Gary Ramage's veteran story

Joining the army

I joined the Army. Oh, first Air Force rejected me. Poor me. When I was a kid. I want to be a pilot. But, um, so I grew up in Millicent South Drive and then Mum and Dad decided to move to Perth, which was a big big major upheaval for me, you know, so it didn't really recover from that. 

So I went to school for about 12 months in Perth and then I left school just as I'd had enough, whatever reason. And I was working in a fiberglass factory and the guys that ran the fibre glass factory, were Vietnam veterans. So, every morning tended sit down and they'd talk war stories and for whatever reason, it just sort of struck a chord with me. So I went and joined up when I was 17, I was 18 and then went into the military. So, I joined from Perth.

Harsh discipline

It was 1995 and I think I was in Bravo Company Contest, November 15 Platoon Radio and we got trashed like it was back when bastardization was the flavour of the month, you know, I remember I just cook a couple eggs. It's one. So, the way the rooms were set up, there was 44 recruits in one room and it was divided between those two were divided into and weighed the guy I was bunk with, he was a smoker, but you weren't allowed to smoke in the rooms. 

They used to smoke at night and they used to have longer inspections. So, he used to hide his cigarette butts in the very top locker. And for whatever reason, one of the instructors found all these spots and destroyed the room. So, they were pretty anal about room inspection. So, your socks had to have a smiley face all year. 

Singlets and teach had to be folded a certain way and in the lock and everything was like precision. He was always disciplined and they'd come through and destroy the room. You know, the bench had we had a it was a comb. It was an orange sheet with the rising sun and it was cold but it had to be folded in a certain way. 

It had to be a balanced, like from the pillow and then right angle, hot corners and all that like point bounce a corner of the rubbish and they'd come through and trashed room. So you had to then rebuild your room in your locker for the inspection. And they also used to have this thing called a hallway where someone stuffed up the hallway. 

So no matter what you were wearing, you'd have to run in the corridor and it's in the middle of winter and walk up stairs in the corridor, you know, freezing your bum off. And they go back in here in 20 seconds and your ABs and what? So, they'd literally destroy your wardrobe. You'd be wearing everything back out there, standing at attention. 

So back in 20 seconds, wear and block. You spent all night ironing everything for the inspection the next morning. And yeah, so rather than punish one, they'd punish the whole platoon and then discipline was dealt to that individual by the platoon.

Trained by Vietnam veterans

Initially, I think I was probably scared, you know, like I was only 18 never really left home and I’d never been with a bunch of guys like this before. So, I think looking back, it was just part of the experience, you know, just learning to be or becoming, you know, the man I would grow into type thing because I used to be quite shy, um, but I sort of grew out of that. 

I knew you'd enlisted in what they call the long peace … it was 1985. You know, we hadn't been involved anything since Vietnam. So think Vietnam was 75 when it finished. So that ten years all my instructors will Vietnam vets. They didn't tolerate any shit from anyone. Yeah, you were. You were severely punished like my sister and guilt company. You know, um, Steve Griffith. He was a Vietnam vet. 

He was wounded there. But all the other, like, senior sergeants and CSMs were Vietnam vets, you know, and we were we were probably looking back quite lucky to have them as instructors now. Yeah. Um, so, yeah, it was an interesting time … I don't think we were that naive that we'd ever think that we'd ever deploy to any theatre of war. Yeah, it was it was a bit of, I guess like the lost boys club, you know, a whole bunch of guys together, we'd sleep together, eat together, drink together, play footy together.

Duty at Buckingham Palace

There was a group of selected for Royal duties at Buckingham Palace during the Queen's, one of the jubilees. I can't remember. Yeah, maybe, but it was only the second time the Australians actually protected the Queen, you know, obviuoiusly her coronation. And then in 88 we all went over, there was a couple of 100 and something. 

Each battalion put up 20 or 30 soldiers, but we all had to be six foot, you know, because up at that tall, broad Aussie type thing, mentally they had and lofty went was the arts in the army at the time. So he took us all over there. I remember the Brits coming out and suggesting that we had to wear, you know, British uniforms or things like that. Uncle was trying to wear Australia uniforms, so it was interesting … it was more or less sort of standing in front of those little guide boxes at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Tower of London and St James's Palace. 

