The SBS: Great Britains HARDEST & Most Secretive Military Unit...

September 1999. On the small south-east Asian island of Timor, demands for independence from Indonesia which had ruled over the population there since annexing it in 1976 had grown to such an extent as to spark open violence between those who wished to remain Indonesian and those who wanted the island to take control of its own future. This forced the United Nations to intervene, creating a peacekeeping force predominantly led by Australian defence forces to intervene and secure an open and fair referendum on independence.

To assist with this difficult task, the Australian government turned to its two longest and most natural allies namely New Zealand and the United Kingdom for assistance. Dubbed the International Force for East Timor or INTERFET, it included a special operations detachment which arrived in theatre aboard a Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules transport flying out of Darwin, Australia. Disembarking from the aircraft in their specially modified Land Rover Defenders was the small British contingent of around 20 troops who were captured briefly on camera by a news crew.

For the British civilian population back home, this was one of the first real glimpses they’d had of arguably their country’s most secretive special forces units – the Special Boat Squadron or SBS. In this episode, we are going to examine the often-overlooked origins of the SBS and cast some light on this most shadowy of groups. Welcome to Wars of the World.

00:00 Introduction
02:27 Origins
07:31 An Unorthodox Birth of an Unorthodox Force
10:36 Baptism of Fire
18:10 Triumph and Tragedy
22:02 Disbandment and Reformation

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Written & Researched by: Tony Wilkins
Edited by: James Wade


History Should Never Be Forgotten...