As a soldier doing your job in Afghan the last thing you need is to be responsible for someone else that is not trained as a soldier as they are not armed and can not be useful in a firefight and also there in a sense of mistrust as you never know how they will act when things start to go bad. so us troops being troops thought we would have a boring day acting as a tour guide and humouring the reporters with anything but answering their questions.
But as you are about to read things suddenly got serious and to be fair to these four reporters they earned their pay this day and they stayed calm and did not act irrationally and showed a lot of trust in us as soldiers to do our jobs, co-incidentally so they then can do there job and that helped build up a certain rapport between 1 section and the reporters as this is an experience the soldiers wont forget and the reporters.
45 minutes of terror as hot bullets rain down... it's all in a day's work for our boys
YOU could sense it was coming.
We had been patrolling along dusty Afghan roads for hours, but in the space of a few minutes the tension had risen dramatically.
Afghan National Army soldiers leading the convoy of five military vehicles had questioned a local farmer, who pointed out a compound where he believed Taliban were holed up.
Suddenly, there is the unmistakable sound of bullet fire. Our armoured vehicle screeches full circle and slams to a halt as Sergeant Liam Thomas screams to his colleagues: "It's a contact, it's a contact."
Soldiers drop to the dried earth of the open fields to zero in on the compound where the enemy are located.
Red-hot bullet shells rain into the Vector from the roof hatch, burning your bare skin as they fall.
I look out of the front window to see an Afghan soldier prepare to fire his rocket-propelled grenade.
Captain Neil Cresswell, one of the two top covers, shouts down to us to protect our ears, and the trigger is pulled.
The "boom" is deafening.
Taliban bullets strike the outside of the back of our vehicle at the same height as the head of one of our colleagues from the media.
What follows is a terrifying 45-minute ordeal, cramped into the back of the Vector, protected against the enemy by soldiers from the 2nd Mercian Battalion (Worcesters and Foresters) – Derbyshire's infantry regiment.
It's the kind of battle Our Boys go through every day in the searing heat of Helmand Province.
And I'm in the middle of it.
Our convoy of three Afghan National Army Ford Ranger vehicles, a Land Rover Wimmick (Weapon Mounted Installation Kit) and an armoured Vector had set off in the early morning haze from our home at Camp Price, 5km from the bustling market town of Gereshk.
Just two weeks earlier, two British soldiers had been killed in Gereshk by a suicide bomber who drove towards a convoy of vehicles with explosives strapped to his chest.
Despite venturing into an area where no coalition forces had patrolled for a year, the mood was relaxed as we picked up our convoy from the Afghan National Army (ANA), which 2 Mercian are spending six months mentoring.
As part of the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team – or OMLT – about 175 Woofers are in small groups of eight to 12 embedded within the ANA offering advice as they rebuild their country after more than 30 years of conflict.
Spots of rain fall through the hatch at the top of our Vector as we leave the main road.
In the 40-degree-and-above heat of summer southern Afghanistan, it's a short, but welcome, relief.
Private Chris Roberts, 24, a former Landau Forte and Sinfin Community School Pupil, said: "That's the first time I've felt rain for two months.
"When we first got here there would be an occasional electrical storm with this amazing forked lightning.
"It's nothing like you get back home in England."
There are eight of us in the Vector armoured vehicle; four members of the media, Commander Terry Lowe in the passenger seat, Sergeant Liam Thomas, 25, a former Murray Park School pupil, from Mackworth, as driver, Private Chris Roberts, from Sinfin and Captain Neil Cresswell, originally from Chesterfield, both as top cover.
We stop suddenly.
The ANA have spotted suspicious activity by the canal 500m away.
Captain Cresswell drops down from his position to talk to us.
"The atmospherics have changed."
The explains the Taliban are "dicking" us – a shortened phrase for making direct eye contact – watching us and reporting back.
Capt Cresswell says: "We're monitoring the Taliban via communications and they're in the area.
"We'll sit tight for a bit."
Private Roberts, who goes by the nickname of Crazy and has been with the regiment for six-and-a-half years, spots people moving behind the tree line and reports it.
The atmosphere is tense but, after 30 minutes, we move on.