So there was four areas that we had to sort of do our duties, and we do a changing of the guard with the Brits, you know. And so, you know, it's just like to do now, you know, the band would march from the barracks to Buckingham Palace and then you do the mount on the forecourt and then you go stand at your guard box for 2 hours and watch back and forth and watch the public. 

So, you know, looking at it like you're a zoo animal … we were wearing these boots, I think it was the old officer boots that they had to arm, see so highly spit polished so you'd trash them every day, you know, spit polish. You just cracked what he had to spend hours getting them back up to Standard. But physically, yeah, it's hard to stand there, like with a SLR at the at ease position and then every couple minutes come to attention, you know, march ten places that way, come back for an inspection … but, you know, as a young soldier, it was exciting because we had and we got to, you know, do this thing at Buckingham Palace.

Photographic training

I started off in the military in 6RAR, in the 6th coming up in Brisbane. And I did that for a number of years and then I went into the intelligence section and the role within the intelligence section was the intelligence photography. So that was just a I think it was a six week course we did down at Oliver Donga back in the day with the Survey Corps and they gave you the basic scene taking pictures, processed pictures, and then went back to the battalion. 

I think I was 89 and in 1990 I t ransferred to the Army Public Affairs, a public relations corps or service, as it was called back then and they put me through like a 12 month cadetship and taught me how to use 35 mil, six by six Hasselblad. And then the four five went off. 

There were the three cameras of used and all those different media to had to shoot black and white colour name and colour transparency … it was just fantastic experience for me to use all those cameras in the different film formats and we did that. I did that for a couple of years, and then I was promoted to Lance Corporal after a couple of years … 

When I was in the battalion we bought American Ellis packs or we trade. When the Americans come to Australia, we trade things to get their Ellis packs because we had those stupid Vietnam little green packs still that were issued and then we would adapt the Ellis packs to make the bigger. 

So we'd carry more. Yeah, we'd all try and wear different boots, whatever it was, it was a non-issue then. Yeah. You, if you recall it, it was also practical stuff we got back in those days with the practical, but nowadays I think the guys are equipped quite well and you know, look at with their equipment. So, I don't think there's still that same need that we had 30 years ago to adapt the issued gear, make it more suitable or comfortable.

Mogadishu

It was pretty trashed from what I remember, most of the buildings were destroyed. I mean, it would have been a beautiful city back in the day. Yes. On the Mediterranean and beautiful by the water. But on I think when we used to travel from the university down to the, uh, the wharf, all those people, there was nothing, just translation telephones. It was just, you know, I guess a city that was just totally destroyed and sort of eating itself up. The fact it destroyed each other, fighting each other.

Baidoa: City of Death

So, Baidoa was the AO the Australians were given and the Americans were there originally and then we came in, I think we're there about five months and you know did all the patrols out from Baidoa. I think it was referred to as the City of Death. Yet there was the famine hit pretty bad there. 

You know, um, they demolished it, buried people in shallow graves, either in the town or in the riverbeds, you know, which was silly, because when the floods come, what is going to slide down the river? Um, but yeah, there was, there was lots of orphanages, lots of kids without parents. And the people that we did see, you know, um, very valued nutrition, you know, food. Yeah. It's pretty sad … with the kids, you know, you always keep the kids stuff at the Russian packs and whatever else you could.

Somalia: The death of Lance Corporal Shannon McAliney

It was the death of Shannon MacAliney in Somalia. So I always cost to cover everything. And what we did was I'd got to the hospital and I got to know the medics. So when we go into town, they go, “Hey, guys, in or out?”, whatever. Run with the Red Cross. “You want to come?” So like I said before, it's all about communication. It's all about building those relationships with people. 

And I'm very good at that. And that's what I did. So when things would happen, they would grab me. Yeah. And just throw me the back of the ambulance or the truck off we got. So when Shannon got shot, the hospital rang up and said, Look, something's happened, come on down. So, I was like, Yeah, whatever. So I grab the stuff right down to the hospital and then I got down there that was myself. 

