Soldier – August 2019

VERDICT:

An

adrenalin-

fuelled true-

life account

with all the

makings of

a military

thriller

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Chronologic

by Caravan Palace

JAZZ from the twenties,

rhythm and blues from

the sixties and modern

dance music are not the first things you’d

think of mixing together, but for some

unknown reason Caravan Palace have

decided to do just that. Songs like Miracle

and Plume seem very confused about exactly

what they are and after listening to the

album a couple of times, I still can’t offer an

explanation. One second you’re hearing the

trumpets last heard in the Charleston, the

next you’ve got some old-school funky house

beats. On reflection, I can’t think of a single

track I liked. No doubt this will soon become a

favourite among students and the skinny jean

brigade, however, it wasn’t for me.

Cpl Scott Roberts, Rifles

No6:

Collaborations

Project

by Ed Sheeran

THE Ed Sheeran

juggernaut shows no sign of slowing down

and this fourth album will only serve to

cement his status in the mainstream. This

collection features an impressive roll-call of

contemporary pop’s biggest names, with the

likes of Justin Bieber and Cardi-B all

showing their support to one of the music

industry’s most unlikely stars. The collective

approach works well on certain tracks,

particularly with the appearance of man-of-

the-moment Stormzy on Take Me Back to

London, but it falls woefully short elsewhere.

The true lowlight comes on Remember the

Name, where Sheeran lines up alongside

Eminem and 50 Cent to rap about being

born as a misfit, growing up ten miles from

Ipswich. I sincerely hope he is joking. This

album is exactly what we’ve come to expect

from the artist – huge airplay is guaranteed

but real substance is lacking.

Richard Long, Soldier

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

68 AUGUST 2019 http://www.soldiermagazine.co.uk

MUSIC RELEASES

PICK OF THE MONTH:

› MONTHS after the territorial defeat

of the so-called Islamic State, the

international community is still at odds

over how to deal with thousands of its

followers currently detained in camps

along the Turkish-Syrian border.

Among them are hundreds of

westerners who travelled to the

caliphate to take up arms or marry

jihadists – people like Shamima Begum,

who ran away from the UK in 2015 and

is now awaiting a decision on her fate

while living at the al-Hol facility.

On one side of the debate are

those who argue these bleak centres

create a fertile environment for further

radicalisation, on the other are the

voices warning of more terrorist attacks

if she and others like her are allowed to

return home.

Army veteran John Carney has been

closer to the controversy than most.

Beginning in 2016 he launched a

series of raids behind enemy lines to

extract women who wanted to escape

Daesh, the full story of which he tells in

his new book, Operation Jihadi Bride.

To protect his identity Carney is a

pseudonym and he doesn’t specify his

former cap badge, but he belonged to

one of the battalions that eventually

formed The Yorkshire Regiment and left

as a corporal in the late nineties – bored

by the lack of operations.

It was through his subsequent work

on the security circuit in Iraq that he

found himself being asked to help by

the women’s desperate families back

home in Europe.

Talking to Soldier via email the

42-year-old explained why he felt

compelled to act.

“The girls went hoping to find

heaven and what they found was sheer

hell,” he said.

“They were beaten, the soles of

Ex-soldier’s covert mission

to rescue women from Daesh

BOOKS

their feet were caned and ‘pleasure

marriages’ meant they were passed

around like sweets between men.

“When there were shortages of

food, the jihadi fighters ate and the

girls starved.

“That’s why I stayed on doing what

I was doing, bringing out as many as

I could.”

The account of the action unfolds

like a Le Carre novel, as co-author

Clifford Thurlow brings Carney and a

cast of colourful accomplices to life.

Together they were involved in the

rescues of around 70 women and

children, often going into the very teeth

of the battle to fetch them.

Most were young girls and the

book reveals the complexities behind

their seemingly bizarre choice to swap

European suburbia for a war zone.

“These girls are teenagers and

anyone who has children knows that

they can be influenced by others and

misled,” continued Carney.

OPERATION JIHADI

BRIDE

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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65-70-sol-aug reviews.indd 4 25/07/2019 18:34