Homeward bound (From The Northern Echo)

Homeward bound

3:39pm Monday 5th October 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

19:00 - Some of the lads had found a crate of non-alcoholic larger, which we all delved into quite happily as this was our final night in Afghanistan.

As we were drinking we heard a little thump go off, we didn't react straight away as none of us were sure what is was until a large explosion came. We grabbed our equipment and hit the floor once more, this time with our armour and helmet on we had a good chuckle and carried on drinking as I think most of us felt that if it's our turn to be hit a tent wasn't going to be much of a shield against a rocket, so we enjoyed each others company as the rockets came down around us. That night we flew out to Cyprus for two days of decompression, as we landed at the air force base early in the morning, we stripped off our uniform and put on our shorts. The army has a private beach there and we made the most of it, taking part in water sport activities and grabbing the odd ice cream.

That evening there was a comedy show and a BBQ put on for us and enjoyed by all, before we turned in for the night.

The one thing we all noticed was the quiet and stillness, especially after getting rocketed for the past few nights. The army provides this two day package so we can relax, enjoy ourselves and hopefully won't return to civilian life with too much stress or anxiety. We really enjoyed our time in Cyprus, but nothing felt better than flying across the Channel that next morning, seeing the coast of England and the view of Wembley Football Stadium below. After landing back at RAF Brize Norton and saying goodbye to the colleagues and friends of the 17th Port & Maritime Regiment that we had spent the last six months with, the Rifles and Fusiliers of 5RRF finally headed back up to the North-East and home.