:00:46. > :00:50.I am here in Afghanistan with thousands of men and women from our
:00:50. > :00:54.Navy, Army and Air Force. I am privileged to be stirred among them
:00:54. > :01:04.today, remembering those that perished in World War One and all
:01:04. > :01:23.
:01:23. > :01:29.the other confits that followed. Today is Armistice Day. We are
:01:29. > :01:33.remembering the fallen in all wars. To honour those that made the
:01:33. > :01:43.ultimate sacrifice, a two-minute silence is absurd this morning, at
:01:43. > :01:50.the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. -- silence is
:01:50. > :01:55.observed. Coming up on the programme today, I battle a
:01:55. > :01:59.downwind to load vital goods heading to the front line. That was
:01:59. > :02:04.pretty full on. Kate Derbyshire remembers the
:02:04. > :02:10.father of her young sons, who gave his life in the line of duty.
:02:10. > :02:14.They play Army with their friends. For them it was great that their
:02:14. > :02:19.Dad was a real soldier. And I talked to an emergency nurse,
:02:19. > :02:26.who flies into the heart of danger to treat our injured troops.
:02:26. > :02:31.amount of dust that gets blown in, and you can hear nothing.
:02:31. > :02:35.With loved ones serving abroad, the worry and anguish of friends and
:02:35. > :02:43.family at home is immense. Sadly for some, that worry turns into the
:02:43. > :02:51.news they never want to hear. In 2003, Kate Derbyshire met Steven, a
:02:51. > :02:56.Royal Marine. He made me laugh. He was just strong and passionate. He
:02:56. > :03:04.had a lust for life, really. If there was any kind of party, he
:03:04. > :03:11.would be in the middle of it. We both probably wanted children at
:03:11. > :03:19.some point. Ryan came sooner than what we expected, really! In a good
:03:19. > :03:23.way. Ryan was born in 2004 and two years later Callum arrived to
:03:23. > :03:29.complete their family. He was a great Dad, very hands-on from the
:03:29. > :03:33.start. He amazed me, really. I think he actually changed the first
:03:33. > :03:39.nappy. He did everything. And I think he did the first Bath. I came
:03:39. > :03:46.home from work on Sundays, and he would be at home with the boys,
:03:46. > :03:49.with the tall bencher out, and they would be working beside him. -- to
:03:49. > :03:57.all bench. They play Army on the floor with their friends. They
:03:57. > :04:03.dress up. But they had the real things. For them it was great that
:04:03. > :04:09.their Dad was a real soldier. 2010, Steven was posted to
:04:09. > :04:18.Afghanistan for the third time. phoned us as often as he could. He
:04:18. > :04:22.used to rain at about 6 o'clock. -- to ring us. That was when I would
:04:22. > :04:29.be home from work. And if the boys were playing out, they would be
:04:29. > :04:33.coming in. So we all got to speak to him. I used to write to him,
:04:33. > :04:36.probably every day. Half of the time I was probably talking rubbish,
:04:36. > :04:42.but it was just sending him something to know that we were
:04:42. > :04:46.thinking about him. Kate and the boys always made sure that he had a
:04:46. > :04:56.little something from home. There was a separate part of the trolley
:04:56. > :05:00.that would be for their dead. -- for their father. Parcels are free
:05:00. > :05:04.to send so we sent as many as we could. They used to help me pack
:05:04. > :05:08.the parcels, we would wake them together and they would decorate
:05:08. > :05:14.the boxes with stickers. I bet he was made up when his delivery
:05:14. > :05:22.arrived. This was a massive morale boost for Steven. As a Royal Marine
:05:22. > :05:27.who was often away from home. us as a family, actually where he
:05:27. > :05:31.was going was irrelevant sometimes. It was more the legs of time that
:05:31. > :05:36.he was away. He could be a way training somewhere in a safe
:05:36. > :05:41.environment. But we missed him and he missed us and it is a long time
:05:41. > :05:47.to be away from your family. When they do come home, it is the best
:05:47. > :05:54.feeling ever. Steven was stationed in one of the most hostile areas of
:05:54. > :05:57.Helmand Province. Part of me was always worried because of the
:05:57. > :06:01.Environment over there and what he was doing and the situations that
:06:01. > :06:09.he could have been in. He has been to Northern Ireland and to Iraq
:06:09. > :06:14.twice. This was his third tour of Afghanistan. I think in my mind he
:06:14. > :06:20.was invincible, I suppose. There was never any doubt in my mind that
:06:20. > :06:26.he would not come home. The last conversation we all had with him
:06:26. > :06:31.was on the Saturday before he died on the Wednesday. He had phoned at
:06:31. > :06:35.dinner time. The boys had been playing football. We had just got
:06:35. > :06:39.in. Callum had actually answered the telephone but he had pressed
:06:40. > :06:44.the button, so he was on loudspeaker. That is good now in a
:06:44. > :06:48.way, because I heard the whole conversation, and he spoke to
:06:48. > :06:53.Callum and asked him what he had been doing at nursery and playing
:06:53. > :06:58.football that morning. And he spoke to Ryan. I had said in my letters
:06:58. > :07:04.that he is doing really well at football. He had won a medal and a
:07:04. > :07:09.goalkeeping award the week before. And he said to Ryan, I hear that
:07:09. > :07:13.somebody is a fantastic footballer and I could see Ryan's face
:07:13. > :07:23.giggling. He did not know how he could no when he was not there. The
:07:23. > :07:24.
