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  • MRF Shadow Troop

  • The Untold True Story of Top Secret British Military Intelligence Undercover Operations in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1972-1974
  • By: Simon Cursey
  • Narrated by: Johnathan Rufus Welsh
  • Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (114 ratings)
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MRF Shadow Troop cover art

MRF Shadow Troop

By: Simon Cursey
Narrated by: Johnathan Rufus Welsh
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Summary

Some thought it stood for "Military Reconnaissance Force", others "Mobile Reconnaissance Force". Many people thought it didn't exist at all....

For decades there has been argument in the media and amongst politicians about the possible existence and extent of a shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland. MRF Shadow Troop confirms there was such an agenda in the early, chaotic days of British military intervention across the Irish Sea. But amongst the mountain of speculation there is little of any accuracy or authority relating to this period.

The speculation about the unit's name and mission only added to the uncertainty amongst their targets: members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the IRA, the provos. Simon Cursey was recruited into the Military Reaction Force - the unit's true name - in 1972. This book is his personal account of his time with the group and in it he reveals the truth about their operations-the briefings, missions, political wrangling, and government-sanctioned law-bending.

MRF Shadow Troop is a fascinating, exciting but above all accurate historical audiobook about the pioneers of counter-terrorism.

©2013 Simon Cursey (P)2021 Tantor

What listeners say about MRF Shadow Troop

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Murders Running Free

they say history is written by the victors. If this is considered history then it should be viewed as history by Government sanctioned murderous wooden spoons used to stir sectarianism in an explosive mixing bowl.
Total one sided propaganda

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Desperately needed editing

On the plus side this book gave some sense of the MRF from someone on the inside and that was interesting . Of course with that comes their bias.

On the other hand, if ever a book needed serious editing, this was one. There was so much tedious recalling about his fellow MRF soldiers which may have interesting to the author but I found boring and added nothing. Also towards the end, the author’s political views seemed very extreme to the point it was hard to empathise with his experience- whatever the rights and wrongs of the creation and actions of the MRF in countering the IRA.

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Underwhelming with gaping admissions

A book that threatens to reveal everything, reveals nothing. Everything discussed in this book is widely known and has been reported on.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • I
  • 14-12-21

Fascinating story, not so keen on the narrator.

I stuck with the book because I found the story and history interesting, but this was in spite of the narration which I found stilted and lacked personality.

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2 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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almost as big a whitewash as Widgery

Hard listen, very politically opiniated ... a person who admits that he executed people talks about killing people .....no judge, no jury, a hunter of men...No conception of what actually has happened in NI, happy to be part of an execution squad, devoid of any Human rights considerations.
Ill informed book....suprised the calls ignored wasn't Wa..Mitty

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Great knowledge/memory of Northern Ireland

I really enjoyed the story as a whole as there were lots of intricate details such as songs that were in the charts, news headlines,which celeb was dating who, makes and models of cars etc…..
Great knowledge and memory of the authors time spent in the province doing this dangerous undercover work.
The worse thing I didn’t like was the narrator. Every paragraph of so u could hear the noise of his saliva as he opened his mouth to read the next line, never heard that before in an audiobook and almost made me give up listening 🤬.
All in all a great book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

As usual, the Forces are forgotten and even prosecuted, this has been the same throughout history

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

A truly great listen, fantastic insight into the MRF , really brave & fantastic men who risked their lives to make the innocent men & women of N Ireland safe

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

not a great book

being ex forces I call BS on a lot of the stories.
blokes eating boot polish sandwiches. has to sleep in combats every night when on spearhead, blokes chopping their fingers off on purpose. and getting put on a flight (the whole battalion) and brought over to Belfast, without even being able to say goodbye to their wives.
some of the things he comes off with are laughable and cringe.
literally uses ever cliché that's ever been said about a squaddie.
other than that it's only a fairly standard book about the forces.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Authentic and plainly told

The right decision, I think, to leave this book so much in the author’s voice. The MRF, like so much else in the confused period of the early Troubles have been subject to much mythologising and demonising, depending on your point of view. This plainly written account carries conviction to me and is a useful corrective to Republican leaning accounts which tend to emphasise “moral equivalence” of the main players in the conflict to an extent that those alive at the time may still struggle to accept.

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