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| In Foreign Fields: Heroes of Iraq and Afganistan, In Their Own Words | 
 enlarge | Author: Dan Collins
Publisher: Monday Books
Category: Book
List Price: £17.99
Buy Used: £8.50
You Save: £9.49 (53%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 8062
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0955285488
EAN: 9780955285486
ASIN: 0955285488
Publication Date: November 19, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-8 of 8 | | « PREV | | |
A book to savour December 2, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
It's been done before, but it is still a clever idea - an anthology of interviews of military men, describing their wartime experiences. In this case, it is 25 medal-winners from the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, assembled by Dan Collins, writer and former journalist, who freely admits that he "has never fought a day in his life".
His lack of military experience, however, does not hinder the enterprise. Collins does not seek to impose his own personality on his subjects and lets them talk freely, describing their own experiences, subject to only the lightest of editing. The hand of the author though, is present throughout, as he frames each interview in a coherent structure, deftly interwoven with extracts from each of the medal-winners' citations.
Of the twenty-five, it is impossible to pick favourites. Every one of the accounts is riveting and unique. Not in any order, therefore we pluck Lance Corporal Dickson, MC., a Territorial Army soldier deployed to Iraq. He was caught in an ambush while riding an open-topped Land Rover, part of an escort for a convoy of water tankers driving through Basra.
Braving a withering hail of fire, IEDs and RPGs, he stayed at his highly exposed post in the back of the Land Rover, even after being wounded. Mind you, such is this man's Army that, after taking a round that went in through his rear deltoid and followed a track down his rib cage, lodging in his back, his Sergeant told him to get back to his post and "...stop being a lazy sod!". No mummys' boys these!
Then we have Major Mark Hammond, something of a rarity - a Royal Marine Chinook pilot. He led the Immediate Response Team and Quick Reaction Force in Helmand, based in Camp Bastion, his duties including taking medical teams out to evacuate casualties, flying in to "hot" landing zones in often perilous conditions.
With understated bravery, Maj. Hammond is "mega-impressed" with his surgical team. "It's easier for us flying the thing (helicopter)," he says. "They have to sit in the back watching the rounds go past the window and there's nothing they can do".
After one aborted mission, when the fire was too heavy for Hammond to bring his helicopter into a landing zone in Musa Qala, he returns to Camp Bastion (his machine is found to have four bullet holes in vital parts) and has to break the news to the surgical team. He takes up the story:
I remember, we came off the cab and the medics were all sat down the back. Their boss was a colonel - he was pretty ashen-faced, and I had a smoke with him. We were sucking down this smoke, and I said, "You realise we are going to go back?" He took just about the longest drag I've ever seen, stubbed it out and said, "Yeah, I thought we might". And he just walked off. Immensely brave ...
If understatement is a quintessentially British characteristic, then we also see this aplenty, but no more so than from Lieutenant Timothy Illingworth CGC. He is attached to the Afghan Army and, in contact with the Taleban and engaged in a ferocious firefight, he borrows an RPG, fires off a few rounds, and then, he recalls ...
I got back onto my rifle, moving forward, identifying individuals if they left cover and shooting them if I could. I finished my magazine, went to change it and that's when I noticed no-one else was firing. I changed my mag - it was my seventh and last, which is an indication - and turned round. And there was not a soul in sight.
And when any one of us would be a cowering, gibbering wreck, he adds laconically ...
Which concerned me slightly.
With the enemy only yards away, he works out that, as soon as he had stopped to change the magazine, it would only be a "matter of moments" before the Taleban worked out he was on his own. Then it was going to be "game over". Against such a horrendous possibility, Illingworth tells us that this was:
Quite a worrying moment.
It is impossible to do justice to the cool bravery displayed by these men and their comrades, But Dan Collins does. For that alone, his book is an essential read, but Collins also allows each of his subjects to ruminate about what their awards meant to them, and their feelings about themselves. The narratives are often poignant, and revealing, especially Major Justin Featherstone, MC. Having led patrols into al Amarah at the height of the Mahdi uprising in 2004, showing quite extraordinary heroism and leadership, he praises particular men he worked with, and then turns to consider the rest: "But it's the ordinary Toms I'll remember most," he says...
