Revealed...how Prince Harry escaped as the Taliban fired a rocket into his desert base

Prince Harry was withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2008
John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images

A heart-stopping moment when Prince Harry’s camp came under attack in Afghanistan is revealed in a new book featuring accounts from more than 40 officers and soldiers from the Coldstream Guards who fought the Taliban.

Sergeant Tom Pal, from an anti-tank platoon, also told how the royal did a “pretty punchy job” as a forward air controller in the southern province of Helmand.

He recalls in the book: “I remember one afternoon before evening scoff or a Gurkha curry was on, I was sitting chatting with both Captain Russell and Prince Harry about random stuff when the camp was hit by a Chinese 107mm rocket... whoosh bang wallop.

“We had been attacked and we just looked at each other and Captain Russell mentioned we’d better put our body armour and helmet on. Bit late, but we did.”

The Taliban attack was on forward base Dwyer, an isolated desert outpost six miles from the front line.

On arrival at the camp Sergeant Pal had been surprised to discover the prince was in the warzone so close to the Taliban.

“I’d seen him on pre-deployment training with the Gurkhas, but didn’t think he would be out here and doing a pretty punchy job as a forward air controller,” he adds.

Prince Harry, who was 23 at the time, was withdrawn from Afghanistan in February 2008 after news of his secret deployment leaked out.

Prince Harry's military career

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In the book — Coldstream Guards, 10 Years in Afghanistan, Guardsmen’s Stories — the heroism of dozens of soldiers, including many from London, is recounted. Lieutenant John Scarlett, the son of former MI6 chief Sir John Scarlett, tells in terrifying detail of an attack by a rogue Afghan policeman on British troops at a checkpoint in Nahr-e-Saraj in July 2012.

The lieutenant was wounded in the thigh as he fought to save comrades who had been shot by the Afghan assailant from a watchtower.

“The moment felt like an eternity,” he says as he recalled opening fire and hoping injured soldiers could drag themselves to safety. He was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry for the attempted rescue. Three soldiers died from their wounds in the attack.

The book was the idea of Sergeant Paul Baines, now a plumber after having to quit the Army because of an injury. His van was paid for by a Coldstream Guards charity, and money from the book will go to that.

Retired Colonel Simon Vandeleur, Regimental Adjutant for the Coldstream Guards, whose HQ is Wellington Barracks in central London, says the “unique” book is “a tribute to those who lost their lives."

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