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Born with a taste for adventure and travel, Bruce Duncan was drawn to explore the challenges offered by the British Army’s overseas loan service. So, as a 23-year-old lieutenant, he found himself on his way to Brunei in 1964 to join the Brunei Malay Regiment.
As a young acting captain, Duncan was given temporary command of B Company, the first Bruneian troops to deploy on active service, before being appointed as aide de camp to the Sultan of Brunei. What then followed was an extraordinary career encompassing secondments to Sudan, Nigeria, Oman, and Kuwait, and a final assignment as Defence Attaché in Jordan.
In the decades between the end of World War II and the close of the twentieth century, Britain’s position on the world stage was dramatically recalibrated. Its once mighty colonial presence was diminished, and its military reach and influence across the globe was also on the wane. Bruce Duncan found himself at the heart of this period of transition, often as part of a small advisory team designed to assist countries in the development of their own armed forces.
Accompanied by his wife and young family, life during these postings could be difficult and sometimes dangerous, and food, fuel, and domestic comforts were often in short supply. Away from his military duties, however, Duncan took every opportunity to explore the landscape and meet the people of each country he visited.
In 1988, life for the Duncan family took a very different turn. Arriving in Kuwait just after the end of the Iran/Iraq war, storm clouds were building on the political horizon. After international negotiations with Saddam Hussein broke down, Duncan’s dramatic and harrowing account of the events that followed bring sharply into focus the full horrors of the unanticipated and brutal Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990.
This is a multi-faceted narrative – a beautifully written travel book, a unique documentary witness of one of the key political and military events of the late twentieth century, and, at its centre, the story of a remarkable family’s appetite for adventure and bravery in the face of overwhelming challenges.
Listen to Bruce Duncan on the BBC Radio Oxford Will Gompertz show
Watch Bruce Duncan’s Memorial Day video clip
Duncan gives a gripping, harrowing account of the weeks he and his family were forced to spend in hiding in Kuwait, following Iraq’s invasion in August 1990. He covers both his professional duties of team leadership and his natural concerns for his family’s safety under ever increasing difficulty. These often irreconcilable responsibilities and the tragic death of their eldest son. Alex on his way to release are most vividly and movingly described. While such traumatic events brought lasting pain and sorrow to Duncan and all his family, they show great fortitude and an admirably firm belief in their future.’
The Lord Craig of Radley (Chief of the Defence Staff at the time of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War)
Piers Morgan –
A powerful, heart-rending story of courage, family, determination, tragedy and the inspiring power of the human spirit to overcome the worst adversity. – Piers Morgan
Gen Sir Peter de la Billière –
This book summarises the adventures of a British Army family who served in eight different countries outside the United Kingdom. Bruce Duncan helped to advise and train foreign armies in six nations covering the British withdrawal from its military commitments to the Commonwealth to the days when he and his family were overrun during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. It is a story of courage, adventure and then tragedy when they lost their 19-year old son during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. A unique career and a must read.”
– Gen Sir Peter de la Billière (Commander in Chief of British Forces during the 1990 Gulf War)
The Lord Craig of Radley –
“Duncan gives a gripping, harrowing account of the weeks he and his family were forced to spend in hiding in Kuwait, following Iraq’s invasion in August 1990. He covers both his professional duties of team leadership and his natural concerns for his family’s safety under ever increasing difficulty. These often irreconcilable responsibilities and the tragic death of their eldest son
Alex on his way to release are most vividly and movingly described. While such traumatic events brought lasting pain and sorrow to Duncan and all his family, they show great fortitude and an admirably firm belief in their future.”
– The Lord Craig of Radley (Chief of the Defence Staff at the time of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War)