by Kemp Ross
Taking an uncomfortable ride in our Pinzgauer towards FOB Robinson.
Waiting for news of Corporal Darren Bonner.
The Vikings cool off at Sangin DC.
Moments after my first ambush in Jucaylay – I'm not a happy man.
Smelly and sweaty, but sleeping like babies! Post Lastay Kulang.
Making the journey back to base camp at dusk after Operation Lastay Kulang.
Letters from the UK: a taste of home.
A Chinook arrives at the landing zone of Sangin DC.
The hydroelectric dam at Kajaki.
Private Robert Foster…
… Private Aaron McClure…
… and Private John Thrumble, all victims of the ‘blue on blue’.
Colour Sergeant Ivan Snow looks on as Major Mick Aston attempts to become a Javelin millionaire – Kajaki, Herrick 6.
Safely home: Company Sergeant Major Tim Newton is greeted by his family at the end of Herrick 6.
The memorial at Camp Bastion.
Sleeping quarters in Musa Qala. Thank you to whoever left the bottles of urine at the side of our camp.
The ‘thousand yard stare’: Sergeant Danny Carter after successfully getting us out of an ambush in the Garden in one piece.
Officer in Command Major Nick Calder plans his next move.
Handin' oot sweeties: Captain Stevie Rae wins hearts and minds (and cavities) in Musa Qala.
Burning shit from the thunderboxes – smoke gets in your eyes (and your throat).
Ross Kemp entering his new club, VIP D and V.
A local man is stabilized by the medical team at Musa Qala. There are no official figures of Afghan nationals killed or injured during this conflict.
Sergeant Chris Muir in Musa Qala DC cradles a baby who has been injured by shrapnel.
Afghan National Army on patrol in the streets of Musa Qala's Saturday morning bazaar.
Time to go: Major Dave Middleton informs me that a suicide bomber is on his way into the bazaar.
Members of the ANA – most decline to wear body armour or even helmets, choosing instead to put their faith in God.
‘Splash’! A 500 lb bomb dropped from an F-16 hits a Taliban position during a firefight.
Note the look in my eyes after a particularly gruelling firefight. ‘Who stole my dinner money?’
A Mastiff leaving the base of Musa Qala.
Homeless travellers, or are they dickers?
Seconds before Lance Corporal Gordon Pollock is shot at and wounded on the roof of Compound 69.
Lance Corporal Pollock receives treatment after narrowly missing death.
A suspected Taliban dicker is held captive.
An ANP officer shows me where he has been shot thirteen times. He is still going strong – these are tough people.
Nancies in blue (me and the TV crew), men in brown.
Shattered, but happy to be in a Chinook (not that you'd know from my expression).
Colonel David Richmond, the highest-ranking officer to have been injured in Afghanistan, during rehabilitation at Headley Court.
Private Derek Derenalagi, who lost his legs when his vehicle reversed over an IED.
The Russians built this swimming-pool in Kabul, but it was then used by the Taliban for a very different purpose.
On the way down to Big Top, walking between the lines. Behind me, the well-liked Jackal.
The Taliban stronghold in Kaji takes a direct hit with six 2,000-pound bombs.
Lying low on top of Pyramid Hill after a sniper round has just passed over our position.
The twenty-two-year-old Royal Marine Travis Mackin who died through contact with an IED while accompanying the ANA up on to Ant Hill.
I was deeply honoured to be allowed to attend the memorial ceremony for Travis Mackin. Kajaki, Herrick 9.
Epilogue
Afghanistan has changed me. But that's no surprise. It changes everybody.
I first came to Afghanistan to learn about the life of the ordinary soldier, to try to understand the pressures they are under on the most dangerous front line in the world today. I certainly did that. In my various trips to Helmand Province and elsewhere I met many soldiers who were risking their lives on a more-than-daily basis, on our behalf. That in itself is a pretty humbling experience. It was a privilege to witness their courage, tenacity and professionalism. And if this book and the films I have made serve no other purpose, I hope they demonstrate just what it is we are asking of these young men and women.
War isn't fought by pressing buttons miles from the battlefield. Far from it. In Afghanistan, as in many other areas of conflict, territory is only won and kept by men on the ground. An infantryman joining the army today can expect to spend two years on the front line during a 15-year service. If we expect our soldiers to put their lives on the line for us on a regular basis, it seems to me that we have to honour our side of the contract. They should be paid accordingly; they should be given proper, healthy food; they should have the best equipment available to them. Over the time I have been in Afghanistan I have heard these complaints countless times; but while the equipment is improving, the money and the food has stayed largely the same.