Our convoy stops again after 15 minutes when the ANA spot more suspicious movements close to the canal towpath.
Cpt Cresswell tells us the opposite bank is a renowned Taliban stronghold and intelligence comes back that three Taliban are holed-up at a nearby compound. At that moment we hear the first shots.
The Woofers spring into action, returning fire with a grenade-firing machine gun mounted on the Wimmick, heavy calibre shots from the machine guns and firing from SA80 assault rifles.
Capt Cresswell screams for ANA soldiers to get out of the line of fire as he fires.
Pte Roberts spots smoke from the muzzle of the Taliban guns on the opposite bank of the canal and with a torrent of rapid fire repels the attack.
Sgt Thomas, who goes by the nickname of Turkish, dives back into the vehicles and looks back at us.
"Everything OK?" he asks with a smile.
"Just sit tight and don't stick your head up."
These brave Derbyshire soldiers and their comrades are protecting us while pushing back the enemy.
It's multi-tasking on an unprecedented level and the most incredible event to witness first-hand.
Amazingly, in the middle of the firefight, Pte Roberts lights a cigarette and throws his pack to Sgt Thomas before carrying on with the task in hand.
The three-second delay between the grenade machine gun firing one of its 250 rounds and it exploding seems like a lifetime, then we hear the "boom" as it lands 500m away next to the enemy.
After 45 minutes of incessant firing, back-up comes on the shape of two fighter jets which scream inches above the heads of the terrified Taliban.
The firing stops and there's a confident air in the Vector.
With the enemy beaten, the crackle of a smoke bomb disguises our exit and we're away from the scene.
But our smiles of satisfaction are premature as the leading ANA vehicle again comes under attack.
There's a Taliban team hidden behind the tree line and Pte Roberts spots them. British and Afghan soldiers pummel the area with bullets and with such superior fire power it is not long until the enemy beat a hasty retreat.
Back at the ANA base there's handshakes all round at a job well done as the Afghan sergeant major shows us six bullet holes peppering his Ranger.
Pte Roberts, who is married to 29-year-old Nell, smiles.
"It's always a bit nervy at first when you hear the sound of the bullets coming towards you," he says. But the important thing is that you keep a cool head in that sort of situation and remember what you have to do as a solider.
"We go out on patrol almost every day and there is a lot of contact with the enemy. The most satisfying thing is a day like today when you get back into camp with no casualties."
Sgt Thomas, who has wife Nicola, 24, and eight-month-old daughter Lexi waiting for him in the UK, agreed, saying: "People probably don't realise how much contact we have with the enemy.
"But you all stick together, switch into working as a team and get on with the job in hand. As far as I'm concerned today is a case of a job well done."
The troops make light of the dangers, but there is soon a grim reminder of the perils they endure on a daily basis.
As the following day we move from Camp Price to Camp Tombstone, the base of the Woofers in Helmand Province, Capt Cresswell approaches us.
"Bad news," he says.
He explains explaining that one of the 30 Afghan soldiers on the patrol that came under attack by the canal went out on the next day, and was killed in a blast from an improvised explosive device.
Which was the end of the news report.
After the boring long dusty journey through the desert we came up to approach to the first compound and the convoy commander tactically halted the convoy, gave some quick and brief orders on the radio as to how he wanted the vehicles to surround the compound in there own locations and what he wanted the men to be doing (ie. look out for any follow up attacks from the enemy) while his team and the Afghan army went in for the arrest. 1 section had the amazing job of coming all this way to provide a overwatch on some high ground in the distance and watch the other troops get all the action and have all the fun, don't get me wrong our role was crucial if we were needed but if we were not it meant we had front row seats to boredom while getting a nice all over tan.
The rest of the vehicles were all in place at the same time as us and the convoy commander gave the go on the radio to let us know he was going in with the Afghan army and police to go and arrest the enemy, all eyes were on the open holes (windows) doorways and corners of the compound as the first team started there approach.
I was in my vehicle with my heavy machine gun pointed at the rear left corner of the compound, I adjusted the sights on the machine gun to 700 meters and got into a comfortable standing firing position, put my cheek up to the cheek rest on the gun, aligned my eye with the foresight and rear sight, lined everything up for the perfect shot, started to control my breathing and held that position.
