Boys and girls, welcome back to the inspiration space where today I spoke to Brian Wood mc. Mc standing former military cross. This was one of the episodes. I have probably been the quietest in through all the episodes of ever recorded. This was because I just let Brian speak and tell his story which I was completely fixated upon. It's a vivid recollection of everything that happened to him during his career in the Army, especially in Iraq where he was heroically awarded this military cross for his behaviors and actions during the Battle of Danny Boy, which you will hear all about. I'm not even going to touch on it. Now. I got to hear what he has to say on it. And then he talks all about his circumstances that Could after this incident which led to you know, PTSD after arriving back trying to move back into normal life in our day-to-day society and then an inquiry that took place which was quite honestly with you an absolute disgrace the more I think about it the when I listen back to the story again, it kind of it angers me so much that he could have even taken place Brides is a lovely lovely. Man, he put his heart life and Soul on the line for this country and he's a true true hero and you will hear about it and you can also read it in his best-selling book Sunday Times best-selling book double-crossed and you'll understand why with that title white what why it's named that but it's a fantastic book, which I can't wait to read and he talked to us about what's on the pipeline thing, which is really exciting and it's truly deserved. Guys, I can't con urge you enough to listening to this story and and take we can from it and just go and buy that book and and definitely follow Brian's movements over the next year or two because there's some fantastic things happening and they are well deserved guys. If you have a spare second, please also give this show a rating review on your podcast provider. It means I can carry on getting fantastic guests such as Brian on the show. I'll be running a competition soon for the best review that gets given to me. So yeah, get them down. I'll be selecting a winner and yeah, keep your keep your ears open for that have a fantastic guy day guys and enjoy this one firstly. I just want to say a massive. Thank you for coming down. I know how busy you are at the moment everything is going on which I can't wait to hear about in a minute. But yeah, just want to say So much. I'm really really looking forward to hearing your story more than anything. But I think probably the best place to start as per usual in this is kind of introduce yourself give them a list as a bit of a background who you are and kind of yeah, the the initial starting blocks to kind of what led you on the journey you've been on thanks for inviting me down absolutely it and we're all busy so it's not it's not an excuse and if you can come down and share your story and kind of maybe Inspire some people I think it's yeah really good with what you're doing. So I should kind of maybe help out as and when I can thank you very much. So yeah. No, but now I'm Brian Wood and I've got a bit of a bit of a story a bit of a journey and but and it's to do with the military, so I'm from a heavily military family over a hundred years unbroken service and my great Granddad, you know served and second world war my granddad served in Dunkirk and Spent a lot of time in the water actually on the kind of the exfil from the beach and then due to exposure within the water. He then died want to go back to Mainland UK in Edinburgh Castle from pneumonia, but it was his kind of values and is selfless commitment that he got everyone else on the boats and kind of took the paid the price for that but I like to think that that's been passed down from the generations to It to kind of the person I am today and some of the valleys at my granddad shown during some of the most intense fighting and but also my dad then served for 22 years my brother still currently serving now. He's in his last year and I've got few cousins and still serving now. So I mean, yeah, we've had a heavily military family, but I was never destined to go into the military. If I was honest. I was I was half decent football player and I was if Chelsea. With John Terry when I was younger, I really yeah and my dad was like I said that he was serving still and he was having to give up a lot of his time on a Tuesday and Thursday to take me to carbon which was a long way as an hour and a half for us to get there and we will have what he's having to leave his job early and it's difficult in the military to do that. Well, it's difficult in any job for you know for someone to kind of leave their job early on a Tuesday and Thursday, but Hey just it was it wasn't fair on Chelsea wasn't fair on me because I was getting there sometimes half an hour into a session. There's any sending our session so me the try and you know impress and make a statement. It was difficult because like half an hour behind everyone else, so it's tough and we made a decision to kind of step away from that, but then I got picked up by a reading and I kind of done my school of excellence with Reading Football Club, and we had a final trial. I thought I was in I thought I was done. But now didn't work out when into the portal cabin in the pouring rain and they said look it's been a it's been a credit to what you kind of, you know progress but you haven't developed as much and as quickly as we wanted you to and therefore we're going to let you guys I was a clearly heartbroken because football was the only thing I really wanted to do and then yeah, it's like a sort of knee-jerk reaction. I went to the careers office on my own and I wanted to know a bit more about the Army the careers advisor. There was a local resident called the princess of wales's Royal regiment and he sold me the dream, but actually it was the dream. He told me everything that he said to me that I would go and do I did I traveled the world playing football. I was with this incredible belonging. I was experience this Brotherhood the Come rodri that I've never experienced before. It was just you had absolute purpose to be the best version of yourself because the military instill that and that's why it's still one of the finest organizers organizations today because it is is so rigid so structured it so disciplined but that really does bring the best out of you. So all of a sudden, you know, I was on this journey becoming a Frontline Soldier. What how will you when you join up with that 16 and 9 months? Yeah, so I was a young Boy, my son is like 16 in a year's time and I think and I feel cope, you know got away with on your own because I left the train station with the sausage bag on my shoulder. Yeah, and I say goodbye to my mum and dad at the train station. I was off. I've never been to London before so I had to go into London negotiate the underground and then go to Peterborough where I was just like to start my phase one training on my own. There's a bit of a shock absolutely. So but I started at Incredible Journey and And it was early on I had to grow up and be a young man because that's what you do. That's what that's what they create. You have to do your your thing. You have to make sure that you listen because there is an X as an expectancy of this how you do it you get told once or twice and then you have to kind of produce if you don't and you're a mark, so you really do have to grow it's drilled into early. Yeah, you have to go out. But yeah to everything you taught from even from Washington shave. To making a bed hospital corners, you know, everything is taught. So like I said, if you listen and you you maintain your Fitness and your fit you kind of get left alone and your Fitness was probably already pretty good. Haven't played football too young. Yeah. And what does it shock? It was some of the stuff that it was because I've never I didn't really train with loaded kit on so a lot of stuff is, you know with a heavy amount of kit on your back and you're carrying weapons system. So that's a little bit different but my dad was an animal in a A nice way he was very fit and and that's a bit of a cliche but it was also my mentor and my inspiration if I'm honest and still is now what he does with charity and how he looks after himself and keeps himself fit this this. Yeah, there's some of the stuff at his age. It's just he puts himself for his pretty bra but yeah, he's always been like that and it and that's infectious. So when my dad was up in the sand he was training hard. I was his shadow. I was also trying hard with him from such a young age. So it was yeah it was he just kind of set the conditions for me really and then it all changed and all shifted in. Once the Twin Towers were hit