Andy Mcnab's Tour Of Duty

SAS veteran and war boff Andy McNab continues to inform and entertain Nuts readers everywhere with tales of 'what it's really like' to be on the front line.

Collecting three episodes of the ITV series, Andy Mcnab's Tour Of Duty features testimonies from English and American soldiers of all designation, detailing battles undertaken in Iraq and Afghanistan, alongside reconstructions of such. They're interspersed with blokey commentary and 'Basic Training' from the shadowy McNab, his identity protected due to death threats and cheesed off peers.

They're billed as tales of ordinary 'heroism' by plucky young lads hungry for action, but it's hard to feel much sympathy for say, the story of American David Bellavia of the 2/2 infantry. After being part of a deployment to flatten the Iraqi town of Fallujah in November 2004, we hear of the sleepless nights Bellavia suffers after having to kill an Iraqi with his bare hands. All well and good, but there's no mention of the use of chemical weaponry in Fallujah, the creation of over 100,000 refugees there, nor the indiscriminate killing and almost complete destruction of the town estimated to have had 30,000-50,000 civilians inside. (Men of 'fighting age' were prevented from leaving).

Instead we hear tales of how our poor army lads are bored and 'straining at the leash' for action. Luckily for them (in the episode 'Under Seige') they are soon able to enjoy what one calls 'the best time of my career,' when Y Company are beseiged in a former Governor's Palace in April 2004 in Al-Amarah, Iraq.

Mistakenly rocking up outside militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's office on a routine patrol doesn't exactly endear the troops to the already hostile populace. Things get progressively much much worse as thousands of Mahdi Army warriors surround their compound and attempt to shoot them out. The lads stick to their guns and refuse to leave, if for no other reason than 'sheer bloody mindedness', but it would be nice if anyone could think of any other reason for them to be there.

The English lads' stories are compelling and their fortitude admirable, but it's difficult not to think of the other side of the equation. A final viewpoint, unlikely to feature in McNab's work, comes from a US Marine Major quoted in TIme magazine, April 2004. "[It's] hard to differentiate between people who are insurgents or civilians. You just have to go with your gut feeling."



Extras: Behind the scenes with Andy Mcnab, Untold Stories 1 - Ambush.

Released on DVD on 3rd November 2008 by Lionsgate.

Written by Simon Amphlett.