:07:24. > :07:29.last thing he said to him was he will show me when you get home.
:07:29. > :07:38.Four days later Steven was shot and killed. I remember I was putting my
:07:38. > :07:42.make-up on in the mirror. And I watched my mum walk into me. In the
:07:42. > :07:45.reflection of the Mirror. I have never in my entire life seen my
:07:45. > :07:52.mother look like that ever. When people say that things like this
:07:52. > :08:00.happen and you get a gut feeling and you know, I did know. All I
:08:00. > :08:07.could think about at that moment was protecting my children. If they
:08:07. > :08:14.could have another day where they did not know, then that was, for me,
:08:14. > :08:18.the right thing to do. I just said to them, your Dad is in Afghanistan,
:08:18. > :08:24.and you know how you play are the outside with your friends and you
:08:24. > :08:30.hide, and to pretend you are snipers and things like that. Well,
:08:30. > :08:36.the snipers are real, the guns are real and the bullets are real. And
:08:36. > :08:40.this morning your Dad has been out and he has been shot. I had
:08:40. > :08:46.conversations with them both for hours and hours. Just answering
:08:46. > :08:50.question after question. And there are childish questions like if
:08:50. > :09:00.somebody was shooting at him, why did he not dark? And why was he not
:09:00. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:12.crawling? Why did he not shoot him first? It is awful. As a parent,
:09:12. > :09:19.the conversations that you just should not have to have. I don't
:09:19. > :09:26.remember being 5 and 3. I don't know what their memories of their
:09:26. > :09:33.dead will be like. -- their father. It is my job to keep his memory
:09:33. > :09:43.alive. And not let them forget, because he was amazing and he was
:09:43. > :09:43.
:09:43. > :09:46.their father. They need to know how amazing he was. Steven is the first
:09:47. > :09:53.thing I think about when I wake up every morning and is the last thing
:09:53. > :09:58.I think about when I go to bed at night. I am fortunate because I
:09:58. > :10:02.have two bits of him for the rest of my life. The biggest injustice I
:10:02. > :10:08.could ever do to him would be to not look after them properly. That
:10:08. > :10:14.is what makes me get up in the morning, sometimes. Like all
:10:14. > :10:21.families of fallen servicemen and women, Kate, Ryan and Callum were
:10:21. > :10:28.rewarded the Elizabeth Cross. so proud to have that in our
:10:28. > :10:38.possession. All little boys think their fathers are heroes, but
:10:38. > :10:45.
:10:45. > :10:50.Camp Bastion is in the middle of nowhere. All the essentials that
:10:50. > :10:58.the troops need come through this area here, which is called the ramp.
:10:58. > :11:03.I am about to meet Sergeant Shepherd to find out all about it.
:11:03. > :11:07.Sergeant Shepherd. Nice to meet you. Just in time for my shift.
:11:07. > :11:12.Basically what they are doing is positioning the transfer load to
:11:12. > :11:17.get the items off. My staff get it into place, lower it down, and we
:11:17. > :11:22.jump on and do some pallet pushing. Are you feeling strong today?
