Cry Havoc
A Trip to Hell for a Group of Ageing Mercenaries
Who Should Have Known Better
by
Toby Bishop

The startling scenes of horror and casual violence in the war-torn country of Mozambique, interlaced with the warm camaraderie between three ex-soldiers engaged to restore order, will grip and enchant the reader.

This fictional story is based upon a mercenary operation in Mozambique where three ageing ex-soldiers were tasked to restore order in the area of the port of Maputo and railyard complex so that aid and commercial vessels could conduct their business. This war-ravaged country, which had seen a fifteen-year conflict between the factions of Frelimo and Renamo, was at an end, and had left a lawless and hopeless situation for the starving population. The story, beguiling yet spiced with startling scenes of horror and violence, is told with humour based upon the team’s comradeship, where they operated in spartan conditions dealing with horrific situations until the completion of their contract, leaving them somewhat battered, but alive. The story ends with a suitable twist in the tale, and the question of whether they would ever do it again?

About the author

Roy ‘Toby’ Bishop is an ex-army officer who enlisted into the Royal Military Police in 1956 and then served a full career. He gained his own independent command as a major in 1984 and was awarded the MBE in 1982 by the parachute forces for his efforts in support of their worldwide role. He left the army in 1986, taking advantage of an opportunity to work in Ghana raising and training a security force for the Volta River Authority for the protection of their hydro electric darns and installations. He has since worked on contract in other African countries where he has gained a fondness for the continent.

Book review of Cry Havoc by Toby Bishop, MBE.
Toby Bishop, MBE, is a retired mercenary, formerly of the Royal Military Police. The following review appeared in The Royal Military Police Journal, August 2004:

You can imagine your editor's surprise when sent a book to review written by a friend and former Corps officer. In fact not just a book, but a novel! New novelist, Toby Bishop, known to most as Roy, has written a tale of derring do in Africa. Its sub-title says much of the author and the book: "A trip to Hell for a group of ageing mercenaries who should have known better." The fiction is based on a mercenary operation in Mozambique. The story is spiced with scenes of horror and violence and is told with humour. In fact, the sort of story that one would expect from a former soldier and told in a language we can all relate to. Roy, a former Major RMP, having joined the Corps in 1956, was commissioned from the ranks in 1977. He left the Army in 1986 and worked in Ghana and on contract in other African countries. He says he has now given up his wanderings and has settled back into life in Kent.

This is a tale of the experiences and opinions of a former army officer (seeking to change his way of life) after thirty years serving in H M Forces. The total change from a regulated and controlled military establishment to that of working in isolation in West Africa, without communication, and with limited support from the outside world, came as a shock—and he had to deal with it.

A seasoned mercenary, having returned from a recent contract in the Dark Continent, receives a message from a lifelong friend who is dying from cancer.