We Wish You A Merry Christmas …
… And a HE New Year! Royal Marines got into the spirit of giving after their festive caroling was interrupted in Afghanistan last year. Daily Mail:
It was dusk in Helmand. And as the sun set over the baked earth, commandos wearing Santa hats gathered round the war memorial and began a simple chorus of carols.
Then the Taliban attacked.
There was no time for the troops to think or even to take off their festive hats.
… At the first sound of enemy fire the Royal Marines of 40 Commando threw down their hymn sheets and sprinted to the mortar lines 200 yards away. Within a minute, they were returning fire.
For three-quarters of an hour, they battled with the insurgents, ear defenders over their festive headgear - the only reminder of the peace the evening had promised.
… The attack, on Christmas Day last year, illustrates the relentless call of duty faced by our troops on the front line. In Afghanistan, 8,000 will celebrate the season this way. A further 4,100 will spend the military’s final Christmas Day in Iraq.
Recalling the skirmish, Captain Euan Goodman, of The Rifles regiment, who took the photographs, said: ‘We were with the Royal Marines at their camp, which is surrounded by mountains and desert. 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 an explosion. 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.
‘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.
‘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.’
Earlier in the day, Captain Goodman, 28, had helped deliver a goat for Gurkhas to curry for their own Christmas meal.
Plucky Brits! Hey, wait a minute. Is that a cross in that photo up there? Singing carols? Not PC!
With a holiday nod to Theo Spark. Yeah, he’s got your holiday totty.
Welcome, Steynists, etal. Always so good to see you. More positive military news … from the Salvation Army. But back to Afghanistan, will it be a Happy New Year? 2008 was full of news, good and bad, though sometimes you had to read between the lines to get it. Cheer up, 2009’s just around the corner. I predict wonderful things.
Topics: Afghanistan, Britain, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:42 pm Comments (1) on Tuesday, December 23, 2008
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December 24th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
[...] A remarkable report. [...]