Name: Sniper One
Rating: 3.5 (4 reviews)
ISBN: 9780312531263

Dan Mills

A decorated member of the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment recounts his 2004 tour of duty in Iraq, a six-month service of peaceful intentions that were violently altered by hostile attacks by the people of Al Amarah. 50,000 first printing.

On Scope and Under Siege with a Sniper Team in Iraq

Sniper One

When Sgt. Dan Mills and the rest of the 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment flew into Iraq in April, 2004, they were supposed to be winning hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives. Within hours of their arrival in Iraq, a grenade bounced off one of the battalion's Land Rovers, rolled underneath and detonated. The ambush marked the beginning of a full-scale firefight during which Mills killed a man with a round that removed his assailant's head. It was going to be a long tour. Like some post-apocalyptic "Mad Max" nightmare, the place had gone to hell in a handbasket. Temperatures on the ground often topped 120 degrees Fahrenheit, sewage systems had long since packed up, and the stench of cooking waste and piles of festering garbage grew wherever you looked. Throat-burning winds, blast bombs and well-trained, well-organized militias armed with AKs, RPGs and a limitless supply of mortar rounds were the icing on the cake. If any of Mills's eighteen-man sniper platoon had thought that the people of Al Amarah were going to welcome them with open arms, they were rapidly forced to reconsider. For the next six months, isolated, besieged and under constant fire, the battalion refused to give an inch. Sniper One is a breathtaking chronicle of endurance, camaraderie, dark humor and courage in the face of relentless, lethal assault.

Ryan H

April 2004: Sgt Dan Mills and his platoon of snipers fly into southern Iraq, part of an infantry Battalion sent to win hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives. Back home we were told they were peace keeping. But there was no peace to keep. Because within days of arriving in theatre, Mills and his men were caught up in the longest, most sustained firefight British troops had faced for over fifty years. This awe inspiring account tells of total war in throat-burning winds and 50 degree heat, blasted by mortars and surrounded by heavily armed militias. For six months, they fought alone: isolated, besieged and under constant enemy fire. Their heroic stand a modern-day Rorke's Drift. Sniper One is a breathtaking chronical of endurance, camaraderie, dark humour and courage in the face of relentless, lethal assault.

Sniper One On Scope and Under Siege with a Sniper Team in Iraq

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