:11:22. > :11:25.Always! The British military effort in Afghanistan would grind to a
:11:26. > :11:30.halt in a few days without the hundreds of tons of ammunition,
:11:30. > :11:38.food, spare parts and medical equipment delivered by air every
:11:38. > :11:43.week of the year. Believe it or not, all of this is airmail. They are
:11:43. > :11:53.only allowed to send two kilograms or less. That is a lot of letter
:11:53. > :11:56.
:11:56. > :12:04.I am looking to see what is what. And they'll in there, medical
:12:04. > :12:09.supplies. Packed amongst all of this, hundreds of blue bags. All of
:12:09. > :12:14.them are mailbags. They all get put in as one so that they can go to
:12:14. > :12:16.the Post Office for distribution to the personnel. It will be up the
:12:16. > :12:24.Post Office in 15 minutes. The morale boost of a letter from a
:12:24. > :12:28.loved one or friend is mass about here. -- massive out here. This is
:12:28. > :12:32.where all of the Post gets delivered. They receive up to 3000
:12:32. > :12:39.bags per week. In the lead-up to Christmas this number is
:12:39. > :12:44.considerably higher. Every day post reaches our fighting troops on the
:12:44. > :12:50.front line, but when they need emergency supplies, they get their
:12:50. > :12:55.in dramatic style. I am here to meet Sargeant Gibbs, who makes this
:12:55. > :13:00.happen. How important is it to you and your team to get these loads,
:13:00. > :13:04.this essential equipment, to the soldiers in the field? If the
:13:04. > :13:08.control base is not accessible by road, and the only way in and out
:13:08. > :13:15.is by air, then that is an essential feature. They are also
:13:15. > :13:19.used for emergency supplies. A much -- how much responsibility do you
:13:19. > :13:23.have to get the supplies out to soldiers that really need them?
:13:24. > :13:29.Even at night if we get a phone call to construct a load, it needs
:13:29. > :13:36.to be done and we take our job very seriously. Are you here every day?
:13:36. > :13:43.Seven days a week, 365 days a year. Can I have a go? Going to there and
:13:43. > :13:48.you will be rigged up with a top, helmet and some gloves. Then you
:13:48. > :13:58.will be good to go. They netted loads are carried underneath the
:13:58. > :14:02.
:14:02. > :14:08.It looks spectacular, but it is not just for show. They can drop the
:14:08. > :14:18.loads without having to land. It avoids the risk of coming under
:14:18. > :14:30.
:14:30. > :14:38.That was pretty full-on. It is kind of a small process, in what is a
:14:38. > :14:45.huge chain of events, to get the essential equipment and soldiers.
:14:45. > :14:55.The down draught is about 100 miles an hour, and you really feel it.
:14:55. > :15:01.Taught me through it, no disasters? You're happy? Yes, I'm happy.
:15:01. > :15:06.Heathrow and Gatwick, Camp Bastion is the third busiest UK-run airport.
:15:06. > :15:14.It is not just the smaller, essential things, like mail, food
:15:14. > :15:22.and drink which get delivered here, it is also larger things, too. This
:15:22. > :15:28.is incredible, there's about 65,000 tons of equipment on this C-17
:15:28. > :15:31.aircraft, including another aircraft! There's a Merlin
:15:31. > :15:38.helicopter in there, which touches the bottom and the top, it fits
:15:38. > :15:45.perfectly! It is no small unpacking job. It took the guys on the runway
:15:45. > :15:50.six hours to unload the Merlin helicopter. And now, I'm going to
:15:50. > :16:00.find out what it is like for a soldier to receive that mail when
:16:00. > :16:05.
:16:05. > :16:11.they're miles and miles away from There are hundreds of patrol bases
:16:11. > :16:15.and checkpoints across Helmand province. I'm heading to where 42
:16:15. > :16:25.Commando Royal Marines are based. It is too loud to talk to anyone,
:16:25. > :16:31.
