The Combat Camera Teams  latest task has been to visit patrol base Wahid, in the green zone of Helmand province to record the contribution to the campaign by the Estonian force.

Smoking is common pass time amongst all soldiers

Two Estonian soldiers ease the burden off their weary feet

I have to admit my naivety about Estonia, other than their geographical location and the fact that they were part of the Soviet Union, I knew little else.

The final cigarette before leaving the safety of their compound

Where is Estonia?  Well it is situated to the east of the Baltic Sea nestled between Finland to the North, Latvia to the south and a small country called Russia to the East.  One of three small independent nations huddled together that used to be part of the old Soviet Union Estonia,Latvia and Lithuania, were important players in the breaking up of the Soviet Union.  Consisting of about only 1.3 million people, it is one of the least populated countries in Europe.

Under threat, a keen lookout

The country contributes about 160 soldiers for a rolling six month deployment on a par with the British troops however considering their population; they are actually one of the largest contributors to the operation (per capita).  They work as part of the multi-national task force within the British are of operations.

Culturally closer to Scandinavia than Russia, they are a friendly bunch and have a mental toughness that is obvious.  Most of its soldiers are physical giants.

Mental preparation before leaving the safety of base

Being a smaller nation they do at times seem to be a little less equipped than the other nations, their vehicles look like cold war throwbacks, but here is the thing, it all works and works well.  They are an example of the emphasis on manpower over technology.  That said they are still sufficiently equipped for this theatre. They have suffered losses and like all the nations involved are constantly adapting their tactics to suit the enemy threat.

Photograph donated by photojournalist Martin Middlebrook of Op massive in progress

Life in any Patrol Base can at times be slow and efforts need to be made to help pass the time.  This can be using the gym (in military terms, known as Op Massive), watch DVD’s, read or pretty much find anything you can to pass the time.  The Estonian platoon in Patrol Base ‘Brekna’ had another, I had not seen before.  For nearly three hours, these battle hardened soldiers dragged out their laptops, sat around the communal dining table, wirelessly linked up and in teams and preceded to kill each other over and over and over again……….tirelessly.

The band of brothers, games style

Illumination from the screen

Focus and concentration

The apple portrait

The focus and concentration was astounding but good natured.  These guys just didn’t move more than their fingertips for ages.  It made for some interesting images.

Stunning natural light in the pitch of night

As the light departed and faded to black (a little video pun), the opportunity was too good to miss in an attempt for another long exposure star trail shot, this time getting the North star too for a bit of visual interest.  It was a shame that the moon was so prominent so although it gave some awesome light for the compound, it did mean there was a lot of light pollution in the sky.

The home from home in a patrol base

Refusal to accept its time to get up

So what about the Sauna?

As we all sat around in the evening waiting for their two chefs to rustle up a fine meal, we began to talk about the welfare facilities these guys had and the subject of saunas were raised.  It turns out that they have a mobile sauna on the Patrol base ‘Wahid’………….. No really an actual sauna.

Suspiciously we enquired more to discover that in Estonian military law, every soldier must sauna at least once a week, so that although this was not possible on ‘Brekna’, an ops sauna on ‘Wahid’ was a sight to behold.

“And so it came to pass that on the last night, hosted by the Estonians, the Combat Camera Team were all sat (naked) in a fully functioning Sauna on the front line of the Helmand campaign”.  A surreal experience you can be sure, but all I can say to end this entry is to say, be thankful there are no photos!

Estonian top gunner taking a moment inside the Armoured Personnel Carrier

A final wave on the journey back to Bastion

Until next time.