as in serving wise absolutely. So so 16 and 9 months. That's what like 1997 cool, right? So Twin Towers its 2001 and then it all starts. I mean that's when the intensity. Yeah, the dynamic shifted then the Dynamics resting shift in what way well fighting event. Yeah, we weren't sure walk. And now we've never done that I'd done two tours a cause of a growing up in 2000 and 2001 and as a little bit of an eye opener is oh, yes, it was Peace Keeping it. There was no kinetic action, but some of their like Chalet Graves that I'd seen and some of the coffins at you know, we're coming across the border that was a little bit of an eye-opener for me because like I've never experienced any of that before and I always say on my journey, I'm only human people. I think you know soldiers and and Special Forces operators there like Universal. No, they're not they've just got the exactly same organs as everyone else and we're not robots and we're not machines. We're just normal people with emotion. So when I was seeing this at a young age as long and yeah, it's stuck with me and but this was just the beginning of you know something which was going to Yeah, it was going to get pretty violent. And and that was what mm. So course by then then you did you go to Afghanistan. Yeah later on though. Okay, so I done. 2004 was The tool that totally changed my life forever really it was overly violent. It was the uprising as well. So any stability in Alomar occurs, we were north north and Badger and just south than Fallujah. So it was the breakdown of peace talks and it was wild. Yeah crazy while you talk us through like I'm getting there too. Like what was it like getting to that war zone? I was yeah, I mean You prepare. Sure. Yeah, six month price. How much can you put I know and that's a good thing for Kmart. Well, it's not a good isn't it isn't because you always want to test yourself as a commander as a leader of men you want to be tested in in some extreme circumstances. Can you lead can you perform Kenny's doing be inclusive with people who you want to kind of you want to nurture them to be to lead and make some decisions, but there's a lot of pressure because you only get some time to split seconds to make these decisions because it's not money that we're going to To lose. It's not you know any tenders that will miss out on this human life. So their big decisions and when you build up to this you're thinking, how am I going to react? How am I going to be tested? You know, am I going to fight or flight? These are the questions that you ask yourself and and we're no different. We ask ourselves some questions. And like I said, you do six months pre build up. So you do all your stuff away on on pre-deployment training. Another regiment comes in and assesses you to make sure that you're out at level that you need to be before you go on operations. And then yeah you get your kit on and I'll talk about it in the book and we'll summarize on that towards the end. But I talk about the feeling of flying in and all the lights are turned off you get you put your body your art body armor and helmets on and then you fly into country and I remember getting off the plane and it was like 50 degrees. It was Robert. Hey, Eat and we'd been training in like semi Bridge. So the climate training wasn't quite there but you get two weeks in Cajun Country to climate eyes and you know as kind of water discipline, you do some more trauma first aid, you do zero in so you get your weapon systems out and do make sure that you use zero because they could be knocked around in transit. So you making sure that they're all firing AK. You do a few Fitness runs to strike at the heat. They was a absolute breaker. Unlike ridiculous, but you know we had to deal with this and then the information that we're getting fed to us in schieber. So schaible is a big logistical base where it's where for Frontline soldiers. It's a holding sort of location where you do this kind of pre-deployment stuff. You do all your sort of Touching up of training and then you then fly into the green zone where we were so as I'll wait in there. We had this information saying look, it's Gum gum really noisy at the moment and there's a lot of fighting there's a lot of unrest and where we're going to be going and yeah, but then like you said, how do you prepare for it? You just got a switch off you got to be focused and you've got to remember everything that you've been taught and yeah, you just you've got you're gonna go regardless. It's our turn to go away into that country for six months six months of half a year. So we knew that there was going to be some incidents, but I didn't expect To be the way it was how violent it was you talk to you touch a little bit on leadership there. I'm I'm actually reading a book of moment called the Commander's funny. I'm kind of reading through some of these accounts of their time in Afghanistan if fascinates me how making decisions in those moments where so much is going on round. Like you said, there are lives at stake. I can't personally I can't even imagine the mindset you have to get into to be able to be cool calm and collected and we'll talk obviously about the Battle of Danny boy. Yeah in a second, but can you talk us through that mindset of me? I just can't even begin to imagine how you how you get yourself into into that mental state. We like okay, this is the situation and this is this this this is what has to be done. There is a lot which goes on but every single person yourself included isn't art to a cigar moment. And what's the comment is approach to free reflect allow your commanders who are under you to do their job you're now in a situation where you have to take yourself away from it assess. It's going on being cool calm and Collective because you know fear is a big thing. It's contagious. If you let that take over you then it can run wild and that will then really affect decision making so it's taken a step away allowing this situation and funny to happen taking yourself out of it having your Condor moment cigar moment and then assessing and then you deliver and then you're going to execute whatever plan that you've come up with and you get you kind of get taught that you you aren't you are under a lot of pressure, but everyone is on the pressure at work and the British military is work for us. So we chose our career we chose that life, right so and it is the mind and because like I said it you can recoup money and you can kind of get things you can get things better. If you you know didn't do the right, you know, you'll make the right decision but out there you've got no second chance, so it's just been you know believing in your ability. Believing in your people. That's that's the most important thing is the people around you that everyone is on the same Mission as you everyone is super super focused hyper-vigilant and you've got to let them do what they do best without trying to micromanage too much you either as the overall commander. I've got the main decision to decisions to make but you've got allow people to go through their process because that's how they operate the best by letting them have that freedom and the battlefield is no different. Let them be them. You know and when things go wrong, they're trained for things to go wrong because in the military, we always trying for the worst course of actions. We've always got contingencies where we are. Very resilient will keep punching forward, maybe one step back sometimes but we'll take three forwards because that's how we're trained. We've got to be focused resilient and above all have just some True Grit and maintain your values so important Absolutely. Absolutely. And I understand you do to be cool / work. Now I can imagine this is how you kind of talked about that kind of stuff. Well touch on that idea that I find that really really fascinating is if you can still that mentality into people doing day-to-day work. I'm here if you can you get positive results in the Army you should get be able to would get positive results in any other field 100% but people in other fields just tend to switch off put themselves in a in a bubble when Tap Away where break that bubble and gonna engage socially fine wholesome micromanaging I see All the time and it is your right. I mean we don't have that word. I mean, I mean we have a gym in but yeah me interested me don't micromanage our staff. We give them full just got to let people Express themselves because they put you put pressure on them. They put pressure on themselves and then they don't perform as how they should do because they don't want to go outside of the boundaries because they're going to be told you can't do that or why don't you do this. You can maybe do this. Yeah, you