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| Contact: Saved by Osprey’s ceramic plates |
Battle scars: Bruised but otherwise uninjured |
Back on his feet: LSgt Daniel Collins (1 WG) |
A RELIEVED soldier has spoken of the moment when his Osprey body armour saved him from a high-calibre Taliban round.
LSgt Daniel Collins of the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards was left with just bruising after the bullet smashed into his back while serving on operations in southern Afghanistan.
The fire support section commander recalled how he was kneeling down to take cover during a contact with gunmen when he was hit.
“We were coming under sporadic fire from insurgents to our rear as our section moved back to the company rendezvous point at the end of the day’s clearance operation,” he said.
“I knelt down in an irrigation ditch in partial cover when I was hit in the back by a single shot.
“The round knocked me down in an instant, it felt like being hit by a sledgehammer at full swing. I slammed into the dirt face down.
“At this point everybody was on their belt buckles in the ditch, the shot had initiated very accurate machine gun and small arms onto our position. We were pinned down.”
The Taliban attack was eventually suppressed by mortar fire before LSgt Collins – in severe pain from the wound in his back – was airlifted to Camp Bastion’s hospital.
“The bullet hit the very bottom right-hand side of my ceramic body armour back plate, literally right at the edge,” he said. “Any lower and the doctor said that it would have gone straight through me, hitting my kidneys.”
Since his near-death experience, LSgt Collins has been full of praise for the life-saving ceramic kit.
“I think it was a 7.62mm round – that’s a high-calibre bullet but it shows you that the body armour works,” he said. “I wouldn’t be sitting here now if I wasn’t wearing it.
“Thank you to whoever designed the body armour. If I ever meet them, I’d like to buy them a pint.”
Eye spy’s millennium mission
A BRITISH surveillance aircraft which provides crucial intelligence to ground forces has clocked up a milestone mission in southern Afghanistan.
The Hermes 450 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has flown the equivalent of 12 times round the world during 1,000 top-secret assignments, providing real-time video pictures of ground activity.
Since its first expedition 24 months ago, the high-tech kit has notched up a total of 8,500 flying hours, covered 500,000 kilometres and has saved countless lives with the intelligence beamed back.
Sgt Gavin Ruck of 32 Regiment Royal Artillery, which operates the aircraft in Afghanistan, said: “This was a momentous occasion and is a milestone in the operational use of the Hermes 450.
“It definitely adds value to what can be provided to the troops on the ground and gives everyone a warm and fuzzy feeling.”
The Hermes can be controlled by either computer or manually with a joystick, providing top cover for soldiers on operations in uncharted areas.
An MoD spokesman added that the UAV capability was invaluable. “The video pictures form a crucial part of the Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance organisation,” he said.
“Detailed video images of ground activities filmed in real-time, are a vital asset in support of the security forces.”
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Counter narcotics: British personnel have been supporting counterparts from the Afghan National Army in successful actions targeting heroin production
INSURGENTS in Afghanistan have suffered a further blow to their funding after British troops fought their way into huge drugs factories deep in Helmand province.
In the strikes, 450 soldiers from 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland landed by helicopter before helping unearth and destroy more than 5,500kg of opium paste.
The Black Watch troops were supported by IED detection experts from the Royal Engineers during the Afghan National Army-led action.
Nato fast jets, including aircraft flown from USS Eisenhower, provided top cover and were guided to their targets by British forward air controllers.
Lt Col Stephen Cartwright, CO of 3 Scots, said his soldiers had to battle their way through intense machine gun and RPG fire when they landed in the Upper Sangin Valley.
But they managed to fight off the assault and moved on to the factories in the villages of Nangazi, Banekza and Sar Puzeur, 20km south of the major settlement of Kajaki.
The troops fought into the following day in searing temperatures before they were relieved. A second airborne raid was launched three days later, with the combined action netting a haul of narcotics and firearms.
Lt Col Cartwright added: “This has been an important operation against the illegal narcotics industry in Afghanistan and represents a significant setback for the insurgency.
“The Jocks of the 3 Scots Battlegroup provided the wider security to the Afghan Forces who have destroyed a significant amount of narcotic material.”
Links between the Taliban and opium production were well proven, with income from the sale of drugs used to fund their campaign of violence against Afghan civilians and Nato soldiers, concluded Lt Col Cartwright.
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QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS
KCB: Lt Gen N R Parker, late RGJ; Lt Gen P A Wall, late RE.
CB: Lt Gen J Cooper, late KOSB; Maj Gen C C Wilson, late RA.