The first team were just going out of my sight as they got closer to the front of the compound front door.
I was still poised in my position.
I was now picturing what was happening on the other side of the compound by the radio chat of the teams getting into position, mentally I knew where every man was.
"GO, GO, GO"
(silence)
Followed by more silence and yet as time went on more silence.
I then realised to myself just as it was said over the radio "the compound is empty, there is no one in sight"
"Fuck sake, I knew this would happen drive all the way here for nothing" Brummy commented with a joking frustration "there was no one even in the building, that's me 8 Intel 0" which summed up alot about the mood we were all in as this was not the first time me and Brummy had been out to bum info.
"Reet yous lot stand down and prepare to move" as Sgt Jock got his map out and looked over the route to the next compound.
The rest of the convoy got back into their vehicles and everyone met back up and got in the same order in line and waited for the go ahead from the convoy commander. 1 section were the rear two vehicles so our place in the convoy became the humorous joke of the day as we could not get that wrongThe second compound was pretty much the same detail only the sun was higher in the sky making the same job seem more endless and frustrating.
Mid afternoon we arrived at the third compound all was well, morale was quite high as we had already planned for no one to be in this compound and we get to get back to camp early and enjoy some free time.
"OK convoy this is where we will stop short of the compound and in five minutes everyone will take up there positions" over the radio
Within ten minutes 1 section was in position and over looking the compound from a distance to again wait for any fleeing enemy or provide the necessary fire power if needed.
The first two teams go through the front door and from where 1 section are we can see a sense of urgency about the follow up team and then suddenly on the radio the convoy commander
"We have five males all of fighting age and we believe these are the men we are looking for, we are going to wait for the police to question the men and make the necessary arrests, once there finished we will escort the police vehicles back to their HQ".
All five men were arrested caught, cuffed and now crying about how innocent they were. As far as 1 section were concerned no shots fired and we got someone, job done all that's left now is the long dusty ride back to camp, and to get in vehicle convoy order with us bringing up the rear again behind the Afghan army vehicles.
The convoy set off and around the first corner
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A very deep long heavy snap boom that lasts a life time but only lasts for a second.
Inertia, slow but high adrenaline alertness (the slow motion affect), gutting, fear, terror, claustrophobia with every bad emotion you can think of, happens to you, being completely surrounded by the feel death all around, which surrounds the air, the noise and sense of everything. I didn't know what I was thinking, I let go of my mounted machine gun and put my hands to my helmet to protect my eyes and face from any shrapnel, no Idea why just self instinct.
In that moment I looked up towards the blast, the vehicle two up from mine the last Afghan Army wagon (modified 4x4 pickup), the front end of the vehicle was pointing towards the sky with the rear wheels off the ground and in slow motion just landed drop dead in the sand.
My heart just sank, I knew this was bad
There was still debree raining down tapping on the top of my helmet and bouncing off as I was still in the moment of the pause that people do before your brain re-engages and comes back to reality, starring at what was in front of me. I looked at Cpl back and his expression summed up everything I was thinking.
With haste I started searching for the med pack in the back of the vehicle, got my hands on it and burst out of the back doors with a sense of urgency and turned to my left and looked up to see Sgt Jock already at the vehicle helping the Afghans with any injury's, and I started to run towards my Sgt who then started shouting
"No Roby No" I took one or two more steps and heard him shout again
" Noo Roby STOP STOP" it was then it sunk in as he started waving frantically at me, I stopped and froze solid just silent and thinking what the hell am I doing.
I could have just run into a mine field or a secondary bomb which the enemy liked to use for situations like this.
"Roby use the proven route, use the proven route"
and that's when my brain came out of neutral and engaged first gear (thank fuck Sgt Jock is switched on I could of just died), at the speed of a thousand gazelle's I doubled back on my own path around the vehicle on the right hand side this time, and up to the exploded Afghan vehicle.
I don't know how many people reading this have been in a IED encounter but the shock effect is massive and it affects everything you do and every thought you have, then this.
I started quickly checking over three of the men who had jumped out of the vehicle and as they had actually all jumped out they were ok, shaken and in shock but ok. Two of these guys then turned their attention to the driver who was in a bad way, they painfully got him out of the drivers seat and laid him out on the floor and we could clearly see this man was not going to live very long. (This next detail will be quite graphic but will describe what an IED does to a human body).