can coach and mentor and manage but there's ways to do it instead of Really focusing on them putting more pressure on them as individuals, let them spread their wings because you know, the people are very talented but they just need to kind of allow the freedom of movement to do and going starts with leadership or Imports. So this kind of leads me onto the ballot Danny boy. So I just love to hear your account of it. I mean how far into the tool was this view. This is a two and a half months into the tour. How was the first doing art most kind of building up to this moment? I skate was Carnage and we lost 14% or we took 14 percent casualties within the first two weeks. So it was you know, we're all fighting right and and two weeks prior to the Battle of Danny boy was blown up and was hit by 284 Soviet Union missiles, which comes straight for our Warrior and Cause Devastation in the back my I'd three Dismounts me plus two Dismounts in the back of this armored vehicle, which quite dark it's disorienting you're disorientated. You've only got a small window at the back door and we've condensation and grit you can't see a lot out of it. So your it's in a real dark cost of a with space and it's probably 65 degrees in there 50 outside and that's no exaggeration you go on you go on to you know, Alomar has weather app now. You would probably say is on 45 to 50 now is me so it's ridiculously hot and when you get all the kit on as well, we can't ya body armor helmet weapons ammunition water. So you can't about with yeah with a lot of kit on but yeah your vehicle gets hit it gets spanked and your adrenaline goes into overdrive. I'll kind of say it's an out-of-body experience. Obviously. I've experienced some some adrenaline whether you're getting married or whether you're going to go and compete or you know, It could be anything which flutters that heart rate and this was like and soldiers will tell you it is a drug. Like no other the adrenaline is like you run out of body. It's crazy. And when this vehicle smashed I'll say this a lot that I was more scared in the back of that vehicle. Then I was going into the trenches at Danny boy because I wasn't in control I was The back on my Gunner was burning. He's on fire screaming that he was burning the Glad opposite me had a shrapnel ripped through his nose, which is knows as then dangling down, but he just looked at me because he was in pretty much in battle shock and then Irving the other lad he had a lot of shrapnel weapons inside of his thigh, but he was like the heavily bleeding out and wanted to go out and fight, but I could hear that what was going on outside it was Carnage. We're just in our car massive Ambush and we were hit. It severely and then I started feeling wet feet my feet were wet. And I was like, I didn't know if I'd been hit myself. Look down, and there's a bit of a tail for me. From when the rocket sticking out my arm, but I just thought it was like a muscle tissue inside as I pulled it. It's actually my bones. I was like, yes. It's like I'm sure that needs attention, but I'll do that. I'll deal with that later on and then the smoke that I was so bad. It was like I was even was coughing and spluttering in my platoon Commander was on the turret floor unconscious unresponsive. I thought he was dead and then there's a above the back door you've got These fire extinguishers but in the moment of I forgot that when you hit the bottom end because they're not like the conventional extremist. Usually, press the top and then it's quite as whatever fine whatever it is out these things you've got to smash the back the bottom end of them so the bum end of them and then throw them onto the fire, but I forgot so I'm looking at this thing and it wears a handle not under this secure pressure is a because the fire burning the arm now it wasn't blood it was the So so I'm now in deep and he's around thinking I'm going to end up burning burning and I'll stop flapping and then my mates it to me in the back. He's a woody you've got to smash the bottom end of it and he said but as he said but I smashed the bottom end of it because what happens is it sucks all the oxygen out but including us so all of a sudden we were choking because of the smoke and it was all thick black smoke it was boiling hot. And now I lost that has so much hair as well where the blast went through. My face is riddled. Old with shrapnel was old with the Justice like a pebble - my face and all of a sudden now can't breathe because I've Ronis extinguisher on this fire, but it took it put the fire out, which is great. But we would really struggling to find oxygen to breathe and and then it just all of a sudden this real thick rubber from our respirators were burnt and it was so Bad the smoke that I had one of these crazy things in that moment was like I remember watching Backdraft. There's a kid and I don't know if you've seen it before it's at firefighting film and but what the clip I remember is there were in this like building it was crazy with smoke and he then got some water put it on this towel and then put it on the guys as face as a filter so you can breathe and it the smoke wouldn't come through so in the moment I remembered Backdraft, right. Yeah, don't put it on the put the Waterworks towered it bloody worked can't believe it and I was like wow. Anyway, I have met that we managed to get to a safe haven opened the back door and one of the commanders who I know very well who actually are inspired to be when I was younger. He opened a door and the look on his face said it all the vehicle was in Carnage. And yeah, I have to go I was saying fly into hospital for seven days. I had like lacerations on the eye. In my Iris, I thought I was going blind if I'm honest and I was panicking about that because when I got once we got into the safe haven your bodies are clever tool because it's then started to kind of switch off on the adrenaline and then I was like my eyes and I couldn't lose like good blinking glass and I think I'm struggling here. I said to Mom diff one of my mates it if my eyes are I've done I think I'm blind and then it then from then it got worse and just got extreme pain. And then that was it I was put on a drip and Heli, heli of lacked back down to scheibe log base and had to spend a week and in the main hospital there to get only swollen. Well because I tell you why there's a story of why it is only a week because I was a young leader at 23 years old, but I have responsibilities and me being away from my family. You know, I didn't like that. I was we'd spent two and a half months fighting together like mad scene stuff that which you know, you only have a certain amount of people would see and there's I wanted to be I wanted to be back there. I was like I needed to be that, you know be part of that team again. So what I done was yeah. I'd have an eye test to perform. Walker get cleared to fly back up. So in this a conventional I test you stand there and in them, it's the alphabet isn't it from the gets quite big letters and it goes to like tiny ones. So the doctor was like right read that them at them letters from right to left on the second to last line. So I put my I put my hand over my right eye and then I was I couldn't really see so I just thought I'd open my fingers. So I just cheated and I just thought tap told him it and I think he knew what I was doing. Anyway, he knew this. School and he don't like sign me off and then I flew back up and then on the 14th of May 2004. 