The brilliant photo-montage, pictured right, which looks like a still from some sort of Armageddon-esque sci-fi movie, is on pages 6 and 7 of the August issue of Defence Focus.
As an aircraft goes up in flames, casualties are carried away while others reassure and extract an injured man from a minefield.
This is standard training, held at RAF Lyneham, for any member of the RAF Medical Services, before they go to Afghanistan.
“The two-week course culminates in an exercise, in which students apply skills, such as triaging casualties and mine awareness, supported by realistic casualties and, in this case, a burning aircraft,” says Squadron Leader Nina Rose, who is in charge of training medical personnel at Lyneham. “It’s realistic practice before they deploy to Afghanistan.”
The stars of these dramatic pictures are the men and women of 4626 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, which is made up of doctors, nurses, paramedics and medics who give up their spare time to learn to treat and transport casualties in the air. This could be in Afghanistan, or if injuries necessitate, involves bringing them back to the UK.
Former RAF man Paul Crouch is the photographer who captured the images shown here.
“It’s actually a montage of three pictures,” he says, revealing his clever computer skills.
“All the activities were happening but not at the same time. The flames on the engine are from one picture, and the chap holding his leg which has supposedly just been blown off by a mine, is from another.
"And, the female medic shouting at the camera, was looking the wrong way in the original image, so I cut out her head and shoulders from another picture and added them in.”
At any given time at least half a dozen of 4626 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron leave their families and civilian jobs for four to six months at a time, to deploy on operations in Afghanistan.
Some are already approaching their third such tour in just five years.
And, they are equally as busy in between tours...
On Thursday 5th August 12 members of the squadron, who are all RAF reservists, will begin the daunting task of Marching the Ridgeway – an 87.5 mile hike along Britain’s oldest road in the hope of raising at least £10,000 for Help for Heroes and Troop Aid.
They are aiming to march from Ivinghoe Beacon in Bedfordshire to Overton Hill in Wiltshire in just over two days, finishing at RAF Lyneham, marching into the arena at the Station Families Day at 3.45pm on Saturday 7th August.
If you would like to support this event by making a donation for either charity please click HERE to donate to Troop Aid or HERE to donate to Help for Heroes. For more information please contact Colin Mathieson at colin.mathieson@justgoodcars.com or by phone on 07500 174503.
