'Bomb magnet' survives 15 explosions

Sunday Telegraph:

Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Patrick Hyde was attacked on 15 separate occasions during his company's six month mission, part of which was to secure a key supply route leading to the strategically important town of Sangin.

His unit – A Company 4 Rifles – repelled more than 500 attacks and was forced to contend with 200 improvised explosive device (IED) incidents.

Fragmentation bombs, dubbed by the soldiers as "party poppers" were routinely fired at troops, armoured vehicles were attacked with long range Chinese rockets rockets, dummy bombs were used to lure in bomb disposal teams, and insurgents recruited children to plant IEDs just yards away from British bases.

One in four of the company were killed or injured in battle - a casualty rate last experienced by the British Army in the Korean War. Ten soldiers were killed in action and a further 53 were wounded.

WO2 Hyde, A Company's sergeant major, was in charge of six strong team which ran a daily gauntlet of bomb attacks to keep beleaguered troops supplied with food, water and ammunition.
The 34-year-old married father of two was hit by IEDs 11 times while in a vehicle and twice while on foot patrol. On two other occasions his Mastiff armoured troop carrier was struck by rockets.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, WO2 Hyde, who has served in the Army for 17-years, said: "We prepared ourselves for the very worst but I didn't expect that many casualties. It was unrelenting, the attacks were coming in thick and fast.

"One of our bases was attacked 25 times a day from multiple firing points. One culvert (under ground drainage tunnel), which had to be defended to prevent Taliban from planting a bomb inside, caused 12 casualties. Two were killed and there was one triple and one double amputee."

...

The Taliban showed a persistence in the area where these troops operated.  The British had a real force to space problem in dealing with the insurgency.  Not having enough men made them more vulnerable and therefore subject to more attacks. The US Marines are now replacing the Brits in the Sangin area.