Through my eyes in the Desert

This is what a contact sounds like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gwMb2fEooQ&feature=related



This is My Story

(Bang Ba Bang Bang)(Crack Crack Crack)(Thud Thud Thud)

"Contact left" were the words that came over the radio as the unmistakable rapid gunfire of the Taliban AK47's and PKM's fired at the men in 1 Section.

 1 Section had just walked into a well planned Taliban ambush and were pinned down by a frightening mass of rapid 7.62 hail of bullets bringing bad news their way, and slowly chipping away at any cover they had managed to get behind. As nearly all of 1 section had thrown their bodies down on the ground hard and crawled backwards into the treeline they just came from, the commander had narrowly made it in to cover with bark flying off the trees at speeds fast enough to take an eye out or do some serious facial damage, twigs branches and leaves flying off in all directions mixed in with the desert dust and grit being kicked up by the vast array of bullets coming in the commanders direction, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that things just got worse, as three of the Afghan army soldiers were pinned down in the open and as they were very quickly being out flanked on the right the Afghan soldiers could not move in any direction. Witnessing pure random luck, seeing the only thing keeping them alive was the ground where they lay it happened to just slightly dip around their bodies which were literally being buried in front of him by all of the dust and desert floor getting kicked up around them.
The commander Captain Triathlon instinctively at this point got on the radio to the nearest friendly base,

(static)
"Hello Foxtrot Bravo 1 this is Tango Zulu Tango, I want (Crack Crack Crack) I want mortar fire, add 50 meters on grid 9...0...4..1,...7...2...(Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack) 7...5 over"
" Read back grid 9...0...4...1,..7...2...7...5 over"
" correct I'm pinned down by enemy (Crack Crack Crack Crack.......thud thud thud thud) machine gun fire over"
"Tango Zulu Tango Rodger that wait out"
.....
.....
.....
15 seconds
"Tango Zulu Tango one round in the air you will see it explode at your end in 27 seconds"
"Rodger wait out"
.......
Twenty five
Twenty six
(Captain Triathlon for the first time breaks cover and pokes his head out ever so slightly from behind the tree.)
Twenty BOOOOM.............................then BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM
" Foxtrot Bravo1 first round on target your other mortars just came in too fucking close to my men"
"Tango Zulu Tango we fired one round only"

( "Fuck sake" Captain T said aloud)

"I am now under enemy mortar fire, FIRE FIRE FIRE those mortars"

BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOM BOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOM BOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOM.

Silence.......................................................................................................................................................
................

MEDIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next words over the radio net were from Sgt Mick
" Ive got five Casualties send me your medics"

I can remember hearing those words, I was down on one knee in some dead ground some 100meters away covering the left and rear flank with the rest of 2 section, we had just witnessed this whole event unfold in front of our eyes and not one of us were 100% on what had happened as the treeline was blocking our view.
In my own mind as I watched every single mortar bomb land, all the dust crash into the air and shrapnel flying off into all directions, I said to myself watching in silent amazement at the raw power of the mortars landing near my friends in 1 section "I'm glad that gunfire has stopped".
Immediately I got that eerie feeling, of death,(The silence after the storm)................ maybe.
As I realised why all the firing had stopped I was staring across at the tree line, I looked to the floor for a brief moment and in my earpiece, I looked up and recognised the voice Sgt Mick. "Ive got five casualties send me your medics"
I was the 2 section team medic with corporal Back, I don't know how he felt but I got the feeling this is where I earn that tax back bonus from the government we got after completing our tour of duty.

"Right yous two team medics get over there on the double" said Sgt Jock
At that moment without even blinking an eyelid I was up and my feet started moving one after the other and straight away I was sprinting like my life depended on it. I had no Idea what to expect my head was half filled with thoughts of every possible injury scenario I could imagine and half filled with keeping my body in a straight line as the terrain was just a nightmare to run across plus with all the kit I was carrying at the time jerking side to side with every footstep, my rifle in my right hand and my left trying to balance out my right while attempting to run like a Olympian sprinter. Corporal Back was now slightly ahead of me so I followed his path closely trying to match my steps to his. It was not just a straight run, down three embankments through three streams and climbing back up three embankments in the heat of the sun it felt like it took forever to reach 1 section, after a minute or two we broke through the tree line to Sgt Mick who had complete control of the situation and was standing over the casualties issuing orders to 1 section and talking on the radio (known as the dark art of extreme multi tasking).

