Defusing 139 Taliban bombs was nothing special, says British soldier

By Sean Rayment in Camp Bastion, Helmand 900PM GMT thirteen March 2010

twenty-nine year old Staff Sergeant Karl "Badger" Ley Photo HEATHCLIFF O"MALLEY

Staff Sergeant Karl "Badger" Ley worked in temperatures of 122F (50C) defusing makeshift explosve inclination (IEDs), and braved being targeted by mutinous snipers, whilst deployed to Helmand.

The 29-year-old explosve ordering consultant from Sheffield saved the lives of large British soldiers and Afghan nationals during a debate of avocation in that 3 of his closest friends were killed and multiform others were harmed by Taliban bombs.

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SSgt Ley, who is tied together with 4 children, insisted he was not a favourite and pronounced "I was usually you do my pursuit and by the approach it"s zero similar to The Hurt Locker."

In an talk with The Sunday Telegraph, the infantryman with eleven Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment (11EOD), Royal Logistic Corps, pronounced "Soldiers lend towards to be frightened of IEDs given they know that they can kill.

"They don"t shock me given it"s my pursuit to defuse them. It"s all about being in your joy zone. When I"m defusing bombs I"m in my joy zone.

"I have been underneath glow majority times and that is something that does shock me. I hatred it given I am not in my joy section but majority guys in the battalion suffer it, they get a genuine hum out of being in a firefight - but it terrifies me."

The have use of of IEDs by the Taliban has soared in the last dual years and the inclination are right afar are obliged for 80 per cent of all British casualties.

The experts charged with defusing them are well well known as IED operators.

The series operative in Helmand cannot be finished open for security reasons but they have up usually a small fragment of the 300-strong Counter IED Task Force.

The explosve ordering specialists regularly muster with await from dilettante Royal Engineer searchers.

SSgt Ley has defused some-more than 3 times as majority bombs as a small of his colleagues have, but insists he has finished "nothing special".

The staff sergeant, whose pursuit pretension is Ammunition Technician, told how he was ambushed by the Taliban as he took the "long walk" along a lane to defuse a bomb.

He pronounced "I was a couple of metres from the explosve and about 100 metres from the rest of my group when the Taliban speckled me and non-stop up.

"Two RPGs flew over my head and I could listen to the bullets huge on top of me. I usually incited and ran. I was terrified. By the time I reached my blokes they were all shouting at me. I think they saw the see on my face."

During one 72-hour operation last Sep he defused twenty-eight vigour image IEDs, rebellious fourteen bombs in a singular nine-hour period.

The operation took place close to a British bottom that was being targeted by Taliban explosve teams.

He one after an additional "I was with WO2 David Markland, who was the Royal Engineer Search Advisor in my team. We were watchful for the searchers to finish when we were attacked.

"All of remarkable there was this huge weight of glow raining down on us.

"The bullets were drifting usually on top of my head, literally inches away. I got down on my belly but Gary was a big bloke and was struggling to get at the back of cover.

"The Taliban on all sides was in the future suppressed by the infantry and we set about defusing the devices.

"It was a bit bold I think the Taliban got breeze that we were stealing all of the inclination they had outlayed hours laying and were not unequivocally happy. I privileged 7 on the initial day, fourteen on the second and 7 on the third.

"It was unequivocally tough work, ruinous actually, the heat was attack 104F (40C) and you had to keep your concentration and sojourn methodical."

SSgt Ley and WO2 Markland worked together for the subsequent five months and became organisation friends, guileless each alternative with their lives.

But on February 8, usually prior to to Operation Moshtarak, WO2 Markland was killed when he triggered an IED in the Nad-e-Ali district of executive Helmand whilst conducting a poke operation.

SSgt Ley certified to being ravaged by the loss of one of his majority appropriate friends.

The genocide shaped piece of a grave duration that left majority inside of the Counter IED Task Force bereft and distraught.

On January 11, Captain Daniel Read, an additional IED user with 11EOD, who had formerly been harmed in an blast nonetheless had returned to the front line, was killed by a homemade bomb.

Then, usually days after WO2 Markland"s death, Sapper Guy Mellors, a part of of a poke group from 33 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers was killed by a home finished explosve in Sangin on February 15.

"It was a unequivocally bad period," pronounced SSgt Ley. "After Dave was killed I had a small cry but you don"t have time to brood you usually have to man-up and get on with it. But I think we were all deeply affected."

Earlier, Captain Daniel Shepherd of 11EOD was killed last July, and Olaf Schmid, a explosve ordering consultant additionally with the same regiment, was killed last Oct after five months operative in Helmand, the day prior to he was due to fly home for dual weeks" leave.

"Olaf Schmid was a unequivocally great partner of cave and he was killed unequivocally early on in the tour," pronounced SSgt Ley.

"That was a big blow. He was illusory bloke he illuminated up a room, he was such a big personality.

"I had well well known him for a unequivocally prolonged time and at your convenience I was sent on a march the initial thing I would do would be to see at the list of names to see if Olaf was on it if he was you knew you were in for a great time."

Major Tim Gould, the military officer autocratic of the Counter IED Task Force, pronounced the debate had been one of the majority strenuous in his regiment"s history.

He pronounced "We haven"t postulated waste similar to this given the early days of the 1970s when explosve ordering was in the infancy.

"You will not listen to any of my men protest about the effort or the dangers but it has been harsh and arduous.

"The teams are out roughly each day you do illusory work and there are a lot of soldiers and Afghans alive currently given of their bravery but there has been a cost to compensate and we have lost some-more men in the last 6 months than the ordain has lost in over thirty years."