See, I gave Hurley, who's now the JJ and they are Sam and the three of us were inside the tent, so we heard the ABC roll up. Um, then all the screaming and all yelling happened and then they brought Chad at me and I had my tripod set up and I had the camera pointed straight at the operating table but soon as I realised it was one of ours, I turned the camera off for the camera on the ground. Uh, and that was purely, I think, a military thing with like a respect thing. 

And I think our temple would have dropped me if I'd rolled on it anyway. Yeah. Because it was one of his boys but, yeah, that was, that was, that was the first time I'd actually witnessed someone dying which and you know, and because he, he was white and he was one of us. So for whatever reason, it was a bit more personal. You know, we photographed a lot of dead locals and stuff, and it didn't have the same effect as this did and I think it's purely because, you know, we only photographed for a couple of days before it was 21st birthday. 

Um, so I recognise what was going on. Um, but we weren't trained for this. No wonder that yeah, it was like heels go to war, you know? Yeah. And it was just there was no support for any of that stuff. I didn't talk about it for years and years and years and years and it had an effect on me but since then I've sort of grown emotionally a lot more and I talk about everything, and that's just about getting it, getting out there. But, yeah, Somalia was definitely the, probably the first thing that sort of had a really big impact, an imprint on me and that was, yeah, it was his death.

A moment of failure

After that incident, you know, I sort of swore because as a photographer, I felt bad as a human being, I'm fine with it. But as a photographer, you know, I should have captured those moments. Yeah, I failed as a documentary photographer. I didn't capture the historical content of what happened in that room, and I was there. I was in a position to do it, but I made the decision not to do it, and I haven't done that since. 

Yeah, the guys I told you about in the back of the Black Hawk helicopter, three American servicemen photographed all that. Yeah. And my attitude towards now is I'll take the pictures. I don't have to use them, but at least I've got them if I need them.And that that's sort of my sort of metro, the moment. I’ll photograph anything and everything, but it doesn't mean I have to publicise them.

Editing and old technology

As a newspaper photographer, when we're on a job, we’ll shoot 100 pictures, but we only send 20. So in that sense, yes, we're editing down what we send. We don't get the final selection, someone else will do that. But you, you have to be selective in what you submit because you don't want a photo editor looking at 200 pictures to pick one. 

Like that's part of the job of professional photographer is that they rely on you giving them the best options. And that was the same when we were in Somalia, you know, we would select the pictures because it used to take us 30 minutes to send one picture on the picture drum machine. 

Yeah. You had to go take the picture, come back process it, dry it, and then put it in a larger printer and then leave. I think it's about a two-inch gap under the photo and you had to handwrite the caption, I can't spell for shit, like I'm bad, right? And there's a couple of times you have to redo them. 

Then you put on this drum and it's a needle and then needle just scans the picture and it would take 35 to 40 minutes for one picture and cost a ton of money. You know, we had a massive satellite with us like, you know, half the size of this room, that's how big the satellite dishes were back there back then. So we had all this great technology, but it just takes so long. So we generally want to take pictures and that was it. So, yeah, technology's come a long way.

Shot selection

The beauty of these cameras, I mean, you can shoot thousands and thousands, thousands of pictures, but the end of the day for me, I'm only going to shoot you or use one or two. So, to overshoot just means you're going to do more work in the edit suite on the laptop afterwards, going through selection, all these pictures. 

So, I actually select as I shoot, you know, we do a press conference. The Prime Minister and I just sit there and go, uh, for 30 minutes, you know, it's, it's all about his movements or we caught up with the pilot for so many years. Most the police, you know, like their, their reactions to stuff and you can see it in their movements, in their body language. 

So, you know, when someone's going to leap forward or try their hand, and that's when you press the shutter. It's not like constant because it's just it's a waste of time and it's too much work at the other end. So yeah, I don't, I do the trigger thing and it's also with the cameras. Yeah. The more friends you have on those cameras, the quicker that one's mirrorless now. But the shot is used to go. You know, you get a couple hundred thousand clicks on the shutter and that's it, the camera's dead.

Kosovo: Looking for trouble

In 1999, I was selected to be part of Long Look, which was an exchange between the British Army and Australian Army. I don't even know if they still do it, but, I sort of got lucky enough to get on that trip. But I volunteered or wrote the letter to the Brits saying, I don't want to get stuck in the UK, I want to go to wherever you got operations. Like I just want to go on operations. I'm not interested in being stuck in the barracks. 

