Chapter 5

Guns and Curly were medevacked back to the UK the following morning. We shook hands and told them we would see them back in Hereford. Captain Davis worked his magic and arranged for the girls to be taken back to England. The Army had a department that worked with any locals that had helped us and whose lives were at risk because of that.

I was interviewed and laid it on thick that the girls had told us about the Missile launchers etc. The team interviewed the girls and then they spoke to Doc, but I had tutored him, and he knew what to say.

The team were happy to take them back to the UK and make sure they were safe; they would sort out a house and find them jobs. It was deserved. Twice now they had helped us out.

The girls had to be kept in cells but every day I went to the canteen and got them food and bottles of water and cans of coke. I spent as much of my downtime with them. The cells had CCTV cameras, so I made sure there was no touching or anything.

The day before they left, I went in and hugged each one of them. I also left them a packed lunch. In each of the lunches, I left a note with my email address and a note for them to contact me.

The day they were flown out I walk with them from the cells to the chopper. We hugged and they boarded the chopper with tears in their eyes. It would be hard for them to leave their country, but we all knew that if the Taliban ever found out they had helped us in any way their lives would not be worth living.

There would be no more mission for the SAS lads that were left in camp, we helped guard the camp. There were three full-blown attacks over the next two weeks, and I was asked to use my sniping skills.

The top brass sent four more bricks and their support staff over three weeks later. We stopped for a couple of weeks and helped them bed in before we said our goodbyes and headed out of the sandpit.

We took a helo to the main base, then a plane ride back to the UK. Once we were back at Hereford, we had a debrief before being told we had six weeks of R&R. Doc and I packed away our kit, got into our civvies and jumped into my car. I had no family, no home, no house, I lived on the base. Doc owned a house with his sister in London. Curly and Guns were both in London, so we headed down to see them.

We met up, had coffee, and talked about what had happened and what the future held for us all. Both the lads looked good, and it was obvious they had made good recoveries.

I stopped with Doc and his sister for a couple of weeks, and we met up for meals and stuff with Curly and Guns a couple of times. Then I decided to head back up to Hereford.

I drove up on a sunny Sunday morning and getting back to Hereford was like getting home for me. Hereford was my home, and the SAS was my family at the end of the day.

I went to the canteen and as I ate, I used my phone to book a holiday of two weeks of sun and sand and see what happens in Lanzarote. It left the following evening, so the next morning I packed up my civvies and drove down to Birmingham airport.

Each day I checked my email before heading to the beach or for drinks and each time I was disappointed, it was a good two weeks and when my plane got back to Birmingham two weeks later, I felt refreshed.

I parked up before heading into my room and getting into my running kit and heading out, I did some warm-ups and then started running. Running as always cleared my head.

I ran 10k then took a shower before heading down to the canteen. I ate my Sunday lunch, had seconds, I do love a Sunday roast and then went into the bar and had a few beers with some of the lads. Some were old times, and some were just of selection.

The old ones had stories to tell, and the new ones were all ears. I sat at a table with a beer and just let it all wash over me.

That night before I went to bed, I checked my email. There was nothing...

The next morning, I went for breakfast and had just finished when the CO’s secretary, Sally, came over and asked if I would go and see the CO later that morning. You never said no to a request to go and see the CO. So, I finished my second coffee and went for a shower.

An hour later I was in his secretary’s office, looking well-groomed and ship shape.

I was shown in, and he asked me to sit down and offered coffee. The Co had been an SAS trooper who had risen through the ranks. He had fought in many trouble spots and had the scars to prove it.