Troops Sing 'Nice One Harry'
Prince Harry?s army comrades hoisted him on their shoulders after learning he was being withdrawn from Afghanistan yesterday ? singing: ?He?s ginge, he?s loud, he?s done us f****** proud
The disappointed prince, airlifted from the war zone after foreign media leaked news of his secret deployment on the front line, was cheered and clapped by troopers in a bid to lift his spirits.
He was then whisked by Chinook helicopter to a giant coalition airbase on the outskirts of the city of Kandahar, where he boarded a flight home on board a regular RAF TriStar passenger jet.
Fellow soldiers yesterday bombarded army chatrooms to talk about the send-off.
One said: ?He?s the man and he can look you in the eye too. The whole regiment wants to buy him a beer.?
The Queen voiced her pride at her grandson?s achievement as she opened a care home in Windsor. She told one OAP he had done ?a good job in a very difficult climate?.
Britain?s most senior warrior, Air Chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup, decided at midday yesterday to pull out lieutenant Harry to prevent a fresh wave of attacks on his troopers.
Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Jock and Army boss General Sir Richard Dannatt accepted that Taliban fighters would now be doing their utmost to find him ? putting at unnecessary risk the hundreds of men around him.
The Chinook helicopter was scrambled to pluck Harry out of the desert in northern Helmand Province near the hotspot town of Musa Qala.
The prince ? heartbroken by his marching orders ? was on a reconnaissance mission in a Spartan armoured vehicle to probe Taliban positions.
As The Sun revealed yesterday, he is estimated to have killed at least 30 Taliban fighters by directing three air strikes on to them. Without the MoD?s knowledge, he was deployed as a Forward Air Controller for a company of Gurkha troops out of the Army HQ in which it was originally planned he would serve.
Last night a senior source at Clarence House said the prince was returning with a heavy heart.
He said: ?It is fair to say Harry is both disappointed and frustrated that events have meant he has no option but to come home.
?He accepts that he has been told to return.
?But for the next month his thoughts will be with the men he left behind. He desperately wanted to see out the tour of duty and in particular wanted to return home shoulder-to-shoulder with his comrades.? As he has served more than 28 days on the front line, Harry will get a medal for his service.
Brigadier Andrew Mackay, commander of the 7,800-strong British force in Helmand, said: ?I know from my conversations with Second Lieutenant Wales that he has flourished in this most demanding of environments, relished the opportunity to serve his Regiment and his country and is deservedly immensely proud of his contribution.
?He shared the same risks, endured the same austerity and underwent the same fears and euphoria that are part of conducting operations in this environment.
