Peter McAleese (7 September 1942 – 18 March 2024) was a Scottish soldier and

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

. McAleese served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

's Parachute Regiment and

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

(SAS), the

Rhodesian Special Air Service The Rhodesian Special Air Service or Rhodesian SAS was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army. It comprised: *C Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment (Malayan Emergency, 1951–1953) *"C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service (1961–197 ...

and

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Southern Rhodesia and Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' Britis ...

, and South Africa's 44 Parachute Brigade. As a mercenary or contractor, he worked in countries including

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. McAleese was the author of the book ''No Mean Soldier''.

Early life

McAleese was born into a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family of Irish descent in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, within sight of

Barlinnie Prison HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the northeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose ...

, and spent his childhood years in the city's

Riddrie Riddrie () is a north-eastern district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies on the A80 Cumbernauld Road. Location and amenities Riddrie is a predominantly residential area consisting of 1920s or earlier semi-detached houses (especially in the area kno ...

district. Growing up he was often beaten by his father, who had served in the military and had a reputation for being an aggressive fighting man.

Military career

McAleese enlisted with the British Army's Parachute Regiment in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 1960 at the age of 17. After basic training at the Parachute Regiment's

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

depot, he was assigned to the

1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment The 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (1 PARA), is a special forces battalion of the British Army's Parachute Regiment. Along with various other regiments and corps from across the British Armed Forces, it is part of Special Forces Support G ...

's mortar platoon. In 1962 McAleese transferred to 'D' Squadron,

22 SAS The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-ter ...

, where he served with the squadron's Mobility troop in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

. After a few months he was returned to unit from the SAS for disciplinary reasons, re-joining 1 Para, where he was posted to

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in 1962–64. In 1964 he re-joined the SAS and served with 'D' Squadron's 16 (Air) Troop in

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and in the

Aden Emergency The Aden Emergency, also known as the 14 October Revolution () or as the Radfan Uprising, was an armed rebellion by the National Liberation Front (South Yemen), National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South ...

. In 1968 he was again returned to the Parachute Regiment by the SAS for disciplinary offences related to violent disorder, rejoining 1 Para, which he served with from 1968 to 1969 as a sergeant-instructor. In 1969 McAleese resigned from the British Army.Interview audio tape (No.15433) with Pater McAleese, Sound Archive, Imperial War Museum, 1995
McAleese served three prison sentences in the early 1970s following convictions for violence and was incarcerated at HMP Gloucester. On release from prison for the third time he left the United Kingdom for Africa, where he was a mercenary soldier in the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

for several months in 1976, fighting for the

National Liberation Front of Angola The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (; abbreviated FNLA) is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence, under the leadership of Holden Roberto. F ...

, assuming command of the formation after the capture of Costas Georgiou. In early 1977, McAleese moved to

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

and enlisted with the

, being assigned to its 'A' Squadron, fighting in the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

with the rank of a non-commissioned officer. In 1979, he joined the

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

operating in South Rhodesia. After the fall of Rhodesia in 1980, he enlisted with the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...

's 44 Parachute Brigade, where he served as a Warrant Officer Class 2 to 1984. He assisted with the creation of a new

pathfinder Pathfinder, Path Finder or Pathfinders may refer to: Aerospace * ''Mars Pathfinder'', a NASA Mars Lander * NASA Pathfinder, a high-altitude, solar-powered uncrewed aircraft * Space Shuttle ''Pathfinder'', a Space Shuttle test simulator Arts and ...

reconnaissance unit, and took part in the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

Security contracting career

In the mid-1980s McAleese set up a family home in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, and became an employee of the COIN Security Group, a military/police private contractor based in South Africa. After a near-death parachuting display accident, he moved back to live in the United Kingdom. At the end of the 1980s, he spent two years as a security contractor working for the government forces during the "

Colombian conflict The Colombian conflict () began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates and far-left guerrilla groups fighting each other to increase their i ...

". In the mid-1990s he worked in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

as a bodyguard training instructor, and undertook security work in Algeria and Iraq for several years. McAleese was contracted in 1989 by the Colombian Cali Cartel to assassinate their rival,

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...

. He and his team of mercenaries failed in their attempt due to their helicopter crashing and killing their pilot, which was the subject of the 2021 UK documentary film ''Killing Escobar''. Filmed interviews with him and some of his colleagues form the core of the narrative. After the crash, Mcaleese suffered broken ribs and had to lay on the mountain they crashed on for 3 days before getting rescued.

Retirement and death

In his latter years, McAleese was a pub landlord in England. In 1993, he published his memoir, entitled ''No Mean Soldier'', which has been reprinted several times. McAleese died on 18 March 2024, at the age of 81.

Publications

* * * *

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McAleese, Peter 1942 births 2024 deaths British Parachute Regiment soldiers Scottish anti-communists Scottish mercenaries Foreign volunteers in the Rhodesian Security Forces Rhodesian Special Air Service personnel South African military personnel of the Border War People of the Angolan Civil War Special Air Service soldiers Military personnel from Glasgow British South Africa Police officers People from Shettleston Scottish people of Irish descent Prisoners and detainees of Scotland