Rhiwbina Living

Para.
mercenary.
sas.
sniper.
bodyguard.
SAS veteran Robin Horsfall has overcome adversity time and time
again. His life story so far is like something out of a novel.
"I'll have a bowl of porridge please."
It's early summer. In a small cafe,
just outside of north Cardiff, Robin
Horsfall is ordering breakfast.
Among the chatter of the
cafe, most are unaware of the
extraordinary life of the man with
the moustache sat quietly in the
corner.
"Until the age of seven, I had
no father figure in my life," says
Robin. "There was a gap in my
development because there was
no one there to put me straight or
tell me how to behave. As a result,
I grew up lacking confidence and
became vulnerable to bullies."
Robin was born in Surrey and
following a divorce from his birth
father, Robin's mother Hazel
married what was to become
Robin's step-dad.
"He adopted me and gave me
his name Horsfall. He had no
experience of bringing up children
and could get violent with the
frustration of my behaviour."
Robin's broken family life
impacted heavily on his education,
and as a result, he developed a
resentment to authority.
"Nobody asked me if I wanted
to go to school. I tried hard there
but I was always put down by the
teachers. My voice was silenced."
With his home life falling apart at
the age of 15, Robin decided to join
the Army as a boy soldier.
"I'll always remember having to
walk across a trainasium as part of
our Para training in 1973. I was 16
years old. A trainasium is essentially
two steel poles arranged almost
symmetrically 60ft up in the air.
My job was to walk across them
but the thing is, there's a six inch
high scaffold clamp on each bar
in the middle so you can't just run
across and get it over with quickly.
You have to stay in control, adjust
midway, and continue over.
"I got halfway and froze with fear.
My trainer, a man by the name of
Mick Lee, came up the other side
and walked out to meet me. He
actually held my hands and walked
backwards across the bars until we
got to the other side. Then he told
me to do it again alone. Which I did.
It was the first time someone had
shown me what true leadership
was.
"Joining the Army was my decision
to let them have authority over
me. I quickly became unhappy
with failure. The only way for me to
hold my head up was to excel - to
be faster, fitter, and quicker than
anyone else. I learned to stand up
for myself."
Despite bullying by his peers and
colleagues in the forces, Robin
became a full member of the
Parachute Regiment in 1974 and
served three tours of Northern
Ireland as part of Operation Banner.
In January 1979, Robin passed
selection for the SAS at his second
attempt.
"SAS selection is nothing like it's
depicted on TV. There's none of
this shouting or criticism. Parts of
the training took place here in the
mountains of South Wales."
On 30th April 1980, a group of six
armed men stormed the Iranian
embassy on Prince's Gate in South
Kensington, London. The gunmen
took 26 people hostage, including
embassy staff, several visitors,
and a police officer who had been
guarding the embassy.
Within 48 hours, the SAS had been
dispatched and had set up camp in
the adjacent building.
"We were there next door for
16 Images: ©Crown & Robin Horsfall