Gurkha

by Kailash Limbu

  Taking care to keep his head down as he dismounted the weapon, Nagen repositioned the Minimi next to Gaaz.

  The enemy onslaught was still intense, and the air inside the sangar was thick with gunsmoke, cold sweat and dust, but when Gaaz was firing the jimpy and Nagen had the Minimi going, I got the impression there weren’t as many rounds coming towards us. It was hard to be sure, but it seemed our efforts were having some effect.

  I was wrong. A call over the PRR made me realise that the enemy had turned their heaviest weapons on the CT. They were trying to take out the .50-cal. As it turned out, Rifleman Nabin – who was manning it – was actually struck on the helmet, though luckily only a glancing blow. Stunned, he took time out to smoke a cigarette before getting back to work. Sangar 3’s .50-cal was also taking a lot of very accurate fire. So even though our position might be under a bit less pressure, the other bhais were really struggling.

  I grabbed the field telephone to give another quick sitrep – it’s vital to keep the commander updated even if nothing has actually changed. He needs to know you are OK and still doing whatever you said you were doing.

  ‘Sunray, Sangar One. Sitrep. Still concentrating fire on Smuggler’s House. Engaging with GPMG and Minimi.’

  ‘Roger. Let me know if you see anyone breaking cover.’

  ‘Roger, out’

  ‘And be advised that both .50-cals are being pinned down.’

  ‘Roger.’

  It was a good tactic. If they could disable these, they would greatly reduce our capability.

  A moment later, there was a call on the PRR: ‘Charlie Charlie One, air assets will be overhead in approximately fifteen minutes. I say again, air assets in figures one five.’

  That was both good news and bad. Good news that they were getting closer – but bad news that we had no air support for at least that long. A lot can happen in fifteen minutes when you are under an attack as intense as this. The question now was, could we hold out that long?

  I threw myself back to the front of the sangar and took another look at the old school building. Gaaz and Nagen were right on target, but their fire was just not having enough effect on the amount of fire coming back at us.

  What about using the ILAW? I thought to myself. If I could land one in the right place, that might do it.

  ‘Zero, this is Sangar One. Suggest I deploy ILAW on Smuggler’s.’

  ‘Do you think you can?’

  ‘I’ll give it a try.’

  ‘Roger, out.’

  What I was going to have to do was climb out onto the roof and just ignore the incoming fire. I turned to the bhais.

  ‘Give me maximum weight of fire when I say go!’

  ‘You’re a brave man, guruji,’ Gaaz shouted.

  To be honest, I didn’t think so. I was just so frustrated, I’d have done anything to get a result.

  I’d never actually fired a live ILAW before – somebody once told me they cost over a hundred thousand dollars each, so practice was out of the question – but I knew the drills very well. The weapon was already out of its box, so it was just a question of pulling the safety pins out and aiming carefully.

  I put my SA80 down and crawled out onto the side of the roof and gave a quick call over the PRR.

  ‘Charlie Charlie One. Rapid fire on Smuggler’s. I’m going to fire the ILAW.’

  I’m sure the enemy saw me and did their best to get me, but all I was thinking about was engaging them. I just wanted to hit them as hard as I possibly could. I wanted the jatha dead, simple as that.

  Weighing about 7 kilos, the weapon is quite unwieldy, but once you get the shoulder strap on, it’s easier to handle.

  I brought the sight up and took aim. As I did so, to my heart-thumping delight, I caught a clear glimpse of several gun barrels poking out of the building wall. The enemy was in at least section strength in that one position. Well this is a present for you, I thought, as I squeezed the trigger.

  BLAM!

  The next thing I knew, I was sprawling on the floor, thrown down by the force, my head spinning. For a few seconds I just lay there, not knowing what was going on.

  Looking back, my first thought was, Bloody hell! I didn’t expect that!

  The noise had been incredible and the shock of the missile leaving its canister had caused the whole building to move.

  ‘Wow, guruji! I thought we’d been hit by mortar or RPG!’ said Gaaz afterwards. ‘The whole structure was swaying. I was certain the roof was going to collapse. Nagen thought we were under mortar fire.’

