Original subtitles

ON RADIO: Ambush, ambush! Checkpoint Danny Boy.

Outnumbered, two men down. Request backup. Received.

Backup deployed, three Warriors.

Everything coming. Whisky 22, five minutes away.

EXPLOSIONS AND GUNFIRE

ON RADIO: This is Whisky 22, approaching Checkpoint Danny Boy.

RPG and gunshot incoming.

I don't like it. Just sit tight, mate, OK?

You're going to be all right.

Woody, listen up.

Enemy at dug-in. Your orders are to leave the vehicle.

Sorry, say it again, Stick.

You want us to dismount into that?

They've got two men down. They need help,

so prep the boys for dismount.

EXPLOSION

What's he saying?

EXPLOSION

We're going to dismount and close with the enemy.

What, here? Just us?

After me. Be quick about it, yeah?

REPORTER: How does it feel to be accused of war crimes?

It's Brian Wood.

A boy at school says you were a murderer.

And that's what's upsetting you? That is upsetting.

Come here, little man.

Say you're not.

Not what? Dad.

Bailey...

..do I look like a murderer to you?

The inquiry's terms of reference are as follows, and I quote,

to investigate and report on the allegations made

by the claimants against British soldiers

on the 14th and 15th of May 2004.

Corporal Wood, do you understand how matters will proceed?

I do, sir, yes.

GUNFIRE, EXPLOSIONS

OK, lads, you're on your own. Are you ready for this?

Butch, are you ready for this? Yeah.

Let's do this. Go, go, go, go!

DOOR SLAMS

HE GROANS

Ah, Jesus, babe.

Do you ever get that thing, you wake up

and you haven't got a bloody clue where you are?

No.

Want me to tell you where you are?

I know now.

Want me to tell you?

Yeah, go on, then.

You are in London. Yeah.

To meet the Queen.

And why's that then?

Because you're a hero and she wants to pin something on you.

Come on, wee man, come on. Let's go find your mum.

CHILD LAUGHS

Here we go, come on.

She's in there. Go and see her. On you go, son.

Ho, ho! Look at this smart wee laddie.

Hey! All right, Bailey boy?

How did you like spending the night with Nana and Grandad?

Hello! He wants to see his mum.

Did you forget your kecks? Is that a problem?

He's got great legs.

Look at my lovely boy.

He's our lovely boy. Are you our lovely boy?

Are you our lovely boy? Are you two not ready yet?

Do you know what time it is? Er, tranquillo. Dad, be honest,

is this tie straight? It's straight. Come on, get a move on.

Don't muss him all up, you. Took me forever getting him dressed.

You might have to do the same for Brian. Wouldn't be the first time.

Give that here and get your trousers on. Right, that's it. Chop chop.

I'm putting you two on the clock.

T-minus ten.

23 years in the Army, son. It never took me to places like this.

On the 14th of May 2004,

Lance Corporal Brian Wood was sent to the aid of comrades

ambushed under enemy fire at Checkpoint Danny Boy.

In recognition of his leadership, courage and selfless action

during some of the fiercest fighting in Iraq, Lance Corporal Wood

receives the Military Cross for gallantry.

Come on, Brian. Keep up.

He does know other stuff, but mainly he's keepers.

Don't tell me they have a coach just for goalies.

But anyway, he asked me to be the one taking penalties

for the goalies to have penalty-taking practice,

cos he said they can never tell where I was going to go,

and also I could put it where I wanted it to go.

Whereas a lot of the other kids just froze up

when it came to the spot kicks,

or looked at the keepers and lost their concentration.

And he said... OK, OK, Brian. Keep it brief.

Keep it brief.

So, you wanted to come out running.

Let's see what you're made of. Yeah?

Yeah.

All right. Yeah!

All right!

It begins with R, Brian.

Resilience.

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

Dad!

All right, Woody? Where's your medal?

Sir, what's it like jumping out of a Warrior under fire?

That's a good question.

It's, er, Johnno, right? Sir.

Johnno, I'm here today to tell you all about the realities of war.

And maybe one of the realities of war is it's not so easy

to stand up and talk about it.

And you're going to have guys out there

who are making a big song and dance about what they did,

getting their names in the paper.

Good luck to them. I'll let you make your own judgment about that.

I've got nothing to say about that.

You know what I was focusing on?

Eh? Anyone?

I wasn't thinking about being brave, being a hero or winning medals.

I was focusing on destroying the enemy

and keeping myself and my men alive.

I was fighting my own fight.

I wasn't worried about what everybody else was doing. All right?

That's a sure-fire way to get yourself...

DOOR OPENS

Corporal Wood?

Yeah?

Spencer.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

I'm teaching. What's this about?

We just want a little chat with you. A little chat?

Congratulations on the medal, Corporal.

Are you going to tell me what this is about?

We will, yeah.

You just take a seat here for me, please, Corporal Wood.

We're going to show you photos, Corporal,

from the Battle of Danny Boy, from its aftermath.

You tell us if you recognise anyone in them.

OK?

And this one?

What's this about?

Just whether you know who these people are, Corporal. No.

That's my unit.

Him?

Do you recognise this detainee, Corporal Wood?

Yeah, I, um...

