Marine Fraser Perry (3:28)

As I ran to take up a fire position, I found a pistol on the floor just at the. At the base of the Apache. And I thought to myself, oh, that must be one of the lads who dropped it from the initial attack. Hoofing like hoofing to the marines is cool. Great. So I picked up this pistol and put it in my pocket.

Narrator/Host (3:47)

So I thought, right, I'll put some fire down quickly, try and get the heads down till the Marines arrive. So I turned, looked, my pistol had gone. I'm like, where the hell's my pistol? It was strapped in there. And I've got an Uncle Mike's Sidekick which sits on my right thigh, which means I can instantly get it. So all I need to do is a little thumb push and I can do it. But as I ran before I left, though, if we get out flanked, I'll just take the thumb clip off it so it's quicker. But because of that, the weapon was unsecured.

Marine Fraser Perry (4:13)

And I remember seeing the pilot sort of looking on the ground and that's where I realized it's his pistol. So I sort of tapped him on the shoulder and gave it him. And I was a bit good because now I didn't have a pistol again. As we were getting to the Apache, the other two guys turned up as well. So Gary and the rsm, Colin Hearn. So now there's the five of us on the ground at this Apache. Colin Hearn, Dave and the pilot were now securing 40 onto the bottom of the Apache. And I ran back just to take up arcs and start looking into likely enemy positions in case we get ambushed, etc. And I think Gary did the same. We had this thing called the loop line carabiner, and we wrapped that under his armpits around his chest, threw itself, and then clipped him onto the bottom of the fuselage. Gary and Col Hearn make their way Back to the Apache. They've got furthest to go. So again I think in my mind we waited for them to get back to that and then Dave took up Parks, I took up Parks. They sort of got closer to their Apache. So then we closed into our Apache and then I ran back onto the left hand side, the 9 o' clock position of the Apache, climbed back onto the stub of the wing and just gave a thumbs up. We waited what felt like a lifetime, but it must again be second and then start to take off again.

Colonel David Amlodipine (5:54)

My name is Colonel David Amlodipine. Back in 2007 I was Major David Amlow in charge of 656 Squadron, Army Air Corps. And meant that I was the officer commanding both Tom o' Malley and Ed Macy. I couldn't make out initially when they were ready to lift, but I can honestly tell you it was the longest sort of four or so minutes of my life. Certainly when we saw the first aircraft lift was Ed's aircraft and they were able to immediately exit over the Helmet river to the west. It was slightly, no more than say 15, 20 seconds, but a very long 15 seconds or so. Watching Tom get airborne, especially as he was the closest to Juggernaut Fort itself and the enemy positions, I was expecting that he might yet still take fire. And it was, you know, a relief to see him. The 30 millimeter to suppress the positions as he was flying out.

Narrator/Host (6:59)

Tom o' Malley can't remember if it was then that we got told that Matt wasn't alive. But my, my squadron commander David came down. They'd been watching it on, on the Predator feed. I didn't know about that and shook us all by the hand and he said, look, he said he got a bit of bad news and I think that's when he told us that pronounced him dead.

Marine Fraser Perry (7:32)

The Apaches flew back to where the company was. Knowing that this news was about to come to the company sort of stays with me. Just how the lads probably still have that image in their minds, the Apache coming towards them with, with 4D sort of slung beneath it. I'm Glyn Sadler. I was a lance corporal attached to Zulu Company. The sun's well up, the heat starting to come out. Dust everywhere from helicopters.

Colonel David Amlodipine (8:03)

Guys stood on Vikings. I genuinely expected him just to like.

Marine Fraser Perry (8:10)

Raise an arm or just to thumb up or something, say it was okay. But the closer they got, the more.

Colonel David Amlodipine (8:15)

Apparent it was that something wasn't right. I think everybody's head just dropped. You know, we sort of knew what happened.

Marine Fraser Perry (8:28)

The pilot doesn't want to show the company Fordy's body. So he does sort of gracefully fly off to one side. But the pragmatic situation is he couldn't go too far away. It had to be close to the company. He slowly lands and then sort of banks to the side and it does gently, like, lay Matthew down, as gently as a helicopter can do. I just remember as soon as we landed, one second, one second there not. And then the shep is the Zulu. Company Sergeant Major WO2 Shepherd. It's an unfortunate part of being a Company Sergeant Major. As you deal with the casualties and.

Shep Shepherd (9:14)

The wounded, a number of the lads come running down, obviously, mega concerns and blokes who he'd been, you know, living in the hole with and fighting with for the last three months, like, and who he'd known for years. I held the company back and just told them all to stay where they were. And I just says, I need four of Fordy's mates. They all just come automatically. Just knelt down in a semicircle around Fordy's body and I just say, does everyone agree that 40 is dead? Everyone instantly says, yeah, agree. And then this might sound slightly cold and callous. We're taking his night vision goggles, we're taking his personal roll radio, took all of his ammunition magazines, his grenades, you know, we're going from there back to Garmstown. We'll be in a fight that night or the day after. We need to get as much kit and equipment that we can use in that fight. You've got a role to do, you've got a job to do and it can impact on other people if it's not done correctly. We had a little bit more time than I was expecting, but. And we all sat there, you know, we all sat there with our hands on his chest. And that night, you know, everyone around and just saying, Talking to him and saying goodbye and, you know, haven't got time at that stage now to dwell on it. And I know that sounds cold as well, but as I say, tonight we could be back in a fight. The one person who would understand, he's fawdy because he was a warrior.