  ‘Guruji! Guruji! Are you OK?’ The two riflemen spoke at once, their voices full of concern.

  ‘I’m OK. Hang on. Coming back inside. Give me cover. Rapid fire!’

  Back inside, I grabbed my binos.

  ‘Check that out, bhai haru!’ I said as we watched the smoke billowing up in a huge, dirty cloud where the round had struck.

  For me, though, the worst thing – leaving aside the noise – was the fact that as the smoke cleared and I surveyed the scene I saw that the round had struck the base of the building and done hardly any damage at all.

  ‘Aayo! These Afghan walls. They’re just so thick.’

  ‘You’d better just wait for air support. A five-hundred-pounder will do it,’ said Gaaz.

  ‘No. I’m going to fire another one.’

  ‘You’re mad, guruji!’

  I ignored him.

  ‘Again I want rapid covering fire from all of you.’

  Picking up the field telephone, I notified the OC of my intentions. ‘Zero, this is Sangar One. Am going to have another go with ILAW.’

  ‘OK, Kailash, if you’re sure.’

  The fact that Rex sahib used my name in clear speech showed the seriousness of the situation.

  The only thing I wasn’t sure about was what to do for ear-defenders. The truth was, I’d forgotten them first time, and now I realised I didn’t know where I’d put them. But I could be deaf for life if I fired another one without any sort of protection.

  Looking round, I suddenly hit on the idea of using two spent 5.56 cases. I’d heard other people say they fitted perfectly and found that, sure enough, they did. Hurriedly inserting them, I went outside and took up my position. I don’t know whether having ear-defenders had anything to do with it, but this time the missile was exactly on target. As the smoke dispersed, I saw that the window I was aiming at had been replaced by a gaping hole.

  TARGET!

  I grabbed the field telephone.

  ‘Zero, this is Sangar One. TARGET!’

  ‘Yes, I can see. Well done, Kailash. Very good work.’

  But our joy was short-lived. It soon became clear that even if they had taken some casualties inside the school house, these jatha weren’t giving up. Scanning the building with my binos, I saw that they’d simply made another opening further along and were now firing from that! They were brave, you had to give them that.

  And the rounds continued to come, thudding into the sandbags and occasionally striking the roof supports. The enemy still wanted us dead, make no mistake. But the weight of fire was definitely less, so that was something.

  With both the section ILAWs now expended, we carried on suppressing the building with machine-gun and SA80 fire for several minutes until Rex sahib’s voice came up over the PRR.

  ‘All stations, this is Zero. Fast jet inbound, five minutes.’

  ‘Good news, guruji bhai haru. The OC says air support is coming. Five minutes.’

  ‘That’s so good, guruji,’ said Nagen. ‘Did he say what?’

  ‘A-10.’

  ‘Wow! This should be good.’

  ‘That’s really great, guruji! Now we’re going to get these jatha! Let’s see how they like this!’ exclaimed Gaaz.

  We were all really excited. None of us had seen an A-10 in action before, but we’d heard a lot about them. People said they were really effective.

  ‘But that doesn’t mean we can just stop, bhai haru! Come on, we’ve got to keep
at them. We don’t just give up because the air force is on its way. There’s still five minutes. We mustn’t let the enemy seize the initiative. You never know what’s going to happen. The aircraft could develop a fault at the last moment.’

  With these words, I opened up again with my SA80.

  This was something I found whenever the OC announced the imminent arrival of air support. The bhais would relax a bit, and I’d have to remind them to keep going. The point was, if the enemy could actually close with us, air support wasn’t going to be any use due to the danger of blue on blue.

  So for the next few minutes, we carried on looking and engaging every time we saw the brief flicker of muzzle flash or a wisp of smoke, until at last the OC gave confirmation of the jet’s arrival.

  ‘Charlie Charlie One. Fast jet inbound, thirty seconds. He’ll start by engaging Smuggler’s House.’

  We all looked up, straining our eyes and ears.

  ‘There he is!’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Over there! Circling!’

  Both riflemen were shouting at once.

  ‘Charlie Charlie One. A-10 will begin his run in twenty seconds.’

