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Now back in England, Meally said Glossop had made an impact, calling him “a damn good shot” and saying the Canadian had one kill confirmed by the Kurds (Glossop isn’t certain he actually killed the ISIL fighter). “The YPG have a real respect for people who leave their homes and jump in a trench with them,” Meally told the National Post. “They are sick of debates about ‘we should do something’ in parliaments all over the world.”

Banners paying tribute to an Australian and a British YPG fighter killed in recent months are displayed prominently throughout Kurdistan, Glossop said. When he and Meally decided to leave, the YPG gave them each $200 and paid their airfares. “They really, really, really do truly appreciate it.”

Leaving Syria was an ordeal. Glossop and Meally said they were driving to Sulaymaniyah when they were stopped at an Iraqi police checkpoint. During the search, police found an ISIL booklet that Meally had taken as a souvenir. Suspecting they might be ISIL foreign fighters, the police held them overnight but soon realized their mistake.

In London, immigration officials refused Glossop entry, claiming he didn’t have enough cash or a legitimate reason for being in the U.K. — although he wondered if it was his fighting experience in Syria they were really worried about. Clearing Canadian airport security in Vancouver took 30 minutes, “the shortest out of any of them,” he said.

After recovering in Sidney, Glossop was headed next to Alberta to begin saving for his return to Syria for another three months. He said a couple of fellow army veterans wanted to go with him, but he wondered whether Canadian authorities would try to stop him this time.

The first time he left, he told only his closest friends and parents. But because he was open, now everyone knows. “I’ve just got my own moral compass to depend on, I’ve got to do what I think is right,” he explained. “I would do it again, and I plan to.”

As for the ISIL flag, he said he would be putting it up for sale. The proceeds will help pay for his return to the frontlines in northern Syria so he can resume fighting with the Kurds.

“I think it would be kind of hilarious if an ISIL flag funded me to go back again,” he said.

“That would be sweet irony.”