Tag Archives: The Rifles
Blood, bombs and boys’ talk
The Sunday Times Magazine The blast tore through Sapper Matthew Weston’s body as he searched the mud compound for mines. The rifle he was carrying sliced off his hand, leaving it dangling by a thread of skin. Both his legs were blown off and he could feel the blood gushing from his two remaining stumps […]
Carnage in the Devil’s Playground
The Sunday Times, Wishtan, Sangin THE first explosion that tore through the alleyway flung an 18-year-old soldier into the air, killing him instantly. As the dust cleared, troops racing towards the body of Private Johnathon Young came to an abrupt halt: one improvised explosive device (IED) after another lay in their path. It was Sergeant […]
Blood brothers scarred by war
The Sunday Times ‘Dad, I’m sorry,” were my brother’s first intelligible words, whispered through swollen lips and an oxygen mask. Dad leant in close and told his son how proud he was of him. For three days we had hovered around Jim’s bedside in Birmingham’s Selly Oak hospital — as he lay doped up on […]
Corporal Danger dodges Taliban fire to save wounded comrade
The Sunday Times THE Taliban opened fire while four British soldiers were crossing a barren field. As they dashed for cover, a bullet tore through the thigh of one of the riflemen, bringing him crashing to the ground as more rounds thudded into the earth beside him. It would only be a matter of seconds […]
Helicopter shortage has troops at mercy of Taliban
The Sunday Times Five British troops killed in Afghanistan on Friday were caught in a cruel trap, retreating from one blast only to become the targets of a second, even more lethal explosion. At 5am, a 30-man platoon was making its way along an alley in Wishtan, one of the most dangerous parts of the […]
Miles Amoore 