A BRITISH Special Forces veteran has shared photos of his time serving his country and experiences on the ground.
Bob Shepherd spent nearly twenty years of service with 22 SAS Regiment, the regular Special Air Service unit of the British Army.
Since 1960 it has been based at Stirling Lines, Credenhill, Herefordshire.
22 SAS carries out high‑risk special operations, including covert reconnaissance, counter‑terrorism, hostage rescue and direct action raids.
Bob Shepherd, who has lived in the United States for 12 years, has participated in the Dhofar War 1972-76, the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980, The Falklands War in 1982, the first Gulf War in 1991 and the Bosnia war in 1994.
Iranian Embassy siege 1980
On 30 April 1980, six armed men from an Iranian Arab group stormed the Iranian Embassy at Princes Gate in South Kensington, London, taking 26 hostages including diplomats, visitors and a police officer on duty outside.
After days of negotiations, the gunmen murdered one hostage and dumped his body outside, prompting the government to authorise an armed assault.
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In the early evening of 5 May, small SAS teams simultaneously blew in windows and doors at the front and rear of the building and on different floors. Some troopers abseiled from the roof onto balconies; others came up through a basement route.
Millions of viewers saw black‑clad soldiers swarm the façade in what became one of the defining TV images of the decade.
Bob was an assault group member, entering from the roof top.
During the raid, the hostage‑takers shot and killed one further hostage and wounded others as the assault began.
Five of the six gunmen were killed by the SAS and the sixth was captured as he tried to blend in with the hostages.
In total, 19 hostages were rescued alive.
The operation, codenamed Operation Nimrod, transformed an almost unknown Hereford based unit into the global reference point for modern special forces.
Retirement
Bob left the Regiment in late 1994 as a Warrant Officer and went to work on the international security circuit as an adviser to media, diplomats and VIPs.
Bob’s work in the private sector has taken him to some of the most volatile places on earth including The Balkans, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Bob's career has taken him from the rooftop of an embassy to remote Afghan valleys and from a “basha” in Hereford to some of the most volatile places on earth.
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