  ‘Can you see him, guruji?’

  ‘Yes I can.’

  Still just a tiny glinting dot in the sky, I could see him circling overhead.

  ‘Ten seconds. HEADS DOWN!’

  ‘Take cover, bhai haru!’ I yelled and Gaaz and Nagen got down, though I myself did not. I wanted to see it happen.

  Now he was beginning his descent. My spirit soared. These jatha were about to get a big surprise!

  ‘Five seconds.’

  We were all excited, but I was a little bit frightened too, I have to admit. If they hit us by mistake, that was the end, no question. I’d heard about blue on blue contacts from the air in previous conflicts and realised how much we had to rely on the pilot’s skill.

  ‘Three.’

  We could hear him now. There was a high-pitched sound—

  ‘Two.’

  —that turned to a scream.

  ‘One.’

  Then there was a deep BOOM! as he dropped his bomb – a 500-pounder – which was followed by a whine as he climbed away.

  Immediately the bhais got up to watch as clouds of smoke and dust leaped into the air – thirty, fifty, a hundred feet – and we all gave a great cheer.

  ‘Wow, guruji! Fantastic! No one could survive that!’ Gaaz looked at me with a big smile on his face.

  ‘That’s done for the jatha!’ agreed Nagen, equally cheerful.

  The smoke began to clear. Elation turned to astonishment.

  ‘Hernuhos, guruji!’ cried Gaaz. ‘It’s still standing!’

  The pilot had hit the target all right, and one side of the building had collapsed. But the rest of it was still there. That meant it could still be used and, to our further amazement, we realised the enemy had resumed firing at us almost immediately.

  ‘Unbelievable!’ I exclaimed, scanning the building with my binos once more.

  ‘So much for that,’ agreed Gaaz. ‘I guess we’re just going to have to nuke it!’

  All of a sudden, I saw a figure on the first floor of Smuggler’s House run past the window from right to left.

  ‘Aye! I just saw someone!’ I shouted, putting my rifle down and reaching for the field telephone.

  ‘Zero, this is Sangar One.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘Good strike on the target but have just seen enemy move from right to left on first floor of building. Engaging.’

  ‘Zero, roger. I’ll ask the pilot if he can do anything more.’

  A few moments later, the OC came back up on the air.

  ‘Charlie Charlie One, this is Sunray. Aircraft will engage same building with cannon. HEADS DOWN! HEADS DOWN!’

  This time, the jet came in a lot lower and the first thing we heard was the deep burbling of the cannon.

  BRRRRB BRRRRB BRRRRB

  Then there was a roar and a whine as he climbed away steeply.

  ‘BANG ON! BANG ON!’ the bhais shouted, both relieved and happy to see some serious destruction.

  That was more like it! There were now several gaping holes in the wall. OK, so the building could still be used, but for now that had to have done for the enemy. Thank God for our air assets.

  The field telephone rang.

  ‘Sangar One, have you got a good view of that?’ It was the OC.

  ‘Yes, that’s a target,’ I replied, scanning the wreckage with my binos as I spoke. ‘First floor successfully destroyed.’

  ‘Roger.’

  I had just put the receiver down when to my amazement I saw muzzle flash coming from the ground floor. Immediately I called back.

  ‘Enemy still engaging from ground floor!’

  ‘Zero, roger. I’ll see what else he can do.’

  A second A-10 had just arrived overhead, and on his first run he attacked with missiles.

  ‘TAKE THAT, jatha haru!’ yelled Gaaz as the rockets streaked in.

  But a second later, he was shaking his head in despair.

  ‘Oh my God! They missed. How did that happen?’

  He was right. The missiles had landed at least 150 metres to one side.

  ‘I didn’t think they could miss, guruji!’

  ‘Hey listen,’ I said. ‘There’s never going to be a perfect weapon system. Unless it’s a kukri. You can’t miss with that!’

  ‘Yeah. That’s true. If only we could take these jatha on in hand-to-hand combat. I’d like that a lot,’ agreed Gaaz.

  On his next run, the A-10 fired his cannon, but again they were wide of the mark, by about 50 metres.