As the impact came from the front right tyre the blast shock wave had ripped the mans legs nearly off his body and were only connected to his torso by literally his outer skin, as the shockwave went through his body it turned all of his bones to mush and all his legs and torso every bone was still there but just like jelly, all of this mans insides were turned to mush nothing was working, his arms were dead weights, his throat had been severely damaged which gave him this zombie like grunt which added to the blood he was coughing up onto his dusty face was deadly, his ears had been blown out and his eyes were just pupils staring at nothing, I believe this man had no Idea what was happening after the blast, his heart was still going as he still had a very weak pulse and he obviously still had at least one lung working as he had an unmistakable slow wheezing where his body was still trying to function, you could see the spirit of the human body still fighting to survive.
This image will never leave my mind as Ive never seen a human in this way before, the sheer destructive force of an IED on the human body is something no man should witness in his lifetime. The troops around me were all looking at each other mainly in the shock of the terror which was before us and mainly because there was nothing in this world we had or could do anything with to help this man or save him. you could say his body was an instant write off but still it does not take away the gutting feeling that no matter what we do or try we are powerless to stop this mans pain and he was in alot of it, the only saving grace was the fact he might not register any of it.
It was suggested that we give the man morphine but we all knew the pain would stop and so would his breathing.
The chopper was already inbound at this point and we had a man that was technically still alive so we got him on a make shift stretcher and under the supervision of Sgt Jock we started to move him towards the where the helicopter was going to land.
At this point I realise later just how incredible a leader Sgt Jock was, he was in as much shock as the rest of us but he had his team to organise and keep us going which he did a phenomenal job of doing, I had trouble just staying focused, the shock of thoughts in my head were all over the place.
As we got half way to the chopper landing site the casualties right leg flopped off the stretcher and was only hanging on by a few veins in his leg. we had to put him down at this point and this was the moment where I walked away, the other men helping me also had to step away to recompose, and some of the Gurkha men came running over to help out. This let me turn away as I felt physically sick all over and the shock had just caught up with me and was just overwhelming, I filled out the worst casualty report I had ever done and handed it to the boss who was in radio communications with HQ giving them an update.
Walking back to the vehicles I could see Brummy he had a metal detector out and was searching for any more IED's and clearing the path for our two vehicles still at the rear of the convoy and still had to have a route cleared around the blast area which Brummy was making good progress with, as I neared him we made eye contact but no words were spoken I just carried on walking to the back of my vehicle to get a metal detector and helped out Brummy sweep the area.
Looking at the blast site there were no wires, no signs no nothing, twenty vehicles had driven over the same ground as I could see the tyre tracks going straight through the blast crater, why the twenty first vehicle in the convoy, the one in front of Brummy's which was baffling him more than me at the time. Nothing made any sense for the rest of today.
Our casualty made it onto the chopper but died in flight on the way back to the hospital.
Back in camp for the debrief we all sat at the table quietly everyone lost in thought as to what had just happened, the Sergeant Major came down to see how we were and gave us a pep talk and offered any assistance for us to discuss anything.
It took a couple of days for 1section to come round and perk up a bit as we still had a job to do and in the desert you don't have a lot of time to reflect or dwindle on days like this too much as the next day we were all out on patrol again and that becomes your main focus, surviving what the next day can bring to the table.
We had been patrolling along dusty Afghan roads for hours, but in the space of a few minutes the tension had risen dramatically.
Afghan National Army soldiers leading the convoy of five military vehicles had questioned a local farmer, who pointed out a compound where he believed Taliban were holed up.
Suddenly, there is the unmistakable sound of bullet fire. Our armoured vehicle screeches full circle and slams to a halt as Sergeant Liam Thomas screams to his colleagues: "It's a contact, it's a contact."
We are under attack from the Taliban.
Within seconds, our two top gunners, the men who man the heavy machine guns mounted on our Vector armoured vehicle, grab their weapons and fire back.Soldiers drop to the dried earth of the open fields to zero in on the compound where the enemy are located.
Red-hot bullet shells rain into the Vector from the roof hatch, burning your bare skin as they fall.
