Campaign Groups and Pairs 682
A fine ‘Operation Nimrod’ campaign pair awarded to Staff Sergeant I. N. Pape, B Squadron, Special Air Service, formerly 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, a member of the iconic S.A.S. hostage rescue force during the Iranian Embassy Siege, 5 May 1980 - He was accredited with the eventual capture of ‘Ali’, real name Fowzi Nejad, the only terrorist to survive the storming of the embassy.
Pape went on to serve with the Regiment in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, and came to the fore again when a tragic climbing accident occurred during a 9 Troop training exercise in Botswana in June 1985. An equipment failure led to the death of one of the S.A.S. climbers, and Pape exhibited his climbing expertise and sheer brute strength as he took it upon himself to abseil down a mountain with the body of the casualty strapped to his back. His eventual success was witnessed, in a gathering storm, by Andy McNab who was there with 7 Troop, ‘it was about two hours before Ivor [pseudonym] got to us. He was in shit state; he was sweating heavily and covered in grime, he had cuts on his elbows and knees, and his face and arms were bruised from the effort of moving a very heavy Joe off the mountain. He had put Joe into a mountain stretcher and then started to abseil down. It was a major feat of strength to kick himself and Joe over the overhangs. He should have got a medal that day. We took the body the rest of the way down.’
General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (24393251 Tpr I N Pape SAS); South Atlantic 1982, with rosette (24393251 Cpl I N Pape 5 Innis DG (SAS)) first with named card box of issue, and with scan of recipient’s Regular Army Certificate of Service, good very fine (2)
£8,000-£10,000
Ivan Nicholas Pape was born in July 1959, and attested for the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, Royal Armoured Corps at Carlisle in May 1976. He went on to pass selection for the Special Air Service Regiment, and served with 22 SAS, 13 August 1979 - 22 June 1990. During which time he served Northern Ireland, 4 January - 2 February 1980; 1 May - 10 May 1981; and 7 September -15 September 1981. He also served with the Regiment during the Falklands War.
The Iranian Embassy Siege, 5 May 1980
Perhaps of most note during Pape’s military career was his part in Operation Nimrod - the breaking of the Iranian Embassy siege in London. Bob Curry’s autobiography, The Psychic Soldier, gives the following background to the hostage rescue team of which he and Pape were members:
‘On return to Hereford we were taken on our next role. For the next six months we were assigned to the national counter terrorist team. This was early 1980. If there was a local problem, you would ring 999 and expect the police, ambulance or fire brigade to attend to your problem. Well, if there was a terrorist incident in this country, the national counter terrorist team would deal with it, and as you would expect, it was the country's blue-light service, just like your local services always on call, always ready, highly trained, and very effective against any terrorist organisation that wanted to perform in this country. My advice to the terrorists was, 'Don't even think about it.'
I was trained as an assault team member. These are men that go into the building where the terrorists are located and clear the rooms - the sharp end of the job, as you've seen on the films and television, giving the bad guys the good news. Never shooting a hostage - this was what the training was about. Picking out the good from the bad and dealing with the situation that you found yourself in at the time.
I was also trained as a sniper, both day and night. The use of night observation equipment was important in the training to see and not be seen. 'Surprise' was always the word.
After a series of exercises confirming the team were ready to take on the role, finally we took over the national counter terrorist team responsibilities. Every day was training, long and hard, and no stone went unturned. We were ready, should the call come, and in May 1980 it did. We were just coming back from training. It was lunchtime, and the troop sergeant, Roy, said to us, 'The Iranian Embassy in London has been taken over by a group of terrorists. We are on standby to go.' And we were ready. We were always ready. The kits were always packed to go. We were given the word to deploy to London.
There were hostages being held in the building at Princes Gate in London. There were several terrorists, all armed, holding them. They had even taken a policeman from the front door, holding him hostage. This had never happened in England before, but since the Munich Olympics and the disaster that had happened there, we'd had a team. This team was from the best unit in the British Army, the SAS, and I'm sure to this day that had the terrorists known of our existence, this incident would have never happened. They wouldn't have dared to try this. We have a saying in the military: 'Prior planning and preparation prevents piss-poor performance.' They hadn't followed this rule.
That night we moved into position in the building next door to the Iranian embassy to await the outcome of negotiations. If they failed, we were the next card to be played. There was a television programme on at the time where competitors went over an assault course, and to get double points they could play their joker card if the competitors felt they were good at one particular subject that the game demanded. This card was held by the government that day, and unfortunately, I knew what would happen. I thought: They're not going to let sixty rottweilers loose in London, are they?, by this I mean the SAS.
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