At this point, I wanted to be back in the action, so went back to where Jay was still busy firing away up on the roof. He shouted down, ‘Got any more magazines, mate?’ I threw them up to him as he tossed down some empty magazines, which I began to reload. As I did so, I called up and asked, ‘Have you got anyone yet?’ He told me that he was trying to take out one guy in particular; at that moment, there was a loud crack and a bullet smashed into the side of the wall to the right of where he was lying. The path of the round had clearly only just missed him so crawled back on his belly and eventually dropped down off the roof, explaining that there was an enemy sniper out there who he was trying to locate. We worked out that the round had come from the left, so I took my rifle and rangefinders and moved round to the side of the building. I was trying to see over the open ground and observed one or two buildings in the distance.
I could not see any movement, so lined up my rangefinders, zapped the distance and then checked the roofs and looked into the windows of each building. I then moved up to an archway and on to a bit of a rise from where I looked across to one of a number of water butts on top of a building where someone indicated that they were sure a man was positioned. I put a few rounds to either side of this to see if I could produce some movement, but nothing happened. There was a wall behind which the Taliban were moving and every now and then we would see an AK-47 pop up and fire over, but it was pretty much firing blind. The enemy sniper was still out there and I wanted to find him, so kept looking towards the left hand side. Even though he clearly was not the best of shots, or he would have hit Jay, he obviously could move really well and was proving difficult to locate. Another crack rang out, indicating he was still there. Eventually the call came for us to pull out of there and, as we were doing this, we came across a tunnel. We had grenades at the ready to throw down it while a sapper rigged up a bar mine to blow the tunnel which collapsed at our end, so preventing the Taliban from using it and coming up behind us as we pulled back.
On the next patrol, we were tasked with clearing the village of Shomali Gulbah. It was a similar story, with me up on to a roof alongside 7 Platoon with Josh Lee and Private ‘Ronnie’ Barker. The three of us were moving in and around of these domes that were like giant Smarties tubes cut in half and laid on top of the roof, about a metre or so high. There was a row of trees in front of us, so I was trying to position myself to lay fire down into this area, because we could see the flashes of the weapons as the Taliban fired.
At that point, I heard the distinctive sound of that enemy sniper rifle once more. I knew it was being fired from quite some distance this time, as the length of the pause between the crack of the bullet passing to my left and the thump of the noise of the weapon being fired gave this away. Ronnie and I thought that the sniper’s tactics were that, once the main body of Taliban guys engaged us and bogged us down, he would move out to the open area to our left and fire from there. I manoeuvred myself around even more to the left, with Ronnie joining me to help look for the sniper, while Josh Lee concentrated on the buildings in front of us. I gave Ronnie my rangefinders so he could have a good look while I prepared my L96. I looked through the scope and focused on a building in the distance to use as my average range, which I set at 400 metres; if anything came up within that range, I would have to aim lower.
As I set myself up, Ronnie and I were spotted by the sniper. There was a sudden crack as a round whizzed past my face; it was so close I could feel the wind from it, making me jolt my head backwards. Ronnie hit the deck and we both had our bellies on the floor as we looked at each other thinking, ‘F..., that was close!’ We shouted for supporting fire and the calls went out, ‘Rapid Fire! Rapid Fire!’ to which Private Thrumble responded with his GPMG. The other machine gunners began to lay down fire too, along with Josh Lee. Meanwhile, we crawled off that roof as fast as we could. That was another close call and I remembered what Robbo had said previously about a sniper popping up before and that they had dug out one of the rounds that had embedded itself in to the wall. It was one of the rare times the enemy used a .50 calibre round. The rumours circulated that the sniper might have been a Chechyen because the Taliban don’t normally have access to that kind of kit. If the Taliban were going to use any kind of sniper rifle against us, it would more than likely be a Dragunov which fires a 7.62mm calibre round and not a .50.