CBE: Col K T Haugh, late Staffords; Maj Gen A Hawley, late RAMC; Maj Gen D McDowell, late R Signals; Brig C J R Parker, late RAMC.
OBE: Lt Col B L Baldwin, Para; Col R J Carruthers, ACF; Col N J Dalton, late AAC; Lt Col B G De La Haye, Scots; Lt Col F E Hargreaves, R Signals; Lt Col F M Lawrence, DLR; Col D A McAvoy, late REME; Col N P McRobb, late RA; Lt Col A G Parker, RE; Lt Col J C Price, Yorks; Lt Col P A Stanworth, RAMC (V); Lt Col G C Wilson, Scots.
MBE: Maj M D Bairstow, AGC(ETS); Maj J R T Balding, RLC; Maj H J Bardell, R Signals; Maj E J Bengstsson, RA; Maj A E C Benn, RE; Lt Col R G Bishop, AAC; Maj P J Blakesley, DLR; Maj M W Bower, Yorks; Maj D S Clarke, RA; Maj P J Clayton, R Welsh; WO1 S D Cook, AGC(SPS); Maj J S Devitt, RAMC; Capt M Griffiths, Rifles; Maj G Gurung, RGR; Lt Col A H Hay, RE; SSgt J L Herbert, R Signals; Maj R J Hewson, RE; Maj J Howell-Walmsley, R Signals; WO1 P J Hurry, AAC; Maj R C Jones, ACF; Capt A T Keeling, RAMC; Maj M R Legh-Smith, RA; WO2 N G MacDonald, RA; Maj B H MacIntyre, RLC; LCpl D A Mair, R Signals (V); Capt T Malloy, Para; WO2 I Martinez, RG; Maj J S D McCrann, RLC; Maj J M McMaster, RAMC (V); Lt Col R A McPherson, RA; Sgt P T Moody, RA; Capt P M Nicholson, REME (V); Lt Col J J Oliver, RAMC (V); Maj N J Painter, RE; Capt C P Pawlowski, Rifles; Capt R A Peters, Para; Maj V C Reid, RLC; WO1 I S Richardson, REME; Capt I J Robinson, R Anglian; Maj J C Roddis, Scots; WO2 N Royston, Rifles; Lt Col N J Rynn, Yorks; Maj S J Shepherd, RA; Maj R H Sinclair, SG; WO1 N J Smith, RLC; Maj D J Stubbington, REME; WO2 M W Thomson, REME; Maj M C R Thorp, RRF; Maj M Torbica, London (TA); Lt Col J S Walker, QRH; Capt R G Waygood, LG.
Sun sets on Op Oculus deployment
THE last British troops have finally pulled out of Kosovo, ending the UK’s involvement in the long-running Balkans mission.
The few remaining soldiers on Operation Oculus left the former war-torn region without fanfare but were commended for a successful ten-year deployment.
Jubilee Barracks – the last British camp in the capital Pristina – is now occupied by 290 soldiers from the Portuguese Tactical Reserve Manoeuvre Battalion.
An MoD spokesman said the UK would still provide backing to Kosovo despite the military withdrawal.
“The Nato mission is not yet over, and the UK’s commitment is focused on non-military support,” he explained. “However, without the efforts, and for some the ultimate sacrifice, of the men and women of the UK Armed Forces and supporting civilian agencies, the people of Kosovo would be facing a very different future today.”
The operation in the Balkans state began in March 1999 after international concern at a Serb crackdown against ethnic Albanians. At the height of the Nato-led operation 50,000 personnel from 39 countries were working in theatre.
Soldiers warned of online spies
CONCERNED officials have told personnel to think before they post anything on the internet amid concerns that Taliban insurgents are watching.
Intelligence experts believe that 80 per cent of information sought by the enemy is being gleaned from material on the web and there are fears troops are now prime targets to be pulped for information.
The concerns have prompted the release of a video, which is currently being distributed to units, to warn soldiers of the dangers of being indiscreet online.
Charting a few days in the life of a fictional Pte Jenkins, the film shows how he carelessly leaks sensitive data without thinking about the potential consequences.
An Army spokesman told Soldier: “Although no specific incident has prompted this video, a trawl through social networking and media sites can reveal tactics and procedures, weapon and vehicle capabilities, camp layouts and more.
“We have identified that a lot of soldiers are posting information and photographs. They need to realise the potential implications of what they are doing.
“The old phrase ‘careless talk costs lives’ is still as applicable today as it was in the Second World War.” |