1430 hours. I found myself in the most violent of ambushes. So I was in a violent one a week prior this Was you live above? Um, yeah. Yeah and it was different because normally we were City fine. So we'll go into the city of Alomar and it will difficult and they were like shooting scoot there on the roof and the roof tops in the windows down the alley ways in the gardens where this Was from a situation where it's unheard of they were in trenches that hasn't been done since kind of maybe the Falklands or you know, all the second world war. So it was very odd on where we were we were on the middle of Route 6, which is the main Supply Route it was open desert and the next thing you know this vehicle that we're in is getting shaken around by the most violent of of Amber. Is but what goes through your head is? Is it going to it can now be penetrable I did I thought this armored vehicle was a ring of Steel. It was kind of it was so safe that nothing was going to come through but I found out a couple of weeks prior that it can be penetrated. So I was like, you know, it's going to happen again. I could hear Boom Like These stuffing is some of the footage I've got, you know on my phone and stuff that people can't believe how how violent it was. And so I was in the back your heart rate then goes off and on a different course. I've got to allow my commander and and the gun a time to find fix and suppress the position which they were doing. They were under a lot of pressure because the radio is going mad and people want to know this information on the radio. So it's my time in the back just to let them have their space and when there's a kind of a lull I then ask them what's going on and he said Woody there's their dug-in positions. They're in zigzag trench type positions and there's 15 to 20 militia fires. And I was like, well this only three of us in the back so I kind of just let him do his thing in the engagement started in from the inside. It's quite muffled. It's not as loud and Couple of minutes later I said, what do you prepare you and your men to get out of this vehicle and going to launch a full-frontal on this trench and I was like three of you three of us and I was like the ratios hideous and so I asked him to say the command again. If I'm honest I said stick so that again he said look, we're not having any effect here. We need boots on the ground prepare you and your men to to get out of this armored vehicle and go forward. I thought was happening so I kind of done. Emoji eyes when he first told me and I thought what and then I said to the boys in the back what was going on and they were like they look to me with the same Emoji eyes as when I heard him say so I give them a kind of a brief what was going on? And yeah, we were going to go I never questioned why because he's a commander he is seen I can't see anything. I'm in the back so he can see everything was going on outside. I'm ready to come on. I just got ya. Yeah believe in his command believe in his intent and the mission and go out there and deliver it and it was Against All Odds and yeah, I was said to the boys in the back like we're going Stand By and I just remember saying to him look stick. We're good to go and he said, right. Stand by. I'm going to give you five support so you can really smash this position with everything that we've got, which is the main armor which 230 mil 30 millimeters is a big beast. It goes mad and then you've got this chain gun as well going and the door opens and I remember it being so bright, but also he told me to once a door opens the 10 o'clock position. There's like a dried out ditch that you can get into and then have a look before. You go because otherwise I would have been leaving the the vehicle not a clue where this position was because I was disoriented. So I wanted to give myself a chance and the other Lads a chance. So when the door opens fucking now, it's just so noisy. It was deafening and I just remember seeing straight away the where I need to go. I just ran hard and fast dive down my front. I look to my left hand side and saw the bravest of other two Lads coming with us and then three of us have down with a bit of a giggle because it's like a nervous laugh you get there. Your life you start laughing thinking this is crazy stuff, but I also told him to check themselves because with that type of adrenaline off the scale stuff. You can sometimes get hit and you don't know about it. So I said to the boys like check yourself. Yeah, we was all good and I like called up and had look over the bank and then I see it straight away. I could see the Tracer. So when you fire a weapon it lights up the round lights up. I looked and I could see this light in like rapid getting rapid the suppress this position as I 220 meters to our front. So when it's back to the boys said look, there's the positions about a hundred twenty meters away. Make sure you got Fresh Magazine on make sure we're good to go because we're definitely going to go over the top and it felt like that second world war type stuff. Honestly be done in 25. I know right? Yeah. Yeah and as I we're off and then that's was talking to another two British soldiers turned up randomly. If you another joking I randomly from another vehicle now, we'll all right, but actually that give me a right old boost because there's like five now against 15 that ain't a bad ratio. That's that's doable and with True Grit determination and maintain and hold of your values we could do something and if we run going to make it we would make an indent and that's the biggest thing. So, yeah, we had a bit of a Because there's another Commander which turned up. He was actually more seen this to me. I'd been on the ground a little bit longer. He then done is that estimate is I took a condor moment took his moment done his estimate we both agreed at going down the middle. It was the best thing because on the right hand side. I was note. We didn't know the clearance there could have been any any could being flanked interference with militia out there on the left hand side. We're too close to the vehicle. So we could have got a Blue on Blue which is for any unfriendly, which we try to avoid at all costs, but it was dangerous. And so we just come up with yeah up and we're going straight down the middle and I was going to go first with so would have been three of us me spider and Russia we're going to take The leap of faith over the top and start the first bound because you always move in pairs or teams. So I'll be able Delta fighting there were Charlie fire team. We would move first why they were suppressing the enemy. So they've got wall was one foot on the ground suppressing and then once we would start to press and they would then move because we'll be covering them firing. So that's how we move forward and I said, well, we're good to go boy stand by stand by five four three and then on I don't want You think that just got up and it's a bit of a blur and since we went over the top of this cover that we were behind that was it. It was a two-way full-on engagement now like full-on firefighting and they say in the military effective. Enemy fire is when round a landing in there and your feet or flying pasture is and the bees were buzzing around me and I was just waiting for any time to be to either be hit myself or here man down, but what we've said is if we get a man down we just Keep going forward. We take that main position out and then we'll go back and recover anyone who's been here regardless of how many are here. We just keep going and we bounded forward our first bound and it was wild like so noisy crazy full on now firefighting and then then boys bounded in front of us got down started engage in we started moving forward. We got closer. I've started to get gain some ground a bit of a foothold in the ground and I didn't hear the the man down shouts. For we got a bit of mu copper battle Rhythm a we can we can maybe achieve a lot of people didn't expect didn't expect and I don't think the militia expected it and we got closer and from about 40 meters away. Then I started to see some of the militia leaving their positions and falling back and we're retrieving or withdrawn and I seen that give me a bit more. Hope got closer. Got closer because then start to actually see them running around this trench position shouting and stuff and as we're just about to go in to clear it to look the remainder and fires. There was a lot of bodies around at this point as well which would being killed by up as and the armored vehicle and there were an all sorts of, you know, you can only imagine what I thought email will do to a human body. Its they're all over the place. So I'm trying to deny erase that from my mind just get on with the job in hand. And as we're just about to go into clear the reminding enemy all of a sudden they surrendered so they're free their weapon systems down and put their hands up and it's difficult to switch off that aggression when you're fighting for your life. You'll do anything to survive you go into survival mode. And when someone is trying to kill you, you're kind of your kind of possessed and but as British soldiers, we are dear to lure Fair Rules of Engagement and we have to make sure that We apply that and it is difficult to switch our motion off, but we screamed cease fire cease fire switch fire. We did it there was a bit of confusion because all of a sudden now, we've got people in this trench which are alive loads of people which were dead. And we've got a now try and sort this Carnage out because it really was we're like, there's weapons everywhere RPGs everywhere machine guns everywhere and I'm thinking almost 23 never done this before. How do I now have my condo moment and get a grip? Everyone's looking at me to make a decision. Yeah, we're through the roof like it was horrendous. So I'm like, right the main threat is weapon system. Save Lads get all the weapons away get them unloaded push them away from here. Once we've done that then we started