Succeeding in overcoming her demons, Liz is now a highly sought-after motivational speaker who candidly speaks about her battle with mental health and shares inspirational anecdotes of her military career. Emphasising the importance of looking after wellbeing and mental health, Liz encourages others to reach out for help when struggling.

During this time she began writing poetry and subsequently an autobiography to help her get her thoughts out of her head.That’s the only protection, the rest of the aircraft is just like a big bullet magnet and it’s quite a big target.

I was only halfway through my first operation when I went to Iraq; I ended up getting my first Iraq medal and came back. McConaghy said that the most frequently asked, and least favorite, question over the years has been the challenges she has faced as a female crewman.At 19, Liz, now 40, left her home in Northern Ireland to join the RAF and three years later, aged just 21, she was named the youngest aircrew member to be deployed to Iraq. She had seen some terrible things on deployment during her service, not least flying on the medical flights recovering badly injured and dead soldiers from the battlefield. The first thing you notice is the dust being kicked up off the ground surrounding the aircraft as the bullets get closer, then the distinctive ‘ting, ting, ting’ as they begin to hit the metal of the aircraft frame.

I was sat in the foyer of the Careers office and there was a magazine on the table with a guy hanging out the side of a helicopter on what I thought was a rope. During this month, Airfix is proud to highlight some key contributions of women throughout history, as part of an exciting campaign celebrating Women’s History Month, March 2023. Each stretcher had a flag over the body, I remember the Union Jack, the Rifles flag and a Liverpool flag. Liz McConaghy, from a small town in County Down, spent a total of seventeen years flying with the RAF’s Chinook Fleet. Us veterans were good at decompressing all of the things that happened, and when we came back to the UK we would meet at the pub and talk things through, but my coping mechanism was to go to the gym or go running,” she said.Her career began at the age of 19, and she quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a sergeant after basic training.