:16:31. > :16:35.so all you can do is sit back and Everything these guys do is amazing,
:16:35. > :16:40.that was just a smooth operation. Also got to see a bit of
:16:40. > :16:45.Afghanistan. It is beautiful, so green, all the kids playing in
:16:45. > :16:49.their backyards, waving to the helicopter, and the rifleman at the
:16:49. > :16:54.back waving back. He has done that journey hundreds of times. It is
:16:54. > :17:00.great to be here, this is Control base number five, I'm looking
:17:00. > :17:05.forward to meeting the guys. 42 Commando have been living here for
:17:05. > :17:08.six months. I have asked one of the boy is to open the post he has
:17:08. > :17:18.received over the last couple of days, to see what kind of things
:17:18. > :17:19.
:17:19. > :17:25.get sent out. This has been sent to you? Yes, because obviously we need
:17:25. > :17:33.extra helicopters out here. My brother assented to me. Are you
:17:33. > :17:39.serious, somebody has sent you this? Yes, it gets nippy at night.
:17:39. > :17:44.Do you look forward to it, when the post comes? Definitely. What is the
:17:44. > :17:50.best kind of thing you can get, to boost morale? It depends on the
:17:50. > :17:54.person, and where you are. Anything to make your life easier. For me,
:17:54. > :18:00.monkey suits and helicopters, for other guys, it might be a book, it
:18:00. > :18:07.might be DVDs or anything like that, if they have got a family, anything
:18:07. > :18:17.from their children. It is not just packages and letters. These are e-
:18:17. > :18:23.
:18:23. > :18:30.blueys, electronic letters, It is not hard to see that post in
:18:30. > :18:34.any form is an emotional lifeline to back home. I caught up with
:18:34. > :18:37.Major Jason Durup to talk about the tour. How would you sum up the
:18:37. > :18:46.efforts of your team over the last six months? With pride, more than
:18:46. > :18:49.anything else. The resilience and tenacity shown by the Guy's is
:18:49. > :18:52.something I would never have imagined them to be capable of,
:18:52. > :18:56.especially the younger guys, the courage to go out on patrol, day
:18:56. > :19:01.after day after day, where they have seen their friends being blown
:19:01. > :19:07.up or shot, the morale they have got is sky high, and they keep on
:19:07. > :19:12.going, it amazes me. But it has come at a cost, hasn't it? We have
:19:12. > :19:16.had a number of setbacks. Each time you get a setback, you have to pick
:19:16. > :19:20.yourself up off the floor again, look at what you're doing, satisfy
:19:20. > :19:24.yourself that you're doing the best job possible. We have had four
:19:24. > :19:29.people killed in the last six months, 12 others wounded in action.
:19:29. > :19:34.One bunch of guys in particular have lost three of their very close
:19:34. > :19:44.mates. And they're still going out now. They know I'm proud of them,
:19:44. > :19:47.
:19:47. > :19:52.Still to come - I catch up with an emergency nurse who puts her life
:19:52. > :19:57.in danger every day here in Afghanistan. I sit up the top, and
:19:57. > :20:03.you can see out of the back, and you're thinking, I wonder what's
:20:03. > :20:07.going on out there. For our next story, we hear about a famous tank
:20:07. > :20:16.battle, fought under one of Britain's most charismatic
:20:16. > :20:19.commanders. 88-year-old war veteran Albert Pond has been invited to
:20:19. > :20:27.speak to local primary school children about his experiences in
:20:27. > :20:32.the Second World War. Good morning, children, I'm Captain Pond, I'm
:20:32. > :20:38.here to talk to you about the vicious battles in North Africa, at
:20:38. > :20:43.Alamein, on 23rd October 1942. Don't call this war in the desert
:20:43. > :20:47.of North Africa was pivotal, as it was a crucial Allied supply route.
:20:47. > :20:55.If we had not won that battle, I would not be here today talking to
:20:55. > :21:02.you. There would not have been no England. In 1941, Albert was 18,
:21:02. > :21:08.and a trained mechanic, signed up with the Tank Regiment. They made
:21:08. > :21:13.sure that you were fit for the tanks. They did not want crews who
:21:13. > :21:23.would panic. They would stand a tank on its end, and rocket about,
:21:23. > :21:23.
:21:23. > :21:30.and you were in there. They really did put you through your paces. I
:21:30. > :21:39.grew up quick, you had to. At 18, I was in command of a tent with three
:21:39. > :21:48.men in. I had their lives in my hands. After his initial training,
:21:48. > :21:58.Albert was posted to Egypt. thought we had gone into another
:21:58. > :21:58.
