‘We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go, Always a little further; it may be, Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow.'
If there was ever anyone who went a little further, a little beyond, it was Alastair MacKenzie. In a career spanning 30 years, MacKenzie served uniquely with the New Zealand Army in Vietnam, the British Parachute Regiment, the British Special Air Service (SAS), the South African Defence Force’s famed ParaBats, the Sultan of Oman’s Special Forces and a host of private security agencies and defence contractors.
MacKenzie lived the soldier’s life to the full as he journeyed ‘the Golden Road to Samarkand’. This extraordinary new work from the author of Special Force: The Untold Story of 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) vividly documents, in a detail that stuns, the experience of infantry combat in Vietnam, life with the Paras, the tempo of selection for UK Special Forces, covert SAS operations in South Armagh and SAS Counter Terrorist training on the UK mainland, vehicle-mounted Pathfinder Brigade insertions into Angola and maritime counter-terrorism work in Oman.
By:
Dr Alastair MacKenzie
Imprint: Osprey Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 198mm,
Width: 129mm,
Weight: 260g
ISBN: 9781472833198
ISBN 10: 1472833198
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 02 February 2021
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Chapter 1: Early Days 1948–1959 Chapter 2: New Zealand 1959–1965 Chapter 3: New Zealand Army 1966–1973 Chapter 4: 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment 1973–1976 Chapter 5: 22nd Special Air Service Regiment 1976–1980 Chapter 6: 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment 1980–1981 Chapter 7: 44 South African Parachute Brigade (The Parabats) 1981–1982 Chapter 8: KMS Limited 1982 Chapter 9: New Zealand Army 1982–1985 Chapter 10: The Sultan of Oman’s Special Force 1985–1989 Chapter 11: Royal Ordnance plc; Reliance Security Limited; Territorial Army 1989–1994 Chapter 12: AMA Associates Limited; Territorial Army 1994–2005 Chapter 13: New Zealand 2005–
Alastair MacKenzie comes from a military family of long standing and he served as a para-trained platoon commander for 12 months with the New Zealand infantry on combat operations in South Vietnam and in the special forces of South Africa, Oman and the UK, where for four years he was troop commander in the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment. After his retirement as a full-time Army officer he enjoyed a successful commercial career with Royal Ordnance and British Aerospace before moving to consultancy roles. In civilian life he retained an involvement with the Territorial Army as an SAS officer and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2001. He obtained his PhD in politics in 2005 and is the author of works including Special Force: The Untold Story of 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) and The Sounds Soldiers’ Memorial – Stories of the Fallen. He lives on the South Island of New Zealand.
