Frontier Fighters: On Active Serivce in Warziristan by Walter Cummings Jules Stewart

Author:Walter Cummings, Jules Stewart [Walter Cummings, Jules Stewart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781848842410
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2010-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

A day or two later it was the turn of our Scouts to construct a permanent picquet on a wooded ridge to the south of the camp and about a mile away. A company of the ‘Cookies’ were further along to the west on the same long ridge to protect us from sudden attack. Right from the start both our parties were subjected to sniping fire and a few men were wounded. One of the men hit was in a forward group sent out by the other company and the Commander, Felix Williams, went forward himself to bring back his wounded lad under fire. A very courageous act.

Building a picquet under fire, even long-range sniping fire is a nasty business. Sooner or later someone remains in view and stationary long enough for the sniper to align his sights and press the trigger. And even if the bullet misses its mark, it is going to be by a slight margin. To have a carefully fired bullet just missing one’s ear leaves that organ completely deaf for about five minutes and the nerves of that human target agitated while he ponders his narrow escape. Because of the accurate sniping fire the south portion of the wiring for the picquet was left until semi-darkness, blanking out the sniper’s aim. The Sappers completed the wire and our Scouts cleared the scrub and bushes. The picquet was not occupied by the garrison until fairly late that night when the company, the Sappers and our Scouts withdrew to camp escorting the mules that had brought up the kits and stores of the picquet.

As I have mentioned earlier, the first Kaniguram camp was a dreadfully cramped one and so, when the commander moved the Force to the raghza a mile or so away to the north, everyone was delighted. Besides being located on a large flat plain with a firm surface, the camp was now further away from commanding features and therefore less troubled by snipers during the night. But even so, all units had strict orders to complete all their cooking and have lights blanketed before dark. This was the best camp we had built and soon all units were well dug down, warm and comfortable for our longish stay in the area.

That day a Gurkha battalion had moved out at dawn to cover the west and dangerous flank during the occupation of the new camp, the west boundary of which was a nullah about 50 yards wide and 20 feet deep. Changing camp took all day and it was not until near dusk that the Force Commander considered it safe for the covering Gurkhas to come in. The Mahsuds were clearly waiting for this opportunity to show their prowess in the fading light. Amongst the stunted oak that were scattered on the steep raghza, cut in places by some nullahs which gave them approach lines, they followed up closely, inflicting several casualties and forcing the rear lines of our troops to halt and counter-attack to evacuate their wounded.

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