Gurkha: Better to Die than Live a Coward: My Life in the Gurkhas
Page 18
‘Roger. Will keep covering within arcs,’ I replied.
It was beginning to feel a bit like we were on a firing range.
‘There couldn’t be more,’ said Nagen disbelievingly. ‘Not really there couldn’t.’
‘Well we’ve got about another four and a half minutes to wait before we find out.’
They passed in an agony of breathless tension.
Was it possible? Was it really, really possible? It was hard to believe. I couldn’t even account for the three kills we’d already had, let alone a possible fourth. Surely they’d change tactics? What possible reason could there be for falling for the same mistake time after time?
The only thing I could think of was that maybe these were recruits new to the area. Maybe they didn’t know the ground. Or maybe it really was fatalism. They actually thought that Allah had decided this was what they must do, and if it was his will they should die tonight, so be it.
Judging by what I had seen of the Afghans so far, this didn’t seem completely impossible. And it did seem to fit with some other things I saw subsequently. I remember on a later tour of Afghanistan – Op Herrick 14 in 2011 – hearing about some Gurkhas coming across an Afghan position at night where every single one of the guys was asleep. I wasn’t too surprised to hear that every single one of those same guys was found dead on their position a few days later. They just didn’t seem to care.
The minutes came and went in another agony of anticipation. No, nothing. That must be it. But the question was, what was coming next? We realised something serious must be coming.
‘All right, bhai haru. I don’t think we’re going to see any more,’ I said.
Silence followed as we looked out over the empty roads and buildings, our nerves taut, every sinew straining.
‘It’s ten to one now,’ said Gaaz after a while. ‘Could be their start time was exactly half past midnight. Do you think the next phase will begin at zero one hundred hours?’
I liked the way Gaaz worked things out like that. He was going to make a very effective NCO one day, and it seemed quite likely he was right. There was no doubt something was about to happen. The fact that there were all those vehicle movements earlier, followed by the leopard-crawlers, meant that positions were definitely being occupied. It only remained to be seen what the enemy were going to do next.
We didn’t have much longer to wait. A minute or two later, a call came in from Sangar 6 over the PRR.
‘Zero, this is Sangar Six. Contact! Pax approaching from the west. Less than one hundred metres.’
‘Zero, roger. Is he armed?’
‘Not seen.’
‘OK, just let him have a couple of warning shots. Make sure you don’t hit him, all right?’
‘Sangar Six, roger out.’
Immediately, two rifle shots rang out – followed less than ten seconds later by a loud explosion nearby.
Aye! What was that?
I just had time to realise that Sangar 6 had been hit when, in the next instant, all the fires of hell erupted round us.
12
All the Fires of Hell
‘C-O-N-T-A-C-T! R-P-G! I SAY AGAIN RPG!’ The riflemen in Sangar 6 sounded seriously shaken up.
‘Zero, roger. Are you OK in there? Any casualties?’
‘No casualties … Am observing.’
‘Zero, roger.’
A moment later, the sky itself seemed to short-circuit. Streams of fire crackled and spat through the air in bright, malevolent streaks, criss-crossing above and around us.
Aare! This was really serious.
We ducked down, too stunned to say anything at first. I think my heart didn’t just miss one beat but ten. The noise was intense. The rounds thudding into the sangar position sounded like the drumming of Himalayan rains on a tin roof – you think the sky is falling all round you. Only this was louder, and worse. But it wasn’t just the sound – you could feel the whole position vibrating with the weight of fire.
Coming to my senses, I grabbed the field telephone.
‘ZEROSANGARONECONTACTWAITOUT!’
‘Zero, roger. Are you OK in there?’ Rex sahib’s voice was calm and controlled.
‘All right for now. But fire is very heavy. We’re keeping our heads down,’ I replied, catching my breath.
‘OK, as soon as you can, return fire.’
‘Roger.’
Then I heard Sangar 3 come up on the PRR to me.
‘SANGAR ONE, THIS IS SANGAR THREE. CONTACT! POSITION UNCERTAIN. OBSERVING!’
