Immediate Response

From the heart of the Afghan battlefield, a Chinook pilot's explosive true story.Helmand, 2006- in the desert and the mountains outnumbered British troops face relentless Taliban assaults. Only the Chinooks and their crews keep them in the game. Touching down under heavy fire, they pick up casualties, drop vital supplies and dodge devastating RPG attacks.Then they launch their biggest operation. A high-risk airborne assault by a fleet of heavily armed helicopters deep into the Afghan heart of darkness. But one of their number will be downed . . .Decorated Chinook pilot Major Mark Hammond tells the gripping inside story of his squadron's war, where hi-tech hardware meets old-fashioned grit.

Major Mark Hammond joined the Royal Marines in 1989. After specializing as a pilot, he flew Gazelle and Lynx helicopters for 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron and, subsequently, 847 Naval Air Squadron. After a tour in America with the US Marine Corps flying Cobra attack helicopters, he now flies the Chinook HC2 on exchange with the RAF. He took part in the 2003 assault on Iraq's Al-Fawr Peninsula and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in Afghanistan in 2006.

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