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Barefoot Soldier
On sale
2nd October 2006
Price: £15.98
**INCLUDES AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR**
Born in 1979 in Grenada as one of eight children, living in a two-bedroom hut, surviving on meagre meals of beans and rice and walking barefoot, three miles to school. At 13 Johnson Beharry quit school and worked as a decorator and labourer. In 1999 he scraped together the airfare for England and joined the Prince of Wales’ Royal Regiment. He served six months in Kosovo, three months in Northern Ireland and then went to Iraq.
On 1 May 2004, Beharry helped assist a foot patrol caught in a series of ambushes. His vehicle was hit by multiple rocket propelled grenades but he drove through the ambush and extracted his wounded colleagues from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire. He was cited on this occasion for ‘valour of the highest order’.
While back on duty on 11 June 2004, a rocket propelled grenade hit Beharry’s vehicle incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew. Despite his very serious head injuries, Beharry took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries, and he was still recovering when he was awarded the VC in March 2005.
Born in 1979 in Grenada as one of eight children, living in a two-bedroom hut, surviving on meagre meals of beans and rice and walking barefoot, three miles to school. At 13 Johnson Beharry quit school and worked as a decorator and labourer. In 1999 he scraped together the airfare for England and joined the Prince of Wales’ Royal Regiment. He served six months in Kosovo, three months in Northern Ireland and then went to Iraq.
On 1 May 2004, Beharry helped assist a foot patrol caught in a series of ambushes. His vehicle was hit by multiple rocket propelled grenades but he drove through the ambush and extracted his wounded colleagues from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire. He was cited on this occasion for ‘valour of the highest order’.
While back on duty on 11 June 2004, a rocket propelled grenade hit Beharry’s vehicle incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew. Despite his very serious head injuries, Beharry took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries, and he was still recovering when he was awarded the VC in March 2005.
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Reviews
Brilliantly read by Damian Lynch, this is rich in all the emotions that make us human
A heartbreaking, uplifting and inspirational read
Audiobook publishing is swamped with the unreliable memoirs of politicians, media "personalities" and soap opera celebrities. Forget the lot. Opt instead, whatever your views on the Iraq war, for BAREFOOT SOLDIER . . . a jaw-droppingly vivid insight into what British soldiers are going through in Iraq . . . Damien Lynch¹s wonderfully dramatic involvement in its narration is a triumph - and don't miss the interview with Beharry
Beharry has a rich inner life and is possessed of an unselfconsciously poetic turn of phrase. Relating a recurrent nightmare in which he's trapped inside a burning Warrior, he writes, "The dream sticks to me like the smell of smoke"