Claustrophobia in the Desert

As one of our Soldier in Resident program participants, James Fowler, a veteran of Afghanistan who is now based in Townsville, spent some time with The Memorial’s collection of Afghanistan photographs. The following images resonated with James when recalling his own time in Afghanistan.

In James’ words, a peaceful patrol through the “stark beauty” of a wide Afghan dasht (or desert plain) can turn “in an instant” to “claustrophobia – and violence”. James knows from personal experience that when an enemy’s weapon can fire from as far as three kilometres away, you need far more distance to reach safety than most of the rest of us could possibly realise.

James also discussed his respect for the engineers pictured here – those whose job it is to detect and defuse hidden explosives. It is their technical expertise which protects the patrols. James praised the pride that engineers take in their dangerous work, and the effort and selflessness with which they undertake this work. As James viewed the images of engineers, he spoke of their willingness to put themselves on the frontline without protective security. As James points out, if your job is to find and defuse Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), you are at the very front of the front line – quite literally, everyone else is behind you. Except, maybe, for the enemy – who could be in any direction   - waiting, with their long range weapons.

– Stephanie Boyle, Senior Curator, Photographs Film and Sound.