Book description
In 2008 Major Russell Lewis commanded a company of two hundred
soldiers from the British Army's legendary Parachute Regiment on a
six-month tour in the most dangerous part of Afghanistan. Living in a
remote base and under constant threat of attack from all sides by the
Taliban, they were on red alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week for
every one of those six months. And through that entire period, the man
in sole charge was Maj Lewis.
Company Commander is his story, a riveting first-person
account of incredible bravery, telling what it is like to have 200
soldiers depending on you constantly, to make decisions which can and
do cost lives, to see men under your command killed and injured and
being under the most intense pressure imaginable for every minute of
every day for six long months.
Based on the journal Maj Lewis's kept during the tour, Company
Commander takes the reader from the excitement of the beginning of
a tour to the adrenalin of the first contact, through the devastating
losses of his soldiers and the struggle to keep himself at the highest
level of performance for the sake of his men as physical and emotional
exhaustion kick in. Readers will experience the highs and lows of a
tour through the eyes of a leader of men in as close to real time as possible.
At the end of the tour Maj Lewis was awarded the Military Cross for
his leadership and gallantry over the tour. His citation read:
"Resolute in defence, tenacious and courageous in attack, Lewis
has set an outstanding example to B Company at significant personal
risk and has been an inspiration to all ranks."He still serves in
the Parachute Regiment.
Major Russell Lewis was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment in
1994. His operational experience includes tours of Northern Ireland,
Kosovo and Iraq. In 2008 he commanded B Company, 2 PARA in Afghanistan.
His Company was based just outside of Sangin, where for six brutal
months they fought a determined and aggressive enemy. In 2009 he was
awarded a Military Cross for his leadership and gallantry.