On another occasion, we were pushing up towards Masdurak at night, just to see if we could catch anyone out moving around in the dark. We had been out for a good two or three hours and had moved back towards the southern side of Shrine Hill. There was a relatively prominent dusty road which ran from east to west and we were moving along this road towards the west of Shrine Hill. Suddenly the OP’s voice came over the radio and said, ‘Stop! Stop, stop! There are enemy behind you.’ These were unidentified and were possibly Taliban following us up the road. It appeared that they were halting whenever we went firm, this being an indication they were definitely following and watching us.
We moved swiftly off the track and into a deep crater, caused by an exploding bomb, where we positioned ourselves and observed back towards the east. There were two platoons out on patrol that night, so it was decided that one of the platoons should take up position within the few compounds that ran adjacent to the road on the southern side while we remained in the crater. Teddy and I were working together on this patrol and I had my SA80 rifle fitted with a CWS and my radio, while Teddy had his .338 rifle equipped with night optics. We waited and watched in the darkness.
The commander of 7 Platoon, Lieutenant Seal-Coon, pointed out Shrine Hill to our left and a crumbling ruin just to our rear and said, ‘Do you want to get up there with Teddy while we cover you from down here?.’ We would be able to see further from up high so we gathered ourselves to get up there. I asked the boss if I could borrow a VIPIR thermal imaging sight, so I would be able to see the same images as the guys who had initially radioed the information and he agreed. The sight can be attached to the SA80 rifle and you can set it to show heat sources in white or in black; in white, all the terrain and rocks around us would show up in black, but anything hot like bodies, or car exhaust pipes for example would show up in white with everything else being various shades of grey. It really does give one a good image in the dark, but you have the option to change this around and have the heat sources showing up in black with the cold items in white and the other shades of grey. I always preferred white hot as previously I had used the larger and bulkier ‘Sophie’ unit which was similar to a pair of binoculars.
The guy from whom I borrowed the VIPIR had not zeroed the sight to his SA80 as he was using it in the kind of hand-held role instead. Anyway, I took it, briefed Teddy on what we were going to do and we began making our way to the ruin. As we did so, we received a running commentary on the guys following us. They had not moved since our patrol had halted and moved off the track, so as Teddy and I moved towards the ruins, we kept very low to ensure they could not see us.
We scrambled up through the ruin on our hands and knees, turning right at the back of the building and taking a narrow trail towards the higher ground that lay to the rear from which we would able to look down on the entire area. We moved very slowly and carefully as we did not want to dislodge any loose debris or the odd boulder and give away our position. When we arrived at a point where we felt comfortable, Teddy positioned himself three metres to the right of me. We communicated by whispering into our respective PRRs, rather than trying to talk normally. Teddy sorted himself out but could not see anything through his night vision kit. I took out my rangefinders and tried to give him the ranges he needed. Despite only just being able to make out the buildings around 500 to 600 metres away, I managed to zap them and record the ranges. I called the OPs on the radio and they confirmed that they could see us. I then asked if they could tell me roughly how far we were from the enemy, so I could narrow down the range and get them in my sights. They told us that the Taliban were closer to us than the buildings I h
ad zapped and were actually only around 300 or 400 metres away. Teddy set his rifle’s scope to 300, took off his safety catch and waited for any kind of movement.
I was using the VIPIR, but still could not see anything of interest. I had been told that the enemy were now moving south towards the track. This gave me a good point of reference, so I kept observing and then suddenly could just see them and now had them in my sights. There were two figures who appeared to me were crawling rather than walking. Teddy said that they looked more like dogs. I agreed and radioed the OP which was convinced they were real people and not dogs; at the same time I also heard from the patrol commander who was asking me what we could see. I could only say what I saw and said that I was 95% sure it was two dogs. The OP was asking if I was sure and I responded by saying that I was a lot closer to the heat signatures and could say that I was almost 100% sure they were dogs as they were moving too fast. Surprise, surprise, shortly afterwards I saw two wagging tails as they approached us and realised they were our platoon’s two adopted dogs, Tangye and Charlie, who had clearly followed our scent. The patrol continued heading back to base without further incident.
