The Times
Jerome Starkey in Kabul

Christmas for British troops started before breakfast yesterday as the top UK General in Afghanistan, the Ambassador and the commander of Taskforce Helmand made a whistle-stop tour of almost half a dozen frontline positions.

“We all know everyone back home is having a drink and eating well,” said forces’ spokesman Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield. “But we also know that our friends and family will be raising a glass to us, and that’s what matters.”

General Nick Parker – whose son Harry was seriously wounded in Helmand in July – flew down from Nato’s headquarters in Kabul to serve the soldiers breakfast at a Spartan patrol base in Nad-e Ali district, in central Helmand. (Read more…)