An ex-SAS hero gagged from writing a book about how he single-handedly defeated an armed gang of jihadi terrorists during a hotel siege has instead released a children’s novel.
Sergeant Christian Craighead risked his life to rescue dozens of civilians trapped in the Dusit D2 luxury hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, four years ago.
His heroics in 2019 were captured on live TV as he lead a counter-attack, sprinting in and out of the holiday complex, armed with an assault rifle, pistol and combat knife, as he lead terrified guests to safety,
The 19-hour siege by Somali gunmen with the al-Shabaab terror group left 21 people dead. Off-duty Christian was later awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his bravery – but was banned from discussing it in a memoir or speaking tour by the Ministry of Defence.
Now the SAS man has penned a children’s book, The Wrong Wolf, instead. Taking to Instagram, he wrote: ‘It’s not the book you’re all waiting for, but nevertheless I’m still extremely proud of it.’
Sergeant Christian Craighead was gagged from writing a book about his heroics in Kenya in 2019. He is now releasing a children’s novel instead
Craighead (pictured far right after the incident) wanted to publish his account of the day that five terrorists stormed the Dusit D2 hotel complex in Nairobi in January 2019 where 21 people died
Chris Craighead leading terrified guests to safety after storming the hotel building in Kenya
Craighead was in Kenya with the SAS to train local forces and was relaxing off-duty when the siege happened. The soldier with the elite regiment – whose motto is Who Dares Wins – seized the initiative and headed to the scene dressed in jeans and a casual shirt.
He pulled on a camouflage flak jacket and a balaclava and stormed the building armed only with an assault rifle, Glock pistol and combat knife, leading a counter-attack in which he almost single-handedly defeated jihadis.
The soldier was seen in news footage escorting hostages from the hotel before sprinting back inside again.
Craighead’s book, The Wrong Wolf, comes after the MoD gagged him from writing a memoire about his heroics in Africa
The bloody siege left 21 people dead, including British charity worker Luke Potter. But the death toll would likely have been much higher had Craighead not intervened.
However, senior officers and Foreign Office officials were apparently horrified to see him in action because he had not sought their approval.
Even though every second counted while terrorists were going from room to room executing those inside, it is alleged that they were more worried about Craighead’s intervention causing embarrassment to the Kenyan government.
An SAS soldier previously told the Mail: ‘Chris has had four years of this. His colleagues said fair play to him for what he did. But the hierarchy were aghast.
‘They’d rather everyone sat on their hands than get stuck in. The rules on not discussing operations are there for good reason, but this incident is an exception.
‘Everyone knows about it, everyone knows what he did. So, what’s the big deal? Truth is, there’s an agenda against him.’
Craighead breaching a door of the hotel while wearing a camouflage flak jacket and a balaclava and armed only with an assault rifle
Craighead and a security officer escort an injured man who was attacked in the terror siege
Craighead launched a legal challenge against a ban imposed by the Secretary of Defence and claimed that such an move was in breach of his freedom of speech.
But he has now been prevented from releasing the book after the High Court ruled that the ban should remain in place to protect the SAS’ tradecraft in the interest of national security, according to The Telegraph.
Mrs Justice Steyn said, during a private hearing in the High Court according to The Telegraph: ‘He has only been prevented from giving an account of an operation, the Dusit incident, in which he engaged as a member of UK special forces.
‘On the other side of the balance are the interests of the community reflected in the defendant’s evidence.
‘Those community interests entail the protection of lives, the protection of national security, the maintenance of the morale and efficiency of UKSF and protecting relations with defence partners.’
‘On the evidence before me, the interests of the community substantially outweigh the claimant’s interest in publishing a memoir about the Dusit incident (even when buttressed by the interest of the public in receiving the information he wishes to disclose, and by the interest of his publisher).’
The book entitled ‘One Man In: The Explosive Firsthand Account of the Lone Special-Ops Soldier Who Fought Off a Major Terrorist Attack in Kenya’ was expected to be published this year.
Craighead appeared on Evan Hafer’s Black Rifle Coffee Podcast Referring last year and briefly spoke about confidentiality issues.
He said: ‘I’m working with the Ministry of Defence as we speak to do it properly, to release this book so there’s no sense of information or anything.
‘So that’s as far as I’m willing to talk about my life in the 22nd Special Air Service regiment. I should add that the book is just about that one day, so for anyone on the edge of their seats it doesn’t talk about anything I did while serving in the unit.
‘It just talks about one thing I did that we all know I did.’
A soldier (pictured), who uses the pseudonym Christian Craighead, has been gagged from releasing a book on how he defeated Islamic terrorists in Kenya
Craighead was awarded a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, a bravery medal second only to a Victoria Cross, for his response to the gun and grenade attack.
Under strict rules, Special Forces troops must not discuss their missions in public or seek to ‘cash in’ on operations.
The rules were introduced following the furore over books by ex-troopers Chris Ryan and Andy McNab which dramatically raised the SAS’s public profile and led to concerns over Special Forces troops leaking sensitive information which could compromise future operations.
Craighead’s children’s book is ‘inspired by episodes in my life’ and was written ‘from the heart’, the retired soldier said on Instagram.
Illustrated by US military veteran Matthew Klein, proceeds from the book will go towards American armed forces organisation Frontline Healing Foundation, which seeks to provide support to traumatised servicemen.