 Legacy of sacrifice ... images of all the British soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq make up the face of Sgt Graham Hesketh, killed by a roadside bomb |
Posted on 09/03/2007 11:56:25 PM PDT by Stoat
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He saw a gunman scurrying behind a breeze block wall as British forces defended Basra’s police HQ from attack.
Armed with a powerful new .338 rifle, Cpl Eames decided to try firing a shot THROUGH the wall.
SOMETHING intriguing happened in Basra yesterday, writes TOM NEWTON DUNN. |
It worked. The gunman was killed and all those around him were so terrified they took flight.
Londoner Cpl Eames said: “I had no idea if the round would go through but thought it worth a try.”
A few weeks earlier a platoon of 30 Brits repelled another attack on the police HQ by using cooking oil to lubricate their rifles when their gun grease ran out. Massively outnumbered and almost out of ammunition, the riflemen fired off a 10,000 rounds in 4½ hours to beat off an enemy force of 200.
The pummelling endured by the battle group is beyond belief.
More than 1,600 rockets and mortars have been lobbed at them since May, including 135 projectiles in one nightmare 36-hour period.
Vehicles and foot patrols have been targeted by 85 roadside bombs.
And they have been attacked more than 130 times by insurgents firing guns or rocket-propelled grenades.
All that in the blistering heat of the Iraqi summer, in which temperatures regularly exceeded 40°C.
But despite the constant threat, commanders refused to hunker down — and have launched dozens of strikes at the Mehdi Army.
They believe the offensives broke the back of the rebels — forcing them to the negotiating table.
And the battle group’s CO last night blasted doom merchants who have portrayed the exit from the palace as a defeat for British forces.
Lt Col Patrick Sanders said: “Nobody forced us out of our Basra bases. We have come out at a time of our choosing because it is the right thing to do.
“To say we have been holed up there is also untrue. The success we are seeing now would not have been possible without the pressure we kept up on the militias.
“We have taken the fight to the enemy with discretion and intelligence. We’ve kept them contained and by doing that set the conditions for a peaceful future for Basra.”
The battle group has had crucial support from specialists based at the airport.
Bomb disposal expert Staff Sgt James Wadsworth, 29, is to be cited for a gallantry medal for disabling a 100lb explosive device while under heavy rocket and AK47 fire.
And the Immediate Response helicopter-borne medical team has rescued 55 wounded soldiers in the last three months.
But lead nurse Sgt Amy Graham, 28, told how some cannot be saved. She said: “I’ve cried for 20 minutes at times. It’s frustrating losing people when you try everything for them.”
Hopefully the Iraqi people will remember and honor the countless sacrifices made on their behalf by good people from all over the world.
On a technical note, there's a lot more than 168 pictures there, so they must have repeated them.
Also, it looks like they majorly tweaked the color values for the mosaic, which misses the whole point of this method.
In fact it's almost like they just threw an opaque layer down over the background. I dare say that's a completely fake way to reproduce the technique... Perhaps "the real way" is proprietary.
Regards
Yes, my quick count says there are 672 faces (28 x 24) so they must be repeating them.....
Dittos to that! God bless these brave troops. We're lucky to have them as allies.
oh yes, I can see some sections repeated......
“As British officers here love to point out, Basra now has a murder rate half that of Washington DC. It’s not perfect yet. But no matter what the rent-a-quotes tell you, it HAS been a good job, a worthwhile one. The rest is down to the Iraqi people — it’s their country after all.”
‘ere wait a minute - I got the impression on this and other boards that we were cutting and running...
What really burns me is how some people have been complaining about the British Army “retreating” from Basra. They haven’t retreated from anywhere, they’ve just moved their headquarters from the old Saddam palace out to the airport, where a lot of their equipment was stored anyways.
Right, that's what I hear as well. They will still be available to assist the IA when needed.
Regards
I'm sorry if you've seen that sort of sentiment here....it's not one that I share and it's not one that I would allow to go unchallenged in one of my threads. There are all sorts that come here to FR....the Viking Kitties are short-staffed and sometimes they can't Zot everyone who needs Zotting :-)
Fair point. I have to hand it to the Sun though - this picture is a lot "spiritually" better than that disgusting montage of President Bush made out of porn pictures that some loser artist came out with last week.
ping
Thanks for posting this mate. Its good to know that the sacrifices of our armed forces are still appreciated by some in the US. Britain is still with you in the South.
You're welcome, my pleasure :-) I would wish to suggest, however, that my perception is that far more than "some" in America appreciate our brave armed forces, on both sides of the Pond. Sadly, I think that the easy ability to become overheated on public internet forums may leave an impression that there is some sort of widespread dissatisfaction among us Yanks with our dear British Friends....I have not seen that to be the case out in the real world. No worries :-)
Britain is still with you in the South.
Agreed, and I've seen no plans or suggestion of plans for any sort of an abrupt, precipitous exit from the region either. In fact, the Basra forces have stayed quite a bit longer than what was suggested last year, obviously because there was an interest in doing things properly and not moving out when the time wasn't right.
Beckett Basra hand-over by spring (Great Britain's Foreign Secretary plans rapid exit strategy)
I would like to second UK’s comments. Good thread. If there is one thing we can rely on with the Sun its supporting our troopers regardless of the politics, and a nice Page3...
I have been having some heated arguments with others regarding the supposed ‘retreat’ to Basra Air Station. To my way of thinking, if the IA can do a decent job in Basra City, that leaves 5,000 troops to protect supply convoys and conduct other operations rather than urban policing.
Good point about the media. The press has been reporting a British withdrawal as being imminent about every few months for the last few years. I remember before the last troop cuts the UK media was reporting that there would be dramatic reductions in UK numbers. Didn’t happen. Now UK troops have been redeployed 5 ks and the papers cry ‘we were right all along: the end is nigh!’
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