Chinook Crew 'Chick': Highs and Lows of Forces Life from the Longest Serving Female RAF Chinook Force Crewmember

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Part of her role during these conflicts was the MERT medical recovery aircraft for injured soldiers. Her survival from both the battles in foreign lands and in her own head led her to begin telling her story, in the hope she can help others win their wars. The first part of the book covers her training, the deployments, her love affair with the Chinook and the unique role she had, often being the only female in the room.

When asked what her advice would be to a young aspiring pilot, perhaps one who thought ‘there’s no way I can do what Liz does,’ she said : “forget stigma, be brave, be bold and really trust in yourself and be really proud of what you do. She said: "The 'bat phone' would ring, we'd take down all these details, we would sprint out to the aircraft, spin the aircraft up as quick as we could, engineers would be helping and most of the time we'd get very minimal information to begin with, and injuries in Afghanistan don't just happen by accident.During her time in Afghanistan she also saw Camp Bastion grow from a barbed wire fence surrounding an area of tents in the sand to the huge operating base it became. But McConaghy is pragmatic, explaining that in her experience, the men have never treated her or the only other female on her squadron any differently. More than half of this time was spent in warzones – including 10 deployments in Afghanistan and two in Iraq – making her the longest-serving female crew member in the RAF’s entire Chinook Fleet.

Almost 45 minutes after taking off from Camp Bastion, 60 miles to the south-west, the Chinooks approached the drop-off point, with one aircraft circling above while McConaghy’s machine hugged the scorched earth, sending clouds of sand and dust into the morning sky as it settled its netted cargo of ammo on the ground. The author's passion for her work shines through every sentence, and it's evident that she has poured her heart and soul into this book. Liz finished counselling with us in early 2022, she says “we all have good days and bad days, but life has been pretty good since. Waking in intensive care two days later, McConaghy's feelings had completely shifted; she realised she didn't want to die. By the time that finished,” Liz explained, “my neck had started to play up, and had been playing up for years because [I was] wearing a helmet and mpg goggles.The lecture series has gained the Museum respect from far and wide and regularly sees an oversees contingent of viewers each month watching the lectures online.