Of course the truth got embellished, how the hell do you expect to sell books?
If Bravo 20 was "Got dropped off, tabbed like maniacs, Chris dropped us in the ****, got into a brief firefight, ran like hell, navigation cock-up, all in the bag for a quick filling in" you wouldn't bother.
However, if you build up the reader, by telling them you were carrying several Jerrycans of water with you, and all this excess weight, especially a 3 day in and out job, then I would suggest, that Andy McNab, embellished a lot of what he said, to protect operational procedure.We cache water don't we ?The last time I did a long range patrol, we had a resupply. However, you can't have the suggestion , that BritForces were actually sneaking into Iraq, and near likely targets to cache water and ammunition, BEFORE the offical off now, can you?
Come what may, Andy and his boys got into trouble,attempted to fight their way out, didn't manage it.
The sniping from various people, including Chris "I should have been in charge" Ryan, and the SAS RSM, commonly acknowledged to be a proper w@nker , will carry on remorseless. All because, McNab was the first one to get the story down. After that, it's all just so much professional jealousy
Tony