Barry Davies (soldier)

Barry Davies BEM (22 November 1944 – 18 April 2016) was a British Army soldier who served with the SAS and was awarded the British Empire Medal for his role in the operation to release hostages from a hijacked German plane, Lufthansa Flight 181, at Mogadishu, in October 1977. He was a counter-terrorist expert and the author of many books on the SAS and Survival training.

Army career
In 1962, Davies joined the Welsh Guards, and joined the Special Air Service aged 22, with whom he served for 18 years. Davies served in Northern Ireland, Oman, Malaya, Africa and Latin America. In 1977, Davies helped bring the 91 passengers of Lufthansa Flight 181 to safety after the plane was hijacked in Mogadishu; Davies had originally been sent as an observer, but ended up taking part in the assault to free the 91 passengers. Davies was awarded the British Empire Medal. In 1985, Davies left the SAS to work as a marketer and product developer for BCB International.

Author
Davies was the author of over 35 books on the SAS and Survival training including Fire Magic: Hijack to Mogadishu (1994), Heroes of the SAS (2000), The Complete Encyclopedia of the SAS (1998), The SAS Self-Defence Handbook (2011), The Complete SAS Survival Manual (2011) and SAS Desert Survival (2001).

Personal life and death
Davies was born in Wem, Shropshire, where his father worked as a farmer. In 1996, Davies moved to Spain. Davies died on 18 April 2016 in Spain due to a heart attack. He was survived by his fourth wife Mary Dixon, whom he married in 2011, and a son and two daughters.