About this episode

Retired Lt Col Derek Plews discusses the siege of Musa Qal'ah in 2006 and its implications on soldiers' mental health and military strategy.

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…

People in this episode

Guest: Derek Plews

Topics covered

• military history
• Afghanistan
• Musa Qal'ah
• war strategy
• mental health
• politics

Keywords

• Musa Qal'ah
• Derek Plews
• military service
• Taliban
• warfare
• mental toll
• platoon house strategy
• book recommendations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Royal Irish Regiment

Books & works: Shamrock Among the Poppies - Musa Qal'ah 2006 a bloody siege and the failures behind it, Sand and steel - A new history of D-Day, First day of the Somme

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