The servicemen and women of 16 Air Assault Brigade know Afghanistan better than most.
They were the first of the British forces into Kabul after the fall of the Taliban almost 10 years ago, and they were the first into Helmand province when the British were stationed there in 2006.
They have returned twice to the country since then, and today those that came home safe congregated at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Suffolk, to remember those who had not.
Nineteen British soldiers died during the brigade's last six month tour, which ended in April.
Their names and their ranks were read out in the middle of the the 90-minute service, along with three Danes, who were killed on duty working alongside them.
The names that were not spoken, but appeared in bold in the order of service nonetheless, were those of the Afghan soldiers and police officers who died in Helmand during that period too - 71 in all.
Too many to read out, but the brigade wanted to ensure they were acknowledged too.
The address was given by the Right Reverend Lord Eames, formerly the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland - a man with long experience of speaking to people trying to cope with grief.
He said: "There are a multitude of memories here in this cathedral. Memories of incidents, memories of action, memories of danger, memories of great courage particularly by young soldiers. Memories of local people bewildered and wanting to understand what it is all about. Memories for those where a photo, a voice, perhaps, provide echoes of a loved one."
Of the dead, he said: "While we cannot see them or hear them anymore, they have written a very proud passage in British military history."
He said he believed that Afghanistan was slowly becoming a safer, more stable place, and quoted the Irish poet Seamus Heaney to underline his point.
Asked to give his reaction to the peace accord in Ireland, Heaney had said: "Suddenly a blind seemed to rise at the back of my mind and the light came flooding in."
The same could happen in Afghanistan, said Lord Eames, something that would not have been possible without sacrifice.
After the service, in the sunlit courtyard outside the cathedral, there was much talk of potential withdrawal in the coming years, and the progress that had been made in Helmand in the last 12 months.
Brigadier James Chiswell, who commanded the brigade during its last tour, described the service as poignant and sad.
But he also noted that he and his soldiers had come back more hopeful than before.
"That was our fourth trip and I think that has put us in a pretty good position to see progress, or otherwise. And during this last trip we were very much struck by the sense of optimism among the locals.
"We have come back from a winter of some intensity feeling pretty positive about the direction of travel in the campaign."
Elements of the brigade will probably return to Afghanistan sometime before the 2014/15 handover, at which stage, the UK hopes to have withdrawn entirely from a frontline, combat role.
Back in Helmand, another fighting season is now under way, one that will show whether the optimism of Nato commanders is well founded, or dispiritingly premature.
In Bury St Edmunds, though, the lasting impression was not of the ranks of soldiers in combat fatigues who filled every pew, or the generous words of Lord Eames, or the piercing sound of the piper who sounded the last post.
It was the look on the faces of the wives and girlfriends, the children, the fathers and mothers, who had come to the cathedral to say goodbye again.
"All gave some, some gave all," said Lord Eames.
No comments:
Post a Comment