I am literally fizzing with enthusiasm as I write this.  Looking for difference in Wattpad is one of the Wattpadder's great pastimes.  Finding it is among the great joys.

I did wonder when I would start reading memoirs of the world's current conflicts.   Over the years, I have sought out the sort of work that actually gives one an idea of what combat is like without having to actually experience it.   It hold a grim fascination for me. I'm not sure why because, like many people, I think if I was faced with such a horrible situation, I would run screaming in the other direction.  We find what scares us, deeply attractive.

The first combat experience that I read was an account of the battle of Waterloo from the perspective of a British artillery officer, Cavalié Mercer.  His journal is among the best depictions of combat for its intense authenticity.  It is gripping and Mercer never shies from showing the unpleasantness, yet he also retains his professional detachment throughout.  I have read many since.   I am not a war buff, but I can't help being drawn to these recollections of lives lived during extraordinary circumstances.

The latest to enter my reading experience was that by Barry Alexander (@barry205).  His Raid on Mazdurak is a worthy addition to the pantheon.

It is by turns, gritty, terse, tense and horrifying.  Wrapped up in an account of a 2007 British Army company assault on a Taliban position, in Helmand Province in Afghanistan, is an intensely visceral experience.  It is not a long piece, perhaps 40 minutes reading time or longer, but Barry crafts images and explores themes that are powerful and persistent.

He accompanies the raid in the role of a medic.  We are introduced to his life from getting up in the morning, through preparations for the raid, the trek in to forward positions, the raid, and lastly withdrawal and aftermath.  In the process, Barry unveils the matter-of-fact world of the military, from its humour, its jargon, its pragmatic approach to everything, to the way soldiers name themselves or their surroundings.  "Angry Phil" is a great example of this.   By this name, we know the man.  Or "Blue Hose Compound", so named because of a piece of blue hose running across said compound.  Of course, one wonders at the blank uniformity of an environment where a blue hose is the distinctive feature.   Also, would it remain Blue Hose Compound if the hose was removed?

However, these are incidental to the actual drive of the recount.   Barry carefully racks up tension in the reader to the point where one actually feels that they are there.  This is almost a crass thing to say, when you are reading this from your comfy armchair, but that is the power of Barry's prose.  The point in the proceedings that had me on the edge of my seat was when Barry is dashing over open ground, wondering about the outcomes of the possibilities that lie ahead.  He shows everything as a set of 50:50 consequences (life or death, injury no injury, etc.) that boils down to a set of repercussions for a family completely ignorant of his actions on that day.  It is a powerful moment and it grabs the reader in a way that jerks them into his present.  Afghanistan, and the actions of British soldiers seem much more real, and much less than just another new story.

This sleight of hand, where the reader seems more than normal role of the unseen observer, is even more apparent when Barry starts treating casualties.  Knowing Raid on Mazdurak is an account of a real event makes it all the more terrible when casualties are only identified by an initial (C, S, or N).   Barry could have created names for them but the use of an anonymous letter gives things an sharp emotional punch.  These are real people, who have real lives with real relatives, and Barry does not give up on his care of them by carelessly using their real names, or using fictional ones which lessen their sacrifice.

He shows us his fear of facing whatever wound is presented, and he is not ashamed of showing the emotional reaction to treating horribly injured friends and comrades.  The honesty with which he does this shows a gifted writer.

What is startling is that the whole raid seems incidental.   For all the firepower on display (the descriptions of the A10 Warthogs engaged in a strafing run is a piece of fantastic writing), Barry seems not to be concerned with the military outcomes.   In fact, from a military perspective it is almost as if the raid was pointless.  What was achieved apart from a handful of casualties, some with life changing injuries?  There is no gung ho dialogue, no crowing over a defeated enemy, no body count.   Only a weary professionalism.

Barry's work is a must for anyone wondering what the hell has been going on since 9/11.  The aftermath of that terrible event has shaped the world in ways that have been too terrible to imagine, yet have come to pass.   I suspect that Barry's experiences are going to be repeated by a succession of young men for years to come.

One other point to mention.  Barry is a poet.  By all accounts a gifted war poet, whose work has been included in a modern anthology or poetry related this recent conflict.  I don't really understand poetry so I can't comment on it - I certainly can't write it - but I do like reading it.   I want to read Barry's poems.  On the basis of Raid on Mazdurak, he is a gifted writer in many other ways too.   Read him for yourself and find out.

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