Posted on 11/27/2010 11:46:00 AM PST by Da_Shrimp
A day of heavy fighting left 25 insurgents dead in a former haven in northern Nad-e-Ali district of Helmand.
The story of the Battle of Washiran can be told for the first time after soldiers described the assault to The Daily Telegraph.
Surveillance first identified eight fighters readying their weapons for attack in a compound that was targetted by RAF Tornado with a 500lb satellite guided bomb.
The Paras were then ordered to fight through the village but met with fierce enemy resistance and roads laced with hidden IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device).
Lt Sam Whitlam, commanding 5 Platoon, B Company, 3 Para, decided to outflank the Taliban fighters by moving a troop of Mastiff armoured vehicles through fields free of IEDs.
By mid-afternoon a hole was punched in the first of four compound walls by engineers using an anti-tank mine.
The 27 ton, six-wheeled Mastiffs punched through the gap the infantry followed behind immediately coming under heavy fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
L/Cpl Andrew Wiltshire, 25, one of the Paras in the advance described it like a scene from the wartime drama Band of Brothers. "The blokes were ducking down behind the Mastiffs with rounds coming in hitting the sides. We were trudging through fields trying to keep up with the vehicles with mud clogging our boots. You certainly got an idea what it was like for an infantryman to be following a tank while under fire in World War Two. Either you stay behind it or you get shot."
See rest of article here
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Why on earth would we ever want to stop doing this while there are still muslim scum left to kill?
I agree, 'whack-a-mole' is soooooo much fun.
Read the whole article at the link. So many good parts including F-15s and A-10s joining the fun.
Lots of Brit spin PR this week. I guess bringing a con man to talks and recommending he get paid $100,000 needs some recovery.
Excellent news. Paratroops of any country tend to be extremely tough fighters, as at D-Day, Monte Cassino, etc. The thing that troubles me is why this “taliban stronghold” was allowed to exist “for months”. Why wasn’t it reduced to a smoking crater as soon as it was identified?
Possibly.
THANK YOU to the 5 Platoon, B Company, 3 Para. Good work, men.
A holiday classic to warm our hearts. Good day to have allies.
The BEST !
RAF Tornado with a 500lb satellite guided bomb...
Shoulda undertaken some urban renewal, and used about 500 500lb satellite guided bombs.
Probably much truth in that assessment.
But I praise the brave Brits on the ground slugging it out with the Taliban.
I hope enough Brits back home manage to save the UK so that these soldiers have a home worth coming back to.
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