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Killed by his own grenade in last stand against the Taliban: Military report reveals for first time how VC hero James Ashworth died in firefight with sniper
- Unit had a Taliban sharpshooter surrounded but ammo was low
- L/Cpl Ashworth volunteered for dangerous solo assault with his last grenade
- Shot in chest as he crouched to throw it into compound
- Saved by body armour, but live grenade escaped his grasp as he fell
- Too dazed to escape the blast and was killed by explosion
By Mark Nicol
PUBLISHED:16:57 EST, 30 March 2013| UPDATED:11:08 EST, 31 March 2013
His incredible bravery in the heat of battle in Afghanistan earned 23-year-old Lance Corporal James Ashworth the ultimate military honour – a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Until now, details of his courage while storming a Taliban stronghold have been sketchy. But today The Mail on Sunday can reveal the astonishing story of his final hours, as told by his commanding officer who was fighting with Ashworth when he died. The official British Army report compiled by Captain Michael Dobbin – himself awarded a Military Cross for ‘repeated courage’ that day – reveals:
- Moments before his death, Ashworth fearlessly ignored the captain’s pleas to retreat to safety.
- He was killed by his own grenade in a final attempt to eliminate a Taliban sharpshooter who had pinned down UK troops.
- Crouching 10ft from the enemy, and with bullets fizzing overhead, he whispered his final words: ‘I’m almost in position.’
The previously unseen document describing the firefight in gut-wrenching detail includes accounts by Capt Dobbin and by Ashworth’s comrades in the Grenadier Guards Reconnaissance Platoon dispatched on a dangerous mission to eliminate insurgents.
June 13, 2012, dawned like any other day at Patrol Base Rahim in Helmand’s Upper Gereshk Valley. As the morning passed, temperatures soared to 45C and whenever possible L/Cpl Ashworth sought out the shade of the base’s baked-mud walls.
In the early afternoon, 6ft 8in Ashworth was summoned by platoon commander Capt Dobbin, who explained that a group of Taliban gunmen had been spotted in Mohammed Zai, a village just over a mile from their base.
VC HERO GRAPHIC
Dobbin outlined the mission to eliminate the insurgents and referred to maps and photographs. To avoid confusion in the heat of battle the compounds were identified by code numbers. The mission would also involve a jet equipped with video cameras circling thousands of feet above the battlefield and feeding live information to UK commanders.
The report reads: ‘The operation was to drop the ISAF [International Security Assistance Forces] by helicopter in locations to the East and West of a group of compounds in the Mohammed Zai area.
‘L/Cpl Ashworth was Second in Command of callsign Dragon 76 [a team of six soldiers] and would be positioned to the West area with the main objective being a tree-line where the insurgents were known to be.’
At around 4.20pm, L/Cpl Ashworth and his colleagues strapped themselves into two RAF Chinook helicopters. Ashworth, from Corby, Northamptonshire, was seated next to Guardsman Jordan Loftus. During the short flight the good friends squeezed together for what would prove the Lance Corporal’s final photograph.
Over Mohammed Zai, they came under heavy fire from below. The report continues: ‘At approximately 1630hrs the helicopter carrying L/Cpl Ashworth landed, the soldiers dismounted and ran across a bridge. Dragon 76 was instructed to secure what was believed to be the insurgents’ sniper position, located in a tree-line north-east of Compound 14.’
Sprinting into position, Ashworth fired grenades from his UGL – a grenade launcher bolted to his rifle barrel. For the next ten minutes, British and Afghan National Army troops bombarded the tree-line, killing two insurgents.
But Dobbin was radioed with new information. The pilot overhead had tracked the escape of a third gunman from the tree-line to Compound 22. Immediately Dobbin ran to the compound, throwing grenades over the 6ft walls.
When he had used up his grenades, he ordered those soldiers from Dragon 76 who still had grenades left to help clear the compound.
With the Taliban gunman firing from inside the compound, the Grenadiers knew how dangerous this was. And their fears were confirmed when an Afghan soldier was killed attempting to enter the compound.
Bravery: Lance Corporal Ashworth, left, became only the tenth member of the British Army since the Second World War to receive the Victoria Cross, right
Ashworth and Dobbin began their assault at 4.55pm. They climbed a perimeter wall and jumped into an alleyway. Ashworth threw a grenade ahead and they advanced, weapons at the ready, to an open area and a vegetable garden where they were joined by another soldier providing cover.
The report notes: ‘The garden was surrounded by a 2ft-high wall and was about 6ft in front of the man providing cover.’
There was a flat-roofed mud-hut inside the compound and Dobbin saw an insurgent emerge from a doorway and open fire towards the Grenadiers. Another member of the platoon returned fire, forcing the insurgent to retreat inside, firing through a window. Dobbin requested reinforcements and when two more soldiers arrived, he told them to join Ashworth. Trees prevented them from throwing grenades to kill the enemy.
Although it is not in the report, The Mail on Sunday has been told that an Afghan interpreter with the Grenadiers shouted at the Taliban fighter to surrender but he refused, shouting ‘Allah Akhbar’ (God is great).
Then Ashworth ran to Dobbin and put to him a daring plan: ‘He [Ashworth] suggested that he crawl up against the wall until he was level with the insurgent and then throw the grenade into the doorway.’ Dobbin had doubts, fearing Ashworth’s plan was too dangerous, but as the report notes, they agreed the Lance Corporal’s plan still represented ‘the most risk-free approach’.
Ashworth set off, shuffling forward on his elbows and knees.
Ahead, a table and two chairs blocked his route. The furniture was only 9ft from the mud-hut, meaning any attempt to move it would be noticed.
Proud:The family of Lance Corporal James Ashworth including his mother Kerry Ashworth, father former Grenadier Guardsman Duane Ashworth and his brother and serving soldier Coran Ashworth
Honour: The repatriation ceremony for Lance Corporal James Ashworth, at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
So Ashworth decided to crawl around – a manoeuvre that risked bringing him into the insurgent’s line of sight.
Now Dobbin made a desperate plea, the report says. ‘He shouted to Ashworth to come back as he could see that the insurgent had seen Ashworth and was firing towards him with the rounds landing within a metre of him.’
But L/Cpl Ashworth – only the tenth member of the British Army to receive the Victoria Cross since the Second World War – could not be persuaded to retreat. He crawled on, clutching his last grenade. With Taliban rounds fizzing inches overhead, he even attempted to reassure his officer, whispering into his radio that he was ‘almost in position’.
Ashworth rose into a crouching position, pulled the grenade pin and took aim. Seeing him, the insurgent opened fire and a round struck Ashworth’s chest. He was saved by his body armour but fell back, the live grenade escaping his grasp.
Lying dazed and immobile, Ashworth had no chance of escaping the blast and his colleagues were too far away to help.
The grenade inflicted serious blast wounds. As the report notes, Ashworth’s position meant ‘no one could get to him to provide first aid as it would have put them directly in front of the insurgent’.
Two other soldiers were badly wounded before the insurgent was finally shot dead. The report reads: ‘The Combat Medical Technician moved to Ashworth’s position; however, no first aid was afforded as it was obvious his injuries were incompatible with life.’
He was declared dead at 7.40pm at Camp Bastion. That evening Cpt Dobbin and other commanders met to write up their battle reports. These formed the basis of the Grenadiers’ application for Ashworth to receive the Victoria Cross.
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