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Chinook Crew 'Chick'
- Highs and Lows of Forces Life from the Longest Serving Female RAF Chinook Force Crewmember
- Narrated by: Liz McConaghy
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
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Summary
Liz McConaghy spent a total of seventeen years flying with the RAF’s Chinook Fleet. Aged just 21, she was the youngest aircrew member to deploy to Iraq and was also the only woman on the Chinook wing for four years. In her astounding career, Liz McConaghy completed two deployments to Iraq followed by ten deployments to Helmand province in Afghanistan in support of the enduring Operation Herrick campaign.
Liz’s inspiringly honest story reveals the highs and lows that she witnessed at war, and the cost that came with that both, physically and mentally for those involved. During her deployments, she survived not only a near fatal wire strike onboard her CH47, but numerous enemy fire ‘contacts’ defending her crew by returning fire from both the M134 ‘Minigun’ and M60 weapons entrusted to her to operate.
Her biggest honor of all her duties, however, was serving on the Medical Emergency Response Team, or MERT, flying ambulance as it was more commonly known. This involved recovering wounded soldiers from the battlefield, often under fire, and witnessing them both die and indeed come back to life at her feet in the cabin of her Chinook.
Liz saw Camp Bastion grow from a barbed wire fence surrounding an area of tents in the sand to the huge Operating Base it became. She was also on the last 1310 Flight deployment there as the British forces withdrew 10 years later handing it back to the Afghan National Army.
Very few Chinook crew members, if any, spanned the length of time deployed as Liz McConaghy did. This is a genuinely unique tale that only Liz could tell, which ends with her battling the memories that haunted her, long after she had left the battlefield. Her own war within took her to the point of suicide once she had left the service. Her survival from both the battles in foreign lands and in her own head led her to begin telling her story, in the hope she can help others win their wars.
What listeners say about Chinook Crew 'Chick'
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- Mr A D J Macmaster
- 28-07-24
Honesty
What an open and honest account. Mental Health is getting more exposure but there is still that reluctance for people to talk about it or rather people to understand
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- Mark C
- 24-05-24
so glad I bought this book
Thank you for.writing this. I heard loads of your podcast interviews and thought I ought to give it a listen. such an insight to your career what you've been through, I hope you find peace with your demons, thank you for what you have done for us.
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- Oliver Hardy
- 08-08-24
Great listen, thanks to Liz for writing the second to last chapter
Shines a light on how hard it can be post service life and transitioning into civi street
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- Amazon Customer
- 26-04-24
Bravery
Brilliant account of how life catches up to you,
Amazing career fantastic stories !
Brutal but honest
Would highly recommend
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- Scott Boyle
- 29-04-24
An Eyeopener
Great Story very Honest with both Humour and Tears. it's a Listen you'll really enjoy
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- Ian Raynor
- 10-07-24
Well worth a listen
starting out as a great recollection of a brilliant career, as the book goes on, am alternative bravery comes through in an unexpected twist.
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- Snips43
- 26-08-24
Respect
Thank you for bringing my Brothers home & above all sharing your story. You’ve got this
A Rifleman
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- MRS D T O'ROURKE
- 02-06-24
Enlightening, funny and movingly honest.
The book gave a very engaging insight into the highs and lows of life in the Chinook crew, from a humorous look at the day to day antics of the crew members to the tragedy of the wars in which they were engaged. The raw honesty with which Liz describes her PTSD, suicide survival and the challenges of life is genuine, heartbreaking and ultimately encouraging. Well worth a read!
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-04-24
What an incredible story!
I would recommend this book to absolutely anybody! The way Liz tells her story from the RAF days to struggling with PTSD and mental health is absolutely eye opening. The rawness of the whole thing is mind blowing.
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- Jerry G
- 11-08-24
The Highs and Lows of Life in the Frontline. Open and Honest. Very thought provoking. An amazing woman.
This is a fascinating, access all areas iinsight into the military and personal life of an amazing, brave and humble heroine. It will make you smile, laugh, think, reflect and cry. A real roller coaster. Liz had to read her own story, no one else could do it justice. What an incredible story of bravery, humility, love and humanity. Thank you for sharing your story, Liz, Doris and Gloria. 😉
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