I took him prisoner. And what was the manner of that?

Do you recall the rules of engagement, Corporal Wood?

Yes. So you took this man prisoner.

Tell me about the use of force. He gave himself up.

He was armed?

Or was he just a man in a field, or...? No, he was armed.

The CSM shouted, "Drop your weapons," and he did.

The CSM just shouted...? "Drop your fucking weapons," yeah.

You'd drop them, wouldn't you?

You've met the CSM.

Was he barefoot when you took him prisoner?

HE EXHALES

Y...Yeah. Did you plasticuff him?

No, no, not at the time, no.

Did you offer him water?

Not that I recall.

I would've thought that date was printed on your memory.

It is.

So, did you offer him water...

..Corporal Wood?

Did you?

Did you offer him water? Corporal Wood... Or were you not there?

Sorry, say it again, Stick. You want us to dismount into that?

ON RADIO: They've got two men down. They need help.

Prep the boys for dismount.

OK, lads. You're on your own.

Are you ready for this?

Butch, are you ready for this? Yes.

Let's do this. Go, go, go, go!

GUNFIRE

SHOUTING IN DISTANCE

IN DISTANCE: Go!

Enemy, bridge side. We close with the enemy,

we take position one, yeah?

But that's 120 metres away.

EXPLOSIONS

Count us in.

Five, four,

three, two,

one.

50 metres!

SHOUTING

Get on the ground now!

Get the fuck on the ground now!

Shut the fuck up!

Where'd the rest of them go? They could be back any minute.

Position one. Not a scratch on us, boys.

British fighting spirit done that, mate.

Here we go lads. Get in.

CAMERA CLICKS

DOOR BUZZER

DOOR BUZZER

Wait there, wait there. I'll be right down.

Morning.

This intercom and security are here

because of all the threats against us. It doesn't work properly,

so I spend all my time running up and down these stairs.

It won't be the nutjobs that kill me,

it'll be the exhaustion.

Thanks for coming up to the office to see me.

It'll give you a chance to see the job the way it really is.

Of course, I'm too bloody busy

to get up to the university at the moment.

HE GRUNTS

Some of you will end up in big fuck-off law practices in the City

with smoked glass and neck massages,

but the vast majority of lawyers work like this.

You'll need to get your brains around that.

Right, straight through, in here, come on.

My advice is go running,

do yoga, start flower-arranging.

Anything to give you a sense of perspective.

This job will eat you up and spit you out if you're not careful.

Who wants tea? Me. Ah.

What's your name?

Deena. Sugar? Two, please. Ah.

Oh, shit. There is none.

Er, right.

So, you want to be human rights lawyers.

What's the first quality you're going to need? Hm?

Got some sachets here somewhere.

Come on, I won't bite.

C-Compassion? Compassion? OK.

Anything else?

Empathy? A thick skin. You're going to need a thick skin.

And why do I say that, Deena?

Because some of the things we might be doing...

Because people will tear you up.

Politicians, the press, the establishment.

It doesn't matter how clear it is to you

that human rights are sacrosanct and you have a duty to protect them -

whoever's they might be - other people will tell you different.

They'll tell you're a bleeding heart, they'll tell you

you're naive, they'll tell you you're money-grubbing.

Why do they say those things? Hm? Why do they say those things?

Who? The... Because now and then you're going to have to tell them

things they really don't want to hear.

And here's one of them.

British soldiers get away with murder.

Who's heard of Baha Mousa?

Couple of years ago, Iraqi lad, worked in a hotel in Basra.

About the same age as you lot. He's, uh...

He's a father of two kids aged two and four. He's dead, right?

He is now, yes. Brace yourself.

That's him after a period at Her Majesty's pleasure.

So, on behalf of his family, I respectfully argued in court

that Baha Mousa, in British custody in Iraq, had the same human rights

as any other prisoner in any other British jail.

Doesn't matter if it's in Basra or in Birmingham.

Anyone want to argue with that? The MOD. Ha!

The Ministry of Defence, very good, they did indeed,

because it made their job much more difficult.

But the High Court and the Court of Appeal agreed with me.

British law applies wherever British soldiers have command.

Anybody want to argue with that principle?

Well, you want to be human rights lawyers so I bloody well hope not.

But here's my question...

Tell you what, everyone, come here. Put your drinks down.

Come round here. Come on, chop chop. Over here.

Right.

Here's Baha Mousa.

Face-down in the dirt with British soldiers all around him

with their SA80s pointed down at him.

That's you lot, come on. SA80s pointed down at him.

Now...

..we teach our soldiers how to kill other soldiers in a war,

and there's nothing wrong with that.

But the judge found that Baha Mousa died as a result of 93 injuries

incurred over a 36-hour period in British Army custody.

I proved that case.

But not one soldier was found guilty of murder or even manslaughter

or unlawful killing. Is it right you guys get away with murder?

Put your guns down.

So, how come it's me that's a disgrace to my country?

Shh. Push-ups.

DOOR CLOSES

Say if I'm buttering too loud for you.

Brian, I just thought you might call out to him or something.

I've been up with him since four. I, uh...

CLEARS HIS THROAT

I tried to get up for him but he didn't want me.

It's going to take time.

You want him like this, don't you?

