Richard Doherty - Helmand Mission: With 1st Royal Irish Battlegroup in Afghanistan 2008

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First published in Great Britain in 2009 by

Pen & Sword Military

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright Richard Doherty 2009

ISBN 978-1-84884-148-2

eISBN 978-184468-816-6

PRC ISBN 978-184468-817-3

The right of Richard Doherty to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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To the memory of those who have lost their lives in Afghanistan, among whom are numbered these men of the Royal Irish Regiment

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old

Ranger Anare Draiva

(1 September 2006)

Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead

(1 September 2006)

Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch

(6 September 2006)

Ranger Justin James Cupples

(4 September 2008)

Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign fields there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.

Faugh A Ballagh!

In producing this book I had the support and assistance of a remarkable group of men. The men of the Royal Irish Regiment are a credit to their Regiment, the Army and their country. They carried out a most difficult task in Afghanistan with patience, humour and understanding and they also showed those qualities to me as I researched this account of their service on Operation HERRICK VIII. To all of them, I say thank you very much. Special mention must be made of Lieutenant General Sir Philip Trousdell KBE CB, whose idea the book was, Lieutenant Colonel Ed Freely, Commanding Officer, 1st Bn The Royal Irish Regiment, for his unfailing courtesy, hospitality and kindness, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Cullen, Commanding Officer, 2nd Bn The Royal Irish Regiment, for his enthusiastic support, Captain Brian Johnston MBE and his team for their unstinting efforts on my behalf when they had so much more to which to attend, and all those with whom I spoke, who provided information on their time in Helmand, those who provided photographs and Captain Andy Shepherd, Unit Press Officer, for his support. Where I have quoted the words of others I have indicated this clearly but I must make special mention of the blogs written by Lieutenant (now Captain) Paddy Bury and which have already seen publication in print. These are superb accounts of his time in Afghanistan and will, I believe, stand as classics for future generations; he is a modern John Shipp.

Photographs are included by courtesy of The Royal Irish Regiment except as indicated otherwise.

Richard Doherty

March 2009

Lieutenant General Sir Philip Trousdell KBE CB Colonel, The Royal Irish Regiment

In 1816 Ensign John Shipp joined the 87th Regiment (later the Royal Irish Fusiliers) just in time to take part in the campaign against the Gurkhas in Nepal. He was an experienced 31 year old soldier who at the end of the hard fought campaign wrote:

I must confess I do love to be on duty on any kind of service with the Irish. There is a promptness to obey, a hilarity, a cheerful obedience, and a willingness to act, which I have rarely met with in any other body of men; but whether in this particular case, those qualifications had been instilled into them by the rigid discipline of the corps, I know not , but I have observed in that corps (I mean the 87th Irish Regiment) a degree of liberality amongst the men I have never seen in any other corps a willingness to share the crust and drop with their comrades, an indescribable cheerfulness in obliging and accommodating each other, and an anxiety to serve each other, and to hide each other's faults. In that corps there was a unity I have never seen in any other; and as for the fighting, they were the very devils.

In March 2009 when the honours and awards for Afghanistan were published in which the Regiment were well represented The Sun newspaper carried a banner headline:

This account of the part the Royal Irish Regiment played in the Afghanistan campaign in 2008/2009 reflects in detail the characteristics which John Shipp so accurately noted and the courage which The Sun so clearly recognised. These are the enduring traits of our regiment and all those Irish regiments which we honour as our forefathers. They do not exist because of some natural right. They exist because we strive to achieve the highest level of professionalism in all we do. We recognise the need to trust each other and in the bleakest moments to be confident of success. We cherish our history and our traditions but do not allow them to be a barrier to change and evolution.