A few days later we were patrolling up near Masdurak and this time I had been placed with Corporal Si Thorn’s section in 5 Platoon. We made our way up through the broken buildings and had been around Masdurak so many times now that we pretty much knew what to expect. We did not bother throwing in grenades because by this stage we had managed to increase the buffer zone between us and the Taliban whom we had pushed back beyond Masdurak and as far away from the dam as possible. As a result, it had become more like a routine as we swept through, patrolling these areas with everyone knowing each alleyway and doorway and generally knowing exactly what to do. We moved through swiftly, remaining vigilant all the time. We moved through to the other side of Masdurak. On this occasion we were deployed as flank protection on the westerly side as the main body went through. The guys we were covering were going in to clear a place called Chinah. Further to the right hand side we had the WMIKs and the gun line up on what we called Essex Hill, looking down into a village called Risaji. We were all in our positions and my guys readied themselves on the western flank as B Company, which was the main group, moved in.
Meanwhile, we had received intelligence that a couple of Taliban sentries had been cut off from the main group. They had been out there resting up and had fallen asleep as we had moved into our positions under the cover of night and cut them off. We were to hunt them down.
We could hear the small arms fire starting and the mortars joining in off to the right as the main group went in. Si Thorn and I remained in position, chatting away to kill time while listening to the radio reports of a heavy engagement. As we did so, we saw some civilians that we did not want to come too close so we decided that a couple of shots would serve as a warning to keep them out of the way. There was a telegraph pole about 600 metres away in the same area and Si bet me ten US dollars that I could not hit it with one shot. I readied myself for our little challenge and took my shot. Both of us hearing the ping as my bullet hit the pole. Laughing, I claimed my ten dollars as Si then challenged me to hit the telegraph wire. I gave it a go but missed. Someone, meanwhile, had heard my shots and radioed in asking if we were okay, which, of course, we were. In any event, the shots had the required effect on the civvies who legged it safely out of danger.
My target practice also produced another unexpected result. I had sited myself back up on one of the rooftops so I could carry on observing some buildings a few hundred metres away. I had dialled the range of 200 metres into the scope on my rifle and began looking through it into each window and door, searching for any movement. As I observed an open doorway, it was suddenly filled by a Taliban sentry wearing a green robe, black waistcoat and the tell-tale black turban, with an AK-47 in his hands and a couple of RPG rounds standing up over his shoulder. I already had my safety catch off and so lined him up and squeezed the trigger. He dropped immediately, the impact of the bullet pushing him back through the doorway. We followed the shot up by firing a couple of 40mm grenades from a UGL into the doorway in case he was not alone. We then fired two more through the windows to make absolutely sure. We then radioed in and said, ‘We have spotted an enemy sentry and have engaged with one confirmed dead with possibly more, stand by.’ We then fired more 40mm grenades into the building for around another thirty seconds before asking for permission to go down there and check the buildings. This was refused and we were told to remain in position. We stayed there without further incident and then eventually moved back, continuing to give flanking cover to B Company after the operation had been successfully carried out.
On another occasion we were on patrol again out to the north of Kajaki, but this time Teddy and I rode in the back of one of the WMIKs. We needed to get up on to Essex Ridge to offer sniper cover from there as we had been receiving a considerable amount of fire from the Taliban in the village of Risaji. A couple of shell scrapes had already been dug on the ridge by either C Company or the Marines before them, so they could position a gun line there for the GPMGs. We had Jay with us and were more than happy to have him along to give us a hand. Behind the ridge were the WMIKs so that we could use the extra fire support of the .50 heavy machine mounted on the back of them. They would be ready and able to reverse up to the ridgeline just behind us to fire over our heads and the crest of the hill down into Risaji if we needed them to do so. I positioned myself in one of the shell scrapes, while Teddy and Jay took the other further 40 or 50 metres away to my right.