‘Roger,’ I replied. ‘Which direction? Any idea?’
‘Can’t say.’
I could hear the tension in Lance Corporal Shree’s voice.
‘OK. Let me know as soon as you see anything. Get some rounds down as soon as you can. But remember your arcs.’
‘Roger, out.’
I passed on the message from Sangar 3 to HQ, shouting to make my voice heard above the noise.
Now what? I had to take a look, no matter what the risk. There could be a raiding party.
Flicking my HMNVS down, I wriggled forward and raised my head for a few seconds to see if there was any movement. No, all I could see was an empty street. But as I did so, the weight of fire increased even more.
‘Ayo jatha!’ I shouted, dropping back down under cover. ‘Bloody hell!’
I could just make out the features on Nagen and Gaaz’s faces. They were both looking at me wide-eyed. As soon as I’d shown my head above the sandbags, the thud of rounds hitting the position had multiplied still further.
The field telephone rang.
‘Enemy fire position identified in treeline to north. Are you able to engage?’ It was Mathers sahib.
‘Will try,’ I replied, then gave orders. ‘OK, bhai haru. We’re going to have to do something. Here, Gaaz, let me take the jimpy.’
Putting my SA80 down, I crawled over him to get to the GPMG and put my head up just enough to be able to take aim.
Pulling the stock into my shoulder and looking through my nightsight at the same time, I started to scan. But before I could identify the target, I gasped at a sudden flash of white light. There was a loud explosion, as the whole position shook and the sangar filled with smoke.
RPG!
For a second I was too stunned to move, my head spinning and my ears ringing. Another one of those and it felt like the sangar could be blown apart.
For the first time, I was truly afraid.
‘Guruji,’ said Gaaz quite quietly – his face only inches from mine – ‘we’re gonna die. We are, aren’t we?’
He’s right, I thought.
We probably are.
But then again—
what are we?
We are GURKHAS!
‘KAPHAR HUNNU BHANDA MARNU RAMRO!’ I shouted.
‘KAPHAR HUNNU BHANDA MARNU RAMRO!’ Nagen yelled in reply.
‘KAPHAR HUNNU BHANDA MARNU RAMRO!’ Gaaz shouted at the top of his voice.
This is the Gurkha motto. ‘It is better to die than be a coward.’
‘So come on, bhai haru,’ I said, ‘it doesn’t matter if we do. We need to get some rounds down. Then who knows? Maybe we won’t die after all.’
Saying these words, I threw myself forward to the sandbags and again put my head up just enough to be able to take aim in the direction of the tracer climbing towards us. Squeezing the trigger, it felt good to be doing something about our situation.
A second later, Gaaz was up and firing the SA80 with the change lever set to automatic and Nagen, back in his position on the side looking out over the bazaar, began to lay down suppressive fire with the Minimi.
The enemy was on to us straight away and the incoming fire became even more intense. But we had to keep going. If we did not respond, there was nothing to stop them sending an assault party forward. They could be on top of us in less than a minute.
Ladders …
RPG at point-blank range …
Grenades through the letter box …
‘The jatha! I’m gonna get that bastard!’ cried Gaaz.
Both of us had seen the direction the round had come from, not more than two to three hundred metres away, and together we began to engage the area.
We hadn’t fired more than a few bursts before I became aware of the field telephone ringing. I let it ring a few more times. If I answered, it meant holding fire. On the other hand, I needed to let the OC know we were OK.
‘Gaaz, you take over on the GPMG. I need to answer this.’
We swapped weapons and, moving to the back of the sangar, I picked up the phone and pushed back one of my earphones.
‘SANGAR ONE?’
‘Are you OK in there, Kailash?’ The OC’s voice was full of concern.
‘YES OK. WE ARE ENGAGING TARGETS TO NORTH!’ I shouted, registering only that the OC had heard me before slamming down the receiver. There would be time for a nice conversation later – or not. Either way, I needed to get back behind my weapon. I was just in time to see yet another burst of light hurtling towards us.
