Frank Ledwidge is angry. His hard-hitting, bleak and perhaps controversial perspective is born out of his work in Afghanistan and  personal investigation, “I wanted to know what the human cost was…The image we had of ourselves was, we are here to help” but “We were seen as…invaders…That came as something of a shock to me.”

Frank’s background was as a lawyer and a Reservist, “I joined one of the more discrete units of the Navy, a Joint-Service unit with the Army and Air Force…Got called up to Bosnia, then Iraq as a Military Intelligence Officer on the ground and ended up as Head of Branch and retired after 15 years…In real life, I worked in international organisations and for the British government in Security and Justice…in the former Soviet Union…Balkans, Afghanistan, Libya” more recently “in Ukraine during the war there.”

Frank does not hold back with his views “...after Iraq, where I felt we’d been… lied to, my job in Iraq…was literally to look for weapons of mass destruction…that pretext was entirely false; I went into Afghanistan, sincerely believing that it was ‘the good war’...enemy…‘evil’...our side…essentially ‘good’ and we were going to defeat the enemy and replace them and sort that country out...and I think very many of us went into that…on that basis…It was very clear that by 2010, things were critical…The question had to be asked, ‘So what are those costs, how many people have been killed or injured, not just in physical terms, but also psychological…?’...Nothing was achieved. The evacuation was a chaotic disaster…I’ll just be blunt and truthful…There’s no sugar-coating this.”

He also explores lessons learned for the future, “In order to put things right, you have to understand where you went wrong.” Frank closes with empathy for fellow veterans, “There’s a small minority who aren’t fine, so if you know anyone like that, just say hello and be their friends…Bare them in mind, the war’s over but they’re still here.”

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If you’re a member of the Armed Forces community and need support with your mental health, Op Courage can help.

Or you could phone the Combat Stress Helpline on: 0800 138 1619


Company of Makers exists to support veterans and their families who are struggling on civvy street no matter how long ago they left the armed forces.

We do this by running a programme of Podcasts | Talks | Workshops.

Company of Makers are trying to reach, and better understand, all members of the armed forces community who are also gamers. We’re especially interested in those that have served in Afganistan & Iraq.

To find out more contact us.