# Strapped onto the wings of an Apache - RM rescue fallen comrade under fire



## The Rifleman (17 Jan 2007)

*absolutely amazing!*

http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1992036,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=11

It was an extraordinary end to a tragic operation. When Lance Corporal Matthew Ford was shot during an assault on a Taliban fortress last Monday, his comrades mounted a dramatic rescue mission that saw soldiers being strapped to the wings of helicopter gunships as they crossed a river under heavy enemy fire.
The remarkable mission, dubbed "Flight of the Phoenix" by some, did not save the life of the 30-year-old marine who, it turned out, had died instantly from gunshot wounds. But it may gain four courageous marines an honoured place in British military history books.

It was an extraordinary end to a tragic operation. When Lance Corporal Matthew Ford was shot during an assault on a Taliban fortress last Monday, his comrades mounted a dramatic rescue mission that saw soldiers being strapped to the wings of helicopter gunships as they crossed a river under heavy enemy fire.
The remarkable mission, dubbed "Flight of the Phoenix" by some, did not save the life of the 30-year-old marine who, it turned out, had died instantly from gunshot wounds. But it may gain four courageous marines an honoured place in British military history books.

The drama unfolded during a British assault on Jugroom fort, a Taliban base in Garmser, a district of southern Helmand racked by violence. The riverside fort - a high walled compound ringed by watchtowers - had been under surveillance for more than two months. Military intelligence believed key Taliban leaders were hiding inside and that it was the command headquarters for insurgent activity across Garmser.
On Sunday night a 200-strong British force, led by Royal Marines, launched an operation to flush the Taliban out of the heavily fortified position. They started by launching a diversionary attack on other enemy positions to the north. Then at about 2am, they turned their sights on the real target. B1 bombers and 155mm artillery attacked as a company of marines from 45 Commando gathered on the western bank of the river, across from the fort.


*Ground assault*


They attacked shortly after dawn, storming across the Helmand river in a convoy of Viking amphibious vehicles. Apache gunships, Scimitar armoured vehicles and 105mm artillery provided covering fire. The commandos raced towards the fort walls, tumbled out of the armoured track vehicles, and started the ground assault.

But the besieged Taliban fighters proved resilient, and sprayed the Z Company marines with gunfire. Within minutes the British force suffered four casualties, mostly gunshot wounds. The commandos leapt back into their Vikings and retreated to the far bank of the river.

Moments later, commanding officers realised that one of their number was missing - Lance Corporal Ford. Reconnaissance aircraft found him lying outside the walls of Jugroom fort, on the far side of the river. It was not clear if he was alive. The soldiers prepared to return in the Vikings - a gambit that would entail enormous risk.

The Apache pilots hovering overhead suggested a less perilous but highly unusual move - they would bring the rescue squad across the river. Two Apaches landed and four volunteer marines strapped themselves to the aircraft wings using harnesses.

Dodging Taliban gunfire - and with four marines lying across the wings in the manner of the heroes of the second world war film Flight of the Phoenix - the two Apaches sped across the river and landed outside the Taliban fort. The marines unstrapped themselves and searched for Lance Corporal Ford. Having recovered his body, they strapped it to one of the Apaches and safely crossed the river.

Defence sources described the rescue as an unprecedented operation. Apaches cannot carry passengers - the small fuselage is crammed with instruments and weapons systems and can barely accommodate two pilots. But there are attachments on the wings to which soldiers can harness themselves in an emergency.


*Failure*


The army did not publicise the spectacular retrieval of Lance Corporal Ford's body in an official account of Operation Glacier Jugroom released last night. "Our intention was to show the insurgents that they are not safe anywhere, that we are able to reach out to them and attack whenever and wherever we choose. To that end the mission was a success," said Lieutenant Colonel Rory Bruce.

The identity of the four marine rescuers remains unknown. But despite their heroism the mission was a failure - the Taliban were not expelled from Jugroom fort, and their defiance may be a harbinger of more hard fighting to come.

Following last year's surprise Taliban resurgence, Nato forces across the south are bracing for an expected spring offensive that may start as early as next month. Some of the toughest action can be expected in Helmand. Already the British military has suffered the first two western combat casualties of 2007. Last Saturday Royal Marine Thomas Curry, 21, was shot during close fighting near Kajaki, in northern Helmand.

