Scott
03-24-2010, 01:49 PM
A FALLEN soldier has revealed from beyond the grave how patrols in Afghanistan were cancelled through a lack of AMMO.
A diary kept by Warrant Officer Sean Upton showed two missions had to be scrapped because troops did not have enough mortar rounds.
WO2 Sean, of the Royal Artillery, disclosed his men fired so much ammunition in ONE ferocious "contact" with the Taliban it was the equivalent of SIX days' allocation.
His team were then left dangerously short when a helicopter carrying fresh ammo was shot down and resupply took over 48 hours to arrive.
Sean, 35, revealed the crisis in his laptop diary for June 29 last year - a month before he was killed by a bomb.
His widow Karen, 33, said: "Reading it makes me feel like he was a sitting duck."
Referring to "PJHQ", the military's Permanent Joint Headquarters, and "TiC" meaning Troops in Contact, the dad of two wrote: "Patrol was cancelled due to lack of ammunition after yesterday's contact.
"Apparently PJHQ have worked out a calculation on approximately how much ammunition should be used in a TiC. We used six TiCs worth yesterday."
Two days later Sean, serving with the RA's 5th Regiment in Sangin, wrote: "Today's patrol got cancelled as ammunition still had not arrived."
Sean's diary - made public as the inquest into his death opened in Richmond, North Yorks - also showed one patrol got axed as troops had nearly run out of WATER.
And another was cancelled because a soldier tasked with marshalling AIR cover went on leave and was not replaced.
Karen, the first recipient of the Elizabeth Cross for the families of fallen heroes, said: "This lifts the lid on how poorly supported troops have been on the front line.
"They used up so much ammunition fighting the enemy and didn't know when the next lot would arrive.
"It seems like they were cornered. I can't believe they were left in that position."
Karen, mum to Sean's children Ewan, ten, and Hollie, seven, added: "He never kept a diary before in his life.
"I think he did it to reveal what was going on if he was killed. I think he knew he was going to die."
Every missed patrol gives Taliban fighters more freedom to move back into disputed territory and lay bombs - like the one which killed Sean, who had also served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq.
An Army spokesman said commanders had to make tough choices every day and had to "vary operational tempo" according to risks and tactical considerations.
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THE Army may have to shed 500 troops as it nears its maximum strength of 102,070 after years of struggling to find enough recruits, the MoD said yesterday.
A diary kept by Warrant Officer Sean Upton showed two missions had to be scrapped because troops did not have enough mortar rounds.
WO2 Sean, of the Royal Artillery, disclosed his men fired so much ammunition in ONE ferocious "contact" with the Taliban it was the equivalent of SIX days' allocation.
His team were then left dangerously short when a helicopter carrying fresh ammo was shot down and resupply took over 48 hours to arrive.
Sean, 35, revealed the crisis in his laptop diary for June 29 last year - a month before he was killed by a bomb.
His widow Karen, 33, said: "Reading it makes me feel like he was a sitting duck."
Referring to "PJHQ", the military's Permanent Joint Headquarters, and "TiC" meaning Troops in Contact, the dad of two wrote: "Patrol was cancelled due to lack of ammunition after yesterday's contact.
"Apparently PJHQ have worked out a calculation on approximately how much ammunition should be used in a TiC. We used six TiCs worth yesterday."
Two days later Sean, serving with the RA's 5th Regiment in Sangin, wrote: "Today's patrol got cancelled as ammunition still had not arrived."
Sean's diary - made public as the inquest into his death opened in Richmond, North Yorks - also showed one patrol got axed as troops had nearly run out of WATER.
And another was cancelled because a soldier tasked with marshalling AIR cover went on leave and was not replaced.
Karen, the first recipient of the Elizabeth Cross for the families of fallen heroes, said: "This lifts the lid on how poorly supported troops have been on the front line.
"They used up so much ammunition fighting the enemy and didn't know when the next lot would arrive.
"It seems like they were cornered. I can't believe they were left in that position."
Karen, mum to Sean's children Ewan, ten, and Hollie, seven, added: "He never kept a diary before in his life.
"I think he did it to reveal what was going on if he was killed. I think he knew he was going to die."
Every missed patrol gives Taliban fighters more freedom to move back into disputed territory and lay bombs - like the one which killed Sean, who had also served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq.
An Army spokesman said commanders had to make tough choices every day and had to "vary operational tempo" according to risks and tactical considerations.
#
THE Army may have to shed 500 troops as it nears its maximum strength of 102,070 after years of struggling to find enough recruits, the MoD said yesterday.