Sorry - couldnt help myself...
brought to you by a POL/Russell Crowe moment
Posted on 10/24/2006 8:31:40 PM PDT by Eurotwit
A 70-year-old former British soldier who fought guerillas in Aden and Triad gangs in Hong Kong showed four muggers how it doesn't pay to mess with the SAS.
Douglas O'Dell is past retirement age but the moves he learned as a volunteer in Britain's toughest regiment half-a-century ago stood him in good stead when he was ambushed near his home in Bielefeld, Germany, by four local toughs.
The former Provost Sergeant put paid to the danger on the street like he once took out bandits in hotspots across the globe.
THWACK! The first mistake came when one of the teenagers grabbed him around the throat and said in German: "Give my your money, grandad, if you don't want to get hurt."
"Bad move," said Douglas. "The only part he got right was grandad. If you're gonna grab someone from behind take their arms and pin them to their waist.
"This joker, I was able to grab his elbow, crouch down and throw him over my shoulder. He landed on his back on a fence and squealed like a stuck pig."
CRASH! As one went down another moved in and Douglas thought he saw him reaching for a knife. The Birmingham-born divorcee, who has a daughter and three grandchildren, said: "I had the measure of him but I slipped on some wet leaves as he came for me and bashed my face badly on the concrete.
"I saw his boot coming towards my face and I thought: 'No you don't, sunshine.' I grabbed his leg and twisted it until he too was screaming out in agony.
"Then I got to my feet and kicked him in the chest."
With two down the two remaining would-be muggers had enough. One peeled his groaning pal from the fence, the other picked up his crippled accomplice from the pavement.
"The last I saw of them they were limping down the pavement like a WW1 trench raiding party who got clobbered," said Douglas.
Douglas, who served nearly nine years with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment before leaving the army in the late 1950s, learned his combat moves when he was accepted for SAS training.
He completed the course and was to join the famous regiment when he contracted malaria and had to leave the army.
"I was upset at the time but I made the best of it. It's funny, but I never thought I would need to know that stuff again, the unarmed combat, but it came back just when I needed it."
The youths ambushed him just 60 feet from the flat he lives in in the British Army garrison town he has called home since 1961.
He went on: "The police only became involved because I went to the hospital with my face. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. They didn't get anything – except a bloody good hiding.
"They were German, I think east Germans, from their accent. There have been a lot of break-ins in my road.
"I just didn’t think this would happen to me. I was only returning from a pal's place after drinking a few beers."
Douglas, who spent three years as a policeman in Birmingham before returning to Germany to live after his marriage ended, shares his flat with a mongrel dog called Schnuffi.
He still works, as a delivery driver, "because my pension isn't very good."
Police in Bielefeld are still looking for his attackers.
But a spokesman said: "He had everything under control. These guys picked the wrong guy on the wrong night."
Hey, I'm not old and I've used that line before. I think I heard my dad say it a time or two when he fought someone younger. It also makes the other guy pause a bit, LOL.
Muggers - in Germany?
Good thing this bloke wasn't at home. He would be in prison by now.
armed(literally) ping list?
Great title. BTTT
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1724770/posts
Sounds like these two fellas should get together and have a couple of drinks. ;-D
And that is the saddest commentary you can make on any society and the worst part is that it is true of every society throughout the world
What amazes me however, is the fact he was not arrested for being so insensitive to those poor disadvantaged German youth.
Isn't it common in Britain these days to punish 70 year old former SAS soldiers (well anyone really), for beating up on 4 young hooligans out to do you harm?
Don't be so sure. This old guy is bound to be still in darn good shape, I don't care if he does know moves. A gimpy old weak boned man would not be able to pull this off no matter what his training in his prime. They said he was once a police officer. Well I'd say he's likely a Jack Palance kinda guy. Fit as a fiddle and able to outwork many that are 20 years younger.
Training is training … age (obviously) not withstanding.
Old saw (sp) … practice, practice, practice and you will never forget.
hehehehe,,,,Never Pick On Nothin' Meaner Than You Are...;0)
Good story but when you don't know what a "SAS" is , you feel like your missing something. I guess every one in the world knows what it is but me, being no one else is asking.
looks can be decieving....hehehehehehe
The Special Air Service (SAS) is the principal special forces organisation of the British Army. A small and secretive institution, it attracts a disproportionate amount of media coverage. The SAS was formed in 1941 to conduct raids behind German lines in North Africa, and today serves as a model for similar units fielded by other countries.[citation needed]
The SAS forms part of the United Kingdom Special Forces, alongside the Special Boat Service (SBS), Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR), and Special Forces Support Group (SFSG). The SAS is widely regarded as one of the finest and best-trained special forces units in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Air_Service
I believe the U.S. Delta Force was established as an American eqivalent by an U.S. special forces operative who had served with the SAS.
"From its beginnings, Delta was heavily influenced by the British SAS, a philosophical result of Col. Beckwith’s year-long (1962-1963) exchange tour with that unit. Accordingly, it is today organized into three operating squadrons, all of which (A, B, and C) are subdivided into small groups known as troops. It is rumored that each troop, as the case with the SAS, specializes in HALO, SCUBA, or other skill groups"
http://www.specialoperations.com/Army/Delta_Force/unit_profile.htm
YOu got give props to this guys Snugs and IVAN
Thank you.
Great story!
Ms.B
u-ragh.!
Best post this week...:)
Bump
Sorry - couldnt help myself...
brought to you by a POL/Russell Crowe moment
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