Barry Davies (British Army soldier)

Davies was born on 22 November 1944 during World War II, in Wem, in the county of Shropshire, where his father was a farmer.[1]

In 1962 at the age of 18 he enlisted with the British Army's Welsh Guards, which he served with for 4 years.[2] At the age of 22 he applied to join the Special Air Service Regiment, and having passed its selection course was transferred into it, and went on to have an extensive career with its squadrons for almost 20 years around the world, including in service in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner, Oman, Malaya, Africa and Latin America.[3]

In 1977 he took part in an anti-terrorist operation to rescue 91 passengers of Lufthansa Flight 181 after the aeroplane had been hijacked at Mogadishu airport. Davies had originally been sent to the scene to act as an observer and advisor, but once there ended up taking part in the armed assault on the plane to free the hostages, for which he was awarded the British Empire Medal.[4][2][3]

Davies retired from the British Army in 1985, and found employment as a consultant and product development and sales executive with the Cardiff based B.C.B. International, Ltd., a military, police and survival equipment manufacturer.[3]

He became a prolific author, publishing a number of books on the Special Air Service Regiment and survival guides, including Fire Magic: Hijack to Mogadishu (1994), S.A.S. Rescue (1997), Heroes of the S.A.S. (2000), S.A.S.: The Illustrated History (1996), Operation Royal Blood (2001), S.A.S.: Shadow warriors of the 21st Century (2002), The Complete History of the S.A.S. (2011).[3]

Davies was also employed as an advisor/presenter, and occasionally dramatically acted in British television productions based upon Special Forces' soldiering in the 1990s and early 2000s, including the documentary The Widow, the Terrorist & the S.A.S. (1996),[5] S.A.S. Survival Guide: Escape, Evasion & Survival (1999),[6] SAS: Are You Tough Enough? (2002–04), and 'Spymaster' (2004).[7]

Davies married four times and was the father of two children, a son and daughter from his second marriage.[3]

Davies died on 18 April 2016 in his 71st year from a heart attack in Valencia in Spain, where he had resided since the late 1990s.[2][3]