RIP TAZ

steve_sordy
steve_sordy Posts: 2,453
edited June 2018 in MTB general
One year ago an ex-MBR Forum member of some renown died after being badly injured while on active duty in Africa. He left behind a widow and four sons. (And two very large dogs!)

Those that knew him, knew him as a star. Those that didn't, well that is just your bad luck. He was a complex and fascinating individual with huge accomplishments behind him and many more ahead of him, I'm sure of that.

Taz, rest in peace mate. I still think of you often, and talk about you as well! :)

Comments

  • Neilio1978
    Neilio1978 Posts: 9
    Never met him but by the sounds of it, through others stories on MBR, he has was an absolute legend!

    Not enough people like that in this world.

    Got the book that he is in (Sniper One isnt it?) sat on my shelf ready for my next holiday. RIP Dude.
  • steve_sordy
    steve_sordy Posts: 2,453
    Neilio1978 wrote:
    Never met him but by the sounds of it, through others stories on MBR, he has was an absolute legend!

    Not enough people like that in this world.

    Got the book that he is in (Sniper One isnt it?) sat on my shelf ready for my next holiday. RIP Dude.

    Sniper One is indeed the book, and it's a right riveting read! Taz is the character in the book called Buzz. He takes up only one chapter I believe, when he comes to help out the author and his team of snipers stuck in a particularly nasty hell-hole in Iraq. Taz's speciality in the special forces was sniper and desert warfare. As if that wasn't enough, he was also an instructor in four different martial arts. In his prime he was 6'2", 18 stone and that with 9% body fat! My mind boggles, he must have been one continuous muscle!

    He never wrote about his career because he thought nobody would be interested! How wrong could one guy be, he was endlessly entertaining! :lol:
  • billycool
    billycool Posts: 833
    Shame he never got to write a book - I'm sure it would have been more interesting that McNab and Ryan's accounts.

    In Sniper One there is reference to him and you can see the back of his head in one of the pictures.

    Those sorts of guys are above and beyond anything I could hope to be.

    Would love to have met him.
    "Ride, crash, replace"
  • steve_sordy
    steve_sordy Posts: 2,453
    BillyCool wrote:
    Shame he never got to write a book - I'm sure it would have been more interesting that McNab and Ryan's accounts.

    In Sniper One there is reference to him and you can see the back of his head in one of the pictures.

    Those sorts of guys are above and beyond anything I could hope to be.

    Would love to have met him.

    I asked him about McNab and he was quite dismissive of the guy. His biggest criticism was that the guy failed to check the coms actually worked before setting off. The problems facing Bravo Two Zero unfolded from that failure. He made no criticism of the guy's bravery, just his conduct as the Sergeant in charge.

    "Above and beyond" is a good description. If you have read anything at all about how the SAS and the SBS are selected and trained, you would understand why they can go above and beyond anything us mere mortals could achieve. Taz never said one way or the other, but I firmly believe he was in the SBS when he finished his service. The SBS recruit mainly from the Royal Marines, which Taz was in.
    Very few know that Taz was originally from New Zealand and he served four tours in Vietnam before he joined the Royal Marines! His twin brother was killed in Vietnam. Yes, there was two of them! :shock:

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