As I write this, the new American administration has approved a substantial deployment of extra troops to the region. This is a step in the right direction. Progress in Afghanistan can only be achieved if there are more ground troops, but this means other countries in ISAF pulling their weight. Certainly the British troops cannot do any more than they are doing. Between 2007 and 2008 the number of coalition forces injured in Afghanistan doubled; the number killed in action quadrupled. We can only hope that the arrival of more American forces reverses this worrying trajectory.
It seems to me that there must also be a change in the rules of engagement, if only in certain areas. During my final trip to Kajaki, the Royal Marines knew that the town of Kaji was populated entirely by Taliban militants; and yet they had to use themselves as human bait, to attract the enemy's fire, before they could attack. The human cost was too high, as I'm sure the family and friends of Travis Mackin would testify.
Some people estimate that we will remain in Afghanistan for another ten years, others for another 15. The building of Camp Bastion 2 suggests to me that the British have a long-term strategy in Afghanistan. But this is an expensive war both in terms of money and in terms of lives lost. Is it worth it? It's unrealistic to believe that Afghan warlords won't control the poppy harvest or have influence in certain areas of the government; it's unrealistic to believe that corruption will be eradicated. Acknowledging these facts, and controlling them at an acceptable level, is to my mind the only way of ensuring that the Afghans, in the long term, have a peaceful life; and that the conflict, in the long term, has an end.
The effects of this war, however, on many of the men and families involved in it will be far longer lasting than the war itself. This is the first generation of soldiers for a long time to experience such intense fighting for such long periods. Post-traumatic stress disorder can take five or ten years to develop. Only time will tell the full long-term effects of their experiences in Afghanistan.
I personally have nothing but admiration for everyone I met in the armed forces, some of whom have become personal friends and will be for life. But as I sit in London writing these words, I am very aware of the people who didn't make it back. They should never be forgotten.
Glossary
2ic second in command
556 5.56 millimetre round
ANA Afghan National Army
ANP Afghan National Police
CLU command launch unit
CO commanding officer, commander of a large military unit (see also OC)
DC district centre
dick, dicker observe, observer
FIBUA fighting in a built-up area (also known as FISH)
FISH fighting in somebody's house (see FIBUA)
FLET forward line of enemy troops
FOB forward operating base
FOO forward observing officer
FSG fire support group
GMG grenade machine gun
GMLRS guided multiple launch rocket system
GPMG general purpose machine gun
HE high explosive
Hesco large collapsible wire mesh and heavy-duty fabric container which, filled with earth or sand, is used to construct protective barriers
IDF indirect fire, ordnance not fired directly at a target, for example mortar rounds
IED improvised explosive device
ISAF International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led United Nations security and development mission in Afghanistan
Jackal British all-terrain four-wheel-drive military vehicle introduced to replace the WMIK Land Rover (see WMIK)
LZ landing zone
Mastiff British heavily armoured six-wheel-drive patrol vehicle derived from the American Cougar family of vehicles
MERT medical emergency response team
Minimi Belgian-manufactured light machine gun used by the British Army
NAAFI Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, the organization that runs recreational facilities and shops for the British armed forces
NDS Afghan special police
OC officer commanding, commander of a small military unit (less than battalion size) (see also CO)
OMLT operational mentor and liaison team
OP observation post
Pinzgauer all-terrain British military truck
PKM Russian-made general purpose machine gun used by the Taliban
REMF rear-echelon motherfucker
RPG rocket-propelled grenade
RV rendezvous
SA80 A2 standard rifle of the British Army
sit rep situation report
Viking amphibious armoured all-terrain vehicle consisting of two tracked units linked by a steering mechanism
WMIK Weapons Mount Installation Kit, a stripped-down Land Rover fitted with roll bars and weapons mounts
Author's Note
I am totally indebted to the professionalism and friendship of the crews who accompanied me on my trips to Afghanistan. On Herrick 6: John Conroy, Andrew Thompson, James Snowden and Fred Scott; on Herrick 8 Matt Bennett, Jonathan Young and Anuar Arroyo; on Herrick 9 Matt Bennett and Mark McCauley.
Acknowledgements
I once again would like to thank the following people: Clive Tulloh, my co-executive producer, who was always at the end of the phone when I was getting shot at; Adam Parfitt, without whose help this book would not have been written; my editor Katy Follain for her continuing enthusiasm and professionalism; Lord Waheed Alli for all his advice and kindness; the whole team at Sky and Tiger Aspect; and Wendy Banks, for organizing my life.
