Colour Sergeant Brian Wood (born 8 November 1980) is a former soldier in the

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'The Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Qu ...

who was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for gallantry in the

Battle of Danny Boy The Battle of Danny Boy took place close to the city of Amarah in southern Iraq on 14 May 2004, between British soldiers and about 100 Iraqi insurgents of the Mahdi Army. The battle is named after a local British checkpoint called Danny Boy. B ...

Military service

Wood served for 17 years in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

with the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. During his service in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, he led the first bayonet charge in 25 years. For his gallantry in leading the bayonet charge in the Battle of Danny Boy, and taking control of the situation during the ambush of his unit, he was awarded the Military Cross.

Falsified allegations of war crime

After coming back from Iraq in 2004, Wood was informed that there were allegations against himself and his regiment from the Iraq Historic Abuse Team. At the end of the

Al-Sweady Inquiry The Al-Sweady Inquiry was a five-year public inquiry led by Thayne Forbes which investigated accusations of mistreatment of prisoners by the British Army following the Battle of Danny Boy. The enquiry commenced its investigations in 2009. The inqu ...

, which Wood was a part of, Sir Thayne Forbes said that some of the claims against him and his regiment (and the others serving in the Battle of Danny Boy) had been "the product of deliberate lies".

Phil Shiner Philip Joseph Shiner (born 25 December 1956) is a British former human rights solicitor. He was struck off the roll of solicitors in England and Wales in 2017 over misconduct relating to false abuse claims against British troops. He was Head o ...

of the IHAT legal team was struck off the roll of solicitors in the United Kingdom due to misconduct during the trial and falsification of certain cases.

Writing

In 2019, Wood published his book ''Double Crossed: A Code of Honour, A Complete Betrayal'' in hardback; the book described his service in Iraq, the receiving of his gallantry medal and his involvement with the Al-Sweady Inquiry. On 5 March 2020, the book was published as a paperback version.

Media

On 3 February 2017, Wood appeared on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's '' Good Morning Britain'' talking about the false allegations against him and his unit by disgraced lawyer

. In 2021,

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

broadcast the drama ''

Danny Boy "Danny Boy" is a ballad, written by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly in 1913, and set to the traditional Irish melody of "Londonderry Air". History In 1910, in Bath, Somerset, the English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly initial ...

''. The film details Wood's alleged war crimes in Iraq, and follows his fight for the truth. The film stars

Anthony Boyle Anthony Boyle (born 8 June 1994) is a Northern Irish actor. A graduate of Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Boyle began his acting career on London stage and rose to prominence for originating the role of Scorpius Malfoy in t ...

as Wood, and

Toby Jones Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama ''Orlando'' in 1992. He ...

as human rights lawyer Phil Shiner.

Medals

Wood has received the following medals:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Brian Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment soldiers Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of the Iraq War British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Living people 1980 births