HELMAND PROVINCE
Veteran paratrooper Craig Allen describes the extreme conditions and constant skirmishes against a resurgent Taliban that defined 2 Para’s 2008 tour, and why Helmand sowed the seeds of failure
THOUGH HEAVY, THE RELIABLE AND HARD-HITTING GPMG WAS THE BASIS OF PLATOON-LEVEL FIREPOWER AND WAS POPULAR WITH THE TROOPS
ALL PHOTOS: CRAIG ALLEN, UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
In my previous article Deep in the Green Zone (BAW, August 2021), I described accompanying ‘B’ Company, 3 Para, on our mission to Musa Qaleh. It led to heavy contact with insurgents at the beginning of the battalion’s 2008 tour. However, as a photographer, I was also able to visit all the British-held forward operating bases (FOBs) in the upper Sangin Valley.
