing and great new animations. Thank you very much indeed, your work is 100% appreciated. Best wishes from Sussex by the sea.

It’s Been a while. Been worried.

By far my favorite channel

Love this channel so much

I’m proud of how far our great country has come and the respect we have earned. My condolences for the losses of these two men. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Good to see SBS get some recognition, it’s deserved.

I like when you added the logos of each army that was involved in the operation at the end of the video

Great video and those who lost their lives Rest In Peace. Who Dares Wins means you take calculated risks knowing you will not always succeed.

Amazing videos as always

Great video, glad I found your channel. The YT algorithm did well this time.

Excellent vid. This is a little known op and it's good to see someone cover it.

Could you cover the operations of the Swedish SOG in Afghanistan and/or Iraq? Excellent video as always, Happy New Year.

Excellent video, thank you for sharing

Amazing channel. Keep it up 🇬🇧🇬🇧

Great content mate 🇬🇧

THIS CHANNEL IS SERIOUSLY GOOD 👌👍👍👍👍🙌 👍👍👍🙌 👍

I heard the reports at the time. Very sad outcome. Assaulting a built up area in broad day light will always be risky. Surprised there were no casualties on the assaulting forces

My favorite channel !

Great video keep the sbs ones coming

great vid keep it up

I worked in Nigeria for a month for the British government. We didn't really know where we were going until we were on the plane. When we got there we were rushed to waiting army vehicles who drove us to a UK compound about 40 miles away. Guys with AKs sat behind us, sat on front of us. 4x4 in front with blue lights, and one behind! When we got to the compound, we were given a massive file on what to do if kidnapped! There were security gates on the bedrooms, armed guards surrounded the compound, it was insane!!! It didn't help that we were due to drive through Abuja the day that the Miss World riots saw the city burnt pretty badly. There were no people in the city when we drove through, just army dudes on roundabouts through the city, nobody walking around or anything. Africa is scary. It goes from zero to holy shit in 0 seconds flat. Crazy place.

Thanks

Who ever was in that door way at 5:31 took a headshot for sure

Happy New Year from Malaysia

Love these guys Good on ya God bless .

Don’t hear bout the SBS their origins and status. Maybe a video bout them?

Nice video to cure my hangover

Fantastic videos...pls post more...finished watching em...secondly why was sbs chosen for this mission...shuldnt it have been a sas mission?

Nice video

RIP Chris & Franco 🙏🏻

Just a thought, maybe do a video on a Canadian operation in Latvia if any are declassified and have good information about them. Great video, have a good new year.

I don't mean to be offensive or anything as I mean it as a constructive comment but I noticed your voice sounds different in this one compared to your usual videos, as in the middle of the sentences going up with high note and ending in a low note so its constantly going up and down with every sentence if that makes sense, but other than that it was a great video and well presented as usual!

Tough to listen to considering the outcome. Great video though

well narrated

Could you do a video on Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan, covering what went wrong and how USAF CCT John Chapman earned the Medal of Honor?

Worked with a man named rob who was in sbs, absolutely a legend of a man, thank for lunchtime waries rob

Exactly that last statement rip to those who died and ty to those that tried

You should have more views

Hostages died due to ineptitude. Horrible but a lesson, let them work within their own specified parameters.

We have the best in the world, SBS SAS and others, who are highly trained professionals. They put their lives on the line to save others with no fear. But even with this, they know themselves, they are not 100% at what they do. Thank goodness we have these men to protect and help us when needed and we will never know who they are. Thanks guys, who ever you are.

Damn....that was some major spatter on that doorway. That dude exploded.

great video as always, im from Nigeria and never even knew this happened. As it was the UK special forces, the supporting Nigerian Army trrops would most likely have been from the 72nd Special Forces regiment or the Nigerian SBS. Its pronounced Shokoto fyi

RIP to the two guys .. But it is a tough one in a rescue mission . This is the number one situation that can happen during a rescue . I bet the men on it are gutted as it is put down as a failure . But they have nothing to be ashamed about .. They put their lives on the line to give these two men their only hope. That in itself is admirable alongside all other sacrifices they made to their families & themselves .... Utmost respect to them & RIP to the hostages.

Could you do operation red wings

The Good guys don't always win the battle!

Plz do more

5:18 *WERE THE 2 CAPTIVE MEN FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES SECONDS BEFORE BEING EXECUTED??* The toilet seat is ripped off the toilet, the sink was clearly ripped off the wall but the bolts were still in the wall, which means the porcelain sink mounts were broken. The water supply hose was still attached to the sink & the sink drain was broken off in 2 places, from the sink & the wall.....it looks like there was a serious fight in there.....a fight for life. RIP to those men!!!!

Doomed difficult daytime mission. Because of high risk of hostages being executed at first sign of some sort of "operation", it is imperative that the hostages be secured first or as quickly as possible. Night operations with appropriate equipment and (stealth) procedures is usually the preferred method in order to improve probability of successful hostage rescue and survivability.

I don't think that the SBS failed. Their reasoning was over ruled by those who weren't about to do the job and did not have the experience. We in the U.K. are so lucky to have the SBS and others protecting us.