"On me" Sgt Mick signalled "Roby (me) you start treating the Afghan soldiers, Cpl Back attend to the commander and Cpl Song" Sgt Mick then continued on the radio net back to HQ to start the process of getting a chopper in the air to evacuate our casualties and get them medical treatment.

Oh shit I thought as i realised the commander had been hit and one of my mates who i knew well. but i had no time to think of them I had three men in front of me i needed to check over, all three men looked at me shocked, deafened and in pain. My first priority was to check how bad their injuries were, I started physically checking the first soldier starting from his head to his back, arms and legs making sure there was no blood or anything out of place. Miraculously between the three of them I had a shrapnel wound to the hand and wrist, a shrapnel injury to the shoulder and a shrapnel wound to the leg to my relief, I quickly realised the combat situation we were in and saw 1 section were in defensive positions around the casualties which meant we were still in the enemy ambush killing area. On Sgt Mick's call we gathered up what men we could spare from defensive positions  to help carry and support the casualties out of the killing area, there was a slight open ground and a direct line of fire from the compound wall where the Taliban were just moments ago firing from so we had to move quickly.

" Everyone ready, lets move" I was the first man into the open and my eyes and ears were everywhere and paying special attention to the top of the wall and the doorway where the threat was most likely to come from "Go.....Go its clear" as I waved the men through moving with them at their pace trying to make myself as wide as possible yet as inconspicuous as a soldier can be standing in front of three injured men and four escorts getting them to the safety of a raised mound surrounded by another treeline, all the while never taking my eyes off the enemy firing points. "last man in cover" one of my mates shouted, happy days I thought to myself, now I got into a firing position to cover the rest of the men with the two remaining Brit casualties who by this time were stood up and ready to make a move, I gave a thumbs up and the men came through without haste with Sgt mick bringing in the rear, as he came close to me he had a quick sharp look behind him just to be sure.
Now we had some breathing time to re evacuate the situation not a lot but enough.
I got back to check up on the casualties, strapping on some bandages and working with the interpreter to keep them calm and to give them instructions on what I'm doing and what i need them to do, with the amount of pain these men were now in after they had come down from the initial shock of being surviving a one way machine gun range and what must of felt like the world around them had literally been blown to pieces by the Armageddon of mortar fire from both sides, the decision was made to give all three of these men morphine as the chopper at this point was airborne and only seven minutes away which was a good idea at the time.
At this point while i was filling out the casualties details it became apparent that Captain Triathlon had a shrapnel wound to his neck and was in complete shock and Cpl Song had shrapnel to his arm and leg and was also in complete shock.

Over the distance and carried by the wind was the distinctive sound of the Chinook chopper we could all hear it but we could not yet see it. Sgt Mick had 1 section minus the men with the casualties to go and secure a landing site for the chopper off to a flank behind some dead ground.
The Pilot came over the radio net to Sgt Mick wanting an update on our casualties to see if they had improved or worsened his reasoning being he had just received info on a more serious casualty in a different part of Helmand and based on our response the pilot would make the call to land for us first or leave immediately for a more serious casualty. Sgt Mick turned to me and asked what the state are the casualties in?
(Now I must point out that  this decision I knew instantly would change the course of the day, we were still within 200meters of where the Taliban were operating and they judging by there silence of gunfire were probably doing the same as us and attending to their casualties so the race was on and our situation on the ground just got more complicated)
"These men are not a high priority and are walking wounded" was my reply, Now I had a million thoughts running through my head but knowing I gave a honest reply and thinking that a soldier somewhere else in Helmand needs this medical treatment more than us at this time I thought was the right decision to make.

The chopper as it now hovered above where it would have landed made a sharp right in mid air and set off into the distance again. Sgt Mick then told us to get hold of the casualties and we moved them into some hard cover behind a few small buildings where they were in the shade and we could give them water to keep them cool.
Myself and Cpl Back had taken up defensive positions alongside 1 section while Sgt Mick then had to get back onto HQ to explain the situation and in a sense re order another chopper to come and collect our casualties who were in a stable condition but all had shrapnel in one limb or another between the five of them. With this lull in the battle it was an opportunity for all of us to get some water on board and munch a quick biscuit out of a ration pack and time for a quick cigarette.

