Barry Davies (soldier)

Barry Davies BEM (22 November 1944 – 18 April 2016) was a British army soldier who served with the SAS and was awarded the British Empire Medal for his role in the operation to release hostages from a hijacked German plane, Lufthansa Flight 181, at Mogadishu, in October 1977. He was a counter-terrorist expert and the author of many books on the SAS and Survival training.

Army career

In 1962, Davies joined the Welsh Guards,^[1] and joined the Special Air Service aged 22, with whom he served for 18 years. Davies served in Northern Ireland, Oman, Malaya, Africa and Latin America.^[2][3] In 1977, Davies helped bring the 91 passengers of Lufthansa Flight 181 to safety after the plane was hijacked in Mogadishu; Davies had originally been sent as an observer, but ended up taking part in the assault to free the 91 passengers.^[4][5] Davies was awarded the British Empire Medal.^[1][2] In 1985, Davies left the SAS to work as a marketer and product developer for BCB International.^[2]

Author

Davies was the author of over 35 books on the SAS and Survival training including Fire Magic: Hijack to Mogadishu (1994), Heroes of the SAS (2000), The Complete Encyclopedia of the SAS (1998), The SAS Self-Defence Handbook (2011), The Complete SAS Survival Manual (2011) and SAS Desert Survival (2001).^[2]

Personal life and death

Davies was born in Wem, Shropshire, where his father worked as a farmer.^[2][3] In 1996, Davies moved to Spain.^[3] Davies died on 18 April 2016 in Spain due to a heart attack.^[1][2][3] He was survived by his fourth wife Mary Dixon, whom he married in 2011, and a son and two daughters.^[2]

References