Chris Ryan , MM was born in Rowlands Gill, then in County Durham, North East England in 1961. He joined the regular 22 SAS in 1984 after seven years in the territorial 23 SAS and he was later one of the members of the disastrous "Bravo Two Zero" mission, during which a patrol from the Special Air Service were sent behind enemy lines in the first Gulf War. He was the only member of the team to escape from Iraq after a 200 mile walk with no food and little water through enemy territory into neutral Syria.