segregating the enemy dead and the pows now because now we got prisoners of war and we had to blindfold these their very being very verbal. We're to make sure that there were separated. We done all that and then we started to get engaged again from the lads the Usher who had fallen back so we jumped in the trench. So now I'm in the trenches with dead militia Fighters everywhere militia fighters who were still alive who you know are very animated and we're trying to set US settle them down sort them out. I'm like what is going on? And then once we've done that most get down a little bit of control my sergeant major turned up and in a military, he's like God, he's a big dog, and he said like Woody what's happening? It was a nice feeling, but I didn't expect to I do. I'll tell you about it. So he turned up asked me what was going on. I said to him look this is what's happened. Is that okay is the battlefield clear and it was a massive Integrity question for me because I knew that it wasn't because I had seen militia falling back. So I knew that it wasn't clear. And I want to tell him it was because I didn't I was lucky to be alive but because of my values I was like so it's not clear. He said what you mean I said, I saw militia quite a few of them falling back. He's upright put Fresh Magazine on you and I are going to go up in the South Banking and do a clearance Patrol and as I because I talk through this battle and not 10 minutes, but this is actually like two hours into the battle. So I was exhausted as well nakid exhausted not had any water and the only water we have is boiling hot anyway. I was like, right so re-engage that adrenaline and then 80 meters into this clearance Patrol. We yeah, we could begin we had another engagement. Yes art major actually seen in first come out of a hole with his weapon system put 45 rounds into his mid-drift he dropped but this is now me and you this is like how close to finding is now it's like hand-to-hand stuff and as I've now done another bound obviously now before I come up with this a long barrel weapon system of just took a nanny and and put, you know, four to five rounds into his chest area 1 into the Frozen and as his drawer could hear it. Coughing and spluttering and choking but at that point I just bounded forward didn't take any notice but that come to haunt me later on in life that Imogen in that event with a lot of others, but that specifically it kind of crept up on me in a few times when yeah, I was on my own and in in a nights and stuff like that, but I'm bounded forward I then said to myself major look we just come engaged again two more times. We need to go back to the main position because we're really one. Born he goes I agree and as we've turned to go back. I see another Flickr to more militia Fighters the stood up as I've spun around to go and engage these they've dropped their Weapons Systems and surrendered. So as I said, we have to take them as pows took them as pows sitting back to the main position got back to the main position. And at this point there's a lot of commotion other vehicles are turned up more British soldiers are turned up and I sat on the bank and that was the first time I sat down and drunker war and actually there's a picture of me in that main positions. On a bank drinking my first bit of war after like two and a half hours of fine. It was Carnage and then as I just thought this day wouldn't get any worse. There was a command made by Brigade that we had to go and now pick up all these militia fires and load them onto the vehicles and take them back to camp and I was art. And no Max not the done thing. We normally leave the enemy insitute for them their own to recover them. But because it was such a heavily pre-planned attack on British soldiers. They thought the main militia leader was either appear W prisoner wall or he's been killed in action. So that's what they wanted. So yeah, I always say this is well taken another human beings life regardless if their enemy, Is a demand and thing to do? It's hard thing to do and I know a lot of people have so many conversations with people say yeah, but it's a if it wasn't them it will be you and you wouldn't be a dad now if you didn't do you and I know that but the bottom line is I done it and I don't have them. So close away, which is hard to then go back and pick these 17 year old 18 years old 16 years old, you know militia Fighters up was a demand for me and if I want it later on in life, I had a limit of As well, but I did it and it was hard to do good friend of mine was being violently sick. He's like I said some of these bodies we had a bags clear bags and we're having to put different anatomy of Parts into these bags because there were just evaporate it was horrendous real bad. Anyway, we'd then done that put it all into put the bodies into these vehicles and then we got back to our main base and as I got back there is dark by this time. I'm and they said look what do you need to then take the vehicle up so ground command it up to where the regimental Aid post where the doctor is going to be and he's gonna be there waiting you get 19 little unload it and unload the bodies into these body bags. So as I okay got up there the armored vehicles are on a hydraulic system because of their armored and they're such heavy doors so you can only open them by pressing a button. I said what boys get the door open, press the button. There was nothing no movement on this door. And I only knew the only other way to open a door with by climbing inside over the bodies and manually doing it. So I was like, I can't even believe this is happening. So we played paper scissor stones to see her do it and also have an element of guilt as well because as a commander I probably should have done that and led by example because I do believe in that but I just think it was such a horrendous day. We just thought you know, what we'll play Paper Scissors. The stones we played it the driver lost. He then went through it was honking you can only imagine the smell in there 50 40 odd degrees, you know feces man fat clots blood you name it. It was full full you can smell it from the vehicle. It was horrendous. So you put this shemagh around his face crawled through it and crankiness door open got to about as much as you could go out sideways and that had loads of screaming in the back. Before we had just had a flipped out. So I've gone in there. He's ran out on pasture shouting. He's alive, he's alive as our what I've looked in the vehicle and he wasn't alive but he was set up bolt right half of his head was missing but his eyes were open. I knew wasn't like because of his injuries, but it freaked at my driver out so bad that it ruined. It was probably ruined his life because now he's got severe post-traumatic stress disorder and he's like in a bad way. So yeah that Yeah, that incident alone changed his life, you know, and it was just a real crazy day. And what was that? What was the what circumstances after after the event? I mean just all right, a few III Daffy. I mean there's his I mean we've talked about the inquiry because subsequently was a massive demand and me and my regiment might and the lads who were with me. I mean, it was horrendous period of my life, but The one of them real demands was my homecoming sure didn't have any decompression because I come back from that tour a bit early because I have a course that I needed to go in to get my to get me promoted, which is a hard thing because I wanted to see the remaining tore out with my Lads but promotional is above anything in the military. You've got to go on your courses because if you don't hit the right time lines, then you don't get promoted so they know that so I came back from a tour about three weeks early, but I didn't go in on the decompression which are meant to So I went from fighting for my life like for five and a half months seeing witnessing and this is just a brief account on that tool, you know, once we will move to and I will speak about the book at the end. But when you actually read some of the set piece battle that we were involved in it is horrendous and I've had to kind of store all this not unload it to anyone before I went home and I left my newborn son. He was three weeks old. So loose was pregnant when I was going through all my pre-deployment training and we Add our son he was three weeks old. I remember leaving in the evening to get my to get the coaches to go to the airport like kissing him in his Moses basket. Not really knowing what I was going to go in to kiss my wife and then kind of went and when I got back I'm taking my front door. Seen Lucy which I was really excited to get back because I had not been a dad on and being a dad for three weeks got back and you know