Aayo! This could be third time lucky for them.
Because of the RPG’s low muzzle velocity, there’s enough time to clock where the round is coming from and still be able to duck before impact. And time to realise this could be your last second alive.
Pshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—
Fortunately this one went over the top of us, but how much longer before they got lucky? At anything less than 200 metres range, it is just about impossible to miss a target with this weapon. Maybe they weren’t that close yet, but unless we hit back, it wouldn’t be long before they got one through the letter box.
‘Come on, Gaaz, let’s tell them we’re still here,’ I yelled as, scrambling back into position, I took aim.
But my words were wasted. He was already sending down successive short bursts of fire in the direction it came from.
‘Reckon it definitely came from somewhere over there, guruji,’ he said.
This time using the CWS, I looked carefully at where Gaaz’s tracer was hitting. You can fit the Common Weapon Sight to the SA80, but generally I preferred to use it for scanning like a pair of binos. It’s more usable that way. I saw that his rounds were falling just short of one of the AOIs in the treeline.
‘You’re off target!’ I shouted. ‘Go up a bit! Watch my tracer!’
So saying, I took careful aim with my SA80 and zapped it with the laser. This is visible using the nightsight as a thin bright beam, like a white pencil light.
‘OK, got it, guruji!’ he shouted.
It was impossible to be sure of the enemy’s exact position. All you got looking through the sight were streams of bright dots heading towards you, but there was no point putting rounds down in the desert.
Leaving Gaaz to it, I went over to Nagen. The weight of fire coming in at us was still very heavy, but it was now clear most of it was coming from the north and the region of Smuggler’s House.
‘Anything seen down there?’
‘Nothing, guruji.’
‘In that case, come over next to Gaaz. I’ll cover this side. We need to get some more rounds down on the treeline. He’s definitely in there,’ I said. The only good thing to be said about the situation was that there was no problem with ROE. When you’re being shot at, there’s nothing to stop you shooting back – and in this situation no civvies in the area to worry about either.
We had just swapped positions with Nagen settling down when, all of a sudden, Gaaz let out a yelp.
‘Guruji!’ he exclaimed. ‘Look! Over there!’
I looked over. He was pointing in the direction of Smuggler’s House.
‘There must be twenty of them!’ he went on excitedly as I scrambled back over with the CWS and looked in the direction he was pointing.
‘Aare jatha!’ He was right. No more than 200 metres away, I could clearly see a group of men in at least half-platoon strength. My heart-rate rocketed.
‘ZERO, THIS IS SANGAR ONE. CONTACT! ENEMY IN AT LEAST HALF-PLATOON STRENGTH ADVANCING FROM THE NORTH. RANGE TWO HUNDRED METRES MAXIMUM.’
‘Zero, roger. Are they armed?’
‘Not clear. But they are definitely headed in this direction.’
‘Roger. Over to you. Keep me informed.’
I slammed the field telephone down and got myself in position ready to fire as soon as I was sure they were armed. Meanwhile the bhais were shouting at me.
‘What did he say, guruji?’
‘Can we fire?’
‘No, hold on. Let them get a bit closer. We need to be able to see their weapons.’ We needed to be absolutely certain we were engaging legitimate targets.
I pulled down my HMNVS again and looked in the direction of Smuggler’s House.
Aare! Where were they? They had disappeared from view. Disaster! The jathas had completely vanished from sight!
‘Gaaz! Where have they gone? Did you see where they went?’
‘They were definitely heading for Smuggler’s. I was just adjusting my HMNVS …’
I barely had time to report this development to the OC before there was a sudden massive increase in the weight of fire. Grabbing the field telephone, I yelled into it: ‘ZERO, THIS IS SANGAR ONE. ENEMY HAVE GONE FROM VIEW. INTO SMUGGLER’S HOUSE, I THINK.’
That must be exactly what happened. In fact it’s my opinion now that they had their weapons and ammunition all laid out ready for them in the ruins of the old school building. A clever tactic. They must have guessed we wouldn’t engage them if we couldn’t see them actually carrying weapons.
