The Last Combat Mission

In 2009 I was sent to Iraq to cover the last combat missions of British Forces during the war. I'd travelled to Iraq many times but this was different, the war for the British was coming to an end and we were pulling out. Tension is always high in Iraq but with the end so close it was far worse.

This image is of the final combat operation, taken from a helicopter on 30th April 2009. Flying high over Basra for the last time, the rear gunner looks on as counter measures fire to distract any incoming missiles. With the setting sun lighting the landscape below, this was it, their war was over.