So the post the German took her for it and then from there I got sent into Bosnia for about five weeks or six weeks, kind of four weeks where I was came out that went to London. They gave me a brand-new Kodak digital camera, which one of the first ones that came out back in the day, piece of shit and then they're like, okay, you can head off to Kosovo. 

So I went to Kosovo with the Paras, which was very interesting, um, and spent I think a month there with them as well … I think our first engagement was as we were driving to Pristina, we came under fire, and they pulled us out of the vehicles in this embankment. And I remember this Pom says to me, you know, “Welcome to Kosovo, mate.” “Yeah, thanks.” 

But, that was my first experience and then from there I hooked up with a British photographer and we just formed a little team and we just got to different areas, just freewheeling, you know, just finding out where the Brits were or whatever. I remember, we were in town in Pristina one day and we heard all this screaming. We, attach ourselves to the MPs, much like what I said, what we did in Somalia. 

You know, we attach itself to like different patrol groups or the hospitals, whatever. So, it's again about communication and talking to people. So, we figured out the MPs as well didn't smile as well. The MP would all go somewhere, you know, someone new. So, we have catch up to this MP company. And what was these guys walking down the street? Pristina. 

And then we had all these screams and um, for whatever reason, the boys ran into this building and the apartment block was on fire and the boys kicked in this door and what happened was somebody had barricaded these two old ladies inside their apartment so they couldn't get out when they'd set alight because they were Serb or Kosovar, whatever they were. 

I can't remember what national they were but was trying to kill them. Um, and I remember just taking pictures of this MP carrying this old lady down the stairs, you know, through all the smoke. Um, and then, you know, we'd go off and do something else. It's like a Boy's Own little adventure. We used to drive around looking for trouble really.

Close calls and a change of uniform

Same trip, as I was with an Australian DVC. Um, we were called back in the day, the bunny rabbit camp that we had and uh, I dropped a lens cap to this whole thing was to kill for a landscape. And I walked up this alleyway. I found it and I was just sort of wasn't constrained walking back towards the vehicle and I heard the distinctive cock of the machine gun was a Mac 58, you know, and when you cock it, it makes it really like clunk and it just stopped me in my tracks. 

And I looked up and I just saw this young kid and he had a B light on me with his with his machine gun because he thought I was a Serb. Because what I realised arcade version was Serbs were wearing because I get I'm a kangaroo wallaby, you know, whatever. 

And he was like, “Oh, you're Australian”, “Yeah,see the flag you dickhead.” And from that day on I had to go into the Q store and, and I've got some old British cabs and station back together, wear them and then we put an Australian flag on it so there wouldn't be any more little incidents, you know. 

I mean I also got surrounded by a bunch of Kosovar citizens because they thought to serve as well, you know, they swore to be a part because they just didn't know I was Australian and just saw that uniform and just thought it was absurd. So yeah, the general signed off on me changing uniforms.

Bosnia and Kosovo

I worked with the British Army, when I was in Bosnia and Kosovo and the public affairs unit came on to the PSYOPS branch, which, I think back in the day we didn't ever believe in the to coexist with each other because it's the wrong messaging. Like it's different, different things. 

With the Brits it was different for me because the PSYOPS guys were about using the picture taken for a public affairs campaign or whatever, and then utilizing that for their intel, what their messages and how they would then direct it at the locals. So if I took a photo of a soldier with a kit, you know, hold hands walking in the right, whatever, then they'd grab that as a becoming peace type thing. 

So there was a cross. There was a cross over. That didn't really happen as far as I can remember with the Australian Special, I was it was all about getting the pictures within the media and at the strategic messaging and everything else. Um, and you, since I've left, it's, I think it's more about the strategic messaging for the photographers in Defence now like the minister wants this told in this sort of way. So get focus to take this type of image so we can use it as part of the campaign. Whereas, you know, we go back to Somalia, I had free rein. 

