Mouth of Hell

"I felt more emotional about shooting a baby rabbit than I did about killing the Taliban. Telegraph

The two Paras were dead before they hit the ground.

The weight of fire from the Taliban sent the soldiers diving for cover as machine gun fire raked the ground beneath their feet and rocket-propelled grenades exploded above their heads.

"It was the best-initiated ambush I have experienced in 13 years of being in the Army. They opened fire in unison, we couldn't have done it better," said Corporal Matthew "Des" Desmond, a section commander with 2 Para. "The Taliban were brilliant that day."

The Taliban opened fire with both heavy and light machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades, which were fired to create an "air burst" and spray the troops on the ground with shrapnel. In the opening salvo Lance Corporal James Bateman, 29, and Private Jeff Doherty, who was 20 two days earlier, were both killed instantly with shots to the head and neck. For the 80 soldiers who took part in the battle, June 12 2008 will be etched in their minds forever.

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"We were hit by a wall of fire. Bateman and Doherty wouldn't have known a thing about it," said Cpl Desmond, who was in charge of the lead unit when the ambush was sprung.

"Over my radio I heard 'man down'. The sergeant major moved round to go and give first aid and he was shot in the leg, then I heard that there was another casualty and then one of young lads had his faced sliced open by a bullet. In times like that your training kicks in and I knew that the younger lads would look to me and that it was important that my guys didn't see me flap. Inside you might be panicking but outside you must look like you're in control."

Cpl Paul Knapp, 26, another section commander in C Company, added: "We immediately fired back using everything we had, but it had no effect. We had mortars firing at rate 12 – that's the highest rate - and in 18 minutes of solid fighting we dropped 176 mortar bombs on their position and fired more than 9,000 rounds."

As the battle raged on the crops caught fire and eventually the Taliban began to withdraw. The Paras gathered their dead and injured and began to pull back to their base. Cpl Desmond carried the body of Pte Doherty on his back for 400 metres before commandeering a car and driving the dead soldier back to base.

June 12 ended in marked contrast to the early days of the tour which were relatively quiet. Instead of the much-anticipated fighting, the Paras seem to spend most of the time attempting to the win the hearts and minds of the locals by handing out wind-up radios as the poppy harvest concentrated the minds of the Taliban.

Such was the disappointment at the lack of action that the Paras dubbed Operation Herrick, the code name for the war in Afghanistan, "Flop Herrick". But the phoney war ended on the day of the ambush and from that moment on the Taliban attacked relentlessly.

Back in the safety of their compound, the Paras said goodbye to their dead colleagues as their bodies were flown away. There was little time to reflect on lost friends as the Paras prepared for the next battle in the knowledge that the war they had come to fight had finally arrived.

Captain Josh Jones, 32, the company's second in command, explained that the attack was the Taliban's "opening gambit" and from that moment on the militants attacked relentlessly. But he added: "After June 12, every time we confronted the Taliban we decisively defeated them on the ground of their choosing and 99 times out of a hundred we forced them to withdraw."

The battles were fought at close quarters with bayonets fixed, in temperatures in excess of 122F (50C). The average weight the soldiers carried as they marched through the swamp-like green zone often topped 90lbs (41kg). Cpl Desmond said fighting the Taliban was like "trying to kill ghosts – they would just keep coming". He added: "It was guerrilla warfare, and once it started it didn't stop."

But despite the gruelling conditions and a diet based on Army rations, the soldiers maintain their morale never flagged.

"The more they attacked us, the stronger we became," said Cpl Bob Lewis, 25, a quietly-spoken Welshman from Swansea. "Everyone responded to the challenge, even the youngest soldiers."

The Paras learnt that the Taliban described the area patrolled by the Paras as the "Mouth of Hell" after somewhere between 150 and 300 Taliban were killed, according to what the Paras claim is a conservative estimate.

Although there was a certain amount of mutual respect, the Paras felt no pity or remorse for the Taliban. "I felt more emotional about shooting a baby rabbit than I did about killing the Taliban. It wasn't something the soldiers every really thought about."

The men of 2 Para and their parent unit 16 Air Assault Brigade are due to return to Helmand in the winter of 2010.