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Soldier fights in 'savage' Afghan siege

1:33pm Thursday 25th September 2008 in


A Crystal Palace soldier has fought in one of the most savage sieges seen in the Afghan conflict so far.

Former Stanley Tech pupil, Lee Derosa, 22, was one of the soldiers serving with the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR), and their second battalion when they were attacked day and night for nine days with everything the Taliban had in their arsenal.

Around 400 insurgents battered the compound at Roshan Tower with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and kalashnikovs yet the troops, nicknamed The Tigers, still managed to kill a quarter of the enemy and suffered