On 25 Aug 2000, a team of eleven British soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment (from a 400 strong contingent of Military Trainers which remained behind in Sierra Leone after the conclusion of
Operation Palliser), were captured and taken hostage by a group of criminals / rebels known as the
West Side Boys.
Preparations for their covert release began and on 10 Sep two Lynx attack helicopters and three Chinooks carrying 150 Paras flew fast and low into the Occra Hills c 80km E of Freetown, secured both banks of a river and stormed the detention area on the north bank. The hostages and their three Land Rovers were recovered and air lifted out.