War Medic Hero by Michael Naya

[Ken Hannah]

WAR + Medic
Hero
by
Michael Naya




(Apology if image does not appear as possible format issue)

A number of members will know that Mick has been writing a book in memory of his brother Pierre Naya MM. Mick's book has now been published and is available directly from Mick, Amazon and on Kindle. He is doing a book signing on Saturday for Armed Forces day celebrations at his town hall in Hereford. Radio BBC Hereford are also interviewing him to give this event air time!! and publicity. I believe that Pete Haynes may also be interviewing Mick on his radio show on Miskin Radio down in Kent (http://miskinradio.co.uk/).

Signed copies of 'War MedicHero' can be obtained directly from Mick at £10 per copy + P&P he will also be bringing copies to the Pint & Pie weekend in November. You can contact Mick via a PM or email by clicking on his name on the Members Page.

I have include the Foreword kindly written by by Col Jim Ryan below.

FOREWORD WAR MEDIC HERO By Col. Jim Ryan

It is a unique privilege to be invited to write the foreword to this remarkable and very personal narrative. It is a book first and foremost for those who work as military medics. But it deserves a much wider audience, particularly those, whether military or humanitarian, who have had experience of war and catastrophes.

Politicians might fruitfully peruse the pages of the book to help them understand the real world consequences of the actions they so easily take.

At its centre is the story of an undisputed war hero, Pierre Naya, a larger-than-life character of the sort few get a chance to rub shoulders with. However, it paints a much broader canvas.
Wrapped around the story of Pierre is a wider story of two remarkable men and their family – the Nayas.

It puts Pierre into the context of his wider life, his beginnings and his odyssey through his early life in Tanzania, his abrupt departure for the United Kingdom and his new life as a medic in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC).

This would position him in the right place and at the right time to be deployed as a senior Operating Theatre Technician (OTT) with 55 Field Surgical Team to the Falkland Islands in the spring of 1982.

But let us step back to an earlier time – the 1960s. The Naya boys’ father, Jules Naya, was born in 1915 in the former British colony of the Seychelles – a group of beautiful islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, 1500 miles south-east of the East African coast. Like so many of his contemporaries he was forced to emigrate to find work and care for his family, so he moved to the then Crown Colony of Tanganyika – formerly the German colony of German East Africa.

In the early part of the book Michael Naya, the author, paints a picture of an idyllic life in Colonial Tanganyika. Mike describes in a colourful way their time in Dar es Salaam – school days, fishing and hunting trips and, above, their love of music. Sadly, after independence the political scene changed and the non-African immigrant family were forced to leave, abandoning their house and leaving with very few possessions. A sadly all too familiar story.

The family moved to the UK with their few possessions. Both Pierre and Mike joined the British Army and elected to join the RAMC. From then on their paths merged and separated but both would qualify as OTTs and achieve high rank.

By 1982 Pierre was a Staff Sergeant and senior OTT and ripe for duty in a war zone, where our paths would meet. Mike Naya describes in fascinating detail our trip to war in a large cruise liner converted to a troop carrier role. It seemed like a holiday adventure, but that would soon change.

Pierre and the author of this foreword were part of a unique unit with its origins in the Western Desert of World War 2. It was called 55 Field Surgical Team or 55 FST, and consisted of two field surgical teams. Pierre was the senior OTT with one of these teams, the author a surgeon with the other team. Fatefully 55 FST would embark on the Landing ship Sir Galahad.

The book describes in harrowing detail the subsequent bombing and the heroic behaviour of the man at the centre of this tale - Pierre. For his heroism Pierre was awarded the coveted Military Medal.

For the remainder of the war he carried out his duties with the FST in exemplary fashion and at the war's end he and the author and their teams were positioned in the Falkland Islands’ only hospital – the King Edward the VII Memorial Hospital.

It was here that this writer came to see at first hand all Pierre’s extraordinary qualities, so eloquently described by the author in the opening section of this book. His generosity of spirit, his cheerfulness and his musical ability shone brightly and cheered all of us on.

What we did not know at the time was that Pierre was suffering greatly in silence as a consequence of what he had seen in the bowels of the burning ship. The sights and sounds of men screaming in agony and terror and the dead and dying were eating into him. He never showed these feelings, and sadly we did not notice.

The author then goes on to describe the cost of his brother’s heroism – sadness and depression manifested as post-traumatic stress disorder. To add insult to injury we hear of the Home Office attempt to remove his citizenship when Pierre applied to have his passport, lost on Sir Galahad, replaced. Only after years of anxiety would this be resolved.

A heart-breaking story, but all too credible. One puts this book down at once gasping in awe of Pierre. With the love of his wife Nina and his lovely daughters, Pierre gained a degree of solace and was able to enjoy his later years in retirement in the Algarve and return to his fishing and music. He died too young of heart disease, but we who were privileged to know him are left with memories of a unique gentle giant and true war hero.

Colonel (Rtd.) J M Ryan OBE OStJ
Emeritus Professor of Conflict & Catastrophe Medicine
St George’s University of London

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