Wirral electrician saves comrades in Taliban shoot-out

Aug 3 2011 by John Siddle, Birkenhead News

A WIRRAL electrician saved the lives of five comrades in a fierce firefight with the Taliban.

Territorial Army member George Moffitt, 35, rescued four soldiers and a civilian cameraman as they came under attack from Afghan insurgents.

But the dad-of-two from Birkenhead said he didn’t think of himself as a hero.

Recalling his actions, Mr Moffitt, who is attached to the Paras, said: “There was a compound 200metres away with massive rusting metal gates and all of a sudden we saw the women, children and cattle leaving, so we knew something was up straight away.

"The next minute, there was a long burst of fire. It felt like it was for five minutes but it wasn't, it was about 60 seconds. It was constant.

"All five of them [his colleagues] got hit.

"One in the arm, one had a bullet ricochet through both legs, one in his armour, and another straight in and out of the helmet, and the cameraman next to me was hit twice in the leg."

Mr Moffitt could not help the casualties at first because he had to fight back against the Taliban.

He said: "I realised there was a hole in the gates to the compound where it had corroded and they'd obviously just stuck a machine gun there because the bursts were so accurate.

"The rounds were still coming in so I just got up, fired a few rounds and grenades back into the compound which quietened them down.

"There were still pot shots coming, then the Officer Commanding called in some mortars which started annihilating the compound.

"Then we had support from an Apache helicopter which was firing hellfire missiles which neutralised it.”