Fearless Under Fire

Tangye

A Short Tale from BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

Heart-warming stories of canine devotion and bravery

by Isabel George

Dedication

To my parents who showed, by example, that courage, loyalty and love really can conquer all

Epigraph

‘“I am serving in Afghanistan and have befriended a young stray dog that lives in the military base where I am stationed. Can you please help me rescue it? I just can’t leave it here to starve.”

‘I smiled as I read the email. I needed to reply quickly. I knew that the soldier would want to know there was somebody else in the world who thought like he did. I had another dog to rescue.’

(Pen Farthing – ex-Royal Marine Commando and founder of the charity NOWZAD, which is dedicated to rescuing animals like Tangye in war-torn Afghanistan. One Dog at a Time, Ebury Press.)

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Chapter 1: Tangye – Fearless Under Fire

Afterword

Bibliography

About the Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

Tangye –

Fearless Under Fire

Tangye was a tiny bundle of dusty black fur when Rik Groves of 29 Commando, Royal Artillery first set eyes on him. The puppy was lying on the floor at the feet of an Afghan security guard whose huge boots dwarfed the scrap of a dog. Maybe it was the unfamiliar sound of the English accent that interested him enough to raise his head out of the hot dirt but it was a chance for the soldier to catch a glimpse of what looked like a Labrador’s face. No more than five or six weeks old, he was too young to be without his mother and maybe that explained why he was never more than a paw’s pace from the yellowish, Corgi-type dog that was strutting around him. That dog looked streetwise but the pup’s sad and innocent expression bothered the soldier and, unable to resist any longer, he reached down to stroke its bony body. That first touch was the start of a four year friendship that was to brighten the days and hearten the morale of British soldiers stationed in one of the most dangerous places on earth.

* * *

Kajaki lies on the Helmand River approximately 160 kilometres north of Camp Bastion and 100 kilometres northeast of Helmand Province’s capital, Lashkar Gãh. The only way to reach the mountainous Kajaki by road is to take Highway 611 which winds through the Taliban-infested desert and patches of scrubland that typify the area. The road is a recognized hotspot for insurgent activity and troops taking this long and perilous road face the ever-present dangers of being ambushed and falling victim to IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) designed to cause maximum harm to anyone in their path. At the heart of this stark desert base shimmer the turquoise waters of the Kajaki Dam. The vast pool is the only visible respite from the blinding dazzle of the white sand. In summer, with temperatures reaching around 50°C and in winter falling to a little as –25°C, it is a desperately inhospitable place to live at any time of year. The rains which come between October and April provide little respite from the extremes as they only turn the sand into deep, clinging, yellow mud. The contrast between the heat of the day and the cold nights can deceive the newcomer and prove a harsh reality for stray dogs that roam the area.

Dogs found wandering in Afghan communities are no longer adopted as pets. Since the arrival of the Taliban, dogs are considered to be dirty and are treated with disdain; they are commonly shunned and often abused and tortured. It is not unusual to see a puppy used as a football in the street or kept lean and mean to fight for money. The harsh reality for many dogs in Afghanistan is that if he is not a good fighter his life will not be worth living and it will be painfully short. Luckily, little Tangye did not have the telltale signs of a dog being groomed for fighting. For a start, he still had his ears and tail intact. And, looking at the skinny bag of bones that he was, it was unlikely Tangye would develop the necessary physique to be a prize fighter. In that respect, Tangye was maybe one of the lucky ones: too skinny to be a fighter, too small to be a threat but attractive enough to be adopted by the guards stationed at the Kajaki Dam militia post. Tethered to a stake, given no food and no water. Just there. That was Tangye.

Warrant Officer Rik Groves was heading up the first Operations Mentoring Liaison Team (OMLT) the British Army had raised in the Kajaki area since the Taliban poured out of the religious schools and refugee camps of Pakistan and Kandahar twelve years before. His right-hand man was Sergeant Lee Mildener of 45 Commando, Royal Marines and, to help them both communicate with the local people, an interpreter went along too. In charge of ten or so Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers, this was an embryonic force created to establish a good working and living relationship with the local people, most importantly the local tribesmen and elders who hold sway in their communities. These people had lived and thrived quite happily on their land and prospered by farming cereal and growing fruit and continuing a culture that embraced the rituals of an ancient people. The terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 changed all of that. Terrorism had raised its ugly head in the spotlight of the world and the war against its leader, Osama bin Laden, all associated with him and those protecting him was declared by the United States and backed by the British Government.

