Mel Parry, SAS veteran dies

[Jimbuna]

R I P Mel and many thanks for your brave and loyal service

Mel Parry, who has died aged 76, was leader of the Special Air Service (SAS) “balcony team” which assaulted the Iranian Embassy in May 1980 after terrorists seized control of the building and 26 hostages in Princes Gate, South Kensington. “Operation Nimrod”, of which the balcony team was one element, introduced the wider world to the SAS and the now familiar images of assault teams dressed in “the black kit”, wearing respirators and carrying Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine-guns.

The terrorists, six Iranian Arabs belonging to a separatist group, believed to have been recruited, trained and armed by Iraq, stormed the embassy on April 30, demanding the release of comrades from Iranian prisons and safe passage out of the UK. Six days of tense negotiations with Metropolitan Police experts followed.

On May 5, after one hostage had been shot dead, the terrorists threatened to shoot another every 45 minutes if their demands were not met. The prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, decided that the time had come for action.

Control of the operation was handed over from the Metropolitan Police to the SAS and shortly afterwards Operation Nimrod was launched in an effort to free the hostages and arrest, or if necessary kill, the hostage takers.

Parry was in charge of the four-man team charged with assaulting the building from the front first floor balcony while other teams gained entry at multiple points, some by abseiling down from the roof.

With the aid of explosives mounted on a frame they blasted access, and in the live television broadcast of the event Parry is the last black clad figure seen placing the charge and scrambling back into cover before the explosives detonate allowing entry. As Parry placed the charge, a terrorist above dropped a hand grenade on them, which fortunately failed to explode.

Parry’s team were tasked to clear a number of rooms, deal with any terrorists they encountered and to evacuate hostages. But conditions in the building rapidly became chaotic, with fires breaking out caused by stun grenades setting fire to soft furnishings.

One hostage was killed, as were five of the six terrorists, but the remaining 19 hostages were released. An inquest subsequently cleared the SAS of any wrongdoing. The surviving gunman served 27 years in British prisons.

Parry, along with several of his colleagues, was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for his actions. The citation for the award was not published at the time, in keeping with Special Forces practice. But the final sentence reads: “Throughout the incident Trooper Parry set an outstanding example of courage and cool decisive leadership which was far in excess of that expected from a man of his rank.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...52e4158e&ei=12

[Commander Wallace]

Rest in peace, mel and thank you.

[Catfish]

Rest in peace Sir.