You know, we were taking pictures of whatever I thought was a good news picture and then would send it direct to the media, you know, on the petrol machines, that doesn't happen anymore. Everything has to go through defense, clear processes and, you know, to get stuff out of Defence in one day. Yeah. Good luck. You know, and as a media organization, that doesn't work because of the 24 hour news cycle. They want to start straight away and they don't get that response from, you know, the big public service defense, whoever the hospitals. It's all about controlling the messaging.

The disadvantage of being embedded

I was embedded with the ADF and with the Americans. I was responsible with staying with them. Once you go into an embed, you can't just go off and do your own thing. So I don't think I really achieved that very well when I was working with the military, with the embed programs, whereas other photographers that didn't embed would go and do the civilians thing and get all that great stuff whereas what we did in Ukraine was quite the opposite. 

You know, we didn't do anything with the military, it was all with the population. And it's no different to tell the diggers stories about telling that individual or that group story about, you know, this horrible thing that's happened.

Embedded with the Americans

I'm very lucky, you know, as a former soldier, I've got a little bit of an idea what it is the guys are doing. And when I when I used to embed with the Australians and the Americans, I never used to go and say, “Hi, I'm a former soldier”, go red squirrels or whatever. 

I never did that. I just went in there as a swinging cover and I would let the guys get to know me but once they found out I was an ex-soldier, all the barriers would come down. And for me I was very lucky because then there was a bit of a trust there. So and then you become the fly on the wall. You just become part of it. So I remember there was once in, uh, what was it, Logar province when I was embedded with Americans, the 101, our first into that video anyway. 

So they brought in a, um, uh, an Afghan policeman that had died. But they let me stay in that room and photograph it while his friends came in and prepared his body and said their farewells. And when you embed as a photographer, journalists, whatever, normally you're there for like ten days. So you just run a step, step, step and run out. There's no there's no point. 

There's no relationship. But what I've always tried to do is spend as much time on the ground with the guys as I can so I become part of it but they know that I'm there to do a job that's totally different. I'm there to record what it is they're doing. It's not about me, it's about them. It's the same when I was with the dust off crews in Helmand. 

Yeah, I did over 45 missions with them, flying to, you know, live action and picking up injured, dead American soldiers and for me, that was a huge privilege because, you know, they didn't say, you know, a fucking camera at my face, mate. It's like, do you think you're here to tell a story? Tell their story? 

And that's what we did. You know, um, I had three guys die in me in three days in the back of a Black Hawk helicopter, and they let me photograph everything, you know, and for me, that was a real privilege. And, you know, I felt very sad, but lucky that I got to record those events because most people don't. 

Yeah, most people it's like not a just go away. Yeah. Gas in the corner. So, I think being a former soldier has definitely helped me with the battlefield photography and stuff that I've done over the last whatever years it is and I, yeah, I just feel very lucky that they gave me the opportunity.

Black Hawk medical evacuation

So, going back to the Black Hawk stuff as well. So the first guy they brought in, so we flew into our files. So the Taliban were off to the left, the Marines were off to the right. There was, you know, rounds going everywhere. The chopper came in, took the heads of the medic at them, just unclipped and ran into it like he just ran straight out. No, no rifle. 

He just, you know, and I was sitting there just saying “What the fuck?” and I just sat in the doorway. And as they came back, like, say, I've got a whole series of pictures, what Adam's direct and the four Marines carried their body through the grass. Um, but every picture was taken. 

I was conscious of not to try to identify the injured because that's part of the group. The embed documentation you had identify dead soldiers, whatever. So everything I did was about trying to tell the story in such a way that didn't compromise the victims and I've carried that with me ever since everything I've done. 

So yeah, they're all running towards me and he was a big guy who's bigger and make good weight quite a lot and it's that way. So as they got into the chopper, because obviously in a battle when you get hit, they strip you to sea world holds on so they dragged him in these pads for down on his ankles and that's the first thing I remember. I was like, fuck, you know he's not wearing these pants. 

And that stopped me in my tracks. Like, I couldn't actually pick the camera and I'm not going to take a photo of this guy died with his pendant or his ankles like it's I'm just going to do it. So we were in the back of the chopper. I then unclipped my belt as we took off and I was just getting myself in a position where I could photograph the medics working on the young fella without showing that he's had to actually get around his ankles. 

