In October, 2006, most of 3 Commando Brigade was deployed in Helmand province –    a barren region in southern Afghanistan roughly half the size of England. It was decided to take the war to the enemy, and for the next seven months the Marines went looking for the Taliban. They found them, and as a result were involved in fighting of an intensity not encountered by British troops since the Korean war.

 

Ewen Southby-Tailyour, a retired Royal Marine officer, has now written a vivid account of this deployment. It is not “authorised” and probably the better for that. But with a very tight five month deadline Ewen nevertheless managed to conduct 50 hours of “wonderful interviews” with marines of all ranks and sift through 5,000 photographs. The result is a raw, utterly compelling narrative describing the realities of combat and the daily life of  British fighting forces posted to Afghanistan today.

 

It is not a pretty picture and it is not one that anybody restricted to understanding this conflict through television coverage or newspaper reports from Helmand will readily recognise. This is an unrelenting, hard fought, cat-and-mouse war waged against tenacious, committed opponents fighting on their home soil. No quarter is given, or expected. Technology, fitness and professionalism favour the NATO units. Terrain, history and culture tend to work for the Taliban.

 

Whether such a war can ever be “won” is a question which hangs heavily over each chapter in this book. Helmand is not “governed” in any conventional sense. It generates two thirds of the heroin exported from Afghanistan, with 10% of the profits going into Taliban coffers. An international border is close at hand, allowing insurgents sanctuary at will. As a battle group 3 Commando not only was tasked to fight the Taliban but also to enable reconstruction and development. A very tall order.

 

Ewen brings all this to life with by far his best book since his Falklands epic “Reasons in Writing.” From the first page, the narrative is action-packed, the pace ferocious, the detail superb and the tension palpable. Given that Ewen was unable to visit Afghanistan due to time constraints, this is some feat of writing.

 

At times the reader will feel present on the ground at the events being described – going into battle, running into an ambush, analysing intelligence, mourning a lost comrade, planning tomorrow’s inevitable confrontation with the enemy. The danger involved in every dusty, rundown village compound that has to be “cleaned out” is vividly recorded while the personalities and courage of the Marines involved shine through even the most  obscure military acronyms and hard-to-remember place names.

 

Much of 3 Commando’s efforts in 2006/07 focused on protecting the Kajaki dam – made internationally famous in August/September 2008 when a great convoy of 5,000 NATO troops and 100 vehicles pushed through the desert to deliver a much-needed Chinese-built turbine. In his account, Ewen reveals the reality of the Kajaki dam – in particular, the ceaseless military effort needed to ensure that the Taliban, who command the surrounding hills, are unable to bring heavy weapons within accurate range and so prevent the power station from functioning.

 

In the end, as Major Neil Sutherland observes tellingly to the author on page 201, “the terrorist can be removed only by the indigenous population and not by the (NATO) military. In Helmand the problem was sifting out those who were reconcilable from the irreconcilable and, to add to this conundrum, there were the different levels of Taliban, including the foreign fighters who, some believed, were there only for the money.”

 

Twelve members of 3 Commando Brigade lost their lives during the Marines’ 2006/07 deployment in Helmand. Their average age was 24. During seven months in the province the Brigade took part in 54 operations and had over 800 deliberate engagements with the enemy – nearly twice as many as their immediate predecessors. Last October it returned for another tour of duty.

 

Today Southern Afghanistan remains as insecure as ever. If anything, the Taliban have become bolder, extending their insurgency to the gates of Kabul. More than 100 British soldiers have so far died in the fighting. In writing this “masterly account” (in the words of HRH Prince Philip in a glowing Foreword), Ewen has ensured that this sacrifice is suitably recorded for future generations.