Sergeant Alastair Ira Slater , MM (25 July 1956 – 2 December 1984[ 1] ) was a British Army soldier who served in 'B' Squadron, Air (7) Troop, 22 Special Air Service (SAS),[ 2] [ 3] who was killed on 2 December 1984 in a confrontation with the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Kesh , a village in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland .[ 4] [ 5] [ 6] [ 7] The operation led to the deaths of Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde and Kieran Fleming , and the arrest of the others. The IRA members had been attempting to ambush a Royal Ulster Constabulary police car with a land mine at the time. Slater was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for his role in the action.[ 8]
Prior to joining the SAS, Slater was a member of 1 Para. He appeared in the 1982 British TV documentary The Paras as one of the instructors of a group of Parachute Regiment recruits undertaking their basic training. The programme began filming just prior to the Falklands War .[citation needed ]
Slater was one of four SAS soldiers to be killed during The Troubles .[ 9]
References
^ "Personal Details: Slater, Al" . Armed Forces Memorial roll of honour . GOV.UK .
^ Mars & Minerva , Special Air Service Regimental Journal Magazine, Issue 7, Volume 2 1995
^ McNab, Andy (1996). Immediate Action . Corgi Adult. pp. 225–33. ISBN 0-552-14276-X .
^ Tom Read, Freefall, pp. 158–66 (Little Brown, Edition 1, 1998). ISBN 0-316-64303-3 .
^ Tírghrá , National Commemoration Centre, 2002; ISBN 0-9542946-0-2 p. 264
^ Baptism of Fire: The Astonishing True Story of a Man of God ; ISBN 0-552-14582-3 /ISBN 0-385-40916-8
^ "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths" . , cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 15 November 2015.
^ "Reference at www.london-gazette.co.uk" .
^ Mike Ryan, Ryan, Mike (2003). Secret Operations of the SAS . MBI Publishing Company LLC. ISBN 9780760314142 . , books.google.co.uk; accessed 15 November 2015.
External links