And that's what I did. And so one medic was on the machine that sort of pumps air and similar expressions, and I was photographing that, but that's all I needed. Like, I got my picture and I put my cameras down and then Adam threw me the bag. So, I helped with CPR. 

And for me, I didn't really see it as much of a compromise because I'd already taken the pictures and if I'd taken more of it, it was just for reason because it wasn't a change that he was dead. He was on the floor. He wasn't going to move. There wasn't in the picture. Another angle like that was it? So in my head, unlike Somalia, I'd done my job and now it was time to become a human again and then help because we're all trained first aid, we're trained in. 

Yeah. Put tourniquets on or whatever else. And Adam just looked at me and said, “Well, I need help mate.” So again, put the cameras down and we started giving him CPR immediately. He died but if I hadn't have helped, I would have felt like a prick question.

The need to be fit

With the physical thing, you've got to be fit. Yeah. You have to actually do what they do. When I was with the Americans and the Australians yet, uh, we'd hump for days. You know, we patrol for days. So you carry everything on your back like they do with all your camera, you know, they're carrying ammunition, guns and whatever else. 

I was just carrying camera, so I had a little bit of a lock and load. But you're still walking the same distance of those huge mountains in Afghanistan. And if you're not fit, yeah, you. Because the worst thing you don't want to be is a burden on the patrol. 

And I saw it when I was in the military, you know, when we used to host when the media would come in and get people turn it up that weren't fit, weren't prepared, just a hindrance to patrol. And that's what gives the media a bad name. Yeah, you get these guys that come in that want to be a war photographer or whatever for a couple of days, they can tick the box and they're yeah, it's it's not a good experience for everyone. 

You know, I remember when we had a, I think it was a Kiwi crew come in when I was down in Suai and they rocked up with no water, no food. And it's like, “What are you guys doing, man?” And, you know, no preparation. And because no one had trained them, you know, back in the early nineties the Australian Army had a thing called ACOR where they would run these little camps, the media, they'd bring them in for a couple of days, make them camp overnight, show them how to ride a sleeping bag, how to package stuff, how to crack a ration pack, how to eat it, but also how not to make a noise. All the things that soldiers take for granted just to give these media guys a little bit of an experience.

Compromising situations with the Australians

It was in 2009, we had the trial embed, and this is where everything went totally wrong all blew up in our faces. So Angus Houston, I think was the CDF at the time and for whatever reason there hadn't been that engagement in Afghanistan from 2005, 2006 through to two and nine, whatever. 

So Defense decided to try and tell the stories. Yeah. Because we'd lost that, that link, the historical link for a couple of years so decide to put an embedded it was a self image fence and Sally from ABC um Sally Sara and it was it, was good, it was interesting but it was very restrictive on what we could and couldn't do, you know, like, I mean, we travelled like 13 hours in the back of Bushmaster on a patrol base after about somewhere. And then for whatever reason. 

Yeah, this thought that we couldn't go on patrol. Yeah. And we lost it fit and I just big dummy speech. Yeah. Because you know who we are kind of wankers. Um, and it was like, why the hell are we here? You know, blah, blah, blah. And we managed to convince the public affairs officer who basically had to deal with us and then deal with it. 

So he was the meat in the sandwich guy, like he's dealing with the CEO of the first Battalion and then deal with these two whingeing bloody journalists because, you know, someone's taken there lollies off them, sort of thing. He got crucified. Um, and then we went back to the patrol base. Um, one of the boys was killed four months previously and. 

Yeah, Ian and the CEO, um, is Pete Connolly actually who I've since apologised to. He was, I saw him in the Somalia 30th and I was like, Oh, I paid my mate. I was a wanker on that day. Yeah. And I told Brogan went great. Um, so he and Ian just didn't hit it off, you know, because Ian more specifics, and he's like, well, not I. 

If you guys do this, you're going to put my guys in harm's way, blah, blah. You know, um, we sort of took it as an offense that they would stop us from doing our job, which was telling the story, why these guys were here. Um, but yeah. Hindsight, yeah. You look back, we were probably got a lot. 