I joined the Army for the privilege of commanding and serving with the best soldiers in the world. Because of my seniority, I am now in an instructing role at Sandhurst, and I will never have that opportunity to command men in battle again. That's what I will miss the most, to the point where I've actually decided to leave the Army. I don't want to sit behind a desk. I've no interest in the bureaucracy of that, necessary as it is. How can I spend my time worrying about my triplicate return for my motor mileage expenses?
That says so much, and speaks so much of the man. Dangerous it is, and full of tragedy, but for many, leading men in battle is the finest thing they will ever do. We are fortunate that we have such men, but it is a shame that, somehow, we cannot find a greater reward for them than a desk in some obscure corner of the Army.
Nevertheless, through Dan Collins and his magnificent book, we leave the last quotation to Major Featherstone. Ruminating that "people say that modern recruits aren't what they were", he delivers a pithy response: "Bollocks!"
This is definitely a book to savour.
Great Book November 24, 2007
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I've read a few hard hitting publications from Monday Books and been very impressd, so I was looking forward to this book from Dan Collins. It doesn't disappoint.
It's the stories of 25 Medal Winners from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each one is written by the person themselves so their individual characters shine through. They're not gung ho brainless killers, just highly trained guys who when suddenly faced with the option of hiding or heroics; chose the latter. They come across as so modest, much keener to praise the actions of their mates rather than boast about themselves.
I think the best summary is to say that in a society where people regard a bunch of overpaid footballers and bizarre celebrities as heroes, it's nice to hear from the genuine article.
In Foreign Fields: Heroes of Iraq and Afganistan, In Their Own Words November 23, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Written By Dan Collins who according to his mini biography 'Has never fought a day in his life'
25 Medal winners ranging from an RAMC Private to a RAF Wing Commander
From the moment you look at the cover photograph of Royal Marines with fixed baynets to the last page there is a feeling that Dan Collins has got it right and indeed a book can be judged by it's cover
On opening we are greeted by an extract from Kipling's Tommy reminding us that the general public can be a bit ignorant to the soldiers cause
The preface states "Whatever your views [on the two campaigns being fought] you must realise that the troops have no say in when and where they fight"
Dan Collins takes time to explain that the book was to be called Heroes but the title was changed after the heroes themselves insisted it would embarrass them
Staring with Telic 1 in 2003 and coming right up to date with Op Herrick in 2006 in Afghanistan the book takes us through 25 tales of heroisim
The book follows a basic pattern:
There is a brief explanation of the general events leading up to the action for which the awards were won
Each soldier gives us a description of the events leading to their award in his own words
The author will use a paragraph of narrative and the citation to convey 'the bigger picture'
This is sometimes needed as all of the soldiers and Airmen interviewed tend to play there part down and are keen to emphisise that it was a team effort
There seems to be a why did I get an award when x,y and z where right next to me and was working just as hard attitude from our servicemen
All are frank and honest about their feelings some admit to being terrified,some admit that they have struggled once they returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and how it has changed them forever.
For some this is the first time they have opened up about the action they were involved in
It may be the first time mothers fathers and wifes find out the true story instead of a watered down version they may have been given because as stated some of those interviewed find it difficult to admit that maybe they did deserve an award
Credit should go to Mr Collins as I'm sure a certain amount of persuasion may have beeen required to get these servicemen to talk in the first place
Also the reader is struck by the get on and go attitude of our servicemen
Once they have been out on the ground involved in a major contact they go back to camp 'bomb up' and set out to go through it all again
In more than one case after having to clean blood etc from the back of their vehicles and finding replacements for injured soldiers
It's not doom and gloom all are upbeat about service life and how they are getting on with their life though in more than one case the humor of the British tommy comes out one extract:
I felt a thud a bit like being hit with a sledgehammer
I shouted to the guys in front "I think I've been shot"
"Have you or havent you" came the reply
"Yep I've been shot"
"Probably shrapnel any way get back up (on top cover) you lazy little sod"
So I got back up
This book should be read by as many people as possible and I can't recommend it enough
If you were to stop someone in the street and ask them to name a hero they would probably state Beckham,Hamilton,Gerrard maybe Beharry VC or Budd VC
Dan Collins has gave us 25 more to add to that list and their story deserves to be told (plus 422 names of all ranks who have won an award)
Dan Collins has put together a piece of work that should be of intrest to every reader, serving, ex service, civvy or walt.
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