This ground-breaking new series provides a compelling insight into the making of a Royal Marine Commando through the gruelling training and – for the first time – onto the front line in Afghanistan.
This week in Commando: On The Front Line, 924 Troop go to Normandy to visit the D Day beaches. There they visit the British graveyard and see countless graves of young men as young as they are – or younger. It is a sobering moment for all of them. They lay a wreath and pay their respects to the fallen Commandos of the Second World War.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Second Lieutenant Bertie Kerr, having arrived in Kijaki, prepares to lead a patrol into Taliban territory. Kijaki is the location of a massive dam and the largest reservoir in Afghanistan. The dam is of major strategic importance and the Taliban have been trying to capture it and destroy it for months.
First Bertie has a meeting with his new boss – the uncompromising Major Marty Collins. Collins is planning a Christmas offensive against the Taliban forces hiding in the mountains nearby. He has sent for reinforcements from Fort Bastion and as soon as they arrive he intends to put his ambitious and dangerous plan into operation – it is called Operation Sparrowhawk. Everyone is committed to absolute secrecy.