  ‘Why can’t we have the first pilot back?’ demanded Gaaz. ‘This guy’s obviously having an off day.’

  Actually, although there were those two misses that afternoon, I don’t remember seeing more than one or two others the whole time we were in Now Zad. Mostly the aircrafts’ accuracy was incredible. This was hugely important. We were reliant on them not only for hitting targets and avoiding damage to ourselves, but for keeping collateral damage to an absolute minimum. That was vital. You don’t win hearts and minds by hurting the civilian population.

  I can only assume that there was a slight malfunction of the second aircraft’s systems. Luckily, from listening in on the PRR, I understood that another aircraft was approaching and would drop another laser-guided bomb. Less than five minutes later, the munitions landed smack in the centre of the building.

  When at last the smoke cleared, we were rewarded with the sight of a huge hole in the middle of Smuggler’s House. You could see right into it now.

  The enemy’s automatic fire could still be heard when the sound of the jets subsided, but it was definitely much less, and there wasn’t anything coming from Smuggler’s House. But that didn’t mean the enemy had given up. Shortly afterwards, the OC’s voice came up over the PRR. It seemed that the ANP had picked up some enemy radio signals about bringing more troops in to reinforce their positions in the town.

  ‘Charlie Charlie One, PID of enemy reinforcements gathering at the petrol station. Air assets are engaging. At least twenty pax reported seen.’

  Wow! So the enemy was still there in force.

  Because of their advanced sights, and because of their freedom of movement, the pilots were capable of seeing much more than we were in our fixed positions with only basic weapon sights. We knew where the petrol station was and could see vehicles arriving and leaving, but we didn’t have a good view of what was going on there, so it was good that the OC was keeping us informed. It was even better when a few minutes later we saw another 500-pounder find its target. A pick-up truck suddenly rose 20, 30, 40 feet into the air.

  ‘WOW! Did you see that, guruji?’ yelled Gaaz. It was an incredible sight – one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever seen. The vehicle went up with tremendous force, seemed to hang in the air for a moment then came crashing down. It was so hot that we saw it smouldering for a week afte
r.

  ‘Got you, you jatha!’

  By this time, it must have been about mid-morning. We’d been on the go for only about three hours, but it felt like half a lifetime. For quite a lot of the enemy, that morning had been their last, although how many kills there were we had no idea. Because we were unable to go out on patrol, there was no way to verify numbers. Besides, it was the habit of the Taliban to remove their dead, just as we do. But the casualty rate must have been enough to convince them they should leave us alone for now. The sound of gunfire had died away and the town was eerily silent. There was no one to be seen in the street outside. Even the dogs were quiet.

  11

  Target!

  The rest of the day and the evening were quiet. We remained stood-to and spent the night in the sangar, taking it in turns to rest. Next morning, some time after first light, Major Rex came up into the sangar and shook each one of us by the hand.

  ‘Well done, Kailash. Well done, Nagen. Well done, Gaaz. That was outstanding work.’

  That was one of the things that made Rex sahib such a good officer. He took the time – and the risk – to come up and talk to us all personally after each action.

  ‘You especially, Kailash. Firing the ILAW was definitely a turning point.’

  I felt very proud to hear him say this. Of course, I was even prouder when, many weeks later, the OC called me to his office.

  ‘Congratulations, Kailash,’ he began. ‘You’ve been Mentioned in Despatches.’

  Apparently, the OC had written about my firing the ILAW in his report to higher command, and it had been picked up for special commendation. That was a big honour for me.

  But of course I have never been more proud in my life as the moment when, a few days after that, I received a letter through the post. It was on very thick writing paper and, I realised straight away, obviously from someone extremely important.

  ‘Dear Corporal Kailash,’ it began, ‘I was so pleased to hear the news of your award of MID for your efforts in Afghanistan and wanted to send you my warmest congratulations.’

  The letter was signed by the Colonel in Chief of the regiment, Prince Charles himself.

  Yet the strange thing is that, although now I can see that what I did was quite risky, actually at the time, it didn’t seem such a special thing. Anyone else would have done the same in that situation. At least, any Gurkha would.