Hold until Relieved
They threw everything at us, small arms, mortars, and 105mm rocket assisted shells. From then on life on the hill went back to normal … as normal as you can get in Afghanistan with a load of local heroin poppy farmers trying to kill you.
Signaller Mazzone
50 Cal machine gun position
Musa Qala
Units deployed to outposts were often under constant threat of attack and movement in around compounds could become very restricted. Some posts like Musa Qala, where the main building was nicknamed ‘The Alamo’, withstood weeks of bombardment and assaults. Troops expended hundreds of mortar and thousands of machine gun rounds to fight off the Taleban encircling them, sometimes calling in air strikes to within 50 metres of their own positions.
Life on the Hill
When it came to my 21st birthday I was very depressed and my morale was really low. I got very homesick and really wanted to speak to them [family and friends]
Soldier based at Kajaki
Gurkhas fill sandbags
When not under attack the soldiers spent their time improving defences and communications, organising re-supply and gathering intelligence on opposition forces.
Once these duties, were completed, eating, sleeping and, where possible, washing were the next priorities. At outposts like Kajaki, where re-supply was difficult and communication home limited, keeping up one’s spirits could be a problem.
To combat boredom today’s soldier goes to war armed with an array of personal technology including Mp3 players, games consoles, camera phones and compact video cameras. This has led to an unprecedented volume of recordings and pictures that help record the soldiers’ experiences.
Bakery, Sangin
We started to run out of food, water and ammunition and the lovely meal of corned beef hash that I looked forward to EVERYDAY. We were buying food off the locals and drinking purified water from the reservoir.
Soldier based at Kajaki
Volatile chess game
Shortages or lack of variety in their rations led some troops to acquire food from local sources. In some posts improvised gyms were set up to maintain fitness and occupy time, others pursued more intellectual pastimes such as chess. The Taleban were increasingly on hand to ensure that no one got too comfortable.
