THIS could easily have just been a gung-ho, Top Gun tale about flying incredibly expensive “boys’ toys” to bash the baddies.

There is plenty of that kind of thing, with the guys (and one girl) from North Yorkshire-based 656 Squadron taking their startlingly hi-tech Apache attack helicopters into battle against the Taleban.

What adds depth to the adrenaline is the human side, with Macy admitting his misgivings about going back to Afghanistan for one last tour at the end of his Army career, and the former para’s sympathy for the “poor bloody infantry” for whom he regularly supplied much-needed aerial back-up.

These two elements come together as the story climaxes with the remarkable attempt to rescue Royal Marine Matthew Ford from a Taleban fortress by flying in with some of his comrades strapped to the sides of an Apache, an episode marked both by selfless bravery and ultimate tragedy.