What is it to be in mortal combat with the most brutal and merciless fighters of the 21st century?
In a gripping new one-hour documentary - Fighting IS: Big Phil's War - Big Phil Campion - former D Squadron SAS and a veteran of every major conflict zone in the world - travels to the frontline in Syria and Iraq to talk to the men - and women - who are taking the fight to Islamic State. The programme will air both on Sky Atlantic (Tuesday 13th October 22.00) and Sky News (Wednesday 14th October 21.00).
In Syria he embeds with the Kurdish YPG - still fighting to consolidate the gains they have made in the bitter three month battle for the city of Al Hasakah.
They line up side by side with the women warriors of the YPJ. Most are teenagers or barely in their twenties. They are particularly feared and despised by their Islamist State enemies. To be killed by one of the YPJ is haram - they will not go to Paradise.
Phil crosses the border into Iraq to assess how the Iraqi peshmerga are dealing with an enemy that now controls several thousand square miles of territory.
He finds a force high on morale - but one equipped with weapons that are no match for the sophisticated US supplied equipment that IS has taken from the defeated Iraqi Army after the fall of Mosul.
David Cameron has described the Islamist State caliphate in Syria and Iraq as an evil against which the whole world must unite.
But are airstrikes alone enough to defeat an enemy that has triggered the current refugee crisis and threatens the stability of the entire Middle East?
Phil Campion commented: Travelling to Syria to get the truth for this documentary wasnt too dissimilar a mission as I could have received whilst serving. The battlefield is my office - its where I am trained to do business. Casting an eye on things as a soldier tells a soldier's tale and not a journalist's. My previous employment has helped to bring a new angle on things and will hopefully enhance understanding of the story.
For more information, please contact:
Sky News
Stephanie Jones
stephanie.jones@sky.uk
Notes to Editors:
Phil Campion is a veteran of military operations in just about every conflict-prone corner of the world. He served with the Royal Hampshires, passed through Commando and Parachute Regiment selection, before being badged with 22 SAS. He left the British Army in his early thirties, with the rank of Staff Sergeant, and started working on the private military circuit. He is a director of U-Tag Limited, the company that markets and owns the rights to the U-Tag digital dog tag. He lives in Southampton with his partner, Wendy, and three children. He is a fluent Spanish speaker and continues to work as an operator on the private military circuit.
Phil's first book, Born Fearless: From SAS to Mercenary to Pirate Hunter - My Life as a Shadow Warrior, was published by Quercus in September 2011. His first novel, Desert Fire, following the exploits of ex-SAS operative Steve Range, was published by Quercus in September 2012, and the second in the Blackstone Six series, Killing Range, followed in May 2013. Phil's most recent book, Big Phil Campion's Real World SAS Survival Guide, was published by Quercus in May 2014.
This is producer/director Toby Sculthorp's second programme since he joined Sky News earlier this year to develop its long form programming. Over the past 25 years Toby has made BAFTA and RTS award winning films for BBC Panorama and Channel 4 Dispatches including the Secret Policeman.
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What is it to be in mortal combat with the most brutal and merciless fighters of the 21st century?
