I got lucky. The rocket hit some rocks about ten metres away from where I was crouched down. I waited a couple of seconds, then got the weapon back onto my shoulder, ready to fire again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toki do the same. Even though he was only a couple of metres away, he needed to yell above the sound of the Apache attack helicopters overhead.

'Briggsy, they're closing in on the left. They're nearly on top of us. Move up on the parapet. Go!'

I did what I was told. Toki was my corporal, and when he told you to do something, you did it. He was a big giant of a man from Fiji. Cool, calm, with the world's flattest nose and hands like shovels. He'd joined the army to make his fortune, he told us. That was a laugh. He'd be hard-pushed on what they paid us. But I was glad he was my boss. I liked him. Even though he was in charge of our patrol, it still felt like he was one of us.

I ran up to the top of the parapet to join Si and Flash. I could hear the Taliban hollering and shouting at us from the other side of the mud wall. They were obviously closing in, but I still couldn't see a thing out there.

Si gobbed in the mud before he spoke, 'Mate, where are they? I can't see a thing!'

I caught a glimpse of three dark shapes moving left to right across the open ground. 'There. Look! Half left.' I started to fire, then Si and Flash joined in. The Tali were getting a bit too close for comfort, but I still wasn't scared. I had a big, fat SA80 rifle in my hands, plus I had new mates.

Si was one of them. He had white blond hair and a face full of zits that he couldn't stop squeezing. His crew-cut made him look harder than he actually was. He was only a year older than me and was already married to some Polish bird. He came from Liverpool or somewhere like that. He must have done as he sounded just like the curly-haired scouse geezer in Hollyoaks.