In April 1998, William James Scully was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal "for saving lives during a coup".
Ex-SAS soldier Will Scully travelled to Sierra Leone in May 1997. His job was to protect geologists prospecting for gold in the jungle. Within days of his arrival violence erupted in the capital, Freetown, where he became stranded along with countless other refugees.
As the coup to oust President Kabbah's democratic government intensified, so too did frantic efforts to escape the country. But Scully and hundreds of civilians were caught, trapped in the Hotel Mammy Yoko, under siege and under fire. He took control of an explosive situations to single-handedly defend the hotel against over 200 heavily armed rebels and lead the hostages to safety.
'Once A Pilgrim' grips like an adventure story yet is all the more powerful for being true.
Includes 8 pages of black and white photographs.