not all of a sudden he's in a cop and he's like six months old. I was like what whether that time go and then I put pressure on myself to be a fast track myself to be a dad and night. I was only young myself not 23 being a dad and seeing in and doing stuff that I done. I was put myself under so much pressure, but then I became very aggressive very verbally. horrendously aggressive to the point of abusive never physical but I mean Verbally, you can just be as bad and I punished Lucy for it. I envied her relationship. I envied the way she was with with him. I took that out on her and it wasn't fair and old not going to make a bottle and it will be too hot and she would say no you need you it's too hot. So instead of saying. Okay, no problem, and she wanted to coach me through it. I'll just get it in Smash It Against the kitchen and say will you do then feel that good you do it and then I'll bar family be screaming for his mom. Then I'll put him to bed. I'll just couldn't do anything and I was like feeling a lot of pressure and and I put myself in there a lot of pressure as well. But I didn't know what was going on in my head space was so clogged but being a being a bloke and be more blokes. Do I just kind of parked it blocked it out? No one knew what was going on behind closed doors. I just want to shut our then became Woody and I wasn't kind of a broken man inside but on that facade. I was kind of the the operator and a commander and the decision maker that everyone else knew, but my life was really a difficult point and Yeah, I was back for five days ready to go and course and then we lost Christopher raiment. And then I was asked to be burial party for him. Which clearly I said. Yes, and that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do went to brize Norton and then the hook flew in it done a lap a lap of honour. It tilts his wing to basically respect whoever's on the back of the hook. and it landed on the runway we marched on the tailgate dropped and then seeing that coffin with the Union Jack draped over it broke my heart and lifting him up was a heaviest weight I've ever had to lift and it was a really difficult day loving someone in the ground, you know, that's the realities of war and I get it but still it's still heartbreaking and then five days later Leo Callahan was shot and killed and I Same for him. So my head was all over the place. I never spoke to any about it. I just kind of got on with it. And then I was gone off in this kind of crazy Beaten Track that I wasn't used to but Yeah, I just kind of try to get my head down. families kind of Mm Mm bits if I'm honest, but I was too proud to talk about it and I just carried on this journey for a couple few more years all over the place. And then the Altoid inquiry was announced that there's now going to be a public inquiry. And the allegations that me and my fellow soldiers were up against from the from the Battle of Danny boy was murder mutilation and mistreatment. But it went public so there was a panoramic Panorama programme on Whose orders. And then once that was there that was in my phone was going crazy. I was out having to justify myself to my friends and some family and you know reliving everything. It was just it was just Carnage if I'm honest it's because what they were saying never happened and when I was trying to explain everything and then all of a sudden I'm now going into solicit a rooms statements after statements after statements after photos seen photos of the days. I couldn't ever shake that day. And and I was like, we were ambushed we counted this Ambush and we close with and destroy the enemy that's what we're trying to do. So, how is now this all come about it was a Shock the lot what it must have been shocking believe it. Yeah, he's going I was like this ice but I said, so I said to myself it's going to disappear in like two days sir - just absolute rubbish. It will disappear wrong answer it lasted for you know for a further five years to the point where you know going into the going into the dock going to court and because it is a public inquiry that whole room was full. I've never been to court before so I didn't really know what to expect and clearly I was anxious and I was scared and sad and holding room. And that was the first time anyone anyone from the mod. Spoke to me and it's five minutes before I was getting to the dock and she said that come here to represent you and I was like, well, where have you been for the last five years Senator? Yeah, and she's like what I'm here to represent you in. This is what I'm going to be doing on-site that's you know, one more book is called double cross because I felt so betrayed, you know, I had fought so hard for my country. I'd you know, we had achieved so much on that tour and then come home and then Just hung out to dry. It was just horrendous and I was in the dock and they just the lawyers are they're clever people. They just strictly a very thin they stripped me of all my values what I believed in they put my citation up actually, but we probably are nearly an hour into this podcast and I've never even mentioned that I was awarded the military cross. Well, that was obvious literally just thinking that yeah, I'm gonna go. I mean when was that was that was that was 2005. So that was obviously your back. Yeah. I've got back here. Yeah, so what I mean what so yeah, like you said they just they discredited you that's not something that they never took that away right now. I mean that so what happened was we went went to the courtroom done all the whole proceedings. And then before the results came out feel Shana was found guilty of 12 accounts, and it was found wholly without Foundation a degree of deliberate. Ice Reckless speculation and ingrain hostility. So what he was doing long and short of it was he was pain fixes to agents in Iraq to come up with false allegations. But because he was goes through Shiner was gold standard at one point and the mod trusted him because he delivered some really important work by Moosa is a prime example of that British soldiers did wrong and he exploited them and and rightly so there was action taken against them. So he was gold standard and He must have just is moral compass must I went Wayward and he was getting a lot of money from the government. So this 31 million pounds of which was the else. We'd inquiry and he got millions from it. I just don't understand. What was the what is the been what I just don't understand what the benefit of doing that is money is greed isn't it? And and I would be why would why would the government want this to be the case? They I think they did want it. I think initially they were paying Because he was he was like the celebrity lawyer. Yeah within the mod. So he was like the best lawyer ever going out there. No one really traced him. No one really. Don't touch me. Yeah, he was Untouchable. He was that good. He was Untouchable and he knew that so either like getting these allegations and thinking yet brilliant. So and to the point how bad is this to the point is that he will get his agents to speak to American soldiers on some of their events that they had in America, but then turn them into British allegations to get some more money. That's how bad but what he was doing was playing with human life because he you know, he ruin careers feel shy on a ruin careers ended careers. I've done 17 years. I should have done 22 years, but I thought it was a straw broke the camel's back for me. My good friend of mine stick broom was my commander like chronic post-traumatic stress from it. Just fueled it. You know it even he's in a very bad place very bad place. Yeah. Yeah and everyone else just got out got at the military from it was just horrendous because and you know my family as well when it all came on the newspapers and on TV, I thought is an eye-for-an-eye they're going to come and do a hit on me on my house. So I was going to like Easy mode paranoid paranoid had not really bad as well though. Not don't five and twenty minute checks in the morning and they are in the evenings making sure that we've got no follow-ups trouble locking my door at night being on like pure Century because I thought someone was going to come in because once it was branded that I was killing innocent people. It was a it was a nightmare not even to my inventory like going to school. So my oldest son's in non-emotional not emotional boy Bailey's is 15 now and last year. I went upstairs could he wasn't upset in his room? I was like what's going on there then so not some door so bad. It was so mad. It's nothing I said there is because you don't get upset like this. Normally I said what's happened? Is that something at school you getting bullied and he's at now so well, what