You want him all yours.

I'm not starting all that again. If it's a problem at work,

let's talk about it.

DOOR SLAMS

KEYBOARD CLICKS

DOOR BUZZER

DOOR BUZZER

Who is it? That Phil Shiner?

Who wants to know? David Monaghan. I'm a journalist.

You agreed to meet me.

Did I?

The Battle of Danny Boy.

Right.

Right.

Iraqi farmers, apparently, at work in their fields

when the Princess of Wales Regiment happened along.

With Baha Mousa you proved a single act of terrible inhumanity.

This could be 20. It's not a head count.

Footage of the dead bodies was filmed by Al Jazeera and...

..there's some trophy photos floating around,

taken by British soldiers.

The Red Cross demanded an inquiry within days of what happened.

Military Police picked it up but it's going nowhere.

Loads of inconsistencies in what they did find.

Something stinks.

Make your programme. Get it on the screen.

Tell the world. I intend to.

So why do you need me?

I don't need you, Phil. These people might.

Have you got any idea the amount of work this would take?

How busy I am already? Just read it. What have you got to lose?

Night, Phil.

Night.

HE SIGHS

PHONE RINGS

Mazin, hi.

Yeah, thanks for getting back to me.

That's right, that's right. Listen,

I might need you to go back to Iraq for me. Something new.

Same arrangement as before,

only...the scale of this thing could be huge

so I'd need you to track down witnesses,

sound 'em out, and I'll meet them in Istanbul.

Right.

Babe.

He went to sleep! Shh! QUIETLY: He went to sleep! Ohhhh!

You're a star.

Come on. That's the first time he's went to sleep for me.

I mean it, you're a star. Getting there with him. The sleep master.

What? Nothing.

VOICE-BREAKING: Nothing. No, babe, what?

You were like you used to be just then.

When you came through that door.

Can't we have a happy moment?

I just took my son up to bed, I got him off to sleep for the first time.

That's me, I'm being a dad, I'm being a proper dad.

I am happy. You don't look happy.

I was at the doctor today getting a prescription for sleeping pills.

Every other night you're waking up not knowing where you are.

Yeah, well, no doubt about where I am before I'm waking up.

OK...

Come on. Let's talk about that.

What's going on, Brian?

You really think, don't you,

that if you don't say anything's wrong then nothing's wrong?

BABY CRIES

I feel like you don't want me home.

OK?

And I feel like every fucking thing I do is wrong.

BABY CONTINUES CRYING

I don't know any more than you do.

SHE EXHALES

Oh, we goin' on this run, or whit?

HE PANTS

I thought we were runnin' together.

15 years retired, I am. Not whingeing, are we?

It wasn't cruelty I was teaching you, Brian.

It was resilience. Yeah, I know that, Dad.

I got that you did that.

Look, son...

..your mother's worried about ye. Is everything OK wae you and Lucy?

Yeah. No, it's, um...

You know, one minute I was in Al Amara

and the next minute I was going in through the door

and seeing my baby boy for the first time, so...

You know, it's going to, um...

You know, it's going to be a...

You never killed anybody.

No.

It never fell to me to do it.

But if it had, I woulda.

Mind you, it was Northern Ireland, it's different.

You couldnae tell who was friend, who was foe,

and...it's Northern Ireland, they're our own people, it's the UK.

You know, I trained for it and I did it and it works

and you think...fuck, you know, I'm alive and he's dead.

And then after...

You know we're here for you, right?

Yeah.

Then the RMP come knocking on your door... The RMP? Are you kiddin'?

A decorated war hero? Tell them tae piss off!

You can't just tell them... They get your head in a spin, Dad,

you start thinking what you did or didn't... You did a good job, son.

That's what you did.

Hey.

For 300 years

this family served this country.

12 generations.

Those guys...

..they're right here with us.

OK.

Brian?

Aye, he's all right. Just doesnae like losing, that's all.

He's no' the only one. Come on. Time to go.

DISTANT EXPLOSIONS, FAINT GUNFIRE

Move! INDISTINCT SHOUTING AND SWEARING

Shut your mouth!

Get a blindfold on him!

Where'd the rest of them go? They could be back any minute.

Get your cuffs on. Blindfold! Blindfold!

Are we good?

Everyone OK? All good.

Boys, keep your heads down. Remember, two-way range.

Is the battlefield clear? No, sir. No.

Right. Leave this shower to your men. You come with me.

PERSISTENT HIGH-PITCHED WHINE

ROCKS SKITTER

INDISTINCT, MUFFLED SPEECH

HE PANTS

HIGH-PITCHED WHINE STOPS

HE PANTS

We're over-committed. Back this way, come on.

Drop your fucking weapons! Put your fucking hands up now!

Now! Here! Hands up! Get your hands up right now! To me.

You. Arms.

He's good. Come here. To me now. To me. Do you speak English?

Stay there.

He's clean.

Move, now! Go.

UNTRANSLATED

Why didn't they shoot us?

Hey! Why didn't you shoot us? We never even saw you.

What kind of soldiers are you?

Go, go.

Keep going!

Lose your lives over a flip-flop?

Lose this again, I'm throwing it!

Go! Go!

UNTRANSLATED

Yeah, in English, mate.