I look out of the front window to see an Afghan soldier prepare to fire his rocket-propelled grenade.
Captain Neil Cresswell, one of the two top covers, shouts down to us to protect our ears, and the trigger is pulled.
The "boom" is deafening.
Taliban bullets strike the outside of the back of our vehicle at the same height as the head of one of our colleagues from the media.
What follows is a terrifying 45-minute ordeal, cramped into the back of the Vector, protected against the enemy by soldiers from the 2nd Mercian Battalion (Worcesters and Foresters) – Derbyshire's infantry regiment.
It's the kind of battle Our Boys go through every day in the searing heat of Helmand Province.
And I'm in the middle of it.
Our convoy of three Afghan National Army Ford Ranger vehicles, a Land Rover Wimmick (Weapon Mounted Installation Kit) and an armoured Vector had set off in the early morning haze from our home at Camp Price, 5km from the bustling market town of Gereshk.
Just two weeks earlier, two British soldiers had been killed in Gereshk by a suicide bomber who drove towards a convoy of vehicles with explosives strapped to his chest.
Despite venturing into an area where no coalition forces had patrolled for a year, the mood was relaxed as we picked up our convoy from the Afghan National Army (ANA), which 2 Mercian are spending six months mentoring.
As part of the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team – or OMLT – about 175 Woofers are in small groups of eight to 12 embedded within the ANA offering advice as they rebuild their country after more than 30 years of conflict.
Spots of rain fall through the hatch at the top of our Vector as we leave the main road.
In the 40-degree-and-above heat of summer southern Afghanistan, it's a short, but welcome, relief.
Private Chris Roberts, 24, a former Landau Forte and Sinfin Community School Pupil, said: "That's the first time I've felt rain for two months.
"When we first got here there would be an occasional electrical storm with this amazing forked lightning.
There are eight of us in the Vector armoured vehicle; four members of the media, Commander Terry Lowe in the passenger seat, Sergeant Liam Thomas, 25, a former Murray Park School pupil, from Mackworth, as driver, Private Chris Roberts, from Sinfin and Captain Neil Cresswell, originally from Chesterfield, both as top cover.
We stop suddenly.
The ANA have spotted suspicious activity by the canal 500m away.
Captain Cresswell drops down from his position to talk to us.
"The atmospherics have changed."
The explains the Taliban are "dicking" us – a shortened phrase for making direct eye contact – watching us and reporting back.
Capt Cresswell says: "We're monitoring the Taliban via communications and they're in the area.
"We'll sit tight for a bit."
Private Roberts, who goes by the nickname of Crazy and has been with the regiment for six-and-a-half years, spots people moving behind the tree line and reports it.
The atmosphere is tense but, after 30 minutes, we move on.
Our convoy stops again after 15 minutes when the ANA spot more suspicious movements close to the canal towpath.
Cpt Cresswell tells us the opposite bank is a renowned Taliban stronghold and intelligence comes back that three Taliban are holed-up at a nearby compound. At that moment we hear the first shots.
The Woofers spring into action, returning fire with a grenade-firing machine gun mounted on the Wimmick, heavy calibre shots from the machine guns and firing from SA80 assault rifles.
Capt Cresswell screams for ANA soldiers to get out of the line of fire as he fires.
Pte Roberts spots smoke from the muzzle of the Taliban guns on the opposite bank of the canal and with a torrent of rapid fire repels the attack.
Sgt Thomas, who goes by the nickname of Turkish, dives back into the vehicles and looks back at us.
"Everything OK?" he asks with a smile.
"Just sit tight and don't stick your head up."
These brave Derbyshire soldiers and their comrades are protecting us while pushing back the enemy.
It's multi-tasking on an unprecedented level and the most incredible event to witness first-hand.
Amazingly, in the middle of the firefight, Pte Roberts lights a cigarette and throws his pack to Sgt Thomas before carrying on with the task in hand.
The three-second delay between the grenade machine gun firing one of its 250 rounds and it exploding seems like a lifetime, then we hear the "boom" as it lands 500m away next to the enemy.
After 45 minutes of incessant firing, back-up comes on the shape of two fighter jets which scream inches above the heads of the terrified Taliban.
