For most of us, Christmas is about spending time with the family, opening presents and letting the children leave some mince pies and milk on the bannister on Christmas Eve night for Father Christmas.
But for others, Christmas is something entirely different. British soldiers in Afghanistan may be in a terrible warzone, but that didn't stop them enjoying a Christmas dinner of turkey, sprouts, carrots, stuffing, roast potatoes and gravy.
Our Boys and Girls were served their festive meal in what Army chefs dubbed ‘HellMans Kitchen’, a makeshift tent that would give Gordon Ramsay a severe case of Tourette's.
There are around 10,000 British soldiers in Afghanistan, and 243 have so far lost their lives. Over 100 have died this year, making it the bloodiest year for the British military since 1982.
From 10.30am, the troops – chiefly from 1st Battalion Royal Horse Artillery – took turns to enjoy mince pies, Christmas cake, sweets, chocolates and other tricks.
Then, after that, it was back to business as usual, the world's best soldiers taking on the Taliban.
War in Afghanistan
Christmas in Afghanistan: Turkey and all the trimmings, but nothing interrupts the fight against the Taliban
By Christopher Leake
26th December 2009
It was business as usual on Afghanistan’s frontline as British troops tucked into Christmas dinner with all the trimmings despite the constant threat of attack from the Taliban.
The soldiers entrenched at Forward Operating Base Armadillo, near Nahr-e-Saraj in Helmand province, may have been 3,500 miles from home. But that did not stop officers and senior NCOs, as is traditional at Christmas, serving their brave men and women turkey, sprouts, carrots, stuffing, roast potatoes and gravy.
The feast served in Afghanistan’s unforgiving desert was prepared in what Army chefs dubbed ‘HellMans Kitchen’, a makeshift tent that would soon have had the F-Word’s Gordon Ramsay issuing blood-curdling curses.
Grub's up: Santa hats and comedy antlers are the order of the day for these soldiers from 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland at Forward Operating Base Wishtan in Helmand province.
The troops are among 9,500 soldiers, Marines, Special Forces and airmen and women who have spent the festive season separated from their loved ones.
But, like their thousands of comrades across the battle zone, the troops at FOB Armadillo donned Santa hats and opened presents during a brief respite in the fighting, which has claimed 243 British lives since 2001.
From 10.30am, the troops – chiefly from 1st Battalion Royal Horse Artillery – took turns to enjoy mince pies, Christmas cake, sweets, chocolates and other treats while colleagues readied artillery guns and other weapons in case of an attack by insurgents.
Then it was back to their military duties as a gun troop, offering offensive fire and smoke to screen infantry movements on the ground or fire flares to shine on enemy activity at night.
Christmas Dinner in Hellmans Kitchen tent at Armadillo base, Helmand.
It was business as usual, too, in the skies over Helmand. RAF Top Guns Juliette Fleming and Nikki Thomas were flying a fighter jet 15,000ft above the battlefields.
Pilot Flight Lieutenant Fleming and navigator Squadron Leader Thomas have logged nearly 100 hours as the first all-female Tornado crew. Their 24 missions so far, each lasting up to seven hours, have helped both British and US troops under fire.
The duo – call-sign ‘Monster Seven Three’ – often fly as low as 100ft in their supersonic Tornado GR4 from their base at Kandahar to attack enemy positions.
Flight Lieutenant Juliette Fleming (left) and Squadron Leader Nikki Thomas (right) flew a mission on Christmas Day
Flt Lt Fleming, whose No 31 Squadron is based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, said: ‘For us it was just another working day. There was a Christmas dinner in the dining hall and a few decorations and cards. We will celebrate our Christmas when the tour is over at the end of January.’
Lt Col Jez Bennett, Commanding Officer of 1 Royal Horse Artillery, said: ‘The boys and girls at Armadillo are doing a great job supporting the infantry with artillery.
Not afraid to take it to the enemy: British soldiers firing at Taliban positions. In a period of six weeks in November and December 2008, the British lost more men than the Americans, despite America having four times as many troops in the country at the time
Although Christmas Day was very much a working day for them, it was great that they were able to have a moment or two to celebrate Christmas with their mates and remember their families at home.