:21:58. > :22:02.world. The heat just hit you. The sweat ran off you. Millions of
:22:02. > :22:06.flies would get you why you were eating your food. You had to put a
:22:06. > :22:11.mosquito net over the top of your head and eat your food underneath,
:22:11. > :22:15.to stop the flies from getting on it. Make sure you're safe from the
:22:16. > :22:19.scorpions, they could kill you as well. When you go into a hot
:22:19. > :22:29.country, especially in the forces, you're supposed to be acclimatised,
:22:29. > :22:31.but we were not. The aim was to stop them attacking the oil fields.
:22:32. > :22:38.Albert was under the command of one of the most influential leaders in
:22:38. > :22:44.the Second World War, General Montgomery. When he came out, he
:22:44. > :22:49.had little white legs, a very slim build chap, and the Aussies, the
:22:49. > :22:54.Australians, they said, what the hell have they sent out here now?
:22:54. > :22:59.Because he did not really looked the part, to take over command of
:22:59. > :23:06.the Western Desert. But he did a wonderful job, and how he did it is
:23:06. > :23:13.through sheer cunning. He had a vehicle sent out into the desert
:23:13. > :23:20.with information in it, in a satchel, and made out it had been
:23:20. > :23:24.hit, and the people in it disappeared. The Germans fell for
:23:24. > :23:29.this hook, line and sinker, and to confuse them even further,
:23:29. > :23:34.Montgomery had thousands of cardboard tanks made, which looked
:23:34. > :23:39.real from the air. It was put on the coastal sector, all these dummy
:23:39. > :23:47.tanks, even three-ton trucks, so the German aircraft spotted these
:23:47. > :23:54.tanks coming up, they thought they were real ones. Rommel thought,
:23:54. > :23:59.that's where the offence is coming from, but it wasn't. General Rommel
:24:00. > :24:02.was a renowned German leader, and in the days before the battle,
:24:02. > :24:08.Montgomery made sure every man in his army understood the importance
:24:08. > :24:14.of victory. He came around in his car, with a three-ton truck, with a
:24:14. > :24:20.map on the side of the canvas, and let the map down, and he would
:24:20. > :24:29.stand there, and point to different places, and he said, this is what I
:24:29. > :24:37.expect. Our mandate from the Prime Minister is to destroy the Axis
:24:37. > :24:44.forces in North Africa. It can be done, and will be done. Remember,
:24:44. > :24:48.we're going to finish with this chap Rommel once and for all.
:24:48. > :24:53.he had his forces in place, Montgomery took the Germans by
:24:53. > :25:03.surprise, launching a massive attack. It started on 23rd October
:25:03. > :25:07.
:25:07. > :25:17.1942. When all those guns were ordered to fire at the same time.
:25:17. > :25:18.
:25:18. > :25:25.15 miles of guns, side by side, they lit the sky up. The ground was
:25:25. > :25:29.trembling. And we sat out in no- man's land, listening to those
:25:29. > :25:39.shells whistling over all night. You think, am I going to survive
:25:39. > :25:43.
:25:43. > :25:47.this? Because this is hell let loose. When you go in a tank battle,
:25:47. > :25:56.like we were going into, you had to make sure you were not firing on
:25:56. > :26:02.your own chaps. Those chaps would churn up the sand, like salt.
:26:02. > :26:09.That's how it was. Every man for themselves, the Germans the same.
:26:09. > :26:16.As tank commander, Albert carried an awful extra burden. You're
:26:16. > :26:21.responsible for your men. You have revolvers. If you get hit and
:26:21. > :26:26.you're trapped in that tack, you would be burnt alive. It's your job
:26:26. > :26:33.to shoot the crew - which I never had to do, thank heavens.
:26:33. > :26:37.battle went on for 12 desperate days, and then, a sudden change.
:26:37. > :26:42.went from the heavy fighting, over 12 days, to the lull, when the
:26:42. > :26:49.Germans decided to pull back. Germans were overwhelmed, and they
:26:49. > :26:53.retreated, but Albert and his men were too exhausted to celebrate.
