Eye of the Storm

Peter Ratcliffe was born into a working-class family in Salford, and left home for good when he was fifteen. Disenchanted with life as an apprentice joiner, he joined the 1st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment in 1970, having passed out top of his intake, and served with 1 Para in Northern Ireland. In 1972 he applied for SAS Selection, which he passed at the first attempt. He served with the Regiment on operations in Oman, Northern Ireland, the Falklands, and the Middle East, as well as mainland Britain; he was Mentioned in Despatches for his command of an undercover patrol in the Falklands in 1982, and awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his leadership during the Gulf War. Commissioned in 1992, he left the army in 1997 as a major A celebrated war correspondent during the 1960s, Noel Botham has had a long and distinguished career as an investigative reporter, European editor of the National Enquirer, and author Formerly a foreign correspondent, Brian Hitchen's career as a journalist covered every major theatre of conflict from Cyprus to Vietnam. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Express for a number of years, retiring in 1996; he was appointed CBE in 1990 for services to journalismRatcliffe, Peter is the author of 'Eye of the Storm' with ISBN 9781930983014 and ISBN 1930983018.