Last night friends and comrades paid tribute to Lance Corporal Ford. His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Dewar, said: "Lance Corporal Ford was a popular and gregarious young Royal Marine whose professionalism, reliability, and selflessness as well as his sharp wit marked him out from the crowd."

The eldest of three brothers, he was brought up in Immingham, Lincolnshire. His mother, Joan, said: "We are all devastated by the news of Matthew's death. He was a larger than life character who lived his life to the full. His love for life and his ability to make everyone laugh will always be with us."


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## GAP (17 Jan 2007)

British troops stage daring helicopter rescue in Afghanistan    
 London, Jan 17
Article Link

 Four British soldiers in Afghanistan strapped themselves to the wings of fast-moving apache attack helicopters in a daring attempt to rescue a comrade shot by the Taliban, the Defence Ministry said Wednesday. 

"This is believed to be the first time UK forces have ever tried this type of rescue mission ... It was an extraordinary tale of heroism and bravery of our airmen, soldiers and marines who were all prepared to put themselves back into the line of fire to rescue a fallen comrade," said UK task force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rory Bruce. 

Royal Marine lance corporal Matthew Ford, 30, was shot yesterday when more than 200 British troops attacked the Islamist militia's Jugroom Fort in southern Helmand province. 

When Ford was discovered to be missing, the marines first planned a rescue attempt with armoured personnel carriers, but when the apaches became available they decided the fast attack helicopters provided the best opportunity to rescue him. 

But the helicopters can only carry a pilot and a gunner, although according to The Guardian newspaper there are attachments on the wings that soldiers can harness themselves to in emergencies. 

Two troops each were strapped to the wings of two apache helicopters, with a third apache and several ground units providing covering fire. 

After landing at the site of the earlier battle, the four soldiers found Ford dead, but were able to recover his body. 
More on link


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## Big Red (17 Jan 2007)

That's a pretty incredible recovery. 

RIP to the fallen LCpl.


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## Kirkhill (17 Jan 2007)

> British troops stage daring helicopter rescue in Afghanistan
> Agence France-Presse | Jan 17, 2007
> 
> Four British soldiers in Afghanistan strapped themselves to the wings of fast-moving Apache attack helicopters in a daring attempt to rescue a comrade shot by the Taliban, according to the defence ministry.
> ...



http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/army/British_troops_stage_daring_helicopter_rescue_in_Afghanistan11009966.php


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## Mike Baker (17 Jan 2007)

That is amazing


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## Nfld Sapper (17 Jan 2007)

All I can say to that is  :cheers: and +100000 for thinking outside the box.


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## geo (17 Jan 2007)

Ohhh.... I can just imagine how all those staff weenise are thinking about this one as they read all their reports & notice all the boot scuff marks on their precious helicopter gunships.....

wonder if they left any graffiti on the wing stubs?  "killroy was here"?


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## R933ex (17 Jan 2007)

*WOW! *


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## The Rifleman (18 Jan 2007)

the 4 men were a RM RSM, 2 RM signallers and a Commando Sapper - not a SF rescue team - just a group of HQ wallahs


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## GUNS (18 Jan 2007)

Soldiers do amazing things when a fallen comrade is in need of assistance.

From cook to Special Forces, a soldier will do what has to be done.


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## CougarKing (18 Jan 2007)

An AMAZING SHOW OF HEROISM and GALLANTRY by our British brethren! 

 RIP to the Fallen Lance Corporal


Just curious- it doesn't say on the article whether the Apaches were American or British Apaches. I'll check again if I overlooked that minor detail. I assume they might have been British Apaches (RAF/British Army? I didn't think the Royal Marines had their own pilots like the USMC)


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## 3rd Herd (18 Jan 2007)

This is not the first time this has occurred. There are several instances in the Vietnam conflict of dedicated gunships completing this sort of work. By dedicated gunships I mean the predecessor of the Apache, the Corbra. In the case of the Cobra's, the ammunition access doors where lowered to form a seat outside the helicopter itself. In one case it was the rescue of another Cobra crew and another example was the evacuation of LURP teams under fire. I wonder if this was part of a learned lesson in Apache pilot training ? Aside from the obscure history, well done.