‘I am in awe of the chefs and suppliers who managed to deliver a little piece of UK festivity to a very remote part of Afghanistan.’
Toasting their fallen comrade with a mug of tea ... why the Mighty VI will never falter
By COLONEL RICHARD KEMP - Former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan and author of Attack State Red
Across Helmand province this Christmas, British soldiers are living in flea-ridden, mud and straw farm buildings little different from the stable where Jesus was born.
The self-styled ‘Mighty VI’ – 6 Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment – do not even have solid walls to insulate them from temperatures plunging to -7C. They live in canvas tents beside a field shower and latrine.
Their home is Patrol Base Paraang, smaller than a football pitch and surrounded by a 10ft defensive wall. It is one of the toughest outposts, guarding the security zone around Lashkar Gah.
The men of 6 Platoon have seen more combat in their first two months in Helmand than many will see in a lifetime’s soldiering. Virtually every patrol brings teenage infantrymen into a vicious fire-fight.
Gunner Scott Powell carries out gun maintenance on one of the 105mm Light Guns at the Armadillo base.
Just before Christmas one of this tight-knit band of brothers, 23-year-old Lance-Corporal Adam Drane, became the 100th British soldier to be killed this year. As his parents put it: ‘He died at his post, protecting his company, in the service of his country.’ Others of the Mighty VI have been wounded. So you might expect the men of Paraang to be miserable, especially at Christmas. But they are not.
Morale is sky-high. They are well trained and motivated, professional infantrymen.
They expect to live and fight in appalling conditions. For them, the firepower at their disposal is far more important than the ‘comforts’ found at Bastion and Kandahar base camps which, in the tradition of frontline troops, they scorn.
The company has killed 15 to 20 Taliban so far and cultivated a gradual improvement in support from locals.
Despite Paraang being one of the most dangerous places to fly into, welfare parcels got through to 6 Platoon, enabling the men to bring a semblance of Christmas spirit to their Spartan accommodation with tinsel and coloured lights.
Two weeks ago at the ‘Paraang Olympics’, the main events were javelin (with 6ft poles from the stores), discus (with dirt-filled ammo boxes), relay-racing (with a laden field stretcher), hammer-throwing (with a half-full sandbag) and pistol shooting (with the real thing). Every platoon member wore a Santa Claus outfit.
Major Alan Wylie, 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, talks to local children
Time didn’t allow all the events to be completed, so they were due to be part of Christmas Day celebrations.
The young soldiers have also made clay ovens from mud and 2ft steel pickets. They now rustle up pizzas topped with tinned cheese, bacon and sausages. For Christmas Day, 2nd Lieutenant Dan Benstead struck a deal with a farmer to sell him a sheep to be brought into the base, slaughtered and spit-roasted to the accompaniment of competing Christmas tunes blaring out from tinny iPods.
The men also take turns cramming into the makeshift TV room to use their PlayStation 3 or to watch Christmas-themed DVDs according to the pre-planned ‘Paraang TV Guide’.
They can also play darts, or even football in the base’s ankle-deep, clinging mud that instantly trebles the weight of your boots.
Senior officers serve Christmas dinner to troops at Armadillo base
It is a measure of the fortitude of these young men that not one of them shrank from the horror of standing sentry in the post where Lance-Corporal Drane, their brother, had been shot in the head.
What keeps them going? Commitment to their vital task and a relish for soldiering. But above all commitment to each other.
As a sign of mutual loyalty, most sport a Mighty VI tattoo. One was designed by Lance- Corporal Drane’s best mate who was due to be his best man, Private Paul ‘Kels Bels’ Kelly.
In an echo of the phenomenon seen among troops on leave during the First World War, a teenage Royal Anglian home on R&R last week told his mother he couldn’t wait to get back to Paraang for Christmas. He needed to be with his mates, sharing the dangers.
Our soldiers are the bravest and the best in the world. At Christmas the contrast between the safety and comfort we take for granted and the sacrifices and hardship we demand from them is stark. What can we give in return?
Following the death of Lance-Corporal Drane, his devastated comrades in the Mighty VI did not falter. While raising a mug of tea to him on Christmas Day, they resolved to redouble their efforts to do the best possible job in Afghanistan in his honour.
