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Fix Bayonets!
[exerpt]Cpl Byles leaped into action on May 14 after his battalion, known as the Tigers, went to assist ambushed troops near a checkpoint on the main road between Basra and Baghdad. When the squad's Warrior armoured vehicle was attacked, the corporal and another soldier jumped from it. They were immediately targeted by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. After linking up with four comrades, quick-thinking Cpl Byles identified the enemy in a sun-scorched drainage ditch 200 yards away. He said: "I decided the best way to attack was a full-frontal assault. It was my decision to fix bayonets and assault their position." It marked the first time British soldiers have gone into battle with bayonets since the 1982 Falklands War. And the NCO's surprise order horrified his own men. Cpl Byles, who has a six-year-old son, said: "They were under the impression we were going to lie in our ditch, shoot the enemy from a distance and they would run away. "But I believe we caught the enemy on the hop that day and we had to take the fight to them." As another Warrior provided covering fire, the men put fresh magazines on their rifles, scrambled over a muddy mound and sprayed the 60ft-long Iraqi trench. As they stormed the ditch, Cpl Byles saw around a dozen rebels brandishing weapons. He said: "The look on their faces was utter shock when five heavily-armed men jumped in on them." Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-12-08 |
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