Bomb Hunters: In Afghanistan With Britain's Elite Bomb Disposal Unit (36 page)

Lieutenant Colonel Roly Walker, the commanding officer of the Grenadier Guards, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. His citation reads:

‘Lieutenant Colonel Walker transformed a district of some 200,000 people from one of the most hostile in Afghanistan into one of relative peace and tranquillity. His sophisticated approach placed his Battlegroup at the cutting edge of population-centric counter insurgency, making it a byword for success and a role model for others to emulate. The Battlegroup, besieged by a mix of local and foreign Taliban, was attacked relentlessly for a month, sometimes by human wave assaults approaching the perimeter, ending with grenades thrown and bayonets fixed. The Afghan Army was under strength and the Afghan Police was at best ineffective, and at worst actively hostile. Undaunted, Walker set about analysing the complex social dynamics of Nad-e’Ali. He demanded restraint of his men, insisting that it showed greater courage not to use lethal force and indulge in pointless duels of fire. Walker understood that freedom of movement would allow economic improvement and forced the opening of routes and the building of bridges. The Kharotei tribe stopped fighting and their community was given protection and employment. Walker showed indomitable leadership in the early dark days, leading his Guardsmen to a striking success.’

Lieutenant Craig Shephard, the commander of 5 Platoon, No. 2 Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was awarded the Military Cross. The following forms part of his citation:

‘Lieutenant Shephard commanded his platoon from the patrol base for over a month at Crossing Point One, during which time he and his men sustained intense and constant insurgent attacks. The situation required exceptional levels of leadership, control and ingenuity. Shephard was personally credited with conceiving and executing a complex deception and ambush mission on 4 November 2009 against a determined and relentless insurgent force. When up to sixty insurgents attacked and tried to overrun a patrol Shephard was leading, he calmly brought in mortars “danger close” to his position and then began moving his sections back under cover of fire to the patrol base before following himself. His prompt actions and leadership undoubtedly saved his patrol many casualties. Shephard was calm and measured at all times, displaying immense bravery and leadership in the most kinetic and dangerous situations. Shephard’s actions significantly contributed to over eighty insurgents being killed. Of crucial importance is the fact no civilians were killed or injured from his controlled and measured reaction. Shephard’s judgement and clear thinking was of the highest order on his first operational tour, within a year of joining the battalion. Shephard displayed leadership, inspirational command, personal bravery under fire, and unflinching attention to duty.’

Staff Sergeant Gareth Wood, Royal Logistic Corps, was awarded the Military Cross for an action which took place in Helmand on 30 March, 2010. His citation reads:

‘When a fully manned Mastiff Armoured Vehicle was struck by an IED, the stricken crew assessed their situation and it became apparent to them that, not only had they been struck by an IED, they were surrounded by them. Marooned in a minefield in hostile terrain, they were soon trapped under sustained and accurate enemy small arms fire. Staff Sergeant Wood and his supporting patrol flew by helicopter to the nearest patrol base, with only four hours of daylight remaining, to fearlessly set about rescuing their comrades. As heavy and accurate automatic fire rained down, Wood insisted that others took cover while he swiftly defused the first device. Still under fire, he moved on to the second device and wrenched it from the ground with his bare hands. In so doing he sustained a laceration to his hand and broke two fingers. He refused to be evacuated and insisted upon completing his task with nothing more than the crudest of first aid. With one arm in a sling and his fingers in a splint, Wood rendered safe a total of five IEDs, enabling the stricken Mastiff crew to extricate themselves under the cover of darkness through the path that he had single-handedly engineered.’

Staff Sergeant Karl ‘Badger’ Ley of the Royal Logistic Corps won the George Medal for his tour in Afghanistan. His citation reads:

‘Staff Sergeant Ley has dealt with more Improvised Explosive Devices (lEDs) than any other operator in history. To date, Ley has made safe and recovered 139 IEDs across Helmand Province. In supporting the infantry’s intensity of operations, Ley has willingly accepted an incredibly high level of personal risk, often having to deploy on foot with only what he could carry in his rucksack. On a 72 hour operation in November 2009, Ley defused 28 Victim Operated Improvised Explosive Devices (VOIEDs) and tackled 14 bombs. Ley painstakingly defused seven of the devices so that they could be recovered intact for technical intelligence purposes. This single day typifies the sheer determination, guile and awesome bravery of this man. During his six-month deployment Ley has been exposed to more than twice the number of lEDs than any one other High Threat IEDD Operator, and with a limited number of available lED operators, Ley has worked tirelessly in the most hazardous of conditions, enduring both mental and physical fatigue, displaying unwavering dedication and conspicuous gallantry over a sustained period.’

Badger has since been promoted to Acting Warrant Officer (2nd Class).

The citation of Company Sergeant Major Patrick Hyde, who served in A Company, 4 Rifles from October 2009 to March 2010 and received a Mention in Dispatches, includes the following:

‘Warrant Officer Class 2 Hyde has been involved in thirteen Improvised Explosive Device (lED) incidents and seven casualty extractions. Of these incidents six have blown up the vehicle he was in, three have been near misses and four have been strikes onto vehicles in the resupply convoy he was commanding. In addition to this his vehicle has sustained a direct hit with a 107 mm rocket which peppered him with shrapnel. Hyde has personally overseen the medical evacuation of ten members of the company group. In an area later found to be littered with lEDs and with no thought for his own safety, Hyde retrieved the casualty of an IED strike which had also critically injured the section commander. Hyde took command of the section, applied first aid and then evacuated the two casualties to a helicopter landing site in under 35 minutes. Hyde has repeatedly been at hand to treat, reassure and extract casualties. During the tour, Hyde has also been involved in the treatment and extraction of four mortally injured local children and numerous critically wounded locals. Hyde’s selfless commitment and bravery in the face of continued enemy attack have been an inspiration, displaying exemplary gallantry, determination and his utter selflessness.’

