Interview with Brian Wood

Interview with a Lance Corporal who served with 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment in Kosovo (2000), in Iraq during Operation Telic 4 (May 2004-October 2004) and further tours of Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan in 2012.

TRACK 1 [00.00.00] Family background; reasons for joining the Army; infantry training at Catterick; list of operations deployed on; experience of training. [00.05:00] Feelings of frustration on being too young to join battalion in Northern Ireland. First deployment to Kosovo stationed in Podujevo (2000): role in a peacekeeping mission; opinion of what he learnt from the tour; story of searching coffins. [00.07.55] Second tour of Kosovo: promotion to Lance Corporal; knowledge of Kosovo before deployment; story of staying with a local Serbian woman; experience of weather in Podujevo; experience of working with the Americans in Kosovo. [00.14.18] Deployment to Al Amarah, Iraq with 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment serving as a Lance Corporal during Operation Telic 4 (May 2004-October 2004): disappointment at not being deployed to Afghanistan; story of being told their battalion were being deployed to Iraq; pre-deployment training in Canada; acclimatising to weather on arrival; travel to Camp Abu Naji, Al Amarah; story of coming under fire on first patrol; experience during the Mahdi Army uprising (April 2004); opinion of equipment provided; story of Camp Abu Naji continually coming under fire. [00.22.52] Story of resupplying Civil Military Co-operation (CIMIC) House during the Battle of CIMIC House (August 2004); kit and equipment provided; impact the heat had on service personnel; opinion on the food; story of coming under mortar fire during meals at Camp Abu Naji [00.28.32]. TRACK 2 [00.00.00] Opinion on Snatch Land Rovers. [00.00.55] Experience during the Battle of Danny Boy, Al Amarah (14 May 2004): receiving orders to close Vehicle Check Point (VCP) and support soldiers caught in an ambush; story of vehicle coming under fire and engagement with Mahdi Army fighters; preparing personnel for a frontal assault on Mahdi trenches. [00.07.19] Story of running across open ground towards militia fighters; surrender of militia fighters. [00.10.16] Story of clearance patrol with Seargeant Major; taking surrendered militia fighters as Prisoners of War (POWs); order to load the bodies of militia fighters into vehicles; travel back to Camp Abu Naji; unloading the bodies at Camp Abu Naji; story of driver having to climb over bodies of militia fighters to open vehicle. [00.16:07] Experience of switching from combat to taking POWs during the battle; opinion of working with Seargeant Major; preparation for close quarter fighting and use of bayonets. [00.21.07] Opinion on capabilities of militia fighters; story of a POW being an Iraqi Police member he had mentored. [00.23.02] Other operations during deployment to Iraq on Operation Telic 4 (May 2004-October 2004): experience of Operation Waterloo; overview of other operations involved in; story of vehicle being blown up during resupply of CIMIC House (1 May 2004); story of helping those injured and escaping. [00.28.07] TRACK 3 [00.00.00] Story of going to hospital; experience of mortar fire at Broadmoor Prison (11 June); story of evacuating and carrying out first aid on a friend during engagement after he was hit. [00.03.22] Receiving the Military Cross. [00.05.05] Hearing news he was being investigated under the Al Sweady enquiry (2009); impact on him and family; opinion on former human rights lawyer, Phil Shiner. [00.09.10] Difficulty of readjusting after the tour; impact on family life; seeking professional help (2012); [00.11.11] Overview of last two tours in Iraq (2009) and Afghanistan (2012) [00.12.16].