I can still see faces of those I saw die in Afghanistan – I was lucky many times, says Defence Minister Alistair Carns

BRITAIN’S astir battle-hardened Defence Minister successful modern past laid a wreath astatine the play connected behalf of the 457 British servicemen and women killed successful Afghanistan.

Former Royal Marines Colonel, Alistair Carns, 44, who became Minister for Veterans successful July, served FIVE tours successful the Afghan conflict.

He spent astir 3 years determination and won a Military Cross for gallantry successful top-secret operations with UK Special Forces.

With 200 different veterans and guests, helium attended a work astatine the National Memorial Arboretum connected Saturday to people 10 years since the British forces officially gave up power of Afghanistan.

In an exclusive interview, helium says: “When the Last Post goes, it ever gives you a lump successful your throat.

“I marque a conscious effort to deliberation of everybody I saw either killed oregon wounded successful Afghanistan.

“I representation their faces, I representation the infinitesimal and spell done them chronologically.”

I ask: “How galore spell done your head?” And staring into the distance, helium replies: “A lot. I inactive spot each look and each moment.”

Does it get immoderate easier with time? “It gets harder,” helium says, arsenic if inactive moving the faces of the fallen done his mind.

The service, organised by the Royal British Legion, marked the tenth day of the time the Union Jack was yet lowered astatine Camp Bastion, which for 13 years became HQ for 150,000 UK troops.

On October 26, 2014, Britain officially handed the sprawling godforsaken city-cum-airbase implicit to Afghan troops.

‘Military astatine its best’

Scotsman Alistair, who joined the Royal Marines arsenic a teenage recruit, was a 26-year-old Captain erstwhile helium was archetypal posted to Helmand Province — and helium is inactive forbidden to speech astir galore of the classified operations helium took portion successful there.

He says: “I did 5 tours successful 2 and a fractional years successful full — each deployed successful a combat role. I was truthful fortunate truthful galore times.

“Once a slug went into my backpack, the feline to my near had been killed. I’ve seen guys killed feet distant from me.

"I’ve seen radical blown up. I’ve had grenades onshore successful beforehand of maine and not spell off.”

In 2011, Carns, present Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, won the Military Cross for gallantry connected peculiar forces operations.

He aboriginal worked successful Whitehall arsenic a subject advisor to 3 Defence Secretaries.

When helium archetypal arrived successful Afghanistan, Camp Bastion was tiny.

The begetter of 3 recalls: “It was an astonishing place. It had lone been established for 4 oregon 5 months.

“It was a particulate vessel with a ungraded portion runway, a mates of helo [helicopter] landing sites, and possibly 30 tents.

“I don’t deliberation it adjacent had a fence. It conscionable had a dugout berm astir it.

“I inactive retrieve the smell. A rawness of vigor and soil and dust, and the odor of the tents and the aviation substance from changeless helicopters and craft coming in.

“The upwind would travel done the campy and whip up small particulate storms.”

On Remembrance Sunday, November 10, a radical of 66 veterans from the caller UK Afghanistan Veterans Community volition march past the Cenotaph for the archetypal clip representing the Brits who served successful Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021.

Carns says: “Around 150,000 radical went done Afghanistan from the commencement to its finish.

"When you adhd successful relatives, you are talking astir apt adjacent a cardinal radical with adjacent connections successful immoderate way.

“We saw the precise champion of Britain successful Afghanistan, I genuinely judge that.

“The radical who served, the radical who volunteered to serve, those who supported those who served were superb.

"And the federation truly rallied down the equipped forces.

"It’s irrelevant of your governmental views, it’s astir supporting the individuals who were serving astatine the time.

“The Sun led the vanguard for that on with 1 oregon 2 different papers. It was truly impressive.

“When you’re successful Afghanistan successful a dusty structure oregon a small spread successful the crushed determination and you get a transcript of The Sun a mates of weeks old, that’s good.

“They’re championing the large enactment of the subject oregon you’re speechmaking astir bravery taking spot that you don’t needfully perceive astir from the system.

“You not lone provided a work to the federation backmost home, but you were supporting, some straight and indirectly, the individuals forward.”

By October 2014, Camp Bastion had go a immense metropolis — the largest British subject basal to beryllium built since World War Two — location to up to 14,000 UK forces astatine a time.

Talking astir erstwhile the UK pulled out, Carns says: “How Bastion deconstructed itself was amazing.

“The information cognition that went connected to marque definite it was harmless and palmy was superb. It was the subject astatine its best.”

Unlike the events 3 years agone successful Kabul erstwhile the Taliban defeated the Afghan Government and thousands had to fly successful a chaotic airlift.

Those scenes near galore of the 150,000 Brits who fought successful Afghanistan wondering what the hellhole it was each for?

The caller Minister for Veterans says to them: “I tin recognize that feeling, but astatine the aforesaid clip they request to recognise that they’ve changed the lives of truthful galore people, successful a bully way.”