British Army photography by Andy Barnham

British Army

Andy served in the British Army from 2002- 2009. He entered the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in January of 2002 and ‘Passed Out’ in December in the Sovereign’s Platoon, the top platoon of his intake. He commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery the regiment of his Great Grandfather, Osmund Townley Frith, who served in both World War 1 and World War 2 and retired with the rank of Major-General.

Andy completed four operational tours during his military career, his first tour coming eight working days out of training when he deployed to Iraq as part of Operation TELIC 2 in the summer of 2003, the first peace keeping mission after Gulf War 2. He deployed to Cyprus as a UN peacekeeping a year later as part of Operation TOSCA following which he attended the Defence School of Languages (DSL) Beaconsfield in 2005 learning Farsi, deploying in the summer of 2006 to Afghanistan as part of Operation HERRICK 4. He returned to Afghanistan in the summer of 2008 as part of an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT). Andy left the British Army in 2009.

Black and white image of Afghan National Army soldier with a rifle and underslung grenade launcher standing next to young boy while in the background a young girl in a compound looks on

Aircrew sitting and looking out the back of the tail or a helicopter as it flies over the desert

British Army vehicle during a vehicle patrol stops on an incline outside a village

Young boy holding promotional leaflet look gin at soldier talk to a street stall owner in front of him with three young girls in the background

Young girl in green burqa carrying a sack over her shoulder walking down a busy city road

British Army vehicle patrol crossing a stream during a rural patrol

Farmer standing in the middle of a poppy field with mud structures behind him

British Army vehicle convoy driving down village road with stalls on both sides

Tribal elders sit in mud hut surrounded by kids as a woman in a burqa walks past

Military medic with surgical gloves and forearm tattoo showing stands in front of injured topless male patient with head bandaged blowing his nose

Black and white image of two rows of boys in white judo outfits stand opposite each other in a school playground

Black and white image of medics securing a stretcher with patient to the floor of a military cargo plane while nearby a person in a seat has his head in his hands

Black and white image of adult fanning an elderly man lying in hospital bed with a drip attached

Landscape of small poor rural village surrounded by mixed green and scorched earth in the summer

Landscape of small poor rural village surrounded by scorched earth in the summer

Helicopter door gunner looks at the landing pad with airman n background waiting to give approval for take off

Black and white image of three woman in burqas walking down a busy street with bus in the background

Operation HERRICK Landscape of young boy sitting on low stone bridge with green fields and mountains in the background

Black and white image of young girls in burqas leaving a city school

Black and white image of soldier standing next to a Humvee with top cover on a dirt track running along the middle of a valley with hills and behind

Black and white image of soldiers standing around a Humvee on a dirt track running along the middle of a valley with hills above and behind

Lanscape image of city surrounded by fields and flanked by mountains

Black and white image of rear door gunner looking out the back of the tail or a helicopter as it flies over fields

Fall of Kabul Black and white landscape image of airstrip at dawn

Spanish soldier on guard looking out over a valley

Judo Girls, two young girls lying on a mat practising judo

Black and white image of four children sitting by the edge of a field in Helmand, Afghanistan

British Army soldier conducting top cover on a vehicle, at dusk in the desert

British Army soldiers refill their canteens during a break while on exercise in the Belize jungles

British Army soldiers marching, on a trail, in the midday heat through the jungle

Rear end of an aircraft fuselage of a commercial plane on an airfield with a man standing underneath, in the shade, to escape from the sun

Young male in traditional Afghan dress stands by the side of an empty swimming pool with diving boards behind him

Boy standing in front of a dust covered tent full of women and children

Afghan National Army soldier, with rocket heads in his backpack, having a cigarette break

Black and white action image of trio of British soldiers silhouetted on a hilltop, one of whom is sending radio commands

A helicopter in the air and shadow on there perched ground below with a dust storm in the background

Soldier shielding himself from dust kicked up from a helicopter taking off, with Humvee in the background

Door gunner looking out the side of a helicopter at rocky escarpment below

Grand archway in the middle of a desert with man sitting in the shade next to his bicycle

Five construction workers sit on their haunches during a break on a building site

Side angle of front end of CH-47 Chinook with rotor blades rotating and minigun protruding out of the side

British Army vehicle patrol in Helmand Province with dismounted soldier running in front of the Land Rover

Low angle portrait looking up at British Army soldier with helmet and scarf covering his mouth with his hand on a machine gun

Portrait of two Afghan National Army solders standing between a stream and a mud wall

Woman in blue burqa holding a baby leading her blind husband through traffic

Two soldiers firing an artillery howitzer with empty shell just ejected in the desert

Importance of weapon safety and parallels with photography

Group of Afghan National Army soldiers sitting and standing next to a wall

Four young girls wearing different colour outfits, three barefoot, standing on a dirt street corner