Publication date UK format 19/10/22 december for US readers book 224 pages
I would like to thank the author, publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to pick this to read and review. all my reviews are honest.
Synopsis
Liz McConaghy, from a small town in County Down, spent a total of seventeen years flying with the RAF's Chinook Fleet. Aged just 21, she was the youngest aircrew member to deploy to Iraq and was also the only female �crewman' on the Chinook wing for four years. In her astounding career Liz McConaghy completed two deployments to Iraq followed by ten deployments to Helmand province in Afghanistan in support of the enduring Operation Herrick campaign. Liz's inspiringly honest story reveals the highs and lows that she witnessed at war, and the cost that came with that both, physically and mentally for those involved. During her deployments, she survived not only a near fatal wire strike onboard her CH47, but numerous enemy fire contacts' defending her crew by returning fire from both the M134 Minigun' and M60 weapons entrusted to her to operate. Her biggest honor of all her duties, however, was serving on the Medical Emergency Response Team, or MERT, flying ambulance as it was more commonly known. This involved recovering wounded soldiers from the battlefield, often under fire, and witnessing them both die and indeed come back to life at her feet in the cabin of her Chinook. Liz saw Camp Bastion grow from a barbed wire fence surrounding an area of tents in the sand to the huge Operating Base it became. She was also on the last 1310 Flight deployment there as the British forces withdrew 10 years later handing it back to the Afghan National Army. Very few Chinook crew members, if any, spanned the length of time deployed as Liz McConaghy did. This is a genuinely unique tale that only Liz could tell, which ends with her battling the memories that haunted her, long after she had left the battlefield. Her own war within took her to the point of suicide once she had left the service. Her survival from both the battles in foreign lands and in her own head led her to begin telling her story, in the hope she can help others win their wars.
My Review
This was a brilliant book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it was so very interesting. This wonderful story was extremely hard to put down. So I read it all in one sitting. It was a fantastic insight into the authors military career. And guess what she is doing the job that I wanted lol. But I couldn't even try as my medical issues wouldn't even get my signed up so I'm very jealous lol. The book also covers so difficult events and commend the author for writing about them as it must of been very difficult. This book shows the true life traumas of war and the problems this has on our serving hero's. This book was very well wrote a d flowed amazingly. It was a real page turner. This book will definitely take you on a roller coaster ride. It's an emotional journey both good and sad. I really can't recommend this book enough. If you really won't to know what life is like or just love everything military then you should read this book. It had so many funny stories aswell. I loved the one with the water fortress that had me laughing.
Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this wonderful story that im positive you will find very interesting. I really hope the author writes more books as I would really love to read more. I also want to thank her for her service to our country.
Where you can buy this book
Amazon US HC $39.95 OUT DECEMBER 2022
Waterstones HC £20.00
B&N HC £39.95
Amazon UK HC £16.05
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