Bomb Hunters: In Afghanistan With Britain's Elite Bomb Disposal Unit (18 page)

Lead searcher Sapper Bradley Knight from Brimstone 42 sets off on isolation clearance.

Members of Brimstone 42 in Forward Operating Base Shawqat after successfully completing their first bomb hunting mission.

Sapper Richie Pienaar, lead searcher of Brimstone 45, relaxes after clearing a safe rout to an IED.

Staff Sergeant Gareth Wood and Royal Engineer Search Advisor Kev O’Dwyer discuss the best route to the location of an IED.

An improvised detonator used by the Taliban in Helmand.

Pressure plates, vital components of IEDs, discovered by British troops in a raid on a bomb factory during Operation Moshtarak.

Taliban IED composed of explosive in yellow container, pressure plate and battery pack. This would be powerful enough to kill a soldier or disable a vehicle.

Lieutenant Craig Shephard, the commander of 5 Platoon, No.2 Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, who was awarded the Military Cross.

The soldiers from 5 Platoon, No.2 Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, who fought at the Battle of Crossing Point One.

Members of Brimstone 42 take cover behind a Warrior armoured vehicle during a controlled explosion.

Staff Sergeant Gareth Wood with his Military Cross, November 2010.

Captain Dan Read, killed in action in Musa Qaleh on 11 January 2010.