Fire Magic: Hijack at Mogadishu

by Barry Davies (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1994

  $3.24

  On 14th October 1977 Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany appealed to Prime Minister James Callaghan for British anti-terrorist expertize in an attempt to liberate the passengers and crew of Lufthansa Flight LH181 from Palma to Frankfurt. The Boeing 737 had been hijacked by the Arab Terrorists and the story was to dominate world news for five days. Sergeant Barry Davies and Major Alastair Morrison were summoned to Downing Street. Davies had been trained in anti-terrorism and he took the lead in explaining to four cabinet ministers that the best chance of liberating those on board was to use the newly developed stun grenade. For the next six days Davies and Morrison trailed the Lufthansa 737 as it landed and took off from four different airports in the Middle East. In Aden the pilot was shot dead. On day three the sanitation facilities and food supplies gave out. On day five the 737 landed at Mogadishu. On day six German GSG9 troops, led by Davies and Morrison, entered the plane with stun grenades. All the passengers and crew were freed and two of the four terrorists shot dead.

• Used

  Paperback
  1995

  $3.25

  In October 1977 the German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, asked the British Government to help mount a joint rescue mission for a hijacked Lufthansa flight. The hijack lasted six days, during which the plane was flown from its departure airport in Aden, where the pilot was murdered, to Mogadishu. Barry Davies was one of the two SAS men seconded to the German GSG9 squad to help trace the plane in the Middle East. Diplomatic efforts and the Pope's offer to take the place of the hostages all failed to end the crisis, and the showdown came when the remaining hostages were freed and three of the four terrorists shot dead. This is Davies's account of the background work and planning that went into the operation.