ROSS V TALIBAN

ROSS V TALIBAN

EXCLUSIVE EastEnders tough-guy joins British troops in war-torn Afghanistan Kemp admits: 'I fear for my life' as TV chiefs insure him for £1million

 

TV HARDMAN Ross Kemp has joined British troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The former EastEnders star is spending four weeks on operations with the infantry in the lawless Helmand Province to film a documentary aimed at boosting recruitment figures.

Kemp, whose dad was in the Army, has already undergone a gruelling training programme and has learned how to fire a weapon.

He headed off with the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and a small film crew early last week after picking up a BAFTA award for his latest TV series, Ross Kemp On Gangs.

The 42-year-old actor, who played tough guy Grant Mitchell in the BBC1 soap, has been overheard telling friends he was scared of being shot and has been insured by programme-makers Tiger Aspect for £1million.

One pal said: "He told us it had been really difficult to get insurance because they're going to the frontline and the bosses at Tiger were very worried about something happening out there.

"For the four weeks they're going to be at great risk and Ross said he and the crew were very nervous. He made a point of saying goodbye to everyone he could. He also joked there was one bit of him they weren't able to insure - his private parts. But he wouldn't say why."

Kemp and his team of two cameramen, a sound man and producer have been training with the regiment - nicknamed the Vikings - since the start of the year. They took part in military exercises on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire wearing heavy backpacks, firing live ammunition and learning to fend for themselves.

The crew is being given unprecedented access by the Royal Anglian Regiment in the hope the programme can help the Army boost recruitment, with 2,500 posts unfilled and numbers at their lowest since the Napoleonic Wars.

After playing an SAS sergeant in TV drama Ultimate Force - and with his father formerly in The Royal Norfolk Regiment - Kemp was keen to investigate life in the Army today.

The documentary aims to show how 21st Century soldiers fight the Taliban, survive in extreme conditions and try to win the hearts and minds of locals.

An insider said: "The MoD are bending over backwards to help. They really hope the programme will present the Army in a good light and attract more recruits.

"A lot of filming's been done already and the MoD gets a big say on what stays in the final cut.

"The trouble is, one scene he's insisting has to stay shows some of the lads having to use their own money to buy kit on eBay. It's not great PR but the top brass hope it will be overshadowed by some Boys' Own stuff from the front."

Last year 14,000 recruits left the Army and only 12,000 joined, despite the recruitment age limit being raised from 26 to 33.

The Army has also had to recruit from abroad, with one in 10 British soldiers now a foreign national.

The four-part series, called Ross Kemp On Afghanistan, will be shown in the autumn. (Author's note) watch out for this at the end of Nov possibly on Sky (if you know the time and channel pls post a comment.)

Grenadier Guard Thanks Observer Readers

Lee Hastings now back from Afghanistan

Thanks for the letters, parcels and support.

That's the message from 24 year old Lee Hastings of the Grenadier Guards on returning home after months fighting in Afghanistan.

While he was out there, attached to The Anglians Regiment based in Helmand Province, he appealed through the Observer for readers to write to him and his comrades.

His mother Angela, of Salisbury Road, this week called to say: "He wants to say thank you to everybody that supported him by sending out parcels and letters which he and all his friends appreciated."
Lee is now back in Aldershott after spending seven months in Afghanistan.

"He is obviously glad to be home, glad to be back, but he misses his friends in The Anglians, and is just happy to have done some good out there."

Angela added: "It is a relief...you almost feel guilty that you want them back, but you are no longer listening to the radio or watching the television all the time and getting so anxious. But obviously bad things are happening - I don't think people realise because you only hear about the people that die, you don't hear about the people who are injured over there."

She is hoping to see Lee in a Sky One film about Ross Kemp in Afghanistan with The Anglians, expected to be broadcast at the end of November.