I distinctly remember thinking 'ding' 'ding' round 2 but this time the gloves are off as what happened next was just like kicking dust in a mans face while he is down and as you walk away standing on his balls for good measure.

The decision to hold the ground and get into defensive positions and wait for the next chopper to get to us was ultimately our best option as camp was two and a half kilometers away along rough desert terrain with allot of streams to jump across and many obstacles that could hinder our path as with any patrol in Helmand with the kit you carry its never a simple stroll in the park as any soldier will tell you. (imagine carrying three 2 litre bottles of water from the supermarket around with you for 6 hours around your waist and on your back and that's just the water each man carries never mind the rest + in the sweltering heat) and we have five injured men to support. We heard the chopper was wheels up and would be at our location in 37 minutes and at this stage Sgt Mick decided to get myself and Cpl Back re united with 2 section as they were 2 men down and still 200meters to the the rear left flank so we got our kit together.

"Roby we have to do this together, we've got 200meters of open ground to cover and the only slight chance of protection we have is a small grass mound just over half way" said Cpl Back
"Yea Cpl Back seen, how do you want to play this because if we get caught out here were on our own" I said
Sgt Mick overheard " 1 section form a line overlooking that tree line in the enemy direction and be on the lookout".
"Shall we just leg it Cpl Back"
"yea lets just leg it"
"3.... 2....1 GO"

(Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack Whoosh BANG RPG Crack Crack Crack)

The inevitable happened
"Fuck Sake, Roby stay close"
At this moment in time we were on our belt buckles with our faces scraping along the ground crawling to what looked like a mountain of grass but it looked like an eternity away which we managed to cover in world record pace of about two seconds, we lay up against this grass mound and looked back to see 1 section had returned fire on the enemy and put down an overwhelming rate of fire that the Taliban could not handle so we saw our opportunity to leg it again as the enemy had now turned there attention to 1 section.
We approached 2 section and my brummy mate was laughing to himself "I knew that would happen", all I could do was smile back.
There was no time for laughing and joking as the enemy were not they had gone right flanking and seen us 2 section luckily our two end men were switched on and had pinned all of the enemy at the corner of a building about 300meters away which enabled us to start putting suppressing fire down on 1 sections enemy, successfully with a couple of our own rockets fired at the Taliban we drew all the enemy fire onto us which seems insane but is what had to be done to free up 1 section for them to withdraw with the casualties. This ploy however did no last very long as when 1 section withdrew the enemy advanced giving there tail end charlie a nightmare scenario.
2 section now were not fighting to the front and left flank but now to the right and left flanks. Sgt Jock shouted to move back through the blue gates and push through the alley way and get to the other side. Me and the brummy were the first ones through and as we peered round the corners of the alleyway left and right he shouted "contact right" and hit the deck as I turned around I hit the deck and saw the enemy on the roof of a building between 400 and 500 meters away "contact rear". My rounds landed close to the enemy and within a minute he had jumped off the roof and behind the compound wall and out of site, my mate brummy had also scared his target away. The rest of 2 section joined us in this alleyway which now meant we had lost site of 1 section.
 Sgt Jock saw a wide opening in the fields and got straight on the net to give a new map grid reference for the chopper to land and also informed Sgt Mick on where the new chopper landing site would be.

Sgt Jock gave us the new orders to secure the chopper landing site so we pushed out in force to secure the area, upon reaching sufficient cover and getting into as good a defensive position as we could find we were now surrounded by compound walls, alley ways in between one compound to the next, the open ground where the chopper would land and beyond that streams and ditches amongst the tree lines. The sun was still high in the sky which meant there was no real shade apart from the trees in the distance, the sun was hot, the ground was hot , my clothes were hot, I was hot and "oww shit" the barrel of my rifle was hot as I had misplaced my grip to bring my rifle up to a firing aim position and I could look through the scope to scan the ground in the distance for any signs of movement. In the distance and still out of sight 1section were still in and out of contact as they were moving in and around the compound buildings the shooting had died down to almost nothing only shots of deterrant on both sides as 1 section were escaping with casualties trying to move as quickly as they could to our location and the taliban not knowing exactly where they were but still in pursuit.

