This is the Guardian.

Today, Australia's most decorated living soldier,

the war crimes allegations that he denies

in the defamation trial to determine the truth.

Before we start a warning, this episode contains descriptions of conflict and violence

some listeners might find distressing.

The Battle of Tizak has become one of the most legendary battles in Australian military history.

Ben Doverdy is a journalist with Guardian Australia.

It was a 2010 battle in southern Afghanistan.

It involved Australia's SAS, the Special Air Service,

flying in by helicopter into this valley in broad daylight

into a known Taliban stronghold.

And basically fighting their way through the valley for 13 hours,

rolling fire, fight all the way up the valley, all day under intense fire

and the stories that have emerged from this battle are some of the most dramatic of Australia's war in Afghanistan.

They were outnumbered four to one.

All they could do was crawl into a position so that they didn't die.

Remarkable acts of bravery from a number of soldiers

and one of those in particular stood out, a NSAS corporal,

nearly two metres tall, a man by the name of Ben Robert Smith

and he would end that day winning the Victoria Cross.

Ben Robert Smith's citation for the Victoria Cross, Australia's highest military honour,

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