Scott
12-23-2008, 02:35 PM
Christmas for the Commandos in Afghanistan was always going to be different - but no one could have predicted just how different.
One minute they were singing carols at dusk beneath a mellow sun in the baked bare wasteland of Helmand province while wearing festive Santa hats, the next they were firing mortars after their Christmas Day service came under attack from the Taliban.
http://cdnll-1.liveleak.com/s/18/media18/2008/Dec/23/LiveLeak-dot-com-876be89eb923-article002e19cc9000005dc812_468x312.jpg?h=50f70981 ab420a90541c835f883c95c3&e=1230661700&rs=150
The extraordinary images bring a fascinating and different insight into the life of British service personnel serving on the front lines in the world's trouble spots.
They were taken by Captain Euan Goodman, a keen amateur photographer, to illustrate the relentless "call of duty" experienced by British troops who are spending Christmas on the frontlines. This year in Afghanistan alone there are 8,000 with a further 4,100 spending what will be the military's final Christmas Day in Iraq.
Capt Goodman, 28, of The Rifles Regiment, has taken 15,000 pictures during three tours of Afghanistan but none have been like those he captured at Inkerman on Christmas Day last year.
So rapid was the reaction of Royal Marines of 40 Commando that within less than a minute of the first "contact" from the Taliban's machine guns, they had sprinted the 200 metres to their mortar lines and had begun to return fire.
http://cdnll-9.liveleak.com/s/18/media18/2008/Dec/23/LiveLeak-dot-com-ef6dbb7e2bca-6a00e008c6b4e588340105368ea49d970b800wi.jpg?h=7812 a7a568a5cc74393b186c1cfb957e&e=1230661700&rs=150
And as these remarkable pictures show, such was the urgency there was no time to change their festive head gear into helmets and for 45 minutes they mortared Taliban positions with their ear defenders over their floppy bright red hats - and in one case a Christmas tree hat complete with coloured baubles. A helmet with reindeer antlers and bells was left on the ground in the rush.
http://cdnll-1.liveleak.com/s/18/media18/2008/Dec/23/LiveLeak-dot-com-876be89eb923-article002e19cc9000005dc812_468x312.jpg?h=50f70981 ab420a90541c835f883c95c3&e=1230661700&rs=150
Once the skirmish was over - and with no British casualties - the men and women calmly resumed their carol service in virtual darkness around the simple war memorial at Forward Operating Base Inkerman in northern Helmand.
http://cdnll-4.liveleak.com/s/18/media18/2008/Dec/23/LiveLeak-dot-com-0f24ab98a916-article002e19ed5000005dc990_468x301.jpg?h=d9019c80 12de7528571cc6ac5e184aa2&e=1230661700&rs=150
The extraordinary images bring a fascinating and different insight into the life of British service personnel serving on the front lines in the world's trouble spots.
They were taken by Captain Euan Goodman, a keen amateur photographer, to illustrate the relentless "call of duty" experienced by British troops who are spending Christmas on the frontlines. This year in Afghanistan alone there are 8,000 with a further 4,100 spending what will be the military's final Christmas Day in Iraq.
Capt Goodman, 28, of The Rifles Regiment, has taken 15,000 pictures during three tours of Afghanistan but none have been like those he captured at Inkerman on Christmas Day last year.
'We were with the Royal Marines at their camp which is surrounded by mountains and desert,' he recalled, 'We were experiencing Afghanistan's coldest winter for 20 years but the lads were in really high spirits.
'They were in the middle of a traditional carol service, complete with Santa hats and song sheets, when they came under attack from the Taliban, who had targeted one of the checkpoints.
'There was the sound of machine gun fire and of an explosion and they dropped their hymn sheets and literally ran 200 metres to the mortar lines - a few Santa hats were thrown on the ground but for others there was no time to remove them. They were still wearing their hats when they fired their mortar rounds. 6e55bdfd2762
It went on for about 45 minutes and by then it was pretty much dark but they went back to the War Memorial and continued their service.
'I think that later they had their Christmas meal and there was a bit of fancy dress - a Christmas pantomime.'