"Roby whats that over there in that alley way it looks like a hand" Brummy said to me pointing in the direction of where he wanted me to look, as both of us had our rifles aimed, and fingers ready on the triggers pointing at this alley way this hand then clenched a fist then reopened again, there was a pause........... and the pause was still there then Brummy looked at me and I looked back at him (we were too far away to try and shout something in Pashtu or English) there was another pause, I started to scan with my eyes a three sixty degrees circle thinking it could be a setup just in case. "There civiy's there only civilians" with relief in Brummys voice there was a line of women and children who just started running out of this alley way, I thought it Brummy said it "they shouldnt be here" we both stood up and started quickly waving them through past us and pointing to the way in which we knew was safe enough and away from all of the fighting, the civvys started running then all of a sudden "DRESH!!! DRESH!!! Fucking stop" "DRESH DRESH DRESH put your fucking arms out, putt your fucking arms out" one of the women confused by the whole situation had started to run towards me and Brummy and between a couple of wise men that we were we were not going to let this woman come anywhere near us as we had earlier experiences respectivley in our careers on suicide bombers, reluctantly with changing our stance from passiveley waving them on to full on rifle in the aim, the butt firmly in the shoulder one foot forward and shouting highly aggressivley holding our palms out at full arms length, and a hard look on our faces which normally does the trick.
The woman had stopped out of pure fear....but the tension was still in the air "come on move, move, run GO..... GO" we waved her on "Go...GO" and one of her friends shouted something we didn't understand ( the next few seconds would determine who would die and who would live or all or none of us)
The woman turned to her friend still with her arms open and ran towards her mates and they evacuated the area quite quickly. We both blew out the air we were holding in our lungs with relief, Brummy said he was getting to old for this but I told him he loves it really, and that was just our squaddy humour way of dealing with that as now.

(Crack Crack Crack) "that was fucking too close" one of the guys shouted on the opposite side of the secured chopper landing site "contact Front" " there trying to come around us, theres loads of them"
"MOVE" I shouted down the radio squeezing the pressel button "come through me and Brummy we will cover you from here"
With the troops moving through the dead ground and using all the cover God had laid down in this area they were pushing through us routinley one by one as me and Brummy laid down some routine suppressing fire, as Sgt Jock came past I heard
"Mick this is Jock weve just been bumped at our location were heading towards you, you will have to find a new chopper landing site"
I never heard the reply but I had a good idea how it went.
"STOP STOP STOP"
I looked round as I stopped firing
Brummy said "watch the corner of that building you were just firing at"
"Fuckin hell its a kid, nice one for that mate" I replied
" No no look closly"
"Hes carrying an AK Brummy, he only looks about four"
" yea keep watching"
"Now there is a un armed man running accross the gap,........... Cheeky fuckers there using the kids to run weapons accross the gaps in the walls so we dont shoot them or the un armed Taliban men, thats not right, Fucking Cunts"

"Lets move" Sgt Jock shouted, we were up and gone away from the incoming rounds and moving towards 1 section who had secured the third chopper landing site this afternoon, and we had to move fast as the chopper was visible on the horizon and that glorius sound of help was on its way again.
So were the Taliban!

(Woomf Woomf Woomf Woomf Woomf Woomf) was the sound of the rotating blades on the chopper as it cut through the hot arid climate air, this one was an American Huey and Sgt Mick was talking to the pilot on the radio on his aproach to land. (Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack)
" 2 section push right, RAPID FIRE, close them down while this chopper comes in" was the command given by Sgt Jock "PUSH FORWARD"
(Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack Crack thud thud) was the massive amount of fire we returned on the enemy (POP, POP) went two smoke grenades to blind the enemy fire (BOOM) as a grenade went in.
Then (BBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) (BBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) (BRRRR) (BRRRR)
What the fuck was that I thought?
The American pilot was fully aware of our situation and had watched 2 section literally charge at the enemy with fully automatic fire and as he landed he had swung his rear end towards the enemy which freed his door gunner up to open fire with a monster of a weapon. The monster weapon had stopped fring and the chopper had landed thumbs up from the pilot, all five casualties loaded on, door closed and as quick as thatthe chopper was in the air and away. (God Bless that American pilot who took on a massive risk to help us out)