But anyway, um, so the funny thing with that was that they dragged us back from this patrol base kicking and screaming and police and other patrol base where Reinado was killed. And the I was there and we're in this tent and we're falling away, whatever. And then we got rocketed. 

You know, the Taliban, I think launched like eight rockets at us or whatever. And I was just giggling because, you know, they brought us back to get us out of harm's way and then we got attacked. The funny thing is, I'm telling you story was that with technology, the ASLAVs engaged and they were right beside us. 

Like when they engaged, I just filmed it. And then once we went and got inside for cover, we came back. Yeah, we said that straight away. Yeah. Australian soldiers attacked in wherever we were, it was online within half an hour. See, I lost his shit big time, like let you down because what we didn't realise back then, because we're not even in the papers, the media were not even the whole thing was that we just told the Taliban that there was three very high value targets in a patrol base. 

Yeah. So, we'd actually put the boys at risk. Um, and that brings back what we talked about, about communication and having a chat and, you know, rather people just beat the chest, whatever. Um, yeah, it's very important to communicate. Yeah. One's intentions. So it's interesting … From what I remember, um, at that patrol base, because that's where a young Renata was killed. 

It was the Chinese made rockets that they fired. But where we were. And it's always we're still here today. Is that it was I think there was double hessian. So those big hessian blocks, they flew with dirt and rocks. There was two layers of that. And that's where the rocket hit. 

So it hit right in front of us. But all the debris came over. It killed ten, whatever else. But, um, we're just lucky because it's no guidance direction on these things like that just then land anywhere. And then I think it was either the next day or that afternoon we went on a patrol down to the little village and again we got rocketed and again, we're having a giggle because it was like, remember the movie The Black Hawk Down where the guys get ambushed? 

They're running back to the base behind the tanks. The tanks left them. That happened with us. So they called in the Bushmaster and some of us couldn't fit into what had just run behind the Bushmasters back to the patrol base to watch the rockets at all. About a kilometre away. It's funny now, looking back on it.

Travelling in a Bushmaster

I remember the boys used to put the Mars Bars up inside the slots with their concerns that my choppers wouldn't melt. Um, the only restricted thing about them is the seats. The what this actually. But a big bitfinex when you know when you're in it you feel like that and it's got that cross harness with the release here. 

So you don't really get to move around. But you know, when you're in it for like 13 hours, whatever, it's sort of a bit boring. You don't really get to get out and move around. Yeah, I mean, a couple of times they let you put your head up the back of the the rear to get some fresh air stuff. But, I mean, they never lost anyone in any of those bush busses. Even a couple of got hit and destroyed, but no one ever lost their lives, you know? So they're great for you.

In action with the Marines

When I was with the Marines, 3 6 Marines in a major in Helmand province, they just got to the boys, like dove to fort arrived. They got in an ambush. Um, we were on a patrol, went to a village, went to, um, sure, where they were. The battalion commander was talking with the elders. 

Were sitting around this little compound, whatever it was, he's like this. And we're the Taliban. Not Taliban. Not Taliban. You sure you're not Taliban? And I remember there was a wall in front of me, and I had the building behind me, and the elders got up and left and all hell broke loose, like they got us in an ambush. 

I don't remember anything hitting the ground. And the air was just like alive with bullets. Yeah, there was dust heating up all around us and stuff, but it wasn't my military training threw me to the ground. It was my will to leave or survive or even to call caveman instincts. 

Because I don't remember doing it. All I remember was I was on the ground, but it was that quick. Yeah. And the army didn't try to do that. That was just instinct. Um, you know, and then the next thing that kicked in was “Fuck I’ve got to film this.” So try to get the cameras in position, you know, roll line on the ground, do it. 

And I saw this young guy crawl to the end of the wall to engage the Taliban to the front where we thought the fire was coming from. And what we didn't realise until we looked at the vision was back at base is that there was a wall here. He was lying here. There's these puffs of dirt right above his head every couple of seconds like that. And he was being engaged by a Taliban sniper over on the right kind of blood. It was just a bad shot, you know. So the kids just turn around and crawl back to us. 

