Wednesday, December 19:

Camp Bastion and Camp Tombstone

There is a heavy rainfall throughout the night and the drops on the metal roof sound a lot like gunfire. This probably leads to my nightmares of being surrounded by the Taliban.

We have an early start, up at 4.20am, to catch flight to Camp Bastion, sharing the plane with members of the Afghan National Army (ANA).

They seem friendly enough and they enjoy practising their English but they are also paying close attention to a solid metal box which contains their salary.

Afghanistan from the air is an impressive sight because of the vast emptiness dotted with adobe walled settlements.

The flight is relatively short, only about 30 minutes, and ends with a very bumpy landing. I have finally arrived in Helmand province.

Camp Bastion is the main base for coalition forces in Helmand and FOB Tombstone is just a short road journey away. Again it is unnerving to be travelling along an open road in a Snatch Land Rover with an armed guard scanning the horizon for hostile forces.

As the name suggests Tombstone resembles a Wild West outpost and was previously named by the Americans. It is where 2^nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) is currently based.

I met up with Cpl Carl Storr, from Whitby, who has just returned from the Musa Qala operation. He tells me what it was like and I am convinced I need to get there to see it for myself. But whether this will be possible is another question.

A quick trip back to Bastion to speak to the guys who protect the supply convoys, the Combat Logistic Patrol, and I am surprised to find about half a dozen from the Scarborough area – in the middle of nowhere.

There are also a couple of soldiers from Sunderland which is good news because I am also working for the Sunderland Echo and the Hartlepool Mail.

Before I came to Afghanistan I had heard that one of the men in charge of the field hospital was a GP from Whitby and I actually got the chance to interview him.

Lt Col John McAuley is also with the TA and apparently a lot of the medical staff are serving with the territorials.

The hospital is like something straight out of MASH but on a much larger scale.

I have been to Afghanistan and got the T-shirt as I now have my Op Herrick 07 campaign T-shirt which will be something I shall treasure for some time.