:26:53. > :27:01.Something inside of you, you just went numb. You looked at one
:27:01. > :27:06.another and thought, thank heaven that's over. I'm lucky to come out
:27:06. > :27:15.of that alive. You were really lucky. Winning this battle came at
:27:15. > :27:21.a huge puppy cost. More than 50,000 men lost their lives. Our
:27:21. > :27:28.Remembrance Day is a must, in London, at the Cenotaph, when you
:27:28. > :27:33.see those thousands of people marching past, you always think of
:27:33. > :27:42.those still lying in cemeteries abroad, and how lucky you were to
:27:42. > :27:49.survive it and come back home. For the past four years, a small
:27:49. > :27:54.community in Wiltshire has been making its own tribute to our
:27:54. > :28:04.fallen servicemen and women. As the sun rises over Wootton Bassett, the
:28:04. > :28:13.
:28:13. > :28:17.local residents are beginning their day. How are you? Fine, thank you.
:28:17. > :28:22.The people of Wootton Bassett have always been kind. They're always
:28:22. > :28:27.willing to help, in whatever way they can. It is a very friendly
:28:27. > :28:31.town. People do not want to leave Wootton Bassett once they come to
:28:31. > :28:36.live here. It has felt like a family here, because we're not a
:28:37. > :28:43.massive town. I can walk around the town, and it is, morning, how are
:28:43. > :28:51.you? And I like that. Wootton Bassett is home to around 12,000
:28:51. > :28:54.people, young and old, all of whom play a vital role. I was 14 when I
:28:54. > :28:59.noticed that Wootton Bassett did not have a war memorial, and that
:28:59. > :29:02.was when I asked the British Legion, why is that? I guess they thought
:29:02. > :29:07.it was quite strange that a young person should be interested. I was
:29:07. > :29:17.very lucky that a good few members of the community got behind me, and
:29:17. > :29:21.
:29:21. > :29:26.we worked together to try and get a This symbol of remembrance was
:29:26. > :29:30.unveiled in 2001 and Jai will always be proud of it. I see the
:29:30. > :29:34.memorial on the High Street and if some flowers have blown off it, and
:29:34. > :29:44.if one of the vases has fallen over, if I don't pick it up there and
:29:44. > :29:47.somebody else will. I cannot help putting it when I go past. In 2007
:29:47. > :29:54.this humble market community was brought together when a fallen
:29:54. > :29:58.serviceman was repatriated through the High Street. We were taken by
:29:58. > :30:03.surprise. We decided that we would go and stand by the side of the
:30:03. > :30:09.road. People just came and joined us as the time went on. It has just
:30:09. > :30:17.got bigger and bigger. Everybody leaves. There is nobody left in
:30:17. > :30:22.this pod. We all stand outside. -- in this pub. The shopkeepers close
:30:22. > :30:26.the doors, come out and pay their respects. As more servicemen and
:30:26. > :30:31.women made their journey through the town, the part played by each
:30:31. > :30:35.member of the Community fell into place. Being on the High Street and
:30:35. > :30:39.so close to the war memorial, we were getting family members coming
:30:39. > :30:44.in, British Legion people coming in. Some of them were driving a fair
:30:44. > :30:48.distance to get here. The least we could do was put a cup of tea and
:30:48. > :30:53.coffee on for them. It is such a difficult day for them. You just
:30:53. > :30:58.want to make it as easy as possible for them. We have all got small
:30:58. > :31:06.roles to play. People know what they are going to do and where they
:31:06. > :31:12.will be. It just happens. I look after the Union flag. I lowering it
:31:12. > :31:22.to half mast and I raised it again in the evening. Maurice is there to
:31:22. > :31:26.make sure that I get it in the right place. OK. From these early
:31:26. > :31:31.repatriations, small but poignant gestures have grown. When we
:31:31. > :31:38.started, we did not have the church bell tolling. On this particular
:31:38. > :31:44.day, the bell-ringers were having their practice. Would we mind if
:31:44. > :31:50.they told the bell? We said of course not. This High Street is
:31:50. > :31:55.like any other, until the bell tolls. Everybody is laughing and
:31:55. > :32:04.joking, talking to each other. If they have not seen each other for a
:32:04. > :32:14.long time, catching up on different things. And then the bell tolls,
:32:14. > :32:16.
:32:16. > :32:21.and it just goes completely quiet. We think that even the birds know
:32:21. > :32:28.that something is going on because they stop chirruping. For those
:32:28. > :32:38.making their final journey, only one word is spoken to announce
:32:38. > :32:54.
