Secret War

Stephen Davies was the producer and co-researcher of this one-hour film documentary in the ‘20:20’documentary series screened on New Zealand TV3, at 7.30pm-8.00pm on 10th November 2002. (in 2002, 20:20 was TV3’s flagship documentary series, and Sunday evening was primetime)

Building on and briefly quoting from a his 1998 documentary of the covert training and actions of the SAS (Special Air Services Regiment), Secret War focused on the involvement of the Special Air Services of New Zealand in the hostiles following 9/11.

The specific emphasis of Secret War was an investigation into the deaths of a number of New Zealand SAS personnel while on active duty. Although SAS personnel are not officially engaged in direct combat, but instead provide an information-led infrastructure from behind enemy lines, and from other ‘distanced’ positions, Secret War presented a credible case which indicated that direct combat cannot be ruled out. Focusing on a number of hot spots including battle lines in Afghanistan, deaths which were reported caused by a ‘road accident’ or ‘elephant stampede’ were subject to scrutiny as were the activities of one soldier who successfully transferred to the British SAS in order to see more action overseas.

Davies created the overall concept of the documentary, developed the storylines base on his own research, co-ordinated additional research, undertook the most case sensitive interview, oversaw legal clearances (SAS personnel sign non-disclosure), sourced footage including George’s Bushes ‘call to arms’ speeches and filmed ‘reconstructions’. He also directed and produced Secret War.

With Edward Murrow’s probing journalism of the seminal 1950s CBS series 'See It Now' as the principal point of reference, Secret War set out to reveal new and hitherto unreported evidence combined with reasoned conjecture about the involvement of the New Zealand SAS in the ‘war against terror'.