Now it was on. Sgt's Mick and Jock got there heads togeather while the rest of us started doing what we do best as Infanteers as the Taliban started to out number us and and were starting to encircle us slowly but methodically, and as we respected them as an enemy and they were about to surround us they also respected us as their enemy and were keeping there distance from us as they knew they could not just run in wildly at us.
And that was it
"1 section peel right and move down the path towards the river MOVE"
"2 section peel left, move left down the road and follow it round the bend, break contact and move through the cover MOVE"
as both Sgt's ordered respectivly.

Right this was it as we had withdrew so far already we had 800meters left to get back to camp. I said it to myself in my head while waiting for the man to the right of me to stand up turn to his left tap me on the shoulder and run like anything down this road to find some good cover take up a firing position and supress the enemy again while the rest of the section repeated this process until we were all out of the line of enemy fire behind a building or round the corner of a wall.
Down to the river, cross the river, link back up with 1 section at the bridge, through the valley with a bend in it, up bastard hill with the graveyard on it and i will be staring at the back gate of camp.
We broke contact aroud the corner of this compound wall "keep moving lads" I said, we were all fucked at this point everything felt heavy my helmet on my head, I had sweat pouring down my face and into my chinstrap which was rubbing against my chin and getting irritated, my shirt colar was wet from sweat and rubbing against the back of my neck, my body armour was restricting my movements and being pressed against chest and back just had my shirt soaked in sweat, my shoulders were aching from 5 minites after I left camp to start the patrol and were by now just numb and worn like that pins and needles feeling you get when youve slept with your arm in some arm lock wrestleing manouver all night. legs felt heavy like two fat kids were clinging to each leg and would not let go until they got more chocolate. and my feet my poor feet stuck inside two hot smelly sweaty socks, encased in the really manly desert boots provided by the Army. Life doesn't get any better.

We approached the river and headed swiftly towards the bridge, 1 section had beat us there and secured it on both sides so we picked up the pace and got over the bridge to free them up and to save 1 section the possability of getting contacted on the bridge.

2 section now being the lead section approaching the valley with a bend in it got ordered by Sgt Jock to take the high ground and take up defensive positions while 1 section push through the valley floor and hold the rear. While we had the high ground dominated and a perfect overview position we could see the Taliban had withdrew and the farmers began to farm again, as we could see onto the farmlands and local village buildings and the whole area where our nightmare scenario had unfolded there was an air of peacefulness that seemed to roll through the valley and back to where we had just came from, the sun was glowing orangy red at half mast on the horizon getting ready to settle the events of the day, casting its shadow off the buildings and trees and into the valley getting ready for the cool night shift to come in and watch over Helmand province.

Back to camp for tea and biscuits where me and Brummy can take the micky out of each other over a well deserved smoke break, and when the fun is over its time to repack all of our kit  and ammunition and have it ready for the next patrol out of camp 0430 HRS when the sun rises once again.

All five men who were injured made a full recovery and were back in the action weeks later.

As the Soldiers we are, marching
with our heads held high
Knowing how lucky we were,
today nobody died,
Soldiers step into the battlefield,
hell reigns in the morning
peace flourishes in the evening,
its only time before the enemy yield,
With the enemy withdrew
there is not much to do,
Exept for sleep soundly at night
Tomorrow maybe your last fight.



I would like to dedicate this to Sgt Lockett MC who in 2009 made the ultimate sacrifice for his country and to the men of the 2 Mercian Regiment who have also made the ultimate sacrifice.









This story was written with ficticious characters and they have no relation to anyone in real life, these names were chosen at random and I mean no offence to anyone, This story varies from the truth and is based on how literally a day can go from bad to worse as a soldier on operations and what our soldiers do for our country on day to day basis and some of my experiences in Afghanistan, If there are any issues with this story then please email me and I will gladly resolve any issues you may have.