The firing stops and there's a confident air in the Vector.
With the enemy beaten, the crackle of a smoke bomb disguises our exit and we're away from the scene.
But our smiles of satisfaction are premature as the leading ANA vehicle again comes under attack.
There's a Taliban team hidden behind the tree line and Pte Roberts spots them. British and Afghan soldiers pummel the area with bullets and with such superior fire power it is not long until the enemy beat a hasty retreat.
Back at the ANA base there's handshakes all round at a job well done as the Afghan sergeant major shows us six bullet holes peppering his Ranger.
Pte Roberts, who is married to 29-year-old Nell, smiles.
"It's always a bit nervy at first when you hear the sound of the bullets coming towards you," he says. But the important thing is that you keep a cool head in that sort of situation and remember what you have to do as a solider.
"We go out on patrol almost every day and there is a lot of contact with the enemy. The most satisfying thing is a day like today when you get back into camp with no casualties."
Sgt Thomas, who has wife Nicola, 24, and eight-month-old daughter Lexi waiting for him in the UK, agreed, saying: "People probably don't realise how much contact we have with the enemy.
"But you all stick together, switch into working as a team and get on with the job in hand. As far as I'm concerned today is a case of a job well done."
The troops make light of the dangers, but there is soon a grim reminder of the perils they endure on a daily basis.
As the following day we move from Camp Price to Camp Tombstone, the base of the Woofers in Helmand Province, Capt Cresswell approaches us.
"Bad news," he says.
He explains explaining that one of the 30 Afghan soldiers on the patrol that came under attack by the canal went out on the next day, and was killed in a blast from an improvised explosive device.
Which was the end of the news report.
The Next Day
On the high of a good day yesterday involved in a scrap with the enemy and receiving no casualties and having our exploits covered by the media, morale was high even with the ANA (Afghanistan National Army).
1 section mounted up on the vehicle, did there last minute checks, ammo and water etc and got ready to move out.
"Roby ready to move"
"yea Sgt Jock everything is on and weapons ready"
"good, good ill let the boss know" "boss rear wagon is ready to rock and roll"
"I've got it covered in the back boss" Brummy said to Capt Triathlon
"OK gentlemen off we go"
Unknown to 1 section at this point, today was to be a day that would change their lives, for the rest of their lives. Today was the first, the first day 1 section had been out smarted in a tactical sense by the enemy. Today was the day a fellow comrade and fighter in arms had fallen in the most brutal and cruel way unimaginable to any man, even the hardest of men just simply could not justify how a fellow human being can leave this world in such a way, the way this man died will always stick in the minds of the men of 1 section as a scar of battle.
Local intelligence had come in a few days ago and determined what today was all about, the Afghan police force had been monitoring three compound locations within the city and had reason to believe the Taliban were using these compounds to plan there next attack and maneuver there weapons from one location to the other in the setup process for there next upcoming attack which could range from suicide bombers to a full scale ambush on the allied or Afghan government forces operating in the area.
It was part of 1 sections job today to join a joint task force of Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army and a Gurkha section, In total that is 23 vehicles (which we provided two of), four 50.cal machine guns, 17 heavy machine guns, 72 assault rifles, 32 rocket launchers, 8 grenade launchers, 90 hand grenades, 2 dushka's, 2 snipers and 1 mortar team.
Simply the plan was to surround the compounds one by one while the Afghan police go in handcuff the enemy and bring them out peacefully without a shot fired.
Cpl Back poked his head out of the top hatch next to me with a smile on his face " are you alright Roby"
"yea mate" I replied with a smile back as he was a genuinely friendly guy that looked after his men and always had a positive attitude towards life, "I am taking in the views, this place is so peaceful and natural, when were not getting shot at"
Cpl Back just laughed and then we were interrupted by the convoy going off road by getting thrown from side to side and forward and back and with all of the dust getting kicked up by the convoy it was back to the same old routine vehicle patrol across the desert which every soldier gets the pleasure of, dust in your teeth, in your hair around your face (leaving an outline around where your goggles cover your eyes) and embedded in my uniform.