The only reason I passed Coxswains course in Coronado Ca. A Cullis Sgt involved in a boat raid failed. (Falkland war). He called me a bloody cuss after my third attempt failure on a knot. If it means anything I've dropped many bad guy's. 97-2006 Semper Fi and Thanks

Thanks for the vid LfE. Happy New Year. Why the SBS not SAS. I always assumed (duh) that SBS would involve the likelihood of water - maybe I'm way off?

Would you do a video on the involvement of the SAS when the Manchester bombings.

happy ne wyear

RIP Chris and Franco

Fuck so sad. Great video as always.

RIP.

By Strength & Guile, 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Semper Fi brothers

Is there a reason for choosing SBS instead of SAS for a non-maritime rescue mission?

They left so much out,

Excuse my ignorance, why were the SBS selected for this mission and not the SAS (genuine question - i'm not saying SAS should have been selected)? And in general, when does boat troop of the SAS get selected over the SBS?

Wow, the fact they did NOT wait for a night operation was a very big mistake. So many advantages they would have during a night raid.... they could have cut/disabled the power supply to the build and or entire block(picked a night with little moon ) sbs surely would have the BEST night vision better than the best civilian night sights and googles, sure they have Flir (Foward looking infrared, body image from heat signatures. They also would have advanced listening mic to pick up audio( would benefit advance recon team to help locate which area or room hostage are in, and how many people are around and get intel from what’s beeping talked about ( example: we are going to bed mike your on guard duty Justin watch the hostage, two people will be awake) unless it was super urgent, and they had NO time ( not even 3-5 days ) I could see maybe going in with limited intel but NOT during day. They should have done drone recon from high above and also sent in micro drones. seems they rushed this operation so I’m guessing it was urgent and they somehow and intelligence they would be handed over to and terrorist group that afternoon, I think it may have been better to follow the group that would take the hostages over with a drone, and perhaps they would had to stop and rest during traveling thus WOULD HAVE BEEN IN EXPOSED area,( transitional area even) would have been in little less familiar area, and would be much more exposed, unless of course they stopped at a compound. but both died so any other time of attack couldn’t be worse. Just sucks knowing your about to die because elite team is trying to rescue them, and it’s during the day where everyone is awake and see clearly and have absolutely NO element of surprise, that day time raid was a DEATH SENTENCE for both hostage. If they could get in without alerting the ALL the villagers and every armed group, it should NEVER HAVE BEEN GIVING THE GREEN LIGHT, and the person who did should be ashamed of himself. If they where to be handed over to another group the hostages would HAD TO ENTER into a transitional space where cover and concealment would have been limited, and where thr sbs would have the advantage of choosing the time of surprised attack, and they would have been focused on repelling the sbs and the hostages would atleast stood a chance to escape and survive..... the video really should be about CHOOSING THE WRONG TIME TO CONDUCT failed Hostage rescue. And only during extremely rare events should it be during THE DAY. And if it can’t be at night or you DO NOT AND CANT GET ELEMENTS of a SURPRISE ATTACK during daytime (which is possible) the operation should be RED LIGHTED

Chris and Franco would have suffered more had they been transferred to Al-Qaeda. RIP

For me, the mission is 100% successful. Yes the hostages died, no one could have saved them. It's just an objective not complete, rest of it is 100% great

Great vid, so sorry to see yet another instance of higher ups telling the boots on the ground when to execute their mission. Partially as a result , two innocents are executed as well. Can't say for sure , but willing to bet money that insurgents don't have night vision yet.

Maybe if they could wait until dark...

You really do have to be “special” to get selected for the SAS - men have died trying to so and most countries around the world have refused use the SAS selection training process - some claiming it’s virtually impossible to expect anyone to pass such extreme requirements ( hence the reason why men have died).

How come the SBS were used for this mission just considering the compound was way in land and came in by air.

Are there any lessons to be learned in this operation?

In Pace Viribus.

So is the sbs Britain army or navy??

Why is Andy McNabb's face still blacked out?

if the British royal marine commando's say 99.9% need not apply then you can imagine how impossible it is to get into the SAS SBS and SRR, selection is grueling to the point where people have died

As I've Stated In A Previous Post, It's Not The Fault of Tier One or Tier Two SOF For Not Being Able To Rescue The Hostages. I Pray That These Seasoned SOF Operators Understand That The Hostages ' Blood Isn't On Their Hands.

I understand why the UK government was hesitant to wait but I still say they should've wait until dark to conduct the raid. If they knew where the hostages were going to be moved then why not wait until dark and post a second team at the other site?

im telling you, 12am midnight with supressed weapons and a setup sniper the mission would have been 99% successful

Man that’s a lot of blood spray round that doorway. Shame they didn’t succeed.

Ok I know SBS are one of the best. But shouldn't it have been the SAS since it was very inland and close to the desert.

4:45...someone literally exploded in that doorway

RIP to those hostages, mission had lots of flaws.

Did he say Andy McNab was in the “SCS” lol?

would not wanna watch interrogation of five doubt they even made to bungalow..nearby septic tank where they lie

Is there an SLS to? Special Land Service?