Stephen Grey - Operation Snakebite

Harrier:the Harrier GR7/7A is an RAF offensive aircraft.

HCR:Household Cavalry Regiment.

Hellfire missile:the AGM-114 Hellfire missile is a laser-guided, air-to-surface missile.

H-Hour:the hour, either secret or as yet undecided, when an attack or operation begins.

HIDACZ:a high-density airspace control zone, a declared ‘box’ of airspace into which no one may enter without permission.

HQ:headquarters.

Humvee:a nickname for a US armoured car, the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV).

IED:an improvised explosive device, a bomb constructed from improvised materials.

ISAF: International Security Assistance Force, the NATO force in Afghanistan.

JDAM: or Joint Direct Attack Munition, a bomb fitted with a satellite guidance kit for precision targeting.

JSTARS: or Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System, a large US aircraft that tracks movements on the ground.

kandak:Afghan word for battalion.

kinetic operation:an operation involving combat.

KRH: King’s Royal Hussars.

landing zone:a landing site for helicopters or a parachute drop.

leaguer: overnight temporary camp.

M4:an American assault rifle favoured by airborne and special forces.

Mastiff:a heavily armoured 6 x 6 wheel-drive patrol vehicle.

medevac: medical evacuation.

NATO:North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NCO:non-commissioned officer.

OC:officer commanding.

Pinzgauer or ‘Pinz’:a four-wheeled off-road vehicle with light armour.

PKM:a Soviet-designed light machine gun

Predator:a pilotless plane used for military surveillance and offensive operations which can be armed with Hellfire missiles .

R&R:rest and recuperation, a period of leave.

RAF:Royal Air Force.

Reaper:a newer version of the Predator that can carry both missiles and bombs.

RPG:rocket-propelled grenade.

sangar: guard post or watchtower.

SAS:Special Air Service.

SBS:Special Boat Service.

SF:special forces.

shemagh: also known as a keffiyyh , an Arab headdress worn by soldiers in the desert.

shura:an Afghan word for a meeting or gathering, typically of tribal elders.

Spectre:a slow-flying gunship aircraft operated for night-time surveillance and assaults by US special forces; it is an adaptation of the Hercules C-130 transport plane.

UAV:unmanned aerial vehicle, also known as a drone; a pilotless plane.

Vector:a fast, lightweight six-wheeled off-road vehicle, it is the more heavily armoured version of the Pinzgauer .

Viking:an armoured amphibious tracked vehicle used by the Royal Marines.

Warrior:a British tracked armoured infantry fighting vehicle.

WMIK:a desert-modified open-top Land Rover with a weapons mounted installation kit that can be used to fit a heavy machine gun or grenade launcher.

1. Task Force Helmand, October 2007

2. Kajaki Assault – advance to northern front line, 4 November 2007

3. Battle of 9/11 – outside FOB Inkerman, 9 November 2007

4. Operation Snakebite – the build-up around Musa Qala, 2 November to 3 December 2007

5. Assault on Musa Qala, 2–11 December 2007

6. Feint attack on village of Deh Zohr E Sofla, 7 December 2007

7. Musa Qala wadi, 7–11 December 2007

8. Battle of Sangin, 06.15–17.35, 10 December 2007

1 Chinook helicopter in Helmand sunset (© Crown Copyright/MOD *)

2 Brigadier Andrew Mackay (Nick Cornish)

3 Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, British ambassador (own collection)

4 General Dan McNeill, NATO commander (© NATO)

5 President Hamid Karzai (Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles)

6 Major Jake Little (Stephen Grey)

7 Mullah Abdul Salaam (Major Paul Holder)

8 Lieutenant Colonel Brian Mennes (Major Paul Holder)

9 Sergeant Lee Johnson (Corporal Phil French)

10 Michael Semple, EU envoy (own collection)

11 The ex-Taliban ‘Group’ (Captain Rob Sugden)

12 Royal Marines in battle of 9/11 (Sergeant Jim Wright)

13 Mortar line at Inkerman (Nick Cornish)

14 Flight Lieutenant Nichol Benzie, Chinook pilot (Philip Coburn)

15 Shura organized by B Company (Corporal Phil French)

16 Warrior armoured vehicle, Scots Guards (© Crown Copyright/ MOD *)

17 Major Chris Bell, Scots Guards (own collection)

18 Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) in the desert (Philip Coburn)

19 Parachute drops (Lieutenant Malcolm Dalzel-Job)

20 Major Tony Phillips, BRF (Philip Coburn)

21 BRF in the desert (Philip Coburn)

22 Taliban in Musa Qala (Institute for War and Peace Reporting)

23 Mullah Sadiq, Kajaki commander (© Al Jazeera English)

24 JDAM bomb above compound (Corporal N. Marshall)

25 JDAM bomb hits compound (Corporal N. Marshall)

26 Task Force 1 Fury at Kandahar Airport (A Flight, 18 (B) Squadron, RAF)

27 Fury boarding Chinook (A Flight, 18 (B) Squadron, RAF)

28 Fury flying into action (Squadron Leader Paul Curnow)

29 BRF on edge of Musa Qala (Philip Coburn)

30 Militia arriving to guard Mullah Salaam (Staff Sergeant Rob Sinclair)

31 Corporal Darryl Gardiner at nightfall (Philip Coburn)

32 B Company, 2 Yorks, at dawn (Stephen Grey)

33 B Company in action in feint attack (Nick Cornish)

34 Soldiers trying to save injured civilian (Stephen Grey)

35 Afghan soldier confronts Taliban (Nick Cornish)

36 Soldiers recover dead Taliban (Nick Cornish)

37 US Green Berets in the village (Stephen Grey)

38 Scene of Jonno mine strike (Nick Cornish)

39 Corporal Gregory ‘Cagey’ Roberts (Philip Coburn)

40 Wounded soldier helped away (Stephen Grey)

41 Captain Nick Mantell (Stephen Grey)

42 B Company Vector is destroyed (Stephen Grey)

43 Apaches over the Musa Qala wadi (Philip Coburn)

44 Musa Qala wadi (Philip Coburn)

45 BRF soldiers fire from wadi ridgeline (Philip Coburn)

46 Chinooks land in the wadi (Philip Coburn)

47 Sergeant James Brasher, Task Force 1 Fury (Private First Class Dillon Foxx)

48 A Spectre gunship in action over Musa Qala (Abu Dhabi TV)

49 On top of Roshan hill (Alex Gardner)

50 Roshan Tower (Alex Gardner)

51 Brigadier Mackay on Roshan Hill (Alex Gardner)

52 Task Force 1 Fury scouts (Sergeant Mills)

53 Rifleman Subash Gurung awaits medevac (Rifleman Sanamraj Malla)

54 ANA soldiers before assault on Musa Qala (Nick Cornish)

55 Private Lawrence Fong leads prayers before battle (Nick Cornish)

56 Author in Musa Qala (Nick Cornish)

57 Brigadier Mohaydin, ANA commander (Alex Gardner)

58 Corporal Phil French passes burning opium (Nick Cornish)

59 Residents begin to return to Musa Qala (Nick Cornish)

60–1 Scene above BRF first mine strike (Lance-Corporal Collin Vincent)

62–3 Corporal Gardiner helps to treat Bombardier Danny Kay (with permission of Corporal Gardiner’s family and Bombardier Kay)

64 Monument at Inkerman (Nick Cornish)