women at the front

[Hyperlithe]

A woman Army officer has had her left foot amputated after being blown up by the Taliban.

Captain Kate Philp, 30, is the first female soldier to lose a limb in action since the war on terror began in 2001.

And she is believed to be the first woman in British military history to become a combat amputee. The brave Royal Artillery officer was commanding a Warrior mini-tank in Afghanistan when it ran over a 50kg bomb.

The blast killed Gurkha Colour Sergeant Krishna Dura, 36, injured two other soldiers and left Kate with shattered legs.
The officer, of Worcester, was airlifted to a field hospital in Helmand where surgeons operated for hours and believed they had saved her limbs.

But after she was flown home, medics at the specialist military hospital at Selly Oak, Birmingham, told her they had no choice but to amputate her left leg below the knee.

Kate, serving with 17 Corunna Battery of 26 Regiment Royal Artillery, had given a year's notice to quit the Army.
Despite two postings to Iraq she insisted on a tour to Afghanistan before leaving the service.
Her patrol was heading to pick up a sniper team when they were hit near the hotspot town of Musa Qala on November 15.

Alarmingly, it was the first attack to penetrate a 25-ton Warrior in the Afghan badlands. Her company commander said: We remain in awe of the courage and selflessness with which she has met this tragic event.
A senior military source said yesterday: Kate has not complained at all about what has happened to her and does not regret a moment of her military service.

Her parents Donald and Susan said: Her morale is extremely high thanks to her enormous courage and determination, but also thanks to the wonderful care she and we have received.

Kate, who has two brothers who also joined the Army, is likely to move to Headley Court military rehabilitation centre in Surrey in January.

Last night she told The Sun: My thoughts and condolences go to the family of Clr Sgt Krishna and to those who were also injured in the attack.
And my deepest thanks go to the medical staff and others in Afghanistan and UK who have taken such great care of me.

[timex]

You need to share him, Hypes. :multi:

The mind boggles............ wish my landlady would say that..

[Pilgrim Norway]

Old Man with incoming ........

The fella with the back view and pony tail gets my vote ....... Ooorah !

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... liban.html

Happy holiday the rest of you .....

[Donny]

I know we have women in our services ,helicopter pilots ,fastjet pilots etc,
however I served as a tank crewman ,and assault trooper in the 70's, I remember being told that Israel put women in their tanks ,and when the tank was hit ,the men stopped doing their job to make sure the woman was alright .The result being the tank and the remaing crew were compromised,it was human nature that took over.They soon took women out of the tanks.That said of course most modern antitank weapons these days such as DU ammo would see the tank and it's crew off anyway ,but in my day on chieftans if you were hit you were expected to use the omc ,and try to get another round (120mm) off.As if!!!!!!!!!!

[SupFAC]

No Female FAC's in the British armed forces, we did have a female Lynx pilot that was Ab FAC qualified but she has dropped off.