Farmer! Farmer? He's a farmer?

You're a farmer, I'm a fucking Brigadier, mate.

How old are you?

16!

UNTRANSLATED SPEECH

16!

Stay there! Get a move on. Go.

Go.

HE PANTS

HE SOBS

Has he had his expenses?

UNTRANSLATED

His mother has.

Istanbul interviews, day two. Time - 9:30am.

UNTRANSLATED SPEECH

He was face-down in the ditch. He could hear soldiers coming.

Take him back to the beginning. Family set-up and all that.

UNTRANSLATED

Mother and sister hated Saddam

because Saddam killed their uncle and cousin.

All family happy to see British soldiers when they came,

friends bringing freedom.

Does he work? School?

UNTRANSLATED CONVERSATION

School in the mornings, farm in the afternoons.

That day he had to cut fresh grass for his cow.

Did he have a gun with him?

UNTRANSLATED CONVERSATION

For wolves, for bandits. Kalashnikov.

Iraqi men in black clothes with guns got out of trucks

and spread in the field near the farm.

UNTRANSLATED SPEECH

And when the British came past there was shooting and he lay down

in the ditch, facing the ditch.

UNTRANSLATED SPEECH

He was bleeding, crying, asking them, "Please, stop."

They drag him a long, long way,

throw him in the vehicle with dead bodies.

And...what happened to his weapon?

UNTRANSLATED CONVERSATION

He didn't have weapon.

He said just now he did. A Kalashnikov?

UNTRANSLATED CONVERSATION

He had weapon but only at home.

I need to know whether he was carrying the weapon that day.

Hm? Ask him, because in his previous statement, here...

UNTRANSLATED CONVERSATION

Here. He said he had it. Now.. if he's going to chop and change

he'll be no good to me in the witness box.

UNTRANSLATED SPEECH

UNTRANSLATED CONVERSATION

What's he saying? He says he's been waiting two hours

and he needs to eat. Oh, does he need money for food?

No, he doesn't need money. I'm telling him we're not finished

with this guy yet but he's insisting.

Maybe we are... Maybe we are finished here.

Thank you.

UNTRANSLATED CONVERSATION

Thank you. Please.

Please.

And your name is...? Hussein. Hussein.

And were you at the Battle of Danny Boy?

Yes. And why were you there?

UNTRANSLATED SPEECH

He is saying that he is... Not fighter. I am farmer. Farmer.

Come on, then. The guys are out the back. Hey, you all right?

Hi.

Nice one, keep bouncing.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

It's not like you, hanging back when there's meat on the grill.

Just taking it all in, you know? A happy family.

I'm only here cos there were two guys down there.

What, your mates had your back?

Iraqis. Could have killed me but didn't.

What sort of soldier's that?

What sort of soldier won't even fire his weapon? Brian...

What sort of soldier wears flip-flops and a dish-dash? Brian.

You might only be here because of those two guys but you are here.

No. Naw? I'm here because they didn't do what I did.

You said you'd have killed if you had to.

That's when you decide who's who.

That moment decides for you.

The dead have questions for you, Brian.

You need to answer them.

Brian?!

SHE WAILS

Deep breaths, babe, deep breaths. You're doing great, babe,

you're doing amazing. Deep breaths, in and out.

I want my mum. She's on her way. I can't do this.

Yes, you can, babe. You don't know what I can and can't do.

I do, babe! I know you.

It is our contention that British soldiers

abused and mistreated Iraqis on the battlefield at Danny Boy

and afterwards at their base, at Camp Abu Naji.

More than that...

..we believe that many of those killed, injured or detained...

..were not soldiers at all.

There were farmers there and innocent bystanders

going about their daily business.

We believe that the Army carried out unlawful killings,

perhaps up to 20.

Any questions, please?

So the Iraqis were executed?

That's what we need to find out.

It's normal in that lawless part of Iraq

for farmers to carry guns but... does that make them soldiers?

British soldiers are held to high standards and rightly so.

I see it as part of my job to hold them to that.

And in my view, there is powerful evidence

that on the day in question, they let this country down.

So categorically you're saying British soldiers killed civilians

in cold blood? What I'm saying

is the Army's own Military Police investigation closed too soon.

It wasn't good enough.

LINE RINGS

That's why we've called upon the Government

to set up a full public inquiry.

PHONE: Brian's phone. Leave a message.

We don't want to be talked about in the same way as the Japanese

in the Second World War, or the Americans at My Lai.

We need to get this all out in the open

and only a public inquiry can do that.

Several years have passed since the Battle of Danny Boy

and the Ministry of Defence insists the allegations are unfounded,

but has promised its full cooperation.

It's a summons to a public inquiry.

This guy Shiner... He's all talk.

Well, he's not all talk, is he? It'll come to nothing.

You're not looking.

HE TAPS ON GLASS

Smile.

You know how you used to complain about me

not wanting to know what you'd done

when you got your medal? I was always joking.

It's YOU I wanted, not your medal. Yeah, I know.

Do you?

Yeah.

Good.

Right. Show me that fuckin' thing.

Gavin...the baby.

The baby.

I'm sorry, love. Aye, he's lovely.

Hi.

Give you a medal wae one hand and knock your teeth oot wae the other.