Earlier in the day, Capt Goodman had helped deliver a goat for Gurkhas to curry to turn into their own Christmas dinner.
He stressed that even in the most difficult of conditions, soldiers try to bring a touch of the Christmas spirit, including a turkey lunch.
Traditionally, officers serve their men their meal on Christmas Day after earlier having woken them with "gunfire", a mug of tea with a shot of rum or whisky in it.
Capt Goodman, who joined the army in 2001 and served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq, before serving in Afghanistan - he has learnt the local Pashto language - said : 'We try to ensure everyone either gets a slap-up breakfast or a traditional Christmas lunch.
'All the food is prepared at the main base at Camp Bastion and then flown out by helicopters to each camp to heat up in the oven. We also get inundated with presents from the general public, which are a huge morale boost.
'Thousands of parcels are donated every year and split evenly among the units who then share them out. You get everything from toothpaste to woolly scarves as presents.
'It's much like the traditional present opening you get on Christmas morning except serviceman tend to have the wrapping off as soon as they get the parcel, whether it's two weeks before Christmas or sometimes long after it's finished.
'It's supposed to be a special time of year no matter where you are but at the end of the day it's the nature of the job that we have to keep working - the show must go on.'
This year there will also be additional time free telephone time made available to call loved ones.
On Christmas Day, soldiers at Bastion will tuck into the 700lb of replacement turkey, flown in by the RAF after insurgents attacked a convoy carrying the original consignment - topped off with 200 jars of cranberry sauce - along with 300lb of roast pork, 1,000lb of gammon and 150lb of beef. The team of chefs will also prepare 350lb of sprouts, 700lb of roast potatoes and 270lb of carrots.
To complete the feast there will be 222 Christmas puddings, 37 Christmas cakes and a ration of one mince pie and one After Eight mint for each serviceman and woman.
In addition, there will be 3,000 crackers - complete with bad jokes - 2,880 party poppers, 3,600 assorted balloons, 2,880 party hats, and 3,000 streamers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1100768/Pictured-British-troops-wear-Santa-hats-fight-Taliban--come-carol-service.htm
One minute they were singing carols at dusk beneath a mellow sun in the baked bare wasteland of Helmand province while wearing festive Santa hats, the next they were firing mortars after their Christmas Day service came under attack from the Taliban.
http://cdnll-1.liveleak.com/s/18/media18/2008/Dec/23/LiveLeak-dot-com-876be89eb923-article002e19cc9000005dc812_468x312.jpg?h=50f70981 ab420a90541c835f883c95c3&e=1230661700&rs=150
The extraordinary images bring a fascinating and different insight into the life of British service personnel serving on the front lines in the world's trouble spots.
They were taken by Captain Euan Goodman, a keen amateur photographer, to illustrate the relentless "call of duty" experienced by British troops who are spending Christmas on the frontlines. This year in Afghanistan alone there are 8,000 with a further 4,100 spending what will be the military's final Christmas Day in Iraq.
Capt Goodman, 28, of The Rifles Regiment, has taken 15,000 pictures during three tours of Afghanistan but none have been like those he captured at Inkerman on Christmas Day last year.
So rapid was the reaction of Royal Marines of 40 Commando that within less than a minute of the first "contact" from the Taliban's machine guns, they had sprinted the 200 metres to their mortar lines and had begun to return fire.
http://cdnll-9.liveleak.com/s/18/media18/2008/Dec/23/LiveLeak-dot-com-ef6dbb7e2bca-6a00e008c6b4e588340105368ea49d970b800wi.jpg?h=7812 a7a568a5cc74393b186c1cfb957e&e=1230661700&rs=150
And as these remarkable pictures show, such was the urgency there was no time to change their festive head gear into helmets and for 45 minutes they mortared Taliban positions with their ear defenders over their floppy bright red hats - and in one case a Christmas tree hat complete with coloured baubles. A helmet with reindeer antlers and bells was left on the ground in the rush.