And then we looked at the vision, were like, and you're one lucky son of a bitch … I was taking pictures and trying to film as much as I could. Um, yeah, some of the stuff I stuffed up because I couldn't get the camera to focus, um, because I'd switched the button off when I hit the ground and not realised. Yeah, but by that time, it's all over, you know? I mean, battles were happening pretty quick and didn't last a long time. Yeah, because the Taliban would engage in just run off. What was I Taliban. Some poor farmer who is being told he has to go and shoot a patrol, you know, otherwise they'll kill his family.

Back up cameras

And then, you know, even after patrols finish, you've got all your admin to do before you go on the next day's patrol. So you go to redistributing stuff to recharge batteries. In Helmand there was one generator and they need the generator to power their equipment. 

So they would then a lot me a time in the middle of the morning like 2 to 4 a.m. where I could rechargeable batteries? That was the only power source I had, um, because of my batteries died. The cameras died. I had no way of capturing anything, you know, so that's why I carry film cameras with me now that don't need batteries, you know? So whatever happened digitally, I've got a backup, which is my film cameras.

Respect for service personnel

I remember there was one of the highly sought after Taliban leaders was in the area where we were at the time and the Apaches came in and killed him, they blew the hell out of me. And we got tasked with collecting the body pieces. But when we got out there, there was no trace, and the locals knew nothing about it. So, you know, obviously you got out and picked up what was left of it was both of them, um, and then got taken away. 

But the bush again, this is a trust me. They took me into their confidence. He showed me the, the drone footage of the attack know and him getting hit and stuff and it's just like, yeah, well you're not getting up for that, you know. So it was interesting … I've got nothing but the utmost respect for those boys and girls. 

You know, they, they would fly into an area, um, unarmed. And when I said there's no machine guns on the chopper, it's just their personal weapons. And, you know, they fly out, fly to the area and pick up who was injured and get them back as a 15 minute window, you know, and they met that deadline. 

Every mission I flew is like, it's just remarkable. Um, yeah. One of the boys that didn't make it, you know, we were flying a hundred feet above the deck just flat strapped as far as that thing could go. Um, and the boys are giving CPR on the back and their compressions for 15 minutes nonstop. Yeah. And that's not that's not easy. Wearing all this shit, body armour, straps, you strapped in. He's running up CPR to some guy this bleep now. Um yeah, it's full on. It's not quite what you see in the movies.

Landing in a hot zone

Pretty scary but again it's the whole adrenalin thing you know, you don't really know what's going on until after you get back in. Like, you know, that ambush I was in with the Marines, you know, you guys realise how close until you actually see? Fuck that was actually pretty close. Um, but I never actually thought about it when I was out there. 

It's only when you get home and the process, everything, it's like, yeah, it wasn't such a good idea, but my view was, well, it, it's good enough for them and I only tell their story then, you know, for me, you know, um, and I accept the long time ago that I could die out there, you know, and once you've accepted that, it doesn't really bother you so much and you just do the job, you know, you do your best to leave. Because at the end of the day, like I keep saying, it's all about guys that you photograph and, you know, it's about letting their parents know back home that, you know, they're doing what they're doing for them.

Staying true to the image

I try as a press photographer, a document for we don't manipulate any pictures, apart from spotting or a bit of colour adjustment. So, it's not like Frank Hurley, who put Ford glass plates together to make one beautiful image. Um, yeah. And is different arguments to that, you know, I mean, human beings didn't get on because of that. 

You know, I've been had one attitude, poorly equipped to tell it all in one story. Therefore, I'm going to make it. It all happened. It's all true. It's just not happening in the same time frame for my camera to capture. I never each flight my picture, whether it be black and white or colour, where I'm taking people out things out as we just don't do it. It's a no no. 

And I always come into the sort of the realms of everyone's thinking and stuff these days as well, which makes it even harder for us, because I guess it comes down to a trust thing as well. You know, like we're not even though we're making images, we're not actually adding to it by bringing other things in that weren't there. 

So, yeah, we, we just don't do it … we adjust like the, the, the contrast or the tone or the exposure that's about as far as we'll go and to spot like if there's, um, dust on your sensor and you can get rid of it, you know, so we'll take that stuff out. Um, and that's just so it's not an eyesore when you see all these little white dots and stuff. So it’s just to make the picture a bit viewer friendly if you want.