Armoured truck saves Burnley soldier from two bombs
9:00am Thursday 9th September 2010 in
-
- By Nafeesa Shan » Reporter
A SOLDIER cheated death twice when massive roadside bombs exploded under his vehicle while on patrol in Afghanistan.
Sergeant Barry Quinn said he owed his life to the armoured Mastiff vehicles which had driven over hidden improvised explosive devices in the dangerous Helmand Province.
In the first incident, the Mastiff Group Commander’s vehicle was left unusable when half of its engine was blown up in a Taliban ambush.
A normal vehicle would have been completely destroyed.
Sgt Quinn, from Burnley, and his 22 troops were left stranded in hostile territory for 26 hours and came under heavy fire.
Two of his soldiers were injured during the fighting, one so seriously he had to be airlifted for treatment when their rescuers arrived.
Speaking from Afghanistan, Sgt Quinn, who commands the Mastiff through a hatch at the top of the vehicle, said: “The explosion pushed the vehicle into the air but it landed on all fours.
“There was a bang and we were thrown in the air. Everything went into slow motion then it hit the floor. The mastiff was unable to move but we were unhurt.
“It was a preplanned, they ambushed us. We were surrounded.
“There was an incident in the morning where we suffered a major and minor casualty.
“We could hear the targets getting closer and closer, we knew they were moving when we could hear dogs barking.
“No one slept we had to keep alert. We came under heavy fire.”
In the second explosion, the vehicle suffered just two popped tyres thanks to its additional protection.
Despite the impact and at one point losing radio contact, the 1st Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment soldier said he and his men all walked away without a scratch.
The 28-year-old said: “I was looking forward to where we were going and there was a flash, a boom and smoke “I thought it was the rear vehicle in the convoy as there was a cloud of dust, not that my vehicle had been struck.
“I went back to check on the guys and found another improvised explosive device, which we marked to be dealt with later.
“Everyone was OK and the vehicle was still able to move, it just had a couple of popped tyres.’”
Sgt Quinn, who has three children, two-year-old twins Ryan and Owen, and daughter Courtney, four, added: “The Mastiff is a great bit of kit. They are reliable and have saved a lot of lives.
“At the beginning of the tour one of the lads was hit by a big improvised explosive device and all he had was a few bumps and scrapes.”
Sgt Quinn is hoping to return home next month.
Comments(15)
Nikki Dean
says...
9:52am Thu 9 Sep 10
your granny
says...
11:07am Thu 9 Sep 10
barryinthailand
says...
3:12pm Thu 9 Sep 10
As our army is so stupid they let guys like this lead them, then Just pull out and drop a smallish bomb.. just about enough to make a thought. If they dont think drop a big one thn another,
Out of the millions of bombs that have ever exploded in the world only two have made a difference.
Jimmy Paterson
says...
3:53pm Thu 9 Sep 10
barryinthailand
says...
4:07pm Thu 9 Sep 10
Jimmy Paterson wrote:And you are thinking we are intelligent by fighting life for life.....I dont care about ANystan why do you?
barryinthailand - you are a ****
barryinthailand
says...
4:12pm Thu 9 Sep 10
Back Room BEP
says...
8:04pm Thu 9 Sep 10
barryinthailand wrote:I know Barry Quinn from school and I also know the job. People like you are no better than the Taliban; just another extremist, but in a different guise. The British Army is not there to kill and maim indiscriminately. We are serving in the hope of improving the life of the ordinary citizens and preventing the extremists from ruling the ordinary population through fear.
I find this story to be pretty mundane and worrying at the same time, he says after taking casualties he could hear the targets move in...you were the targets or did you not realise that it was you being attacked......... As our army is so stupid they let guys like this lead them, then Just pull out and drop a smallish bomb.. just about enough to make a thought. If they dont think drop a big one thn another, Out of the millions of bombs that have ever exploded in the world only two have made a difference.
You have the audacity to call our army 'stupid'. If you think that a British general has the autonomy to start making nuclear strikes, then your ignorance is of such a level that it might be worth not submitting any more comments as it only serves to ridicule your opinion.
Anyway, good work Barry and hope to see you home soon.
pam0796
says...
8:59pm Thu 9 Sep 10
Back Room BEP wrote:barryinthailand. Why don`t you go and spend six months out in Afghanistan and lets see how mundane you think it is then????? We are very proud of Barry and all his team. Keep safe and see you soon!
barryinthailand wrote:I know Barry Quinn from school and I also know the job. People like you are no better than the Taliban; just another extremist, but in a different guise. The British Army is not there to kill and maim indiscriminately. We are serving in the hope of improving the life of the ordinary citizens and preventing the extremists from ruling the ordinary population through fear.
I find this story to be pretty mundane and worrying at the same time, he says after taking casualties he could hear the targets move in...you were the targets or did you not realise that it was you being attacked......... As our army is so stupid they let guys like this lead them, then Just pull out and drop a smallish bomb.. just about enough to make a thought. If they dont think drop a big one thn another, Out of the millions of bombs that have ever exploded in the world only two have made a difference.
You have the audacity to call our army 'stupid'. If you think that a British general has the autonomy to start making nuclear strikes, then your ignorance is of such a level that it might be worth not submitting any more comments as it only serves to ridicule your opinion.
Anyway, good work Barry and hope to see you home soon.
andy1
says...
9:03pm Thu 9 Sep 10
barryinthailand wrote:And if they did this that would make them worse than the Taliban. Have they let you out for the day? Glad to see the lads are ok in their daily tasks. Keep safe fellas
Again simple pull out and blow it up stage by stage. One British soldier is worth 7 million afghans
Back Room BEP
says...
9:24pm Thu 9 Sep 10
barryinthailand wrote:Just to add to this the above; the word 'target' is army terminology for an enemy combatant, as essentially they are an opposing soldier's target. I believe Barry did have an inkling that he was under attack by the fact that his heavily armoured vehicle travelled skywards and there was a large explosion to accompany this unusual feat of aerobatics.
I find this story to be pretty mundane and worrying at the same time, he says after taking casualties he could hear the targets move in...you were the targets or did you not realise that it was you being attacked......... As our army is so stupid they let guys like this lead them, then Just pull out and drop a smallish bomb.. just about enough to make a thought. If they dont think drop a big one thn another, Out of the millions of bombs that have ever exploded in the world only two have made a difference.
The badly damaged engine and thus immovable vehicle may have also served to re-enforce his judgment of the occurrence.
your granny
says...
9:20am Fri 10 Sep 10
barryinthailand
says...
11:22am Fri 10 Sep 10
your granny wrote:Im not in Thailand actually gran and if your my granny then where the hell did you come from? youve been dead 40 years!!!!!!!!
barryinthailand, why are you in thailand? what are you up to? Hope you're not having a garry gliter holiday?
your granny
says...
3:27pm Fri 10 Sep 10
barryinthailand
says...
3:27pm Sun 12 Sep 10
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Jimmy Paterson says...
9:20am Thu 9 Sep 10