:32:54. > :33:04.You see the families come in, and the hearse comes by. You hear the
:33:04. > :33:05.
:33:05. > :33:12.family crying. It is very painful to hear it. And as they passed by
:33:12. > :33:22.the shop, that was always when I got a lump in my throat, thinking
:33:22. > :33:24.
:33:24. > :33:30.it is goodbye. Your heart goes out to the people that are left behind.
:33:30. > :33:36.I just can't imagine what it would be like. I really can't imagine.
:33:36. > :33:46.Your heart just sinks. It does, it just sinks. You don't want it to
:33:46. > :33:49.happen. You just don't want it to happen at all. 345 servicemen and
:33:49. > :33:53.women who paid the ultimate price have passed through the High Street
:33:54. > :33:59.of this humble community. And for a respectable way in which these
:33:59. > :34:06.ordinary folk have come together, they have been bestowed royal title.
:34:06. > :34:12.It is the first in the UK for over 100 years. I just feel it was the
:34:12. > :34:22.least that we could do. It is a great honour. But we did not do it
:34:22. > :34:22.
:34:22. > :34:25.for recognition. We did it to share our respects to the fallen. -- to
:34:25. > :34:29.show a respects. You are being honoured for the way in which you
:34:29. > :34:38.have honoured the sacrifice of servicemen and women. This
:34:38. > :34:44.community has come together in most extraordinary way. The town rich in
:34:44. > :34:54.tradition and secure in its sense of values. We are just Wootton
:34:54. > :34:59.
:34:59. > :35:02.Bassett. We are still a little Lorrie Lawton works at the NHS
:35:02. > :35:07.Whittington Hospital in North London as a paediatric emergency
:35:07. > :35:11.nurse. I love looking after children. They are much better than
:35:11. > :35:17.adults. If they like you, they like you, and if they don't, they tell
:35:17. > :35:24.you, basically, get out of my face. I like that and I think I can build
:35:24. > :35:29.a good rapport with children. Keep going. Good girl. Fundamentally, I
:35:29. > :35:33.absolutely love my job. I love going into work and making a
:35:33. > :35:38.difference to children. I want you to walk on those early for today
:35:38. > :35:42.and then no crutches tomorrow. Although Lorrie loves her day job,
:35:42. > :35:46.she wanted a different type of challenge. I was always fascinated
:35:46. > :35:49.as to whether or not I would do well in the military. I like the
:35:49. > :35:54.thought of being in the military but I did not like the thought of
:35:54. > :36:00.doing it full-time. In 1997, she joined the RAF Reserves, with one
:36:00. > :36:04.particular goal, to look after patients in the air. If you have a
:36:04. > :36:08.diving accident, you need a flight nurse to fly you back home to make
:36:08. > :36:14.sure that you are safe and that can be a real challenge when you are
:36:14. > :36:17.30,000 feet in the air. I take a huge amount of pride in that job. A
:36:17. > :36:24.patient gets on and get off in a better condition, then I have done
:36:24. > :36:31.my job. For over 14 years, Lorrie has juggled her CV and military
:36:31. > :36:38.jobs. The role of RAF reservists is a mystery to some. I get irritated
:36:38. > :36:42.when people say and I in the TA. I am not, actually! I am in the RAF
:36:42. > :36:50.Reserves! Then you have to explain because they do not realise the RAF
:36:50. > :36:54.has reserves. I get the best of both worlds. Lorrie has completed
:36:54. > :36:58.three tours of duty which is worlds away from her day job in London.
:36:58. > :37:02.is not the injuries but the volume of patients that you are seeing at
:37:02. > :37:07.the same time. If you see that many patients at once on civvy street
:37:07. > :37:11.you are having a really rough day. But in the military that can
:37:11. > :37:16.transpose itself every other day as the amount of patients that he was
:37:16. > :37:22.seeing and nobody can prepare you for that at all. -- that you are
:37:22. > :37:25.seeing. Seeing patients with frontline trauma takes its toll.
:37:25. > :37:31.you become really hardened to it, then you should not do the job.
:37:31. > :37:36.Some cases stick with me and I wonder how they are getting on. If
:37:36. > :37:41.you don't have compassion for them, you should not be doing the job.
