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How I beat Taliban death traps twice in one day, by Army's female Jackal driver
Nicholas Cecil, Deputy Political Editor23 Jul 2009
The only woman Jackal driver in the British Army today told how she escaped two Taliban death traps in less than 24 hours.
"All I could think about was my three-year-old daughter back home," she said.
She was driving her Jackal armoured vehicle - used for reconnaissance, rapid assault and convoy protection - as part of a mission to deliver supplies to an Afghan police checkpoint about 400 metres from Taliban-held ground in Helmand, southern Afghanistan.
Four hours into the journey, her patrol was ambushed in the Babaji area of Helmand, and Afghan army escort vehicles pushed forward leaving SSgt Griffiths and her two other crew in the "killing area".
"We came under small arms fire from several directions. We frantically tried to locate the firing points but we couldn't find them," she said.
Growing increasingly worried, they then spotted another Allied patrol ahead. "As we forced our way through the hail of bullets, the insurgents began to fire rocket-propelled grenades at us," she said. They managed to reach the second patrol, which provided them with covering fire.
"My heart was thumping with adrenaline," said SSgt Griffiths. "I remember sitting in the dead ground, lighting a cigarette and watching the grenades burst 10 metres from our position."
But on the return journey, at another checkpoint, Afghan officers rushed out warning them that the Taliban had just planted a makeshift bomb - which then blew up before they had time to defuse it. "It was a massive explosion but thankfully no one was injured. After the explosion my survival instincts kicked in and I just began to laugh. I guess it was nervous laughter. The device could have killed any one of us."
SSgt Griffiths, who has also served in Iraq, Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Bosnia, is part of 31 Close Support Squadron, attached to The 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, and is halfway through a six-month tour, having volunteered to be sent to Afghanistan.
Her three-year-old daughter Nicole is at home in Wantage, Oxford, with her husband, Sergeant Simon Griffiths.
Reader views (4)
Ambushed on the way in, bombed on the way out. That's what our military geniuses and politicos call winning the war. It's just a question of how long we can keep winning before we run out of troops or money or both.
- Sid, london, 23/07/2009 22:57
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".. lighting a cigarette .."
Tut, tut! Doesn't she know those things are bad for her heath?!
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 23/07/2009 17:20
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@ Jon,
Go and live a situation like hers for yourself; only then are you qualified to come out with smart comments, and not a moment before.
This is one hell of a brave lady.
Your remind me of what I used to say when I was in the RAMC giving an injection: "Just a small prick".
Today it's more PC: "Just a sharp scratch".
- Mike, Farnborough, Hampshire, 23/07/2009 16:21
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Maybe I'm confused, but are you not supposed to think about your colleagues in these situations rather than your 3 year old daughter back home?
- Jon, london, 23/07/2009 15:28
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