Alistair Slater

For the British road and track cyclist, see Alistair Slater (cyclist).

Sergeant Al Slater
Born(1956-07-25)25 July 1956
Leicestershire, England
Died2 December 1984(1984-12-02) (aged 28)
Kesh, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
Years of service1974–1984
RankSergeant
UnitThe Parachute Regiment
Special Air Service
Battles / warsThe Troubles
AwardsMilitary Medal

Sergeant Alastair Ira Slater, MM (25 July 1956 – 2 December 1984[1]) was a British Army soldier who served in 'B' Squadron, Air (7) Troop, 22 Special Air Service (SAS),[2][3] who was killed on 2 December 1984 in a confrontation with the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Kesh, a village in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.[4][5][6][7] The operation led to the deaths of Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde and Kieran Fleming, and the arrest of the others. The IRA members had been attempting to ambush a Royal Ulster Constabulary police car with a land mine at the time. Slater was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for his role in the action.[8]

Prior to joining the SAS, Slater was a member of 1 Para. He appeared in the 1982 British TV documentary The Paras as one of the instructors of a group of Parachute Regiment recruits undertaking their basic training. The programme began filming just prior to the Falklands War.[citation needed]

Slater was one of four SAS soldiers to be killed during The Troubles.[9]

  1. ^ "Personal Details: Slater, Al". Armed Forces Memorial roll of honour. GOV.UK.
  2. ^ Mars & Minerva, Special Air Service Regimental Journal Magazine, Issue 7, Volume 2 1995
  3. ^ McNab, Andy (1996). Immediate Action. Corgi Adult. pp. 225–33. ISBN 0-552-14276-X.
  4. ^ Tom Read, Freefall, pp. 158–66 (Little Brown, Edition 1, 1998). ISBN 0-316-64303-3.
  5. ^ Tírghrá, National Commemoration Centre, 2002; ISBN 0-9542946-0-2 p. 264
  6. ^ Baptism of Fire: The Astonishing True Story of a Man of God; ISBN 0-552-14582-3/ISBN 0-385-40916-8
  7. ^ "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths"., cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 15 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Reference at www.london-gazette.co.uk".
  9. ^ Mike Ryan, Ryan, Mike (2003). Secret Operations of the SAS. MBI Publishing Company LLC. ISBN 9780760314142., books.google.co.uk; accessed 15 November 2015.