They accuse you of these things -

our own Government accuses you o' these things -

on the say so of what?

The men that are trying to kill ye?

"In the engagement you participated in, witnessed or were aware of,"

I mean, which one is it? Jesus Christ. There's 11 counts here.

You must have been busy, that's all I can say.

They probably sent the same letter to all of us, Dad.

Nah, no way. Look.

"In the course of clearing the trench with CSM Falconer and others,

"you were..." blah-blah-blah. You. Nobody else. You.

The solicitors for the Iraqis is saying that they were, um...

..farmers and not militia.

Are they tryin' tae tell me you wouldnae know the difference

between a farmer and a trained killer working for...what his name?

Muqtada al-Sadr. God's sake.

Public inquiry. The world's gone mad.

ENGINE IDLES

M...

My, uh...

UNTRANSLATED

RADIO: Listen up. New orders. We've got to pick up the enemy dead

and bring them back with us. Intel reports person of interest

in the field.

Whose orders is this?

No-one does this. We shouldn't be doing it.

Fuck this. They think some local warlord is among the dead.

So we're taking the bodies back for ID-ing.

Falconer picked us out for it.

Right, I'll pick him up.

You yank his trousers back up.

What?

Who did all that?

Chain gun could do that. A 30mm tank shell.

Killing someone's one thing...

..picking them up after, looking 'em in the eye...

Tell you what I don't see.

I don't see any village elders who sent these kids out here

with rifles against a company full of tanks and Warriors.

SIREN IN DISTANCE

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

Drop your fucking weapons!

Killing someone's one thing...picking 'em up after,

looking 'em in the eye... Why didn't they shoot us?

Why didn't you shoot us? We never even saw you.

What kind of soldiers are you?

HE SOBS

Hey. Hey. Come on. Come here.

Come on. It's all right.

It's all right.

I'm here. Come on. Come inside.

Inside.

When the judges approved our judicial review

they slammed the Military Police and the Ministry of Defence

for not going far enough.

Took our side on every point of substance.

Left the Government no option but a full public inquiry.

Listen to this, Patrick. It's not some Guardian editorial,

this is from the judge's own ruling.

"In our view, the Military Police investigation

"relating to allegations of murder and torture was deficient."

It wasn't fit for purpose.

No major incident room.

Failure to identity or interview relevant personnel.

Failure to seize all contemporaneous records.

Failure to interview the detainees.

Well, you've done an amazing job, Phil, no-one's doubting that.

Getting a public inquiry awarded is an extraordinary achievement

for a practice this size. But?

But nothing. So, the eminent barrister's coming on board?

Coming on with the legal team who, uh... Hang on. Where is it?

How did the judges describe us, Deena?

They said we were greatly outnumbered

by the Secretary of State's legal team

but persisted with requests for disclosure skilfully

and with commendable determination.

Commendable determination, Patrick. Couldn't have put it better myself.

That war shames our nation, Patrick.

That's not what the inquiry is about.

Ever thought of getting a bigger office, Phil?

Having the walls closing in concentrates the mind.

Doesn't it, Deena? That's the theory, yes.

Right, so, what have you got?

"We", Patrick. We. Come on.

We've got 20 dead Iraqis taken off the battlefield. Taken why?

The Army says the needed to ID the bodies

but our witnesses say at least some of them were alive

when they left the battlefield.

And some of them were beaten and shot back at the camp

after they were detained. More to the point,

the Army say they were combatants and the families say they weren't.

What are you looking for? The trophy pictures. Over there.

PHONE RINGS

Shift your arse, Patrick. You're sitting on Exhibit A.

Public Interest Lawyers. Hi, Carrie. Is that...? Yeah.

Show these to Patrick.

I'll pass you over to him. Carrie?

So these are photos taken by soldiers on the day.

You can see blood on the soldiers' hands in this one.

Why do the Army need to take dead Iraqis for ID-ing

if they had all these cameras in the field? Exactly!

Carrie, I'm going to pass you back to Deena. One second. Oh.

Hi, Carrie... There were cameras everywhere. It doesn't make sense.

Look at these.

Look at the condition of these prisoners. It's shameful.

I interviewed this guy in Istanbul. He's willing to testify.

He's just a farmer. Almost all of them say they were denied water.

DOOR BUZZER They've clearly been knocked about.

It's a fucking disgrace, Patrick,

and it's our chance to expose it. Our duty to expose it.

Phil, that's another delivery. Well, can you deal with it?

The Iraqi witnesses, what's your process there?

Vetted by my man in Iraq. If he thinks they've got what it takes,

then I meet them on neutral ground in Istanbul.

PHONE RINGS

The funding? The High Court ordered the MOD to reimburse all our costs

getting us this far. Yeah, door's open, come on up.

You know how many gallantry awards went to the soldiers at Danny Boy?

Ten. And to a man they'll be saying the Iraqi witnesses are liars.

That the men they killed were soldiers, shot in battle,

no-one was mistreated. Course they will.

But you and I know what British soldiers are capable of doing

to detainees. Baha Mousa proved that.

And this is just as grave and important as that.

Only more sprawling. That's an understatement.

It's an uphill struggle, Patrick, I get that. It always is.