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## Groucho (18 Jan 2007)

The Telly news reports in the UK showed how the bootnecks were strapped to the apache! Not on the wings but on the side by the pilot's cockpit ! There are handrails and this is the offical way of getting downed crews out of danger! The apache crews must have been trained to do this and carry the equipment with them! Still to be trained to do it and doing on ops are two different things! There was a THIRD Apache that flow top cover  as the others fly in!  

RIP to the LCPL


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## Groucho (18 Jan 2007)

Cougarking the Apache crews are Army Air Corps! British army! Rifleman the four who tried the rescue are Commando trained and past the couses and wore the Green Beret and what is wrong with signallers??


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## CougarKing (18 Jan 2007)

> Cougarking the Apache crews are Army Air Corps! British army! Rifleman the four who tried the rescue are Commando trained and past the couses



Thank you for clarifying that for me. I suspected they were British Army Air Corps as well, but also thought they might have been the Royal Marine pilots of 847 Squadron who had transitioned to Apaches.  Apparently I was wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/847_Naval_Air_Squadron



> what is wrong with signallers??



What do you mean? I never said anything was wrong with the signallers.


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## Good2Golf (18 Jan 2007)

Similar event happened in Nov, 2004 when a US Army AH-64 Apache crew rescued a downed OH-58D Kiowa Warrior crew.

http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/nov2004/a110404d.html

Pretty amazing stuff!  RIP to the LCpl. 

G2G


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## niner domestic (18 Jan 2007)

O Eternal Lord God, who through many generations has united and inspired the
members of our Corps, grant Thy blessing, we beseech Thee, on Royal Marines
serving all round the GLOBE. Bestow Thy CROWN of Righteousness upon all our
efforts and endeavours and may our LAURELS be those of gallantry and honour,
loyalty and courage. We ask these things in the Name of Him, whose courage never
failed, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen

Lest We Forget


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## The Rifleman (19 Jan 2007)

I know they are Commando trained - I was just pointing out the jobs they had and the fact that they would not normally be expected to carry out this sort of task


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## Armymedic (19 Jan 2007)

If they had not screwed up thier count on the withdrawl across the river, then such a daring rescue for an already deceased soldier would not have taken place.

Heartless I know, but you expect more from highly trained soldiers.


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## The Rifleman (19 Jan 2007)

In the heat of battle such things happen


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## Armymedic (19 Jan 2007)

Unfortunately, yes they do.


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## Groucho (21 Jan 2007)

From the 21th of Jan07 issue of THE NEWS OF THE WORLD
 .... Regimental Sgt Major Colin Hearn 45 who lead the daring raid , told the News of the World "There was no way we were  going to leave Matthew, or anyone else, on that battlefield. "...
  The RSM is also quoted "One of the Apache pilots said "If you can give us four men we could go straight in" I had no seconds thoughts "
A Marine Gary Robinson is quoted " When they asked for volunteers evertone in the unit put up their hands up"
The youngest of the marine to go on the mission is only 19 and has only been out of training for 14 months . There is a picture with the song of one of the Apaches head on, you can see RE Captain  Dave Rigg 28 on one side of the Apache and Marine Chris Fraser-Perry 19 on the other! It look like to me that Fraser-Perry is holding LCpl Ford in his arms but the picture is not clear on that side!
 Hope all the bootnecks and the other pers in this story get back to Condor safely


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## Pearson (21 Jan 2007)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/video/74000/nb/74951_16x9_nb.asx

Footage and BBC report of incident


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## tomahawk6 (21 Jan 2007)

Behind the scenes account. 

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_pages/news/news5.shtml


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## Groucho (22 Jan 2007)

Maybe its time to think about the Apache crews who flew this mission! Yes they are in an armoured cockpit but it was them who came up with the Idea! They had to Fly straight and at 50 mph because of the commandos strapped to the side ! They had to sit on the ground as the commandos unloaded, found the LCpl and loaded back up ! Reports stated that two of the commandos went the wrong way looking for their fallen mate so one of the Apache crewman got out of the bird , ran over to the commandos and got them to go the right way! 
 We may not know the names of the Apache crews but they went above the call of duty and should be thanked!


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## scottishcanuck (22 Jan 2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGBpMojzRT4


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