http://cdnll-1.liveleak.com/s/18/media18/2008/Dec/23/LiveLeak-dot-com-876be89eb923-article002e19cc9000005dc812_468x312.jpg?h=50f70981 ab420a90541c835f883c95c3&e=1230661700&rs=150
Once the skirmish was over - and with no British casualties - the men and women calmly resumed their carol service in virtual darkness around the simple war memorial at Forward Operating Base Inkerman in northern Helmand.
http://cdnll-4.liveleak.com/s/18/media18/2008/Dec/23/LiveLeak-dot-com-0f24ab98a916-article002e19ed5000005dc990_468x301.jpg?h=d9019c80 12de7528571cc6ac5e184aa2&e=1230661700&rs=150
The extraordinary images bring a fascinating and different insight into the life of British service personnel serving on the front lines in the world's trouble spots.
They were taken by Captain Euan Goodman, a keen amateur photographer, to illustrate the relentless "call of duty" experienced by British troops who are spending Christmas on the frontlines. This year in Afghanistan alone there are 8,000 with a further 4,100 spending what will be the military's final Christmas Day in Iraq.
Capt Goodman, 28, of The Rifles Regiment, has taken 15,000 pictures during three tours of Afghanistan but none have been like those he captured at Inkerman on Christmas Day last year.
'We were with the Royal Marines at their camp which is surrounded by mountains and desert,' he recalled, 'We were experiencing Afghanistan's coldest winter for 20 years but the lads were in really high spirits.
'They were in the middle of a traditional carol service, complete with Santa hats and song sheets, when they came under attack from the Taliban, who had targeted one of the checkpoints.
'There was the sound of machine gun fire and of an explosion and they dropped their hymn sheets and literally ran 200 metres to the mortar lines - a few Santa hats were thrown on the ground but for others there was no time to remove them. They were still wearing their hats when they fired their mortar rounds. 6e55bdfd2762
It went on for about 45 minutes and by then it was pretty much dark but they went back to the War Memorial and continued their service.
'I think that later they had their Christmas meal and there was a bit of fancy dress - a Christmas pantomime.'
Earlier in the day, Capt Goodman had helped deliver a goat for Gurkhas to curry to turn into their own Christmas dinner.
He stressed that even in the most difficult of conditions, soldiers try to bring a touch of the Christmas spirit, including a turkey lunch.
Traditionally, officers serve their men their meal on Christmas Day after earlier having woken them with "gunfire", a mug of tea with a shot of rum or whisky in it.
Capt Goodman, who joined the army in 2001 and served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq, before serving in Afghanistan - he has learnt the local Pashto language - said : 'We try to ensure everyone either gets a slap-up breakfast or a traditional Christmas lunch.
'All the food is prepared at the main base at Camp Bastion and then flown out by helicopters to each camp to heat up in the oven. We also get inundated with presents from the general public, which are a huge morale boost.
'Thousands of parcels are donated every year and split evenly among the units who then share them out. You get everything from toothpaste to woolly scarves as presents.
'It's much like the traditional present opening you get on Christmas morning except serviceman tend to have the wrapping off as soon as they get the parcel, whether it's two weeks before Christmas or sometimes long after it's finished.
'It's supposed to be a special time of year no matter where you are but at the end of the day it's the nature of the job that we have to keep working - the show must go on.'
This year there will also be additional time free telephone time made available to call loved ones.
On Christmas Day, soldiers at Bastion will tuck into the 700lb of replacement turkey, flown in by the RAF after insurgents attacked a convoy carrying the original consignment - topped off with 200 jars of cranberry sauce - along with 300lb of roast pork, 1,000lb of gammon and 150lb of beef. The team of chefs will also prepare 350lb of sprouts, 700lb of roast potatoes and 270lb of carrots.
To complete the feast there will be 222 Christmas puddings, 37 Christmas cakes and a ration of one mince pie and one After Eight mint for each serviceman and woman.
In addition, there will be 3,000 crackers - complete with bad jokes - 2,880 party poppers, 3,600 assorted balloons, 2,880 party hats, and 3,000 streamers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1100768/Pictured-British-troops-wear-Santa-hats-fight-Taliban--come-carol-service.htm