Darkly funny, shockingly honest, Brothers in Arms is an unforgettable account of the brutal reality of war – every boring, scary, exciting moment – and the bonds of friendship that can never be destroyed.
'If you could choose which two limbs got blown off, what would you go for?' Danny said. 'Your arms or your legs?'
In July 2009 Geraint (Gez) Jones was sitting in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan with the rest of The Firm – Danny, Jay, Toby and Jake, his four closest friends, all junior NCOs and combat-hardened infantrymen. Thanks to the mangled remains of a Jackal vehicle left tactlessly outside their tent, IEDs were never far from their mind. Within days they'd be on the ground in Musa Qala with the rest of 3 Platoon – a mixed bunch of men Gez would die for.
As they fight furiously, are pushed to their limits, hemmed in by IEDs and hampered by the chain of command, Gez starts to wonder what is the point of it all. The bombs they uncover on patrol, on their stomachs brushing the sand away, are replaced the next day. Firefights are a momentary victory in a war they can see is unwinnable. Gez is a warrior – he wants more than this. But then death and injury start to take their toll on The Firm, leaving Gez with PTSD and a new battle just beginning. Geraint Jones deployed as an infantry soldier on three tours of duty to Iraq and Afghanistan. For his actions in Basra, Geraint was awarded the General Officer Commanding's Commendation. Upon leaving the military, Geraint worked to protect commercial shipping against Somali and Nigerian-based piracy. He now writes full-time and is the author of historical fiction novels Blood Forest and Siege, and writes with James Patterson under the name Rees Jones. The reality of war laid bare in this funny, furious and moving account of one man's tour of Helmand.
