British officer survives direct hit by Taliban rocket grenade
64 replies, posted
[quote=The Province]
The commanding officer of a British parachute regiment has escaped with his life after being hit by two Taliban-fired rocket-propelled grenades.
Lt.-Col. Andy Harrison has returned to the front line after a brief stay in medical care. He was said to be lucky to escape death after one missile, designed to penetrate armoured vehicles, failed to detonate when it hit his body armour. The second exploded at his feet.
"He had a pretty amazing escape," said a colleague. "It's not very often that someone gets hit full on by an RPG and lives to tell the tale."
Harrison was returning from Camp Bastion in an armoured vehicle when his soldiers spotted Afghans digging an improvised explosive device (IED) into the road.
They stopped and immediately came under fire from the Taliban. It is understood that Harrison became engaged in the firefight before he was hit in the chest.
The quieter winter season in Helmand province is now coming to an end when the Taliban traditionally attempt to step up attacks as fighters push in from southern Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as from districts in Helmand.
Harrison's battle group covers the Nahr-e-Saraj area, which was bitterly contested during Operation Panther's Claw in 2009.
He was attacked in an area relatively close to where Lt.-Col. Rupert Thorneloe, the commanding officer of the Welsh Guards, was killed by an IED during Panther's Claw. Thorneloe became the most senior British army officer to be killed in the Afghan campaign.
It is understood that Harrison is now home on leave with his family. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We can confirm that an incident took place on Feb. 17 in Nahr-e Saraj during which commanding officer 2Bn the Parachute Regiment received minor injuries. He has now recovered."
Harrison was awarded a medal in 2000 for leadership and bravery when his team of United Nations observers was taken hostage for two months by rebels in Sierra Leone. He managed to lead the hostages back to friendly territory.?
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Read more: [url]http://www.theprovince.com/news/British+officer+survives+direct+Taliban+rocket+grenade/4337866/story.html#ixzz1ExVyk700[/url]
[img]http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01833/para_1833362c.jpg[/img]
Jesus Christ.
Juggernaut Pro
Wow what the fuck, first he survives the impact, then an explosion.
British soldiers are hardy folk. I remember reading an article on how a para managed to land on his head when his main parachute failed during an exercise in 1996 and only received minor injuries. :v:
Rocket-propelled-what? Cuppa tea then back on ya feet.
He survived being hit in the chest full force with a shaped explosive charged designed to send a searing jet of molten metal through the 6 inch steel armor of a 50 ton armored fighting vehicle and incinerate the entire crew compartment.
I think he might be a bit lucky.
[QUOTE=mastermaul;28274052]He survived being hit in the chest full force with a shaped explosive charged designed to send a searing jet of molten metal through the 6 inch steel armor of a 50 ton armored fighting vehicle and incinerate the entire crew compartment.
I think he might be a bit lucky.[/QUOTE]
he wears master chief armor
[editline]25th February 2011[/editline]
or a lot of lube
fukkin hakker ban him
Shit thats lucky.
Wow, not one but TWO rocket-propelled grenades.
That must have been pretty painful.
Must be something sweet to brag about down in the pub.
I saw a very similar story about a US Soldier who was hit in the side by an RPG. It went about halfway into him, the other soldiers could see the tail sticking out of his side.
Against regulation, he was picked up by a Black Hawk and taken to a Hospital where they removed and disposed of it.
[QUOTE=Van-man;28274513]Must be something sweet to brag about down in the pub.[/QUOTE]
He should exaggerate and say something like "yeah when that rpg came at me I just punched it so hard that it actually refused to detonate"
I'd say this man was a tank, but if he was it would've detonated
I bet he picked it back up and threw it back at the enemy like one of those vortex footballs screaming, "YOU DROPPED THIS, YOU BLOODY PILOCKS!"
Thank god the first rocket failed to go off. Square-on in the chest explosion would have probably turned him into coloured rain.
It's not every day you see a man take a rocket launcher to the chest and survive.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28274547]I saw a very similar story about a US Soldier who was hit in the side by an RPG. It went about halfway into him, the other soldiers could see the tail sticking out of his side.
Against regulation, he was picked up by a Black Hawk and taken to a Hospital where they removed and disposed of it.[/QUOTE]
I think that or something very similar happened during the Battle of Mogadishu, the guy didn't survive then though. They had to leave the body in some bunker and detonate it I think.
And god, the paras are tough bastards.
[img]http://kf-wiki.com/images/thumb/b/bf/Police_Sergeant_Davin_Portrait.jpg/35px-Police_Sergeant_Davin_Portrait.jpg[/img]What is this? Sodding Guy Fawkes night?
they should clone him and make tanks out of his flesh
[QUOTE=mastermaul;28274052]He survived being hit in the chest full force with a shaped explosive charged designed to send a searing jet of molten metal through the 6 inch steel armor of a 50 ton armored fighting vehicle and incinerate the entire crew compartment.
I think he might be a bit lucky.[/QUOTE]
It didn't detonate, the majority of an RPG's power is in propelling molten metal through the tip of the warhead and inside a vehicle. Granted being hit by something that large and traveling that fast must hurt fucking bad.
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;28275319]they should clone him and make tanks out of his flesh[/QUOTE]
No, they should clone him and extract his luck.
[QUOTE=Mort and Charon;28275303]I think that or something very similar happened during the Battle of Mogadishu, the guy didn't survive then though. They had to leave the body in some bunker and detonate it I think.
And god, the paras are tough bastards.[/QUOTE]
I know the film "Blackhawk down" apparently isn't a very accurate portrayal of the real event but in that someone is hit by an RPG and it got lodged into them and they managed to remove it.
Taliban obviously rolled a 1 to wound against the Lt. Col
First being hit by an RPG, and immediately after another one blows up on his feets
now that's a bad day if I see one
[editline]25th February 2011[/editline]
Althought there was this guy whose car was hit by rocket, was driven over by a tank, and then when he crawled out of the wreck he was shot in the foot by a sniper
[QUOTE=Raiskauskone V2;28275492]First being hit by an RPG, and immediately after another one blows up on his feets
now that's a bad day if I see one[/QUOTE]
Well I'd consider it a good day, since he's still alive to tell the tale.
he must have gone to pieces
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