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3 Episodes 2012 - 2012
Episode 1
54 mins
A daring mission deep into enemy territory is captured on camera by soldiers during Afghanistan's bloodiest summer on record. Troop surges in 2010 forced the Taliban to fight dirty, using more IEDs than ever. Against this backdrop a 100-strong company from 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was deployed into one of the most dangerous areas of Helmand, tasked with protecting a vital road link. During a heavy firefight, Kingsman Darren Deady was shot in the neck. He collapsed into the lap of Sergeant Mark Wilson who was filming on a helmet camera. The operation later claimed the life of Captain Andrew Griffiths - the first child of a serving officer to die in Afghanistan. A dust storm grounded all aircraft in Bastion, but two brave helicopter pilots rewrote the rulebook, flying in formation to navigate so they could evacuate him. Both men were treated side by side in the UK, but died of their injuries. Andrew's dad, Brigadier Mike Griffiths, the colonel of the regiment, now uses his personal experience to train 'visiting' officers who break the news of injuries and fatalities to servicemen's families.
Episode 2
54 mins
The men of C Company, 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment are getting used to life back in barracks and beginning to tell their stories of a tour far tougher than any of them expected. The two platoons that make up C Company are some of the most recent soldiers to have returned from Helmand Province. During the six months they were there, they filmed every moment. A timetable has been set for an end to British combat operations in Afghanistan, but two young officers, and best friends, led their platoons into an area of Helmand dubbed Death Valley to find a war that is far from over. While some areas are being handed over to Afghan forces as part of the process of transition, C Company's extraordinary footage captures the reality of the fight against the Taliban in the Upper Gereshk Valley. During the tour they were blown up by IEDs, ambushed and shunned by a local population too scared to talk to them - until the unthinkable happened. A civilian vehicle carrying three generations of one family was hit by an IED along a notorious stretch of Route 611 - a road C Company were there to protect.
Episode 3
54 mins
It's May 2009 and a Welsh Guards platoon deep in Taliban country falls into a deadly ambush, just yards from the isolated mud fort which is their patrol base. Seven Platoon is led by the regiment's brightest young officer, Lt Mark Evison, who keeps a candid war diary revealing dangerous shortages of manpower and equipment. They are just two weeks into their tour of duty, and already a vital piece of equipment - an essential radio cable - has failed. As the Taliban tighten their noose around Seven Platoon, putting IEDs on the roads and attacking their small fort, even the most vital spares cannot get to them quickly. This film tells the gripping story of how the lack of one small cable has lethal consequences and leads to a platoon of the Welsh Guards' toughest soldiers nearly being massacred.