Para Return to Afghanistan

190 Pages·2015·1.47 MB·English

by  Bishop

GROUND TRUTH
3 Para: Return to Afghanistan
PATRICK BISHOP
To Douglas and Richenda
Contents
List of Illustrations
Maps
Introduction: A Big Ask
1 Going Back
2 Through the Looking Glass
3 KAF
4 Hearts and Minds
5 Hunting the Hobbit
6 Green Zone
7 IED
8 The Stadium
9 Facing the Dragon
10 Sangin Revisited
11 The White Cliffs of Helmand
12 Convoy
13 The Enemy
14 Close Quarters
15 Fields of Fire
16 ‘Something our Parents will Understand’
17 Homecoming
Abbreviations, Acronyms and Military Terms
Acknowledgments
By the Same Author
Index
Copyright
About the Publisher
The following account is based on interviews with the soldiers of 16 Air Assault Brigade. 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.
Some names have been changed or omitted to protect operational security.
List of Illustrations
Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith © Sergeant Anthony Boocock, 16 Air Assault Brigade
photographer/Crown Copyright
Major Stuart McDonald © Tina Hager
Sangin schoolroom © Patrick Bishop
A Para leads women to safety © Jason P. Howe/ConflictPics
‘A’ Company patrols a poppy field © Captain Ian McLeish
Paras patrolling in Hutal © Tina Hager
Colour Sergeant Mark Kennedy with children in Qal-e-Gaz
© Captain Ian McLeish
‘A’ Company at a Maywand Base © Marco di Lauro/Getty Images
Paras navigating Maywand ditches © Jason P. Howe/ConflictPics
6 Platoon, ‘B’ Company patrol outside Hutal © Tina Hager
‘Gungy Third’ aboard a Chinook to Inkerman © Patrick Bishop
FOB Inkerman sangar sentry © Patrick Bishop
Privates Ben Biddulph and Andy Shawcross at Inkerman © Patrick Bishop
End of patrol at FOB Inkerman © Patrick Bishop
Sergeant Major Stu Bell © Patrick Bishop
Captain Ben Harrop © Patrick Bishop
Paras tabbing along a Mizan route © Christopher Pledger
Sergeant Chris Prosser at Inkerman © Patrick Bishop
Paras run to board a Chinook © Christopher Pledger
‘A’ Company prepare to assault © Captain Ian McLeish
Tabbing back to base in Zabul © Sergeant Ian Harding, 16 Air Assault Brigade
Photographer/Crown Copyright
‘B’ Company patrol in Mizan © Christopher Pledger
Corporal Marc Stott © Patrick Bishop
Lieutenant Fraser Smith in Band-e-Timor © Patrick Bishop
Arrival at Kadahar Stadium © Marco di Lauro/Getty Images
Lance Corporal Andy Lanaghan with an ANA soldier
Paras patrol Kandahar City © Sergeant Craig Allen, Parachute Regiment
Photographer/Crown Copyright
Bathing in the Sangin irrigation channel © Patrick Bishop
Sangin civilian © Patrick Bishop
Taking a breather in the Sangin Green Zone © Patrick Bishop
Corporal Mike French © Patrick Bishop
Corporal Bev Cornell © Corporal Bev Baljit Kaur Cornell
Corporal Marianne Hay with her dog Deanna © Patrick Bishop
HET tractor and trailer rig © Patrick Bishop
Satellite image of Kajaki dam by kind permission of Regional Command South
Major Stuart McDonald and Brigadier Huw Williams in Kajaki Sofia © Sergeant Anthony
Boocock, 16 Air Assault Brigade photographer/Crown Copyright
Kajaki District Leader Abdul Razzak announces the ceasefire is off© Patrick Bishop
Major John Boyd © Patrick Bishop
A 500-pound bomb at Kajaki Sofia © Patrick Bishop
Corporal Stu Hale © Patrick Bishop
Flying the 3 Para flag © Christopher Pledger
Endpapers
‘A’ Company regroup after an air assault in Maywand © Jason P. Howe/ConflictPics
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 would be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgments in future editions.
List of Maps
1 Regional Command South xv
2 Upper Sangin Valley xvi-xvii
3 Kandahar xviii-xix
4 Maywand xx-xxi
5 Kajaki xxii
6 Upper Gereshk Valley xxiii