<p><strong>CONTENT</strong></p><br><p>My guest is retired Lt Col&nbsp;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&nbsp;</p><p>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.</p><br><p>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.&nbsp;</p><br><p>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".</p><br><p><strong>WHERE TO GET OUR DESERT ISLAND DITS BOOK CHOICES</strong></p><br><p>Most of our book recommendations can be bought via the Unconventional Soldier <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/UCS473" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bookshop</a>.&nbsp;10% of each purchase supports the pod and helps independent book stores on line sales.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p><strong>"BUY ME A COFFEE"</strong></p><br><p>If you want to support the podcast you can buy me a coffee <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unconsoldierpod" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here.</a></p><br><p><strong>SOCIAL MEDIA</strong></p><br><p>Instagram @the_unconventional_soldier_pod.</p><p>Facebook @lateo82.&nbsp;</p><p>Twitter @TheUCS473.</p><p>Download these and other platforms via<a href="https://linktr.ee/unconventionalsoldier" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Link Tree</a>.</p><p>Email us: [email protected].&nbsp;</p><p>This episode brought to you in association with<a href="https://isarr.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> ISARR</a> a veteran owned company.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>