There's 40 shipping containers of disclosure for us to wade through.

Signature, please. Hm? Oh.

This is the MOD sending us a haystack, saying,

"Good luck finding the needle." Thanks.

Do you want this job or don't you? Cos as you can probably see,

we've got a lot of work to get through.

I'll start with a sandwich. Hm?

Well, they've got crusts on, Patrick.

Do you think you can cope with that?

You struggling, Dad? Are you havin' a laugh?

Think I cannae handle a couple of suitcases?

I'll put you through some proper PT, boy.

Now don't you be worrying every day. That's it. Call us any time.

All right? We're off. Good luck.

Bye. See you when I see you. I'll give you a bell when we get back.

What's going on, little man? He loves that boy. Loves them both.

Aw right, hen? You heard what Margaret said. Get him back for me.

Getting angry at what's happening to him,

it's not the same as getting him through it.

Are you tryin' tae tell me how tae father ma son?

You've done a very good job of fathering him, Gavin.

He's just like you. He's a soldier, like you.

He keeps it all in-house, like you.

He doesn't let on what's going on up here

and he really thinks that's working.

He's like you.

He's just like you.

Point two, Charlie, eh?

Point two. Is that the one you want to hear?

OK.

Point two.

There you've given an untruthful and/or inaccurate account

in suggesting that the Iraqis you apprehended

had with them any weapons at all.

You're incorrect to suggest or imply

that they had been shooting at...British troops.

Point three.

Any failure to report the misconduct or...

..or the allegations of misconduct of which you were aware,

is the direct result - psst! - by you deliberately...

..to conceal the mis...conduct of others.

HE PANTS

What kind of soldiers are you?

What's that? Hm?

What was what, sir?

See you got a letter, then, Woody. Is that from the inquiry?

Yeah. I did, sir. Me too.

How's that settling with you now, then?

I love soldiering, sir.

I do, but...right now, it's...

Train you up, send you out to fight then you get back for questioning.

I mean, what's that about? Yeah, they were firing at us.

Yeah, live rounds.

And, no, I didn't... gouge anyone's eye out.

You had all that, too?

Yeah.

Still think about them days?

Danny Boy and the rest?

Five years ago now, more...

I do, sir.

Yeah.

Tough days.

Punchy days.

Yeah.

Immense.

Who do you talk to about them days?

Prefer to just sort of...

..you know, keep it where it is, sir.

For the time being. They're a shifting cargo, though, Woody.

You sure that's a good idea?

Ever thought about knocking on a door

and getting some help with that?

I'm fine, sir. You were just a kid then, Woody.

But you're not now.

Knock on a door.

I did.

OK. Stress test.

Their claims against ours. Deena.

The orders to take away the bodies. Everything flows from that.

If they were dead, like the Army says,

removing them is unprecedented and needs a better explanation.

If they were alive, like the families say...

..then they must have been executed.

Hm. So who gave that order?

No-one seems to know.

If the dead bodies needed ID-ing,

why didn't they photograph them there? Hm?

Instead of transporting them.

The trophy pictures show that there were cameras present.

If you were an Iraqi mother searching through shredded bodies

in a morgue two days later, you would suspect something very bad.

Lots of unanswered questions.

Patrick.

Bit of balance?

Well, the inquiry will want to test the credibility of the witnesses -

when did their injuries occur,

how can anyone be sure they weren't members of a militia group?

And the dead, too, for that matter. The militia stuff...

..neither side can prove that. That's our word against theirs.

It's not OUR word, Phil, it's the witnesses'.

We present their evidence to the inquiry, we don't own it.

Very noble, Patrick.

Why did the Military Police drop their investigation?

Incompetence or cover-up? OK, what do we say to that one?

We say incompetence or cover-up. Anything else?

As I'm reading I'm trying to put myself in the position

of the Army soldiers. Useful exercise.

If you're fired up and you've been shot at

and you're charging across a field and someone puts their hands up...

..where does the war bit stop and the arrest and restraint bit start?

That's the inquiry's focus in a nutshell -

what happens after the war bit stops? It's grey...

It's a grey area. OK.

It is. So, you're fired up,

you've been shot at, you've taken a guy with his hands up prisoner

and you live that grey area, you're in it.

Maybe you knock him about - is that what you're saying?

Why wouldn't you? I guess.

Hm. Well, here's your answer.

Because they're British soldiers.

They're trained to be better than that.

Right. I mean, either they are or they aren't. Right?

Either they are better than that or they're not.

PHONE BUZZES

Sorry. Have to take this.

Hello?

Yeah. And...

Go on. The arrangements we used to gather our witnesses,

the fact that we've operated through a middleman,

some of the financial arrangements... What?

Well...is all of that definitely OK?

We literally had no choice.

Either we let the killings of 20 potentially innocent Iraqis

go unchallenged or we do what we did. What choice did we have?

If we win, it'll all be forgotten.

If we lose, it'll all be irrelevant.

Can't abide the coffee they have here.

But if I leave my good coffee in the kitchen,

everyone drinks it.

I've had your statement typed up

into the same basic form as the other soldiers.

I want you to read it through now

and say if it's an accurate reflection of what you told me.

Let's have it out loud.

There's a good chap.

