British Corporal Jay Davies talks about losing team mates in Helmand. They got caught in a minefield and had to wait for a Black Hawk to rescue them.

In September 2006 members of the UK 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, were deployed on a ridge overlooking the Kajaki Dam in northern Helmand.

On 6 September they got caught in a minefield. Corporal Stuart Hale triggered an old Soviet mine and lay injured.

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CITATION:
From July 2006, a fire support group of 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, held a high ridge feature in the northern centre of Helmand Province near the Kajaki Dam.
On 6 September the leader of a sniper patrol, tasked with engaging a group of Taliban fighters operating on the principal highway, was heading down the steep slope when he initiated a mine and sustained severe injuries.
Seeing the mine-strike from the top of the ridge, Corporal Mark Wright gathers a number of men and rushed down the slope to assist. Realising that the casualty was likely to die before a full mine clearance could be effected, Corporal Wright unhesitatingly led his man in the minefield.
Exercising effective and decisive command, he directed medical orderlies to the injured soldier, order all unnecessary personnel to safety, and then began organising the casualty evacuation. He called for a helicopter, and order a route to be cleared through the minefield to a landing site.
Unfortunately the leader of this task, while moving back across the route he believed had been cleared, stepped on another mine and suffered a traumatic amputation.
Corporal Wright again at enormous personal risk, immediately moved to the new casualty and began rendering life-saving assistance until one of the medical orderlies could take over.
Calmly, Corporal Wright ordered all non-essential personnel to stay out of the minefield and continued to move around and control the incident. He sent accurate situation reports to his headquarters and ensured that additional medical items were obtained. Shortly afterwards a helicopter landed nearby, but as Corporal Wright stoop up he initiated a third mine, which seriously injured him and one of the orderlies. The remaining medical orderly began treating Corporal Wright, but was himself wounded by another mine blast which caused further injury to both Corporal Wright and others.
There were now seven casualties still in the minefield, three of whom had lost limbs.
Despite this horrific situation and the serious injuries he had himself sustained, Corporal Wright continued to command and control the incident. He remained conscious for the majority of the time, continually shouting encouragement to those around him, maintaining morale and calm amongst the many wounded men. Sadly, Corporal Wright died of his wounds on the rescue helicopter.
His supreme courage and outstanding leadership were an inspiration to his men. For acts of the greatest gallantry and complete disregard for his own safety in striving to save others, Corporal Wright is award the George Cross.

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This video is extracted from the multiple-award winning Return to Hope web documentary, which tells the real story of the last 13 years in Afghanistan and can be found at [ Ссылка ]

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