On 7 October 2001, two British hunter-killer submarines entered the Arabian Sea off the coast of Pakistan. Nuclear ships HMS Trafalgar and HMS Triumph launched a hail of Tomahawk cruise missiles. The 455-kilogramme guided missiles destroyed a Taliban training school in the Afghan countryside. It was the start of a targeted aerial bombing campaign that gave the overthrown Afghan Northern Alliance the power to return fire on their attacker, the Taliban. Under the direction of their warlord general, Rashid Dostum, and backed by the US Special Forces, the Alliance retook the holy city of Mazar-i-Sharif and powered south to regain Kabul. That was on 21 November 2001, the same day the Alliance also took control of Bagram airbase, a strategically vital move.

What followed was two years of consolidation for the Afghan National Alliance with the support of the British and US Forces. The thrust of each military operation was to secure the position of the Alliance against the Taliban and capture the insurgents, giving them little time or space to retreat to their stronghold over the Pakistan border. By the time the US and British Governments began to turn their attention to the activities in Iraq in 2003, the position in Afghanistan was favourable to the Alliance.

Although the Alliance may not have agreed with the way the military operations had been performed, the result was conclusive: four days after the Alliance had retaken Bagram airbase, a C-130 Hercules had landed 100 elite British Commandos from the Special Boat Service (SBS). Living their motto ‘By Strength and Guile’ to the last letter, the men secured the base and set up effective air traffic control. In securing the base and adopting it as headquarters for the British Special Forces, the area became as safe as it could be, especially with the imminent arrival of 120 men (two squadrons) of Special Air Service (SAS) personnel in readiness for an attack deep into enemy territory. The successful destruction of an al-Qaeda opium storage plant, in broad daylight, earned the regiment a Distinguished Service Order, two Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses and two Military Crosses. They proved absolutely their motto – ‘Who Dares Wins’. Commandos from the SBS were getting close to bin Laden in December 2001 when the US Forces infiltrated the Tora Bora cave system close to the Khyber Pass. With the help of the SBS, US Forces were guided into position and successful air strikes crippled al-Qaeda insurgents, forcing them into a rearguard action. Countless enemy positions were located, attacked and cleared but this was guerilla warfare and it was being fought close to the enemy’s main retreat in Pakistan where they were always bound to run.

Lives were lost but the result was clear – the enemy was on the run. Between 2003 and 2005, British Forces in Afghanistan fell to just 300 and under the umbrella of Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) the troops supported the Afghan National Alliance from their base in Kabul. Meanwhile, as the US and British Forces turned their attention to Iraq, the Taliban used this breathing space to their advantage. They regrouped and re-equipped themselves for war.

Spring 2006, Operation Herrick IV: over 3,000 soldiers of the 16 Air Assault Brigade arrived in Helmand. They were to launch a reconstruction project in southern Afghanistan using the capital of Helmand Province, Lashkar Gah, as the centre of its operations. Devised to bring prosperity to the local people and their environment, the plan would also win support away from the Taliban and weaken their hold on Helmand. The British Government hoped this could be achieved in peace and without an exchange of gunfire. But the politicians had underestimated the feeling on the ground and the arrival of the British troops was not going to be a confirmation of peace and rebirth after all. When the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, requested the British Commanders take their men out of the capital and position them close to the Taliban strongholds in the mountains of the north, it was the start of the domino effect that took the soldiers into direct combat with the enemy.