After the boring long dusty journey through the desert we came up to approach to the first compound and the convoy commander tactically halted the convoy, gave some quick and brief orders on the radio as to how he wanted the vehicles to surround the compound in there own locations and what he wanted the men to be doing (ie. look out for any follow up attacks from the enemy) while his team and the Afghan army went in for the arrest. 1 section had the amazing job of coming all this way to provide a overwatch on some high ground in the distance and watch the other troops get all the action and have all the fun, don't get me wrong our role was crucial if we were needed but if we were not it meant we had front row seats to boredom while getting a nice all over tan.
The rest of the vehicles were all in place at the same time as us and the convoy commander gave the go on the radio to let us know he was going in with the Afghan army and police to go and arrest the enemy, all eyes were on the open holes (windows) doorways and corners of the compound as the first team started there approach.
I was in my vehicle with my heavy machine gun pointed at the rear left corner of the compound, I adjusted the sights on the machine gun to 700 meters and got into a comfortable standing firing position, put my cheek up to the cheek rest on the gun, aligned my eye with the foresight and rear sight, lined everything up for the perfect shot, started to control my breathing and held that position.
I was still poised in my position.
I was now picturing what was happening on the other side of the compound by the radio chat of the teams getting into position, mentally I knew where every man was.
"GO, GO, GO"
(silence)
Followed by more silence and yet as time went on more silence.
I then realised to myself just as it was said over the radio "the compound is empty, there is no one in sight"
"Fuck sake, I knew this would happen drive all the way here for nothing" Brummy commented with a joking frustration "there was no one even in the building, that's me 8 Intel 0" which summed up alot about the mood we were all in as this was not the first time me and Brummy had been out to bum info.
"Reet yous lot stand down and prepare to move" as Sgt Jock got his map out and looked over the route to the next compound.
The rest of the convoy got back into their vehicles and everyone met back up and got in the same order in line and waited for the go ahead from the convoy commander. 1 section were the rear two vehicles so our place in the convoy became the humorous joke of the day as we could not get that wrong
Mid afternoon we arrived at the third compound all was well, morale was quite high as we had already planned for no one to be in this compound and we get to get back to camp early and enjoy some free time.
"OK convoy this is where we will stop short of the compound and in five minutes everyone will take up there positions" over the radio
Within ten minutes 1 section was in position and over looking the compound from a distance to again wait for any fleeing enemy or provide the necessary fire power if needed.
The first two teams go through the front door and from where 1 section are we can see a sense of urgency about the follow up team and then suddenly on the radio the convoy commander
"We have five males all of fighting age and we believe these are the men we are looking for, we are going to wait for the police to question the men and make the necessary arrests, once there finished we will escort the police vehicles back to their HQ".
All five men were arrested caught, cuffed and now crying about how innocent they were. As far as 1 section were concerned no shots fired and we got someone, job done all that's left now is the long dusty ride back to camp, and to get in vehicle convoy order with us bringing up the rear again behind the Afghan army vehicles.
The convoy set off and around the first corner
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Inertia, slow but high adrenaline alertness (the slow motion affect), gutting, fear, terror, claustrophobia with every bad emotion you can think of, happens to you, being completely surrounded by the feel death all around, which surrounds the air, the noise and sense of everything. I didn't know what I was thinking, I let go of my mounted machine gun and put my hands to my helmet to protect my eyes and face from any shrapnel, no Idea why just self instinct.
In that moment I looked up towards the blast, the vehicle two up from mine the last Afghan Army wagon (modified 4x4 pickup), the front end of the vehicle was pointing towards the sky with the rear wheels off the ground and in slow motion just landed drop dead in the sand.
My heart just sank, I knew this was bad
There was still debree raining down tapping on the top of my helmet and bouncing off as I was still in the moment of the pause that people do before your brain re-engages and comes back to reality, starring at what was in front of me. I looked at Cpl back and his expression summed up everything I was thinking.
With haste I started searching for the med pack in the back of the vehicle, got my hands on it and burst out of the back doors with a sense of urgency and turned to my left and looked up to see Sgt Jock already at the vehicle helping the Afghans with any injury's, and I started to run towards my Sgt who then started shouting
"No Roby No" I took one or two more steps and heard him shout again
" Noo Roby STOP STOP" it was then it sunk in as he started waving frantically at me, I stopped and froze solid just silent and thinking what the hell am I doing.
