Table Of Content3 PARA
Patrick Bishop
‘The following account is based on interviews with the soldiers of the 3 PARA Battle
Group. Inquests have not yet been held into many of the deaths reported in these pages.
The author has made his best endeavour to report events accurately and truthfully, and
any insult or injury to any of the parties described or quoted herein or to their families is
unintentional. The publishers will be happy to correct any inaccuracies in later editions.
Afghan identities have been obscured in a few cases in order to protect the individuals
and their families.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
List of Illustrations
Maps
1 Day of Days
2 Green On – Go
3 ‘The Lawless Province of Helmand’
4 Afghanistan’s Plains
5 The Road to Sangin
6 Operation Mutay
7 Rapid Reaction
8 Platoon House
9 The Testing
10 Jacko
11 Musa Qaleh
12 Operation Augustus
13 Eating Dust
14 Hesco
15 Attrition
16 The Musa Muckers
17 Peace of Exhaustion
18 Going Home
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Honours and Awards
Acknowledgments
Backad …
About the Author
Index
Photo Insert
Copyright
About the Publisher
List of Illustrations
FIRST PLATE SECTION
A Chinook is silhouetted above the Helmand desert.
Taliban fighters. © AP/PA Photos
Now Zad from ANP Hill. © Captain Nick French
Private Damien Jackson during Operation Mutay.
© Private Jamie Stewart Halton
Patrols Platoon during Mutay. © Lance Corporal Lee Hewitson
Looking out over the wadi and bazaar from a Sangin sangar.
Morning for the mortarmen at Kajaki dam.
© Corporal Andrew Evans
Patrols Platoon Commander Captain Mark Swann and Lance
Corporal Andrew ‘Chalkie’ White by their WMIK in Gereshk. ©
Lance Corporal Dave Bradbury
A GPMG gunner engages Taliban fighters from ANP Hill.
© Sergeant Peter White
Private Martin Cork flying back from Mutay.
© Captain Martin Taylor
Captain Hugo Farmer and Corporals Quentin ‘Prig’ Poll, Stephen
‘Hoss’ Cartwright, James Shimmins and ‘Chalkie’ White in the
shade of a stripped-down Pinzgauer. © Captain Martin Taylor
Corporal Tam McDermott on the roof of the Sangin district centre.
© Major Will Pike
Hostile faces in Sangin. © Private Marc Holmes
Private Neil Edwards, Lance Corporal Noel Brooksbank, and
Private Marc Holmes and Alistair Hartley in a Sangin sangar.
© Private Marc Holmes
Lance Corporal Paul Roberts, Corporal Stuart Giles, Sergeant Brian
Reidy and Medical Officer Captain Harvey Pynn.
© Sergeant Dan Jarvie
Soldiers doss down on the floor at the Sangin district centre. ©
Private Marc Holmes
Corporal Mark Wright in the Sangin compound.
© Captain Nick French
Lieutenant Any Mallet leads a patrol into Sangin town centre.
© Corporal Andrew Waddington
Sergeant Dan Jarvie. © Crown copyright
Major Will Pike, OC ‘A’ Company. © Crown copyright
Captain Martin Taylor. © Major Will Pike
WO2 Zac Leong. © Captain Martin Taylor
Captain Matt Taylor. © Lieutenant Martin Hewitt
SECOND PLATE SECTION
Captains Alex Mackenzie and mate Piers Ashfield having a brew at
Sangin. © Lieutenant Martin Hewitt
Corporal Jay Jackson on stag in Sangin. © Corporal Dave Salmon
Regimental Sergeant Major John Hardy.
© Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal
Lieutenant Ollie Dale gets his head down in Sangin.
© Corporal Dave Salmon
The Pathfinders at Musa Qaleh. © Nick Wight-Boycott
Sergeant Major Mick Bolton in front of the Sangin district centre.
© Captain Euan Goodman
A mortar section at Sangin fires in support of patrols on the
ground. © Captain Euan Goodman
A Chinook takes off from Sangin under fire. © Corporal Carl Tees
Private Pete McKinley recovering from shrapnel wounds in the
base hospital. © Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal
Corporal Bryan Budd on patrol in Sangin. © Captain Hugo Farmer
Rifleman Nabin Rai after a contact with Taliban in Now Zad.
© Major Dan Rex
Major Huw Williams, Captain Nick French and a signaller at Musa
Qaleh. © Captain Martin Taylor
A .50-cal heavy machine gun inside a well-reinforced sangar at
Sangin. © Major Jamie Loden
Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal in the desert near Musa Qaleh.
© Captain Nick French
Heading out to the helicopter landing site after a successful
resupply operation at Musa Qaleh. © Crown copyright
‘Giving the Taliban the good news’. Watching an air strike go in
outside Musa Qaleh. © Crown copyright
Sergeant Christopher ‘Freddie’ Kruyer. © Staff Sergeant Pete Joiner
Dinner at Bastion. © Crown copyright
Major Adam Jowett, OC of Easy Company, chats with local elders.
© Gaz Faulkner
Captain Hugo Farmer on patrol in Gereshk in full kit.
© Captain Emma Couper
Private Dave Prosser and other members of Mortar Platoon.
© Sergeant Freddie Kruyer
A shura in Sangin.
While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright
material reproduced herein, the publishers would like to apologise
for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing
acknowledgments in any future editions.
List of Maps
Afghanistan
Helmand Province
Sangin
Gereshk
Musa Qaleh
Now Zad