This book would not have been possible without the cooperation, courage, generosity and patience of a large number of people, both civilian and from within the military establishment.

Sitting at the top of the list of those to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude is my agent, Humphrey Hunter. Quite simply, if it were not for Humphrey I would not have written
Bomb Hunters
, a book of which I am deeply proud. Humphrey became a friend and confidant, who, thankfully, also possesses the unique ability to treat me as though I were his only author. He was and remains always on hand for a friendly word of advice or an ear in which to moan, sometimes almost daily.

I would also offer my heartfelt thanks to Iain MacGregor, the editorial director for
Bomb Hunters
, for his inspiration, creativity, his ability to gently cajole, and also for keeping the faith during the brief occasions when I was in doubt. My deepest thanks also extend to the team at HarperCollins for their professionalism, enthusiasm and dedication in seeing the project through to its end. Richard Dawes, the copy-editor, also deserves to be singled out for special mention for his forensic examination of the manuscript.

Research for
Bomb Hunters
was primarily undertaken during several visits to southern Afghanistan, specifically the Sangin and Nad-e’Ali areas in Helmand, between August 2008 and March 2010. My great friend Rupert Hamer, who was tragically killed in Helmand in January 2010 while reporting for the
Sunday Mirror
, once said to me, ‘To report the war you have to see the war.’ His vision of war reporting became the abiding philosophy underpinning this book.

Helmand remains an area too dangerous for journalists to work in without the support, assistance and protection of NATO forces.
Bomb Hunters
would not be the book it is today if I had not been able to visit Helmand and interview and accompany soldiers performing their duties on the front line.

From the Army I would like to single out for specific mention: WO2 Gary O’Donnell GM and Bar, 11 EOD Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, killed in action September 2008; Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes GC, 11 EOD Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps; WO2 Karl ‘Badger’ Ley GM, 11 EOD Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps; Staff Sergeant Gareth ‘Woody’ Wood MC, 11 EOD Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps; Lieutenant Craig Shephard MC, Grenadier Guards; Lieutenant Colonel Roly Walker DSO, Grenadier Guards; Major Richard Green, Grenadier Guards; Captain John Donaldson, Irish Guards (serving with Grenadier Guards); Colonel Gareth Collett, Royal Logistic Corps, head of Army Bomb Disposal. Also, all ranks of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, who fed, watered and kept me safe, and Colonel Huw Parry-Jones of the Ministry of Defence’s Public Relations (Army). Thanks also to Toni O’Donnell and Lorraine Read, widows of WO2 Gary O’Donnell and Captain Dan Read respectively.

My deepest thanks are also extended to all ranks of the Joint Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group on Operation Herrick 11, the majority of whom spoke with unflinching honesty about life on the front line, and who were willing to allow me to accompany them on operations and generally get in the way.

From the Ministry of Defence I would like to thank James Shelly, the Head of News of the Directorate Media and Communications, who, with unerring foresight, identified problems before their arrival and helped negotiate the book’s passage around and through the perilous waters of operational security. My thanks also to Sonja Hall of the Directorate Media and Communications and her small team of civil servants, who had the unenviable task of ensuring that all operational security, factual and personal security issues were identified and resolved.

I am grateful to Professor Sheila M. Bird of the MRC Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge for providing figures on combat deaths in Afghanistan.

I would also like to thank the brilliant photo-journalist Heathcliff O’Malley for the kind use of his photographs.

Lastly I would like to thank my wife Clodagh and my sons Luca and Rafe for never complaining when I wasn’t the attentive husband or the playful daddy during the period in which this book was researched and written.

AH –
attack helicopter

AK-47 –
Kalashnikov 7.62-mm assault rifle

AT –
Ammunition Technician

ATO –
Ammunition Technical Officer

BCR –
battle casualty replacement

CBA –
combat body armour

Chinook –
RAF twin-propeller helicopter

CIED –
counter-IED

det –
detonator

Dragnov –
Russian sniper rifle

ECM –
electronic counter-measures

EOD –
Explosive Ordnance Disposal

FOB –
forward operating base

FSG –
Fire Support Group

FST –
Fire Support Team

GPMG –
general-purpose machine gun

HLS –
helicopter landing site

HME –
home-made explosive

HMG –
heavy machine gun

HRF –
High Readiness Force

IED –
improvised explosive device

ICP –
incident control point

IEDD –
improvised explosive device disposal

ISTAR –
Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance

JF –
Joint Force

KIA –
killed in action

MERT –
medical emergency response team

Mastiff –
wheeled armoured personnel carrier

Merlin –
RAF helicopter

M-Kill –
mobility kill (when an IED disables a vehicle)

O-group –
Orders group (where orders for an operation are issued)

PB –
patrol base

PE –
plastic explosive

PPR –
personal role radio

R&R –
Rest and Recuperation

REMF –
rear-echelon motherfucker

Ridgeback –
four-wheeled variant of Mastiff

RLC –
Royal Logisitc Corps

RSOI –
Reception, Staging and Onward Movement Integration

SA80 –
standard-issue British Army rifle

SF –
special forces

SH –
support helicopter

UGL –
underslung grenade launcher

terp –
interpreter

VP –
vulnerable point

Warrior –
British Army tracked armoured carrier

WIS –
Weapons Intelligence Section

WO1 –
Warrant Officer Class 1