Joe Robinson stood on the roof of a former school with Kurdish soldiers in the town of Sarrin, Syria, firing a Cold War-era AK-47 at Islamic State suicide bombers trying to breach the 12-foot perimeter walls around him.
During the first three days of the siege, 23 suicide bombers attacked the school. The soldiers on guard hardly slept for 72 hours. They were on high alert and, besides, it was hard to relax with the pounding sound of coalition air strikes hitting targets all around.
Robinson's job was to pick out suicide bombers who tried to blend in with civilian crowds as they ran towards the building.
The former British army soldier turned labourer and landscape gardener spent a month in 2015 defending the tallest building in Sarrin — a strategic stronghold, which had been used as a Sharia court under ISIS control. Prisoners and sex slaves had slept there recently.
The 22-year-old (now 23) from Accrington, Lancashire — who left the UK to fight ISIS after becoming disgusted with what he read about Islamic State — was a long way from home.
He told Business Insider why he went, what he did there and how he got home again.
Robinson was raised in a culture that taught its children that Islamic terrorism was the epitome of evil. We watched as the twin towers of the World Trade Centre collapsed on our TVs after school and on the day of the 7/7 London bombings, we feared for the lives of our friends and relatives.
"The war on terror was always on the news," Robinson said. "I think it pulled a lot of people in to be honest with you. I think it drew a lot of people into the army."
However, Robinson's desire to serve in the British army went even deeper. He had wanted to serve from a very young age.
Soon after Robinson finished secondary school, aged 18, he enrolled in the army, becoming a member of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.
"I loved it," Robinson said. "When I joined I was just a young lad who didn't know what to do with my life. Then when I joined the military it gave me a bit of meaning, a bit of focus."
Robinson's first tour took him to Afghanistan, where he helped close down a control base and trained local forces. Though he did not see much close combat, Robinson was happy to be making a difference in a war zone.
After this tour, and a three-month spell in Kenya, Robinson returned to base. At this point, Robinson started to become frustrated with his career. He said: "We weren't really doing anything. We were just sitting around base. I got fed up."
One day on a march, Robinson snapped his Achilles tendon, experiencing "absolute agony."
Unable to walk and requiring three months of physio-therapy, the red-haired soldier was discharged from the British army.
On recovery, Robinson began working various jobs in his home town. He tried landscape gardening, labouring, and even telesales.
"I was doing a nine-to-five job, but it just didn't fit me," Robinson said. "I wasn't happy. I felt like there was something missing."
At the pub one evening, Robinson got involved in a fight and ended up breaking a man's jaw in two places. In 2014, he was convicted for grievous bodily harm, given a suspended prison sentence, and ordered to serve 240 hours of community service.
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