It's good practice.

Yeah.

HE CLEARS THROAT

I deployed to Iraq on the 8th of April 2004

in support of Operation Telic 4.

I deployed as a Lance Corporal with A Platoon, C Company,

1st Battalion, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

This was my first deployment to Iraq.

My role was as dismount commander

and I would rarely get out of the Warrior

as we would be vulnerable to incoming fire.

The plan was to go to the side of trench one

and take the enemy by surprise.

Three of us returned fire

in an attempt to suppress the enemy position.

When I reached the trench,

there were still four enemy combatants within it.

One of them was shouting in Arabic.

SHOUTING

He had his hands in the air and continued to shout.

I shouted back at him something lines of...

Get your fucking hands up!

.."Put your fucking hands up."

The detainees were grabbed by their clothes or arms and forced down.

There was a large number of weapons.

Once the search had been completed,

the detainees' hands were plasticuffed

and they were blindfolded.

CSM Falconer took charge of the situation

and said that he and I were to advance to trench two

to check it was clear.

I saw an enemy combatant stand up and aim at CSM Falconer,

who reacted very quickly.

Immediately after this,

I saw another aimed at me.

I fired two rounds at him and saw him drop to the ground.

As we were walking back, two enemy emerged with their hands up.

We had not seen them or been aware of them at all.

It was lucky for us that they chose to surrender rather than engage.

The order to collect the dead was an unusual order.

It would be normal to leave the dead on the battlefield.

I had not been in such a situation previously

and collecting the dead was a horrible job

that no-one wanted to do.

I was not offered any counselling when I returned from my tour.

I do not recall attending any debrief

at the end of my tour either.

I believe the facts in this witness statement are true.

OK.

Well done.

You all right?

Hang on.

Isn't he home?

He's usually home by now.

Yeah, I don't know.

You haven't knocked.

You were right.

You were right in what you said.

OK.

Do you want to come in? No, just...

Just get Brian out here for me, will you, love?

Brian. Uh-huh.

You know I love you, son.

What, up to now maybe, is that what you're saying?

See, that's just exactly it. That's...

That's exactly it.

That's where Lucy's got her head screwed on and me and you havnae.

That's... See, that's what it... That's where she's exactly right.

Lucy? Dad...

Keep it all in house, keep it in the head space -

what's the fucking point, eh?

I can see what you're doing, Brian, and you took your cue from me.

And it's no good. It's no good at all.

I shouldnae have done it and you shouldnae be doing it.

All that... "I'm a tough guy" bollocks.

Cos that's what it is - total bollocks.

There's naebody tough. None of us.

No' me. No' you. No' Arnie bloody...

Schwarzenegger.

Aye.

You remember how I told you about my pal who got shot by the IRA...

..shot and killed by the IRA? Yeah.

And how I got promoted to Lance Corporal cos he was dead.

Right after the funeral.

They even give me his callsign.

I didn't... I didn't know that.

Aye, well, now you do.

I didnae even think about it. I was 20 years old.

But see later, that gnawed at me.

It gnawed at me.

You know, his dying and me just stepping up

and saying to the major, "Aye, sure, gimme his stripes.

"I'll take his callsign."

It's like I wiped him off the record,

no thought about anything else.

"Just got to get these tapes sewed on." That was it.

But he found his way back in.

And rightly so.

There's never been a day from that moment to this

that I havnae thought about him but did I tell anybody?

Dad... You know what it...

You know what it felt like? It felt like...

It felt like I had to live my life and his.

That's what it felt like.

That's what I meant when I said the dead have questions for you.

You see, when you join the Army, you're part of something massive.

You know, we're all in this together.

But see you when it comes to the knocks you take, we're...

..we're all a closed book.

OK.

I'm not a good example, Brian.

And that hurts me.

It hurts me to see you following that example.

OK. Come in now, Dad. Come on.

No, no, no. I've said what I came to say.

I couldn't be more proud of you, son.

I couldnae be more proud of you.

It's me I'm ashamed of.

For not saying it to you sooner.

I said to your mother, I said I couldnae even contemplate.

Aye, sure, I served 23 years,

but I cannae even contemplate what my son went through.

I'm in awe of that.

I have no experience of that.

And that hurts as a father.

I sent you places I've never been.

You were there, Dad.

You were there.

Oh, no.

Hey.

What did you say to him?

I said he should tell you what was on his mind.

And did he? Yeah.

Yeah. Well, that's a good start then, isn't it? Yeah.

All right, Bailey boy.

You beat your mum - can you beat your dad?

That was a good shot.

And again.

Oh-ho-ho.

Oh!

Dad!

Bastard.

NEWS REPORT: A public enquiry opens today

into some of the most serious allegations

to have emerged from the Iraq war.

It'll examine claims that British troops murdered up to 20 Iraqis

following a gun battle in 2004 and that nine detainees were mistreated.

The enquiry is expected to last for around a year.

Slowly, please, sir. Thank you.

Just a few last-minute thoughts.

Oh. More last-minute than your 2am email?

The enquiry's terms of reference are as follows,

and I quote, to investigate and report on the allegations

made by the claimants against British soldiers.

It is also necessary to examine the broad circumstances of the battle,

the conduct and the actions of the soldiers and Iraqis involved

and the manner and cause of death.

