SAS documentary Bravery and Betrayal to be showed in Townsville

A powerful documentary about former SAS soldiers who believe they have been vilified over allegations of Afghanistan war crimes is showing in Townsville. Where you can see it.

Former Australian SAS soldiers who believe they have been vilified over allegations of Afghanistan war crimes have banded together to tell their story in a powerful 90 minute documentary which will be shown at the Townsville RSL next week. Picture: Supplied

Former Australian SAS soldiers who believe they have been vilified over allegations of Afghanistan war crimes have banded together to tell their story in a powerful 90 minute documentary which will be shown at the Townsville RSL for three days next week.

Bravery and Betrayal tells their story of what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the veterans feel they were thrown to the lions by senior military leaders after returning home.

The 2020 Brereton Report found ‘credible evidence’ of 39 alleged unlawful killings committed by 25 special forces soldiers between 2009 and 2013.

Only one soldier has been charged since the report’s release but has been no convictions.

Former Australian SAS soldiers who believe they have been vilified over allegations of Afghanistan war crimes have banded together to tell their story in a powerful 90 minute documentary which will be shown at the Townsville RSL next week. Picture: Supplied

A report released in May 2024 by the independent Afghanistan inquiry implementation oversight panel found that a lack of accountability from senior military leadership on alleged Afghanistan war crimes has led to ‘anger and bitter resentment” among soldiers and veterans.

Bravery and Betrayal was produced by a core of SAS veterans over several years and provides a look behind the scene, including interviews with SAS officers, soldiers and former Prime Ministers John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbot who reveal what they knew.

There is also testimony was US Army helicopter pilots who recount what they saw and further stories from the wives, mothers, widows and children left behind.

One of the documentary’s producers is former SAS soldier ‘Mort’ who said it was made so they could tell their story about what happened in Afghanistan to the Australian public and also to counter a negative image portrayed in mainstream media.

Mort, who served 33 years in the Australian Defence Force and was deployed with the SAS to Afghanistan 8 times said they wanted to be able to look people in the eye after seeing the documentary while answering questions and get their message across.

Former Australian SAS soldiers who believe they have been vilified over allegations of Afghanistan war crimes have banded together to tell their story in a powerful 90 minute documentary which will be shown at the Townsville RSL next week. Picture: Supplied

“We really want to humanise who we are, as opposed to what’s out there at the moment,” the veteran said.

“You’ve only got to Google SAS and Afghanistan, and it’s probably an over exaggeration to say that, there was words like ‘baby killers’, but it’s really, it’s quite reminiscent of Vietnam.

“So there’s that whole perception that we were just cowboys out there, running amok, murdering people, just doing our own thing,” Mort said.,

He said the ‘Betrayal’ in the title referred to the way he believed they were treated by Australia’s top military brass when they returned.

“That’s largely to do with how we were treated by our leaders and we’re talking senior leaders once we returned from Afghanistan, and the way that they treated the unit,” Mort said.

“How there was a lot of people that needed support, and they weren’t getting that support. We were getting vilified by mainstream media, and no one was saying to anybody, ‘hey, hang on a minute. Let’s just wait until we have a story. This isn’t a story yet. This is all speculation’.

“So the betrayal part is absolutely aimed at the higher ranks, and we’re talking right up the top here, and their lack of support for us.”

Mort said he was currently taking the hard-hitting documentary to different venues around the country and said they were hoping to get audiences to understand what the SAS really did in Afghanistan and how they were treated upon return.

Former Australian SAS soldiers who believe they have been vilified over allegations of Afghanistan war crimes have banded together to tell their story in a powerful 90 minute documentary which will be shown at the Townsville RSL next week. Picture: Supplied

“The reflections I’m getting from people in the crowds is one of bewilderment that firstly, they don’t really know the ins and outs of it, then they’re surprised to learn, and then they’re horrified that soldiers are being treated this way,” he said.

“I’ve had grown men hugging in tears and ladies and we want them to be part of the conversation.

“If we ever send our people off to war again, it’s those kind of people who should be putting their hand up and asking the government, ‘hey, why are we sending them there? What for? How long are they going to be there for? What does success look like? What do we want them to get out of it?’”

Mort said they wanted to audiences to understand what happened in Afghanistan.

“That’s why we want to look them in the eye and answer questions afterwards. So primarily it is to understand what Afghanistan was and wasn’t, and it wasn’t the way it’s been portrayed in the mainstream media.”

Former Australian SAS soldiers who believe they have been vilified over allegations of Afghanistan war crimes have banded together to tell their story in a powerful 90 minute documentary which will be shown at the Townsville RSL next week. Picture: Supplied

He said they were also wanting a government inquiry to further examine what went right and what went wrong and to also hold senior military and politicians to account.

“Realistically, an inquiry of some sort should be done, and that’s big, not just to learn what we got wrong, but with a lot of things right as well.

“Unless we record that, we as a nation, we’ll make the same mistakes in the future. We also would like a public apology, as unlikely as that’s going to occur, but I think success at the moment now, is just the people listening, and we’re having a chance to tell our side of the story,” he said.

Bravery and Betrayal will be shown at the Townsville RSL on June 24, 25 and 26 at 6pm and for tickets contact the Townsville RSL or go here.

Originally published as SAS documentary Bravery and Betrayal to be showed in Townsville