is it then he said I'll just Schoolyard, you know a schoolyard gossips like is argue. Just kind of your branded as being a murderer dad. You know, I'm now just broke my heart couldn't believe that I was like, I was awarded one of the most highest decorations for gallantry and Valor and then I don't really talk about it because of everything that's come with it. And there is a famous quote Winston Churchill said, you know metal Glitters, but it also casts a shadow and yeah and the build-up for the the summary of the inquiry Sir, Thane Thorpe's delivered it. 2014 and it's a who came to you say, I mean, I mean, did you have a support network through this you mean obviously you were going through this traumatic my family friends with the biggest support for about you mean was your teamily law team were they involved do they get stuck in or yeah, I mean I lost my the law team is something somebody must have seen this some pointing on what the fuck is going on here. Didn't know I said that many times behind closed doors. Yeah, but until it's actually proven. I mean it was a nightmare. my it was a drama and I'll just always let down by by the government. I was at down by the mod not one phone call just asked me if my me and my family were right not one phone call to say do you need anything not mindful phone call to say actually you've got the best team around. You just be confident just do our thing and everything. Not one. Not one. Yeah, and my book is called double crossed a code of honor because that's what I believe in and complete betrayal. I thought a harder battle on UK. So to clear my name than I did. You know on operations because I knew how to be on Oprah knew how to be a soldier. I was trying for it. What wasn't trying for with these, you know, these sharks their lawyers pick him to pieces British soldiers on the word of the enemy. How bad is that British soldiers getting Torn to Pieces by British lawyers on the word of the enemy, which is not which should have been thrown out and they too but took five years. It's shocking it. Is it shocking so 2014 comes around and obviously the result comes. Yeah and talk us through those moments. I mean we are angry. If I'm honest I was you know, I was going to come good I mean or did I was confident because I started to hear things like there was a document shredded Yeah by another Law Firm, which I'm going to talk about but there was a shredded document but that document stated the militia fighters who on on that Battlefield at day. They're their numbers and what what militia group that they were from But they traded it but they said it was human error. What for more money to get rid of that evidence to continue this because the longer we continue this the more money that we're going to get paid, you know, and this will kind of go and I'm thinking well, how is now on putting a stamp stamp on this and then there was other evidence that was found and then Phil shine to them was put to the tribunal and then was found on get with 12 accounts and then was declaring itself bankrupt. Yes trip to the bar, but would have put his money in all over the place. So he was financially sorting asshole. Yeah, and it's just it's yeah, it's a devastating Narrative of honest, but I'm also believe on the growth. How can we grow from adversity? Yeah, and I'll call it this I'll call this The Grove generation and that's from Michael coats is a really good friend of mine who come up with that quote and I love using it. I think it's Point on, you know now become an example to people or an inspiration to people and say actually if you can keep going through the hardest of times and how do you do that in 2012? I plucked up enough courage to go and speak about it to a counselor. So I wouldn't had some real deep therapy sessions about my mind space so I could understand what was going on in their game changer completely changed my life forever and because mental health so big thing we should be able to talk about it mate. You know, I like I said before just because there's soldiers doesn't mean that we haven't got feelings or emotion. I've seen some horrendous stuff and a lot of people have also seen some her and stuff and I know it took me eight years to open up but it wasn't too late. It was too long definitely too long, but it was never too late and it changed my life forever 100% I'm so proud of it, but it was like a domino effect as well when I spoke about it and was like, oh my God. Yeah and it especially a man. I mean to be honest. There's a big theme of this podcast about his immense wealth Huge and and Men, I mean men find it so difficult to and I did, you know, I was in an all-male organization. I was a Frontline Soldier non-emotional human a be a non-emotional leader of men like punching into compounds, but actually let's talk about it then and yeah, let's be this been extreme extraordinary leader and let's talk about what it was like going into thing compounds. What did you feel? What did you see? Let's talk about it. There's still that look trauma risk management process, you know because actually when I done it, I felt sick I couldn't shake the Visions but what I know now is how to cope with that because I understand it. I've been through some professional help and it's now give me the education to you know, it will try to deal with it. And if I can't then I'm already brave enough to to smoke them out already. So go and do a secondary engagement and say and I nearly had to do when I was writing the book because I know it's shot a lot of chapters down, but I opened up a few things I was involved in. Suicide and a young Soldier unfortunately turned his weapon system on himself and put it in his mouth and press the trigger, but I was third person on the scene. That was my second tour of Iraq and Iran into this room and I've never seen anything like it but I shut that off completely but when I was writing about it came back, it's a street was a struggle because I smelled that the burning flesh. I've seen Dan David who was his platoon Sergeant screaming he was at his feet and he's screaming why have you done this? Are we done this and that that are the me then checking for a pulse because he asked me to for you know, he's basically said can you check his pulse and I knew he was gone because it's state of the the whole place just for respect. I'll check for a pulse and I took his weapon system unloaded it never so I got a day since and when I started right about it, I was in all sorts. I was in all sorts of damage and we obviously I mean addressing it Cena counselors as taking you to a new levels and even at home though. On the with the best we've ever been that's amazing. So it's it gets to goes to show, you know, the power of talking the power of creating a just open up a bit of dialogue. You know, it's all about your stress is how you got from, you know, this blank canvas to what it is now because that ain't all plain sailing. How do you get the customers? That's a chore? How do you be Innovative in a market? That's flooded that gives you less pressure that gives you a little bit of anxiety. Let's talk about it. You know, that's how we should be talking about things and that same is when we come back from war or we've just finished a big battle with you know, militia Fighters all the Taliban from Afghan, you know, we should be just talking about it, but Vaughn being vulnerable as a leader. It should be viewed as a good thing. If anything seeing your leader on more honest and vulnerable level and sometimes can be definitely able to get behind you 100% It makes you human if you switch off and your non-emotional you kind of lose a little bit of respect for that individual because You know, you can't just shut that off. You can't be like this blank better paper gun. I don't care we get on with it. Well, no, we should be caring and we should be time taking a little bit of time to reflect. You know, we're not going anywhere for for six months. We're out there for six months and we see and we do and we witness some like Carnage. Yeah, but we've got to kind of take that in your stride and how you process that because not only does it affect me as a leader at affects all my guys on the ground and it's really important. Isn't that you kind of be inclusive you bring everyone in and say look we've taken a real big hit. But tomorrow this is what we need to do. We need to roll our socks up. We be resilient and we go again, you know, and that means that we need to do XY and z and we need you on the best form. We have a cry, you know, we Johnson bihari, you know for an example and I know times Pretty cool now, but he won the Victoria Cross British Britain's highest. award for Valor and I took part in his rescue. He was got a dark night