:37:41. > :37:44.But being at the sharp end of nursing does have its perks. Most
:37:44. > :37:49.people will do anything for medics because they know, at the end of
:37:49. > :37:55.the day, we are there if one of them gets injured, it or shot. We
:37:55. > :37:58.are there to help them. They usually bend over backwards for us.
:37:58. > :38:05.There next time Lorrie will be treating our frontline casualties,
:38:05. > :38:09.she will be part of an elite team. The next tour is on MERT. We fly
:38:10. > :38:16.into the point of injury. If you got shot, your mates would stop the
:38:16. > :38:23.first aid and then you would call for us and we would fly in, we pick
:38:23. > :38:29.them up and take them back to Camp Bastion. MERT, Medical Emergency
:38:29. > :38:33.Response Team, save lives every day. In the 80s seven-year history of
:38:33. > :38:41.the RAF Reserves, Lorrie will be the first emergency nurse to deploy
:38:41. > :38:49.one of the toughest jobs in nursing. I feel ready to do it. I just need
:38:49. > :38:56.to go and do it. I caught up with Lorrie in Camp Bastion after her
:38:57. > :39:02.first MERT mission. Down the bottom on these seats is weather
:39:02. > :39:08.protection guy sits, and their kit is ready to go. Mine is here. The
:39:08. > :39:13.doctor sits next to me. Opposite we have the two paramedics. So is this
:39:13. > :39:17.is you. Who do you talk to during the flight and on the way back?
:39:17. > :39:21.can talk to two lot of people so why have two radios. I did not
:39:21. > :39:25.realise that. This one is to the air crew and this to the medical
:39:25. > :39:31.team. Sometimes I have a blank look on my face apparently because there
:39:31. > :39:35.is so much information coming in! You can hear the escorts and the
:39:35. > :39:44.air crew and the medical team. I end the link between the medics and
:39:44. > :39:52.the air crew. -- I am the link. have been on your first MERT
:39:52. > :39:56.mission. What was it like? In all honesty it was a bit scary. The
:39:56. > :40:00.doctor kept telling me to take a big breath and to do it nice and
:40:00. > :40:06.slow. He kept saying that to me and so when the casualty came on, I to
:40:07. > :40:11.go big breath and did it nice and slow. -- I took a big breath. As
:40:11. > :40:15.the rump comes down, the dust gets blown in and you can hear nothing.
:40:15. > :40:21.It is chaos and confusion. When all of this is happening, are you just
:40:21. > :40:25.standing here waiting? Yes, looking out the back, wondering what will
:40:25. > :40:30.be coming in. I sit at the top and you can see out of the back. You
:40:30. > :40:33.are thinking, I wonder what is going on out there. Actually, I
:40:33. > :40:38.have no control what happens outside this aircraft. I cannot
:40:38. > :40:43.stop people firing at this aircraft. I can't do anything about it. So
:40:43. > :40:47.you just sit there thinking, well, we will just wait. We were only
:40:47. > :40:51.expecting one casualty but two came on. I did not see the second one
:40:51. > :40:59.until I looked around and I thought, oh, there is another one. I did not
:40:59. > :41:04.even know that one was on that. So for my first mission it was not too
:41:04. > :41:10.bad. Not a bad start. Do you ever have that moment when you wonder
:41:10. > :41:16.why you signed up for it? I often think that! What am I doing? I
:41:16. > :41:20.should go home! What are you doing? I love it and I think I can do the
:41:20. > :41:27.job well to help the patients that are coming on and I have got the
:41:27. > :41:31.skills to be able to help somebody survive their injuries may be.
:41:31. > :41:35.are chatting now in this Chinnock, but if you got a call, if they got
:41:35. > :41:40.a call, we would have to get out immediately, wouldn't we? This is
:41:40. > :41:45.real life, right now. Unbelievable. It has been a pleasure meeting you.
:41:45. > :41:51.All the best for the rest of the tour. Stay safe. I will do, believe
:41:51. > :41:55.you me! It has been an absolute privilege
:41:55. > :41:59.to spend time with our armed forces out here in Afghanistan. I would
:41:59. > :42:05.like to thank them and everybody else that has shed their
:42:05. > :42:09.experiences with us this week. Hearings their tales of bravery,