Digger braved gunfire to save Afghan interpreter
AN Australian soldier dashed 80 metres across ground raked by Taliban machine-gun fire to rescue a severely wounded Afghan interpreter.
In the same clash in Afghanistan’s dangerous Oruzgan province, another soldier used his own body to shield a wounded comrade from enemy fire.
The chief of Australia’s special operations command Major General Tim McOwan would not comment on whether the two Special Air Service Regiment soldiers had been recommended for bravery awards.
“But what I will say is that soldiers are appropriately recognised and there are a considerable number of awards that have been awarded for SOTG (special operations task group) soldiers,” he said.
Major General McOwan said early in their tour in late 2007, Australian troops encountered significant numbers of Taliban prepared to take them on in large groups.
“That is no longer the case,” he said.
“Certainly within Oruzgan it is an unusual occurrence to have a substantial fight.”
The one recent exception occurred on September 2 when an Australian, US and Afghan convoy was ambushed by a superior and well-prepared Taliban force while returning to base.
That clash resulted in nine Australian soldiers being wounded, the largest casualty toll of any single action since Vietnam. The previous day, the Australian soldiers killed 13 Taliban.
As the convoy withdrew, the Taliban opened fire. Major General McOwan said soldiers reacted without concern for their own safety.
One, identified only as Trooper F, deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire on several occasions to draw attention away from the wounded.
He then saw that a severely wounded Afghan interpreter had fallen from a vehicle and was lying on open ground raked by machine gun fire.
“Without prompting, and without regard to his own safety, Trooper F ran back to recover the wounded Afghan,” the major general said.
“He ran across about 80 metres of fire-swept and exposed ground, drawing intense and accurate machine-gun fire from the entrenched enemy positions.”
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