Brian Wood was called on to give evidence at the Al-Sweady Inquiry (Image: PA)
Brian Wood and his comrades fought in the bloody ’Battle of Danny Boy’ in Iraq in May 2004 in which several local militiamen were killed after they ambushed a unit of British troops. But when the soldiers gave statements to the MoD on that dusty, hot summer’s day, little did they know that their actions would be called into question and an inquiry would be launched years later. Writing on the Mail Online, Mr Wood, a married father, described the nail-biting moments he waited to give evidence, having been introduced to the MoD’s lawyer for the first time - five minutes before he would sit in the hot seat.
Brian Wood war forced to recall the shocking memories of the battle in an inquiry (Image: PA)
“There are people in there who want to bring me down. Lawyers with small glasses and big reputations, who have levelled all sorts of accusations against me and my fellow soldiers. Mistreatment. Mutilation. Murder.
“They are lying in wait, ready to ambush me, just like the militia I faced in the Iraqi desert.”
The team of lawyers, he claimed, had compared the troops’ actions to the behaviour of the Japanese in World War II and even American troops who killed unarmed civilians in My Lai, Vietnam.
After the unit’s camp at Abu Naji was hit with a rocket, the soldiers were sent out in an armoured vehicle to search for the enemy.
Mr Wood receives a medal of honour from the Queen who told him to wear it with pride (Image: PA)
Soon afterwards, the team got wind that a platoon of Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had been ambushed near a checkpoint known as ‘Danny Boy’.
As the vehicle made its way towards Danny Boy, it was hit by a hail of bullets and the troops were ordered to get out and fight.
As the rounds came in thick and fast, the soldiers poured out of the armoured vehicle and stormed
