A HENLEY man serving in Afghanistan has sent back dramatic video footage of the moment his patrol with the 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh came under fire from the Taliban.
Paul Smyth, a major in the Territorial Army currently serving with the Rifles, shot the video of what started as a routine patrol from Base Shaheed led by members of The Afghan National Army and police supported by British soldiers last Thursday (March 4). But an hour into the patrol, shortly after the Afghan security forces left a compound where they had been talking to village elders, the peace was shattered when Taliban insurgents began shooting at the group - with Major Smyth at one point dropping the camera to return fire.
The combined forces held off the insurgents while British patrol commander Lieutenant Adam Libby called in US surveillance aircraft to monitor the Taliban's movements from the sky and drop flares warning them to move back.
Major Smyth said afterwards: "The key to this firefight was to use just the right amount of force to suppress the insurgents and minimise damage to the area. All around us farmers and their families were tending to their crops and going about their day as usual."
Lieutenant Libby from B Company, 1 Royal Welsh said, “My lads reacted well and got on with what they had to do. The Afghans need a bit of direction but they are brave and willing to fight and their enthusiasm goes a long way. They did well today, pushing back the insurgents and sending them a pretty clear message that they are not welcome here in Shaheed.”
Major Smyth lives in Friday Street, Henley, with wife Becky and daughters Annabel, four, and Jessica, five, and owns public relations company River PR, which is based at the Smith Centre in the Fair Mile.
View more of Major Smyth's pictures of life on tour in Afghanistan here.
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