Colonel David Amlodipine (10:58)

Colonel David Amlo. I was the officer commanding. Tom o' Malley and Ed Macy. I didn't see them until they got back to Bastion and I was absolutely convinced that I'd be looking at aircraft with holes. And I was extremely concerned at that point as to whether or not they would even have enough fuel. What we'd done is we'd spun up a Chinook helicopter with some air portable fuel containers. The message had been passed to the crew that were in the overhead to say, give us a grid reference, we'll get these fuel containers out into the desert. In the confusion, in the stress of the moment, that message never got passed. So whilst I was sat there thinking, well, they haven't called for the fuel, they must have enough, the converse was true. And they were literally on fumes flying all the way back to Bastion. And I do remember one of them saying that they got very close to having an engine flame out.

Narrator/Host (11:56)

Carl had done the maths and if anyone knew it, he did. He went, we're going to land with a couple of pounds of fuel left. We're going to be well below the minimum we're legally allowed to land with. Said, but I'm not landing this in the desert. We went over the perimeter fence at Bastion with Jordi flying in front of Carl. So they landed first and went along up the Runway. We landed. As we'd got into the fuel point, the engine died.

Colonel David Amlodipine (12:19)

As soon as I knew that they were on their way back, I went down to meet them in Cambastian. Tried to reassure them that whilst he might not have survived, we brought him home.

Marine Fraser Perry (12:30)

My name is Jake Olafson, I'm a Canadian. I served in the Royal Marines from 2005 through 2009. I've never shared these videos or audio before. Well, back in my hole in the desert, they went back in and they managed to recover the body. Unique way, they hooked onto it with a helicopter and flew it out. Kind of. Kind of shitty, but effective because we didn't get any more casualties. It's back in the hole in the desert, apparently. We're pulling out of here later today. Been awake for a long time. Time to get my head out. Chris Fraser Perry. I went up to Shep and said, sergeant Major, which vehicle dropped me to go back in? And he just looked at me and said, go back in the same fucking vehicle you came in. And I said, sir, I was on one of the Apaches. I was the young, quiet Marine in the company who's just like, oh, right. And then a few days later, he was like, good effort, Royal. Well done. Which as a young Marine from the company's art Major, that's a really big thing.

Shep Shepherd (13:49)

I'm Shep Shepherd. It might have even been a realisation point that, you know, we've done some serious battles, you know, I think our longest one up to then, been 10 hours long. And whether it was maybe Blake's thinking, I don't know whether I'm going to make it through six months of this. I know myself personally, that's exactly how I felt when I come home and R and R have one good look around the garden because if it carries on this way, there ain't no way I'm coming back. There's a time to grieve and unfortunately for us, that wasn't the time. And the way I reconciled it with myself is that, you know, when we get home, then that's the time. And that doesn't stop you being sad, but it enables you to keep soldiering on, you know.

Narrator/Host (14:50)

The Fort was produced by Kev Kaur. The editor was Sue Roberts. It's a BBC Audio north production for Radio 4. You can hear the next episode now on BBC Sounds.

Shep Shepherd (15:08)

When you look at what's going on.

Marine Fraser Perry (15:09)

Around the world, it's easy to think that we humans are incapable of living peacefully. But there are out there people who disagree. I keep going because someone has to hold the line between grief and revenge.

Shep Shepherd (15:28)

I'm Matthew Side and in my sideways miniseries chasing Peace from BBC Radio 4.

Marine Fraser Perry (15:34)

I'm meeting people who have radical ideas about how we can stop what feels like an inevitable slide into conflict. Listen first on BBC Sounds.

Advertisement Voice (15:53)

Weight loss solutions are not one size fits all. Hers makes it simpler to get started and stick with a weight loss plan backed by expert guided online care that puts your weight loss goals first. These include oral medication kits or compounded GLP1 injections through hers. Pricing for oral medication kits start at just $69 a month for a 10 month plan when paid in full up front. No hidden fees, no membership fees. You shouldn't have to go out of your way to feel like yourself. Hers brings expert care straigh to you with 100 online access to personalized treatment plans that puts your goals first. Reach your weight loss goals with help through hers. Get started at forhers.com for you to access affordable doctor trusted weight loss plans. That's for hers.com for you. F O R H E-R-S.com for you. Paid for by Hims and Hers Health. Weight loss by hers is not available everywhere. Compounded products are not FDA approved or verified for safety, effectiveness or quality. Prescription required restrictions@forhers.com apply.

Narrator/Host (16:53)

If you love to travel, Capital One has a rewards credit card that's perfect for you. With the Capital One Venture X card you earn unlimited double miles on everything you buy. Plus you get premium benefits at a collection of luxury hotels when you book on Capital One Travel and with Venture X you get access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. Open up a world of travel possibilities with a Capital One Venture X card. What's in your wallet?

Marine Fraser Perry (17:19)

Terms apply.

Colonel David Amlodipine (17:19)

Lounge access is subject to change.

Marine Fraser Perry (17:21)

See capitalone.com for details.