attack on British troops. He also had a spell
as an intelligence officer.
“It was nothing like the 1970s in danger,”
Wallace says, “but the IRA were very, very
active. We had over 100 incidents: would-be
bombings, shootings, riots. We had two
soldiers die, one murdered, one committed
suicide. There were some scary times but
I never felt scared. I can remember lying in
bed and hearing a machinegun open up
against the fence a few metres away from
me. I was on the way to the cookhouse and
they threw some grenades against the fence
that blew up. Someone tried to throw a
bomb at me once.” Despite this, he says:
“It was fantastic fun, it was amazing to be
given the privilege to command soldiers.”
The experience has informed his role as
a minister: “I know soldiers, I understand
what they think and the pressure they are
under.” And the knowledge that it is vital to
keep your eyes on the mission: “Leadership
is about, what is your aim? You must
communicate, and it is your fault, your
failure, if the people working for you don’t
know what their role is in it.”
Back in Colchester, 2 Para, the unit that
was in Kabul, laid on a re-enactment of the
crowds at the gates of the city’s airport,
showing how they handled those trying to
flee. Up on a shipping crate, Private Ahmad
Fahim, a British citizen whose parents are
from Afghanistan, replayed his heroism
calming the crowd in their native language,
in a highly exposed position. Wallace met
Fahim afterwards and vowed to do what he
could for his family, who are now in Ukraine.
Wallace heard from the medics who
helped those coming through the wire, the
soldiers who processed their claims andthen the logistics team who spent £10,000
on a credit card buying every available
nappy and tin of baby milk in Essex and
Ipswich, which were then sent out to the
women and children in Kabul. The defence
secretary told them their efforts meant
Britain could “hold its head up high” —
even in the midst of strategic retreat.
There is talk of medals for those who took
part in Operation Pitting, the MoD name
for the Afghan evacuation. Wallace is
optimistic: “There are hugely impenetrable
layers of committees on medals and awards.
I have pushed very hard and I am confident
that their efforts will be recognised.”
Several of those Wallace meets are
women. Do the armed forces need more?
“Yes, a lot more” — the military is missing
“talent”. “We can’t afford not to reflect the
society we serve and support and defend.
We are falling way behind Canada and the
US. In MI5 roughly half the staff are women
and you think, where are they in the armedforces? We won’t have any senior army
leaders who are women, apart from one or
two, for a decade.” He believes more
women will also improve the culture.
Wallace held a meeting with army generals
after becoming “exasperated” by concerns
over conduct, following revelations in The
Sunday Times about the alleged murder of a
Kenyan woman by a British soldier in 2012.
Wallace left the army in 1998, having
concluded “I wasn’t going to be a high-flyer”.He then won election to the Scottish
parliament, where he distinguished himself
as bluntly outspoken — and by getting the
glamour model Jo Guest to open a Tory fête
in rural Aberdeenshire. Scotland was also
where he met his wife, Liza Cooke, with
whom he has three children. They
separated a year ago — the demands on
senior politicians expected to run their lives
in two places proving too much.
In 2014 Wallace approached Boris
Johnson, then halfway through his second
term as London mayor, and told him he
would like to run his leadership campaign
when the time came. Shortly after the
Puma lifts off from the HAC he points
down and says: “That’s where we had those
first meetings with Boris.” The house he is
pointing out, retreating below, belongs to
Stephan Shakespeare, who founded the
polling company YouGov. What did he see
in Johnson? Just as soldiers’ humanity makes
TOM BARNES FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE a difference in combat, Wallace believes
From top: Wallace,
centre, is briefed in
the field tent HQ at
Stanford; the
defence secretary,
second left, joins
3 Para on a mock
raid; in Colchester
2 Para re-enacts the
Kabul evacuation“The IRA were very active. I can remember lying in bed and
hearing a machinegun open up a few metres away from me”
The Sunday Times Magazine • 23