Three British regiments had arrived with the mission to keep peace and increase prosperity and soon found themselves defending their positions and their lives. The troops from the 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment, the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles and 3 Para were posted to platoon houses in Musa Qaleh, Now Zad and Sangin. And within days they were involved in unexpected combat. In June 2006, the British lost their first soldier in combat with the Taliban. He was shot dead when the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) was ambushed on its way to save a patrol being pinned down by the enemy. In August, A Company, 3 Para lost twenty-nine-year-old Bryan Budd. Corporal Budd was leading a patrol protecting engineers working on the platoon house in Sangin. His patrol outmanoeuvred a group of Taliban fighters who were spotted coming through a cornfield towards the house. Budd disposed of two Taliban fighters before his life was taken in the crossfire. He was awarded a post-humous Victoria Cross. By 2 September, the British Forces had lost another fourteen lives as an RAF Nimrod surveillance aircraft crashed into the desert taking with it the hopes of turning Operation Herrick IV into a peaceful tour of duty.

When Rick Groves landed in Helmand Province on 17 September 2006, he was confused as to how the troops could have been sent out to blend in and build relationships with local people when the Taliban were still as potent a force as they were in 2001. The Taliban had banned music and dancing and prohibited women from any kind of public life. They had introduced rules that had set the development of their own society back hundreds of years. Closing schools, shooting teachers and imposing gender rules created an atmosphere of fear and stagnancy for the ordinary people whose lives and fortunes had been changed so dramatically in the Taliban takeover. British and US Forces had given the insurgents a military thrashing but the organization was not the toothless tiger it was perceived to be by the West. Fanatics who aim to kill do not hand over their hard-won territory to Nato’s ISAF or anyone else. But if the people could see the British soldiers were there now to protect them and improve their status and environment following over a decade of hardline Taliban rule then the work could begin on making Kajaki a better place to live. The Nato ISAF forces remained determined to restore what had been damaged but it all had to be done under the watchful eye of the Taliban. For the Western soldiers brought in to start the transformation, this still looked like a war of justice versus terrorism.

The morning Rik and Lee first set eyes on Tangye they were on a routine visit to the security post at the dam. Both men had arrived in Afghanistan just days before and this dog was the first thing they had encountered that reminded them of home in the UK. They called him Tangye, after a local village. It just seemed to suit him. Having been dog owners for most of their lives, it was no wonder this vulnerable Labrador fired an instinct to protect and care for this voiceless victim of the war.

When Rik and Lee arrived in Kajaki in September 2006, it was a remote northern outpost with few home comforts and even fewer people. Nestled in this mountainous region sits the Kajaki Dam and its vitally important hydro-electric power station which provides electricity to Helmand and parts of Kandahar. To the British Forces, the Kajaki Dam is a huge asset to the area and capable of supplying electricity to many more homes. With electricity comes communication and a way to inform the local people of the relative stability that existed in some areas. This is not something the Taliban wants anyone to hear and so the dam is an excuse to intimidate the dam workers and the local Afghan community. And, after each attack, the insurgents can retreat north to their safe havens. The troops went out on daily patrols both on foot and using the Jackal armoured vehicles (which also have a platform for heavy machine guns) in order to keep the enemy pushed back. This stark and dangerous area is ripe for the work of the OMLT and each time they visited, there was Tangye wearing his eager, friendly face.

It all began with a biscuit from the soldiers’ ration packs. Tangye sat up and sniffed the air. The little velvet wrinkles on his forehead raised and lowered as he tried to place the smell. But he couldn’t. It wasn’t a smell he recognized and so he blew his nose, as dogs do, and shook his head to clear the confusion of his senses. But as Rik moved closer and the biscuit smell grew stronger, Tangye smacked his mouth and licked his lips in eager anticipation. Then, staying low, he crept up to the soldier to conduct an immediate body search using his dry, black muzzle to seek out the hidden biscuit.

‘Ah, so that’s what you want from me,’ said Rik, staring down at the triumphant puppy who was now crunching loudly away on the biscuit he had tracked down to the soldier’s pocket. Tangye frothed at the mouth as he savoured the biscuit and then its final crumbs, all carefully licked off the sand, turned to brown goo in the corner of his mouth. Rik had never seen a ration biscuit enjoyed so much. Everyone thought they were hard and tasteless but Tangye was already sniffing for more. ‘So you want another one of those do you little guy? Well, we’ll have to see what we can do on our next visit,’ said Rik, reaching out his hand to the timid puppy. It seemed Tangye wanted to be stroked but he wasn’t sure how the process worked. Treats and affection were all new to him.

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