I could have just run into a mine field or a secondary bomb which the enemy liked to use for situations like this.
"Roby use the proven route, use the proven route"
and that's when my brain came out of neutral and engaged first gear (thank fuck Sgt Jock is switched on I could of just died), at the speed of a thousand gazelle's I doubled back on my own path around the vehicle on the right hand side this time, and up to the exploded Afghan vehicle.
I don't know how many people reading this have been in a IED encounter but the shock effect is massive and it affects everything you do and every thought you have, then this.
I started quickly checking over three of the men who had jumped out of the vehicle and as they had actually all jumped out they were ok, shaken and in shock but ok. Two of these guys then turned their attention to the driver who was in a bad way, they painfully got him out of the drivers seat and laid him out on the floor and we could clearly see this man was not going to live very long. (This next detail will be quite graphic but will describe what an IED does to a human body).
As the impact came from the front right tyre the blast shock wave had ripped the mans legs nearly off his body and were only connected to his torso by literally his outer skin, as the shockwave went through his body it turned all of his bones to mush and all his legs and torso every bone was still there but just like jelly, all of this mans insides were turned to mush nothing was working, his arms were dead weights, his throat had been severely damaged which gave him this zombie like grunt which added to the blood he was coughing up onto his dusty face was deadly, his ears had been blown out and his eyes were just pupils staring at nothing, I believe this man had no Idea what was happening after the blast, his heart was still going as he still had a very weak pulse and he obviously still had at least one lung working as he had an unmistakable slow wheezing where his body was still trying to function, you could see the spirit of the human body still fighting to survive.
This image will never leave my mind as Ive never seen a human in this way before, the sheer destructive force of an IED on the human body is something no man should witness in his lifetime. The troops around me were all looking at each other mainly in the shock of the terror which was before us and mainly because there was nothing in this world we had or could do anything with to help this man or save him. you could say his body was an instant write off but still it does not take away the gutting feeling that no matter what we do or try we are powerless to stop this mans pain and he was in alot of it, the only saving grace was the fact he might not register any of it.
It was suggested that we give the man morphine but we all knew the pain would stop and so would his breathing.
The chopper was already inbound at this point and we had a man that was technically still alive so we got him on a make shift stretcher and under the supervision of Sgt Jock we started to move him towards the where the helicopter was going to land.
At this point I realise later just how incredible a leader Sgt Jock was, he was in as much shock as the rest of us but he had his team to organise and keep us going which he did a phenomenal job of doing, I had trouble just staying focused, the shock of thoughts in my head were all over the place.
As we got half way to the chopper landing site the casualties right leg flopped off the stretcher and was only hanging on by a few veins in his leg. we had to put him down at this point and this was the moment where I walked away, the other men helping me also had to step away to recompose, and some of the Gurkha men came running over to help out. This let me turn away as I felt physically sick all over and the shock had just caught up with me and was just overwhelming, I filled out the worst casualty report I had ever done and handed it to the boss who was in radio communications with HQ giving them an update.
Walking back to the vehicles I could see Brummy he had a metal detector out and was searching for any more IED's and clearing the path for our two vehicles still at the rear of the convoy and still had to have a route cleared around the blast area which Brummy was making good progress with, as I neared him we made eye contact but no words were spoken I just carried on walking to the back of my vehicle to get a metal detector and helped out Brummy sweep the area.
Looking at the blast site there were no wires, no signs no nothing, twenty vehicles had driven over the same ground as I could see the tyre tracks going straight through the blast crater, why the twenty first vehicle in the convoy, the one in front of Brummy's which was baffling him more than me at the time. Nothing made any sense for the rest of today.
Our casualty made it onto the chopper but died in flight on the way back to the hospital.
Back in camp for the debrief we all sat at the table quietly everyone lost in thought as to what had just happened, the Sergeant Major came down to see how we were and gave us a pep talk and offered any assistance for us to discuss anything.
It took a couple of days for 1section to come round and perk up a bit as we still had a job to do and in the desert you don't have a lot of time to reflect or dwindle on days like this too much as the next day we were all out on patrol again and that becomes your main focus, surviving what the next day can bring to the table.
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