Spur Ride

Via Ace of Spades

'Extraordinary heroism' of helicopter rescue bid
By Tim Hall
Last Updated: 1:38am GMT 18/01/2007
Four Royal Marines flew into a battle zone clinging to the outside of helicopter gunships in a bid to rescue a fallen comrade, the Ministry of Defence has revealed.

Unwilling to leave behind one of their number following a retreat, the commandos strapped themselves to the small stabiliser wings of two Apache helicopters and returned into the midst of a fierce gunfight with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

Details of the unprecedented rescue attempt were revealed as the MoD pieced together the final hours of fallen hero L/Cpl Matthew Ford.

L/Cpl Ford, 30, of 45 Commando Royal Marines, took part in a 200-soldier assault on a Taliban fort in Helmand province.

Following an intense gun and mortar battle, the commandos were forced back. When they realised L/Cpl Ford was missing, four soldiers volunteered to return.

Three Apaches were available for the mission, but the 200mph helicopters have no room inside for passengers. The soldiers made the snap decision to travel on the outside of two of the armour-plated aircraft, with a third helicopter providing covering fire.

The men flew right back into the gun battle, landing both inside and outside the enemy fort in the search for L/Cpl Ford.

They eventually found and retrieved the body of the section leader who had been killed by enemy fire.

The unnamed soldiers won high praise for the rescue attempt and for managing to return L/Cpl Ford’s body to base.

L/Col Rory Bruce, a UK Task Force spokesman, said the heroic mission had been a “leap into the unknown”.

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This has been done a couple of time by US Army Apaches, at least once the pilot who participated was in trouble until the ground unit came to his defence. By the way the title of the post came from the name we in the Apache community give to personnel extraction by riding on the outside of the aircraft...there's some "inside baseball" for you. :)

Good for the Brits..."NEVER LEAVE A MAN BEHIND."