It is in the nature of war that our brave fighting troops in Helmand will take further battle casualties in the coming months.
dailymail.co.uk
But for others, Christmas is something entirely different. British soldiers in Afghanistan may be in a terrible warzone, but that didn't stop them enjoying a Christmas dinner of turkey, sprouts, carrots, stuffing, roast potatoes and gravy.
Our Boys and Girls were served their festive meal in what Army chefs dubbed ‘HellMans Kitchen’, a makeshift tent that would give Gordon Ramsay a severe case of Tourette's.
There are around 10,000 British soldiers in Afghanistan, and 243 have so far lost their lives. Over 100 have died this year, making it the bloodiest year for the British military since 1982.
From 10.30am, the troops – chiefly from 1st Battalion Royal Horse Artillery – took turns to enjoy mince pies, Christmas cake, sweets, chocolates and other tricks.
Then, after that, it was back to business as usual, the world's best soldiers taking on the Taliban.
War in Afghanistan
Christmas in Afghanistan: Turkey and all the trimmings, but nothing interrupts the fight against the Taliban
By Christopher Leake
26th December 2009
It was business as usual on Afghanistan’s frontline as British troops tucked into Christmas dinner with all the trimmings despite the constant threat of attack from the Taliban.
The soldiers entrenched at Forward Operating Base Armadillo, near Nahr-e-Saraj in Helmand province, may have been 3,500 miles from home. But that did not stop officers and senior NCOs, as is traditional at Christmas, serving their brave men and women turkey, sprouts, carrots, stuffing, roast potatoes and gravy.
The feast served in Afghanistan’s unforgiving desert was prepared in what Army chefs dubbed ‘HellMans Kitchen’, a makeshift tent that would soon have had the F-Word’s Gordon Ramsay issuing blood-curdling curses.
Grub's up: Santa hats and comedy antlers are the order of the day for these soldiers from 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland at Forward Operating Base Wishtan in Helmand province.
The troops are among 9,500 soldiers, Marines, Special Forces and airmen and women who have spent the festive season separated from their loved ones.
But, like their thousands of comrades across the battle zone, the troops at FOB Armadillo donned Santa hats and opened presents during a brief respite in the fighting, which has claimed 243 British lives since 2001.
From 10.30am, the troops – chiefly from 1st Battalion Royal Horse Artillery – took turns to enjoy mince pies, Christmas cake, sweets, chocolates and other treats while colleagues readied artillery guns and other weapons in case of an attack by insurgents.
Then it was back to their military duties as a gun troop, offering offensive fire and smoke to screen infantry movements on the ground or fire flares to shine on enemy activity at night.
Christmas Dinner in Hellmans Kitchen tent at Armadillo base, Helmand.
It was business as usual, too, in the skies over Helmand. RAF Top Guns Juliette Fleming and Nikki Thomas were flying a fighter jet 15,000ft above the battlefields.
Pilot Flight Lieutenant Fleming and navigator Squadron Leader Thomas have logged nearly 100 hours as the first all-female Tornado crew. Their 24 missions so far, each lasting up to seven hours, have helped both British and US troops under fire.
The duo – call-sign ‘Monster Seven Three’ – often fly as low as 100ft in their supersonic Tornado GR4 from their base at Kandahar to attack enemy positions.
Flight Lieutenant Juliette Fleming (left) and Squadron Leader Nikki Thomas (right) flew a mission on Christmas Day
Flt Lt Fleming, whose No 31 Squadron is based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, said: ‘For us it was just another working day. There was a Christmas dinner in the dining hall and a few decorations and cards. We will celebrate our Christmas when the tour is over at the end of January.’
Lt Col Jez Bennett, Commanding Officer of 1 Royal Horse Artillery, said: ‘The boys and girls at Armadillo are doing a great job supporting the infantry with artillery.
Not afraid to take it to the enemy: British soldiers firing at Taliban positions. In a period of six weeks in November and December 2008, the British lost more men than the Americans, despite America having four times as many troops in the country at the time
Although Christmas Day was very much a working day for them, it was great that they were able to have a moment or two to celebrate Christmas with their mates and remember their families at home.
‘I am in awe of the chefs and suppliers who managed to deliver a little piece of UK festivity to a very remote part of Afghanistan.’
