Helmand: Tour of Duty – New BBC documentary chronicles Welsh Guards’ harrowing Afghanistan tour
Marking a decade since the withdrawal of British combat troops from Afghanistan, a new BBC documentary, Helmand: Tour of Duty, offers a powerful look at the lives of ten Welsh Guards deployed to the frontline in 2009.
Airing on BBC Two on Wednesday, 30 October, the 80-minute film provides an intimate, dramatic, and often devastating account of one of the British Army’s bloodiest campaigns in recent history.
The film revisits the Welsh Guards’ six-month deployment to Helmand Province, a period which has become synonymous with intense combat, rising casualties, and a growing Taliban insurgency.
During that time, British forces were grappling with a changing battlefield landscape dominated by the deadly use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
For the soldiers on the ground, it was a brutal experience that tested not only their combat skills but also their emotional and mental resilience.
Jonathan Jenkinson, who served as Colour Sergeant during the deployment, recalls a moment that still haunts him.
“When that vehicle goes up and you see the guys just flying in the air, it’s horrendous. The Taliban, they started opening up on us, firing at us. There was fuel, ammunition everywhere. It was chaos.”
Jenkinson’s words capture the terrifying unpredictability of the conflict, where every day held the potential for devastation.
Throughout their deployment, the Welsh Guards suffered unprecedented losses, with fatalities at nearly every military rank up to Lt. Colonel.
Many others sustained life-changing injuries. Despite the staggering toll, the bond among the soldiers remained unbreakable, a theme that runs throughout the documentary.
Gavin Evans, a Sergeant in the regiment, describes their camaraderie: “We’re all cut from the same cloth… we just look out for each other.” This sentiment is echoed by Steven Peters, a Platoon Sergeant, who said, “You have that connection, and that bond stays strong for a lifetime.”
While the documentary covers the events of 2009 in gripping week-by-week detail, it also explores the long-term impact of the tour on the lives of those involved.
Fifteen years later, many of the soldiers and their families are still processing the events of that harrowing summer. The resurgence of the Taliban in 2021 has added a new layer of reflection, making the sacrifices of those who served feel especially poignant.
The film has been co-commissioned by BBC Factual and BBC Cymru Wales and is produced by Passion Pictures and Kailash Films. It is directed by Hannah Lowes, with editing by Tom Dixon Spain and executive production by Hamish Fergusson and Gwenllian Hughes.
As the 10-year anniversary of the British troop withdrawal approaches, Helmand: Tour of Duty serves as a timely reminder of the personal stories behind the headlines, giving voice to the soldiers and families whose lives were forever changed by the war in Afghanistan.
Helmand: Tour of Duty airs on BBC Two, BBC Two Wales, and BBC iPlayer on 30 October at 9pm.
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