CONTENT
My guest is retired Lt Col Derek Plews, a man whose career has spanned journalism, the MOD press office, and 37 years of military service as a reservist including operations in Afghanistan
Now, he has turned his focus to a critical chapter of the war in that theatre: the siege of Musa Qal'ah in 2006. In his book, \"Shamrock Among the Poppies - Musa Qal'ah 2006 a bloody siege and the failures behind it\" Derek gives a voice to the 87 soldiers—predominantly from the Royal Irish Regiment—who found themselves surrounded, outnumbered, and fighting for survival in a crumbling mud-brick compound.
In this episode, we discuss the controversial platoon house strategy, the political optics that often overrode military logic, and the harrowing reality of a garrison facing multiple Taliban assaults a day over 5 weeks. We also examine the messy negotiated withdrawal and the profound mental toll this high-intensity warfare took on the soldiers who returned.
Derek's book choices on Desert Islands Dits are \"Sand and steel - A new history of D-Day\" by Peter Caddick Adams and \"First day of the Somme\" by Martin Middlebrook. My choice is Derek's Book \"Shamrock Among the Poppies\".
WHERE TO GET OUR DESERT ISLAND DITS BOOK CHOICES
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This episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company.
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