Toasting their fallen comrade with a mug of tea ... why the Mighty VI will never falter
By COLONEL RICHARD KEMP - Former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan and author of Attack State Red
Across Helmand province this Christmas, British soldiers are living in flea-ridden, mud and straw farm buildings little different from the stable where Jesus was born.
The self-styled ‘Mighty VI’ – 6 Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment – do not even have solid walls to insulate them from temperatures plunging to -7C. They live in canvas tents beside a field shower and latrine.
Their home is Patrol Base Paraang, smaller than a football pitch and surrounded by a 10ft defensive wall. It is one of the toughest outposts, guarding the security zone around Lashkar Gah.
The men of 6 Platoon have seen more combat in their first two months in Helmand than many will see in a lifetime’s soldiering. Virtually every patrol brings teenage infantrymen into a vicious fire-fight.
Gunner Scott Powell carries out gun maintenance on one of the 105mm Light Guns at the Armadillo base.
Just before Christmas one of this tight-knit band of brothers, 23-year-old Lance-Corporal Adam Drane, became the 100th British soldier to be killed this year. As his parents put it: ‘He died at his post, protecting his company, in the service of his country.’ Others of the Mighty VI have been wounded. So you might expect the men of Paraang to be miserable, especially at Christmas. But they are not.
Morale is sky-high. They are well trained and motivated, professional infantrymen.
They expect to live and fight in appalling conditions. For them, the firepower at their disposal is far more important than the ‘comforts’ found at Bastion and Kandahar base camps which, in the tradition of frontline troops, they scorn.
The company has killed 15 to 20 Taliban so far and cultivated a gradual improvement in support from locals.
Despite Paraang being one of the most dangerous places to fly into, welfare parcels got through to 6 Platoon, enabling the men to bring a semblance of Christmas spirit to their Spartan accommodation with tinsel and coloured lights.
Two weeks ago at the ‘Paraang Olympics’, the main events were javelin (with 6ft poles from the stores), discus (with dirt-filled ammo boxes), relay-racing (with a laden field stretcher), hammer-throwing (with a half-full sandbag) and pistol shooting (with the real thing). Every platoon member wore a Santa Claus outfit.
Major Alan Wylie, 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, talks to local children
Time didn’t allow all the events to be completed, so they were due to be part of Christmas Day celebrations.
The young soldiers have also made clay ovens from mud and 2ft steel pickets. They now rustle up pizzas topped with tinned cheese, bacon and sausages. For Christmas Day, 2nd Lieutenant Dan Benstead struck a deal with a farmer to sell him a sheep to be brought into the base, slaughtered and spit-roasted to the accompaniment of competing Christmas tunes blaring out from tinny iPods.
The men also take turns cramming into the makeshift TV room to use their PlayStation 3 or to watch Christmas-themed DVDs according to the pre-planned ‘Paraang TV Guide’.
They can also play darts, or even football in the base’s ankle-deep, clinging mud that instantly trebles the weight of your boots.
Senior officers serve Christmas dinner to troops at Armadillo base
It is a measure of the fortitude of these young men that not one of them shrank from the horror of standing sentry in the post where Lance-Corporal Drane, their brother, had been shot in the head.
What keeps them going? Commitment to their vital task and a relish for soldiering. But above all commitment to each other.
As a sign of mutual loyalty, most sport a Mighty VI tattoo. One was designed by Lance- Corporal Drane’s best mate who was due to be his best man, Private Paul ‘Kels Bels’ Kelly.
In an echo of the phenomenon seen among troops on leave during the First World War, a teenage Royal Anglian home on R&R last week told his mother he couldn’t wait to get back to Paraang for Christmas. He needed to be with his mates, sharing the dangers.
Our soldiers are the bravest and the best in the world. At Christmas the contrast between the safety and comfort we take for granted and the sacrifices and hardship we demand from them is stark. What can we give in return?
Following the death of Lance-Corporal Drane, his devastated comrades in the Mighty VI did not falter. While raising a mug of tea to him on Christmas Day, they resolved to redouble their efforts to do the best possible job in Afghanistan in his honour.
It is in the nature of war that our brave fighting troops in Helmand will take further battle casualties in the coming months.
dailymail.co.uk
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