a hit with an RPG just millimeters from his face, but it hit the embedded into his into a skull and he was in a bad way. I dragged him out of the vehicle Under Fire loaded him up try to kind of maintain that pulse and he's like in a really critical situation and then when he flew off You know. It tears me always, you know, and I just because it was a horrendous thing didn't even know if he's going to survive. He was that bad and them situations are a terrible book with this with this Soldier. They'll have a reunions. It would be like they have not been a part but they'll never talk about anything. What happened in Afghan or Iraq until they're six beers in six beers in there then happy to have a conversation. That's the wrong answer. That's what I want some. Yeah, she'd be having a conversation over coffee. Yeah, and creating a community environment where people can drop in and just have a yeah feel comfortable and but I'm on a bit of a mission with that at the moment. I've got my fingers in a few things in a few things. I want to kind of support help and raise awareness on and Yeah, it's been a it's been a 10-year crazy Journey. But I'm at the back of it. Now. I've been doing some like brilliant things today like incredible. The book went into number three Sunday Times bestseller, which I couldn't believe unbeliev is arm. When was that? When was it released is actually put an injunction one night because the lawyers in wanted to be released as a bit of a battle you write it as the case was going kind of knocked off. I just did even think about a book. Blah to I want them. Good Morning Britain like spoke about Everything what happened? She'll have the last 10 years and and then we'll say y then it was time these bags to the feeling of when it went your case obviously went your way. Yeah, I mean whatever text message from my commanding officer all my former commanding officer saying Brian turn the knees on it's been yeah. It's all being thrown out. It's lies. It's for Found Out Foundation. And on clock on in my inner self on new this anyway, because I was fighting against the system which didn't believe me. Yeah, which was meant to that but this never happened and and I was angry I was relieved clearly but as 10 years of my life. I thought I'm not going to get back. So there was a mixture of emotions and then I went and spoke on TV about it all and then it went mad and then it was then too. I wanted to people to know the truth. I wanted people to actually read the behind closed doors the ins and outs of the inquiry The Shred another document, you know, the disgrace that Shiner was doing pain agents on the ground and receipts from them agents because it was a public inquiry the transcripts are in the book. So you're reading what would you read in the book is actually what was said to me in a courtroom and when they stripped me of everything as a leader as a commander and even as a British soldier punish me, but you get to read that or not. I need two people to read the true and what actually did happen that day and it just went mad and about 2 weeks ago. So when I the book was written about four days later, it was optioned by production company, but I also know that a lot of narratives are optioned lot because some big stories out there, but I also know that I need three or four percent of them actually go to green light and I've got a message saying you need to dial in on this conference call and I was like, I know I said, I would in the conference call and it was my producers around the conference call. Say that Brian it's want to tell you now that after two years because two years that we are now got a green light for it to be a film. Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so I find that out two weeks ago. Oh my God. Yes. Big news is huge. I can't really say anything else about it, but that will all come out so you can follow I love to keep people up-to-date on. Yeah, so where can People fully yeah, I mean not Brian Wood MC on all platforms on social media. I do like to keep that my followers are not up to date or because there's some loyal followers. I've had while being on this journey from day dot so they are they've seen it organic the organic growth and and it just goes to show, you know, if you keep going keep true to yourself and your values that sometimes good things do come out at the end of it and the will not to give up. It's so important and as much as sometimes I really wanted to I did I'm Like anyone else when you're under that much pressure, you just want to give up and I didn't and now I'm giving back like we said about corporate businesses speaking to them about decision-making or mindset or mental health. And that's quite good to give back. I'm helping Charities raising awareness for soldiers mental health and suffer. So yeah, I mean, it's I mean, I mean I'm good place now as fantastic mate. Honestly is one of the most Using stories I've ever heard and I'm you know can happen to a better person. So I'm glad everything's going your way and the film while that son a Mega Man unless they always and I've got to read you but I've got to I mean, yeah, we're the definitely read it if we'd had this is a fastball. This is not only got to late last week. He asked me to come in so is a fastball but on ways to get stuck into it man. Yeah. I always finish my episodes with A Life Lesson Learned. Yeah from mine's viewing. Do you have one life lesson learn that you could be happy to kind of pass on just like a like a one thing that really stands out. Holding daily to my values is the biggest life lesson for me because when you I mean we can have a podcast on values and it's clearly not the right time to do that. But some of them keep that is got me to where I am today the Courage the selflessness the Integrity all of these key values which are in grinding. Me since I was a young boy, I held dearly and it's just is so important to to use them every day from making your bed in the morning to kissing your girlfriend husband wife or your kids on the on the cheek at night, you know, or having a family dinner once a week around the table because I know everyone's busy but you know, these are brilliant traits to have and and I've showed a few you know with the Integrity keeping. True to what I what I did on that Battlefield and who I was as a person even though so many people try to question that the courage that we show getting out of that vehicle the chi show getting into the other vehicle. Then pulling Johnson bihari out, you know, the selflessness that you know, a lot of people around me had shown and my family had shown and also yeah, these are big big things that Yeah, I'm just passionate about that. So my life lessons like, you know, if you don't understand values or you don't really understand. What they do for you, then you should definitely have a look because they are so important and that's just kind of from me. Anyway, so mate. It's been an absolute pleasure. I'm absolutely delighted. I reached out to you because it's been it's been one hell of a episode and I thank you so much for taking time out. My pleasure. Always. All right make thank you so much. There's no worry.
Brian Wood MC, former Colour Sergeant, Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. Brian Wood was awarded the Military Cross, one of Britain’s highest awards for gallantry in combat, by Her Majesty The Queen II, following his courageous leadership under enemy fire in Iraq. In the heat of a lethal close quarters battle, fighting outnumbered, he seized the initiative, taking a split-second decision to lead his men into the teeth of enemy fire in the first bayonet charge by British soldiers in 25 years. Leading from the front, he put his own life in great danger. Under his command, Brian’s men defeated the enemy without sustaining any serious casualties themselves. Their actions that day saved many other soldiers’ lives. During a 16 year military career, Brian led British troops across the full spectrum of battle from training to fighting; from operations in the Balkans to high intensity combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout his Army career he had to make life-or-death decisions, frequently in hazardous battle situations, usually under great pressure and often against the clock. There is no greater leadership challenge than motivating men to put their lives on the line. To succeed they have to know that you are a meticulous and competent planner and commander who can be trusted with their lives. Brian’s military experience has equipped him to deliver highly inspirational and compelling sessions, sharing his experiences from the battlefield and suggesting ways that the lessons he has learnt can be applied in the corporate world. 