Our guys went in with supporting mortar fire using a mixture of HE and smoke bombs. As we looked down into Risaji, we dialled in the range of the nearest buildings which lay around 500 metres away. All of a sudden, we came under heavy fire from an RPD, a belt-fed 7.62mm calibre machine gun which equates roughly to our own GPMG. We all hit the floor but after a few seconds I realised the fire was concentrating to my right, with bullets impacting and ricocheting in and around Teddy’s and Jay’s shell scrape. I put my head above the parapet and tried to look for the enemy firing position and could just make out the tell-tale small puffs of dust coming from a building around 400 metres away. There were two compounds with several trees around them and a long wall separating the two buildings by around 60 or 70 metres. I fired two rounds into the where the dust was coming from, my aim being to warn them, through the distinctive crack and thump sound of my L96 rifle, that they were under fire from a sniper.
My ploy worked as the firing stopped after my second shot. I was yelling, ‘Teddy, Teddy! Are you okay?’ All of a sudden, I saw a thumb briefly appear from the shell scrape and equally swiftly vanish again, which made me crack up laughing. Jay shouted out, ‘Did you see where it came from?’ To which I replied, ‘Yeah, building to the right, building to the right! About 400 metres away. I put a few rounds in.’
Teddy and Jay then peered over the rim of their shell and, as they did so, I came under fire. The Taliban had shifted position and now it was my turn. I could hear the whistle and hiss of bullets and slammed myself on to the floor of my shell scrape as they flew literally inches from my head. I adopted the foetal position with my rifle next to me as bullets thudded into the ground and ricocheted all over the place. All I could do was curl up and make myself as small as possible while screaming, ‘F...ing hell! F...ing hell!’ at the top of my lungs. Every time I tried to breathe in, I choked on the dust thrown up by the bullets all around me and I could only see dust and shards of stones. Things were pinging off my helmet and body armour and my body clenched and tightened up every time something hit me. Although it only lasted for around ten seconds, it seemed to last for hours and hours.
Like I had before, Teddy and Jay had spotted the Taliban position and fired a handful of rounds, which forced the enemy to cease fire. The role reversal continued as they then called out to me, ‘JC, JC! Are you all right?.’ I raised my trembling, shaking thumb and quickly brought it back down, hearing them hear them bot
h laughing as I did so. I cracked up myself, as though someone had told me the funniest joke ever. Eventually, I succeeded in forcing my trembling hands to put a cigarette in my mouth and light it. It took all of my inner strength to pull myself back up and put my head back over the parapet as a potential target once more.
By this time the WMIKs had reversed up the hill and were now laying down fire over our heads and down into the area with their .50 heavy machine guns. This took the pressure off us, so we could start observing and firing at likely targets. After around two or three more hours, we clambered out of our respective shell scrapes and into the back of the WMIKs. I can’t speak for the others, but I certainly went back to FOB Zeebrugge with slightly wobbly legs that day.
CHAPTER 16
Kajaki II
We had to patrol to the south as well as the north, and on this occasion I went south with Sergeant Chris Caneper of 5 Platoon with whom I had worked previously. We were pushing the Taliban back towards their headquarters in the south, which we had already identified, and were to the West of the 611 road which ran from Kajaki all the way down into the Sangin Valley. We were in the WMIKs and Pinzgauer vehicles, which took us all the way down to the Afghan police checkpoint situated where the Helmand River turns sharply at a 90 degree angle southwards. There they dropped us off.
The Green Zone was between the Helmand River and the 611 road and we were pushing down on the eastern side of the 611. To the rear of us were two WMIKs deployed up on the ridgeline and behind them were the OPs Sparrow-Hawks East and West which could provide overhead supporting fire with their .50 heavy machine guns and Javelin missiles if necessary. We also had air cover as we pushed further south, passing by ruined buildings, in area which had witnessed so much fighting over the years. We needed to keep parallel with B Company as it was engaged in a heavy contact, so we were slowing up as we made our way through alleyways and buildings while ensuring that B Company was not flanked from our side. To our left was rocky mountainous ground that had been mined during the Russian occupation but, after years of movement in the ground, known as ‘mine migration’, there was no way of knowing the exact location of the mines so we had to tread with great care.
Sniper in Helmand: Six Months on the Frontline Page 15