So now what?
‘OK, bhai haru,’ I shouted. ‘We need to hit their position with everything we’ve got. When I give the word, we all go up at once. Nagen, you go in the middle, I’ll stay on the end so that I can get over to the bazaar side if necessary.’
‘Ready, guruji,’ they both said together.
‘All right, GO!’ I shouted.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Gaaz was up again and letting rip with the GPMG while Nagen got going with the LSW.
‘Remember, controlled bursts!’ I shouted. ‘Go for the obvious. The windows, the doorways.’
For the next minute or two, we just concentrated on getting fire down onto the building. Every so often, I paused to scramble over to the bazaar side and quickly check down there to make sure there wasn’t anyone in the area. If the enemy was going to assault us, that was the side he’d be forming up on, as he could get to within a few metres of our position without having to expose himself.
Just then, Sangar 3 came up on the PRR.
‘Sangar One, this is Sangar Three. Enemy fire position identified approx one hundred and fifty metres north of your position. Muzzle flash and smoke.’
‘Sangar One, roger. Is it within your arc?’
‘Position is not within my arc. Also we are taking accurate fire on the .50-cal. They’ve got us fixed. Unable to use.’
‘Roger. In that case concentrate on what you can do. Can you give an exact grid of that fire position?’
For a few tense moments, Lance Corporal Shree was silent while he worked out the position on the map. I kept looking. ‘Sangar One, this is Sangar Three. Grid, over.’
‘Go ahead.’
As my section 2 i/c gave me the grid reference, I plotted it directly on my map.
‘Roger. Will engage as soon as identified.’
I then relayed the information to the OC.
‘Zero, roger. Well done. Keep me posted.’
These exchanges look quite calm written down like this, but in reality they were mostly shouted and interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Only the OC’s voice hardly changed from normal.
‘OK, bhai haru!’ I shouted, taking out my compass. ‘We need to get onto that position ASAP.’
There was just enough ambient light to be able to take a bearing. First I looked at my map and marked the grid reference Lance Corporal Shree had given. Then I worked out what the bearing of the position would be. Finally I checked it against my compass.
‘It’s just beyond that building over there!’ I shouted at last, aiming my weapon at it and letting fly a short burst of tracer. ‘OK seen,’ said Gaaz. ‘Shall I engage, guruji?’
‘Fire at will,’ I replied before continuing to Nagen. ‘OK, bhai, bring the Minimi over this side and engage the same target. I’ll keep on at Smuggler’s House.’
The sound inside the sangar reached a crescendo as the second machine gun opened up and the smell of oil and cordite filled the air.
‘Gaaz, how’s your ammo?’ I demanded.
‘Still plenty,’ he replied between bursts.
‘Barrel?’ I readied the spare as I was speaking.
‘Good for another hundred rounds I’d say.’
‘OK, let me know when you want to switch and I’ll bring it over.’
In the meantime, I picked up the oil can we kept at the ready and poured a good amount over the firing mechanism.
‘That should help too.’
Gaaz nodded. I turned to Nagen.
‘OK, bhai?’
‘OK, guruji.’
‘Seen anything definite?’
Of course he hadn’t, otherwise he’d have said something, but I asked all the same.
‘Nothing, guruji,’ he replied in between bursts.
‘OK, I’m just going to take a look over here again with the nightsight,’ I said.
The contact had been going on for probably around twenty minutes, and the sky was still deadly, with tracer criss-crossing above and around our position. Sangar 3 and the CT were also still taking a beating. But I began to get the impression that it was slightly less. Maybe not much, but a bit. This was good news if you read it that our fire was having some effect. But if it meant the enemy was now moving forward for an assault, then it was not a good sign.
I got myself in position next to Nagen and flicked my nightsight on. It was frustrating because this sangar, as well as being the most exposed, did not have a very good view close in. If I climbed out onto the platform in front, I’d get a better view.