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Message: [QUOTE="Trip_Wire, post: 38906, member: 239"] [b]Continued #2 French Para WIAs discuss Ambush[/b] Continued #2: Sergeant Romain Andrieux (23 years old, group leader, three years of active duty). Image hotlink - 'http://www.valeursactuelles.com/public/valeurs-actuelles/html/upload/img/48d8f148aa6b6andrieux.jpg' His four VABs deployed near the village and their 12.7 mm machine guns pointed at the pass provide the first fire support. “I have pointed out the fields of fire in order to rake every peak.” He scans the landscape through binoculars. “We could see the platoon moving forward on the twisting path. It was a steep hill. The fire started in one fell swoop. I immediately returned fire.” The first fire comes from the pass but Andrieux’s VABs are also engaged. “Bullets splatter on the ground and on the vehicles. An antitank rocket that came from the right goes above our heads and explodes farther away. Up there around the pass, the shoot-out gets even fiercer. Other rockets are fired without causing any damage. I quickly get the contact with adjudant Évrard, so he can point my gunnery. Even through the binoculars, I can’t see the Talibs.” The sergeant opens fire with all his machine guns. The 12.7 mm spray the crests. For the Talibans, Andrieux is a target of prime importance. “My gunners have to sit in the open turret, head and shoulders exposed. My pilots are lying flat on the ground against the armored vehicles. They shoot back with their Famas, but with a low effectiveness since they’re too far away. We couldn’t stay for too long in the same place because the impacts were hitting dangerously close. The Talibs soon turned to a pinpoint firing.” Impacts whip up clouds of dust. “The most worrying things are the bullets which hit the armor plate and ricochet all over the place whistling through the air. Fire never ceased. When it came from the left, we rushed to the right side of the VABs and conversely. A round went through my leg’s pants, another one cut the chinstrap of Gil’s helmet.” The stock of ammunition belts becomes scarce. One needs to carry back some more, but soldiers have to run out in the open to reach the VAB which secures the rearguard. An American Hummer comes up to the French, shoots back and gives them a few crates of cartridges. “We fired off a lot and we often had to change the ammunitions onto the roof of the VABs. Pilots went up to do it without the slightest hesitation. They understood the order, even if the fire became more intense as soon as they were showing up. More than anything, we were thinking about our buddies trapped up there.” In the twilight, Andrieux is informed by radio that Évrard and a few wounded paras are coming up to him. “We attempt to go to meet them but it was impossible for us to walk past the first house in the village: the fire was converging on us. So, we’ve created a fireball by shooting with all our weapons to allow them to run across the open field and board the VABs. We had practically exhausted our 12.7 ammunitions. I had kept a half-belt. Just in case…” Private Philippe Gros (20 years old, rifleman, fifteen months of active duty). Image hotlink - 'http://www.valeursactuelles.com/public/valeurs-actuelles/html/upload/img/48d8f148ab53egros.jpg' As an English speaker, Gros is responsible for acting in collaboration with the Afghan interpreter who accompanies the platoon leader. “At the outbreak of the attack, I’m with the second-in-command behind the adjudant. We catch up with our warrant officer straight away and gather round him behind a big rock, in order to protect him. He had his fight to carry out, we had ours.” Professional reactions are instantaneous: the paras protect their leader who gives an account of the battle and coordinates the maneuver. They share their fields of fire. “We didn’t shoot back immediately to avoid friendly fire: the other groups were between us and the pass. There was nothing we could see, not even our buddies a few meters away. Too much dust. On the other hand, the Talibs were bound to see us very clearly because their bullets were splattering very close. They were sniping at us terribly hard with Dragunov sniper rifles.” A noncom leaves his rock to find out about the situation around the pass. “He comes back tearing down the slope a few minutes later. Just when he’s about to reach our shelter, he’s hit in the stomach, under the bulletproof vest. We give him the emergency care.” The second-in-command dashes forward to endeavor to free the paras stuck higher up. “I haven’t seen him coming back…” “Talibs maneuver and start to outflank us on the right wing. The wounded mate is hit a second time and a third time. I had seen that our adjudant was injured as well but we didn’t want to piss him off with that. He had a hard job to do. The captain was asking him detailed reports on the fighting before intervening.” Gros decides to protect Évrard who is hit. The place becomes unbearable. “We had to leave but every attempt provoked a volley of bullets. The three of us did stay here to enable the adjudant to move back. He was the key guy and he had to withdraw to maintain the radio contact. Another buddy falls under enemy fire. He huddled up on the ground. I wanted to dash and take him under cover but it was impossible to do so. The ground in front of me was being riddled with the bullets. I’ve found myself trapped with Dussaing and Marchand. We had to wait for dark to fall over the battlefield.” The small group will slip away by crawling along a low wall. “Marchand is wounded, his shoulder is dislocated. He can’t crawl. He wants us to leave him on the spot but we don’t want to abandon him.” Night is falling. “We tell ourselves that we could clear off thanks to the darkness. But the Talibs are making straight for us. Marchand throws a hand grenade that bumps four or five bad guys off.” They are located, fire resumes with renewed vigor. “I move away by crawling in order to attack them from the rear. Dussaing throws a grenade which drives them off. I spot four bad guys and I manage to shoot down a couple of them with my Famas. We hear the two others speaking on walkie-talkie. Another grenade silences them. We’ve told ourselves: they’re KO, we gotta go!” At the very same time, an A-10 appears suddenly and fires a stream of 30 mm rounds, right above them. “We’ve taken advantage of the dust for withdrawing discreetly.” The paras get away through a series of thrusts and carefully avoid venturing onto the bombarded path. They come across a VAB toppled into a ditch. “When we open it, we find Hamada. The corporal’s arm is seriously injured. The interior is covered with blood. He had put a tourniquet on him but he did it wrong. I do it again correctly. We try to bring the VAB out of the ditch but it’s really impossible. We had to turn back.” Before leaving the place, the paras have the presence of mind to “bust what is needed” so that nothing interesting will fall into the Talibans’ hands. “Later on, we’ve learnt how many KIA we got… But we do know that we’ve plugged many bad guys.” [/QUOTE]

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