‘I want people to know Britons stood in solidarity with local people against that evil’
foreign commanders in the YPG set-up, charge of his own Tactical Medical Unit.
But his combat experience meant he eventually returned to action in the Syrian city of Manbij, where the casualty rate was so high it was known as the “meat grinder”.
In the sweltering heat of the Syrian summer, he ran the gauntlet of ISIS snipers as he and comrades made their way to the frontline. Holed up in a ruined apartment, surrounded on three sides by the enemy, the pools of blood on the floor and the rocketscarred walls bore testimony to the ferocity of the battle.
Exhausted, he returned to the UK shortly before the battle for the city was finally won.
His third tour found him on the edge of Raqqa with a Syrian Christian unit.
Macer recalled: “There were some terrible days, fighting from stairwell to stairwell, seeing comrades die. In those dark, dark moments you think of home – drinking beer with your mates, the family you left behind – and you miss it dreadfully. What gets you in through is the fact you are fighting not for money or for medals but for people who have the wolf at their door.”
Macer continued: “I hate the idea that when people think of Britons in Syria, they think of cowardly monsters like Jihadi John, murdering innocents. I want them to know there were Britons among the international volunteers who went to stand in solidarity with local people against that evil.They were the best of Britain.”
AS HE TALKS from his home in east London, you can hear the burning sense of outrage he still feels. It is the same passion that drove George Orwell and other international volunteers more than 80 years ago to join the fight against the Fascists in the Spanish CivilWar.
Orwell’s book, Homage to Catalonia, was a constant companion on Macer’s personal odyssey, bringing comfort during periods of non-action. Now he has written his own book, Fighting Evil: the Ordinary Man Who Went to War Against ISIS, with a foreword by Andy McNab.
While it is packed with brutal accounts of battle, it is also a warts-and-all glimpse of life on the frontline – the hours of boredom interspersed with sheer terror, the terrible food, the humour and the madness.
It is a fascinating insight into the many and varied characters who made up the Kurdish forces and the international volunteers. It is also deeply and personally reflective and littered with tragedy.
More than 400 foreign volunteers are thought to have fought against ISIS in Syria – compared to thousands who flocked to the terrorists’ black flag – and almost half were killed or injured. Lifelong friendships forged in minutes in battle can be ended equally fast by a bullet. Macer lost many friends in action and others, since, to suicide.
He had known Demhat just days before he found himself holding his wounded friend’s hand and felt his heart stop beating, but he had no time to mourn before he was back firing at attackers.
At that moment, it looked like none of his patrol would survive the onslaught. A suicide car bomb threatened to bring the entire building down and “friendly” air strikes from Allied aircraft nearly killed them.
Finally, after 24 hours under siege, Macer and his comrades managed to escape. Many weeks of fighting still lay ahead before he witnessed the final ISIS downfall but they had played a key part in breaking the terrorists’ last stronghold.
Ironically, though no action was taken against him, Macer was quizzed by antiterrorist police each time he returned to the UK. The authorities tried and failed to prosecute three other men who fought for the YPG – Aiden Aslin, Josh Walker and Jim Matthews (who Macer had fought alongside in his first year), and police have investigated the parents, brother and a friend of another volunteer, Dan Newey.
A fourth man, Aidan James, was jailed for a year, although the court made clear that fighting for the YPG was not an offence. The situation was further complicated after the defeat of ISIS when Turkey attacked YPG forces and British volunteers faced being pitted against one of Britain’s NATO allies. Macer said: “I think it is absurd they have come down on those who went to fight for local people, in defence of their liberty, their very lives, against a group that want to commit genocide, to murder and rape. “Only one in ten returning IS jihadists from Syria has been prosecuted and there is the threat now of dozens more fanatical fighters coming home. “The British government has to prioritise bringing those people to justice and making sure the public is safe, rather than wasting millions of pounds going after those who went out to help and protect people.” Now 33 and having completed a master’s degree in security, peace-building and diplomacy, Macer faces future challenges with a confidence born from knowing he survived. He is also closer than ever to his family whose recorded voices kept him going amid the terror of war.