Why is this enquiry taking place?

This is a legitimate question for all participants to ask

in light of the public expense and resources inevitably involved.

There is a clear answer

and that is because of the credible allegations of unlawful killing

by British soldiers of Iraqi civilians.

Tank chaser.

You care to repeat that?

Why do you hate us so much, Mr Shiner?

I've represented more soldiers than any other lawyer in the country.

Disaffected soldiers, maybe.

Is there any other kind, really...

..in the end?

A boy at school said you were a murderer.

And that's what's upsetting you?

That is upsetting.

And what did you say?

He didn't say it to me.

He just said it.

Well, he must have said it to somebody.

Come here, little man.

Say you're not.

Not what? Dad.

Bailey...

..do I look like a murderer to you?

Hm?

Come on. Get to bed.

Goodnight.

Did you forget your kecks?

Is that a problem?

You OK?

Yeah, I'm OK.

Sure you don't want me to come?

Yeah.

Yeah, no, I'll be fine.

I'll be thinking about you.

Babe, I'm taking Bailey to school before I go to London.

OK.

Cheers.

Yo, let's get a move on.

Hey, you'd be good for your mum now, little man. Yeah?

And you'd be good for me too.

Yeah. I'll be as good as gold, babe.

HE WHISTLES

Yo.

Love you. Have a good day. Thanks.

So...

..someone at school said that I was a murderer, yeah?

Do you think they'd say that to my face?

Huh? Why not?

Cos you're bigger than them. Yeah?

And who's bigger? Them or you?

Them.

Yeah.

Don't come to school, Dad.

Hey. Come here.

Look...

..for the record, Bailey...

..I did kill people.

In Iraq...

..in a battle.

But I'm a soldier and sometimes that's what soldiers have to do.

What do you think about that?

OK.

There's a difference between that and being a murderer.

What is it?

That's what I'm going to London today to talk about.

Who's up today?

Brian Wood and...Chris Broome.

What's that?

Who sent this?

The enquiry wanted an audit of evidence for disclosure

from all the different teams. This just turned up.

Turned up? From where? From our side?

Maybe it was at the bottom of a pile somewhere.

So the local warlord lists all Iraqi dead and detainees as his soldiers.

Everyone there on the day.

Shit.

If they were soldiers, not farmers,

the enquiry won't believe anything else we say.

Why didn't we know about this?

We should have known about this!

Phil!

For all we know it's...

..it's complete bullshit. It's...

..propaganda put about by local Iraqi militia.

Turning them into martyrs. It's...

The judge will throw it out as irrelevant. Will he?

How can you know that?

Cos Patrick will point them in that direction. It's obvious.

You told me a case is only as strong as its weakest evidence.

This casts doubt on our witnesses. I'll tell you what's not in doubt.

They're a bunch of lads with Kalashnikovs

that British troops threw 13,000 rounds at.

That's what they are.

Lads at breakfast, soldiers at teatime,

lads again by bedtime, if they lasted that long.

I'll brief Patrick.

DOOR OPENS

What did they say? About the list? What do you think?

They're taking it at face value?

Enquiry's already underwhelmed by some of our witnesses

and it's on headed paper, it's got a bloody rubber stamp.

It's probably just a boast, not a fucking employment record.

Our witnesses have most probably never even seen that list.

Yeah, shame we hadn't either.

It makes no difference.

It makes no difference at all to the human rights issues,

it makes no difference to what's important.

It's one piece of evidence amongst a mountain of stuff.

It's not one piece, though, is it?

It's part of a picture that's emerging,

a picture that's not the one you wanted to see.

It doesn't mean that terrible things didn't happen that day

or that everything our witnesses say is lies. I know that, Phil.

But things like this, you start to look at best naive

and at worst mendacious.

It came out of nowhere.

It came out of somewhere you didn't look.

DOOR SLAMS

INAUDIBLE WHISPERING

Some evidence has just come to light.

An official list from the local Iraqi militia.

It clearly identifies all the dead and all the detainees

as members of their armed group.

It looks like they weren't just farmers, Brian.

FALTERING BREATHING

You know what my vehicle commander said,

at Danny Boy, when it was over?

He said he didn't see the elders there.

Didn't see the ones in charge

who'd send these kids out in flip-flops to fight us.

Then sent them halfway round the world to fight us again in court.

Where are they when shit hits the fan?

Well, quite.

If these people want to go and make war a crime, that's up to them

but I didn't do anything to be ashamed of in Al Amara.

I fought for my country...

..and I'm proud of what I did.

But not doing anything to be ashamed of...

..doesn't stop me from feeling ashamed.

DISTANT SHOUTING CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK

Who's that?

How does it feel to be accused of war crimes?

Brian Wood.

# In the mountain

# The coloured leaves are falling... #

Corporal Wood?

# Shots were fired

# From the darkest moments

# Like a child

# Speaking to a stranger... #

Who's going to be there?

Lawyers mainly.

Um...

Some soldiers.

People from Iraq.

Because you killed people?

Well, not just me. There was a lot of people killed, mate.

And when you've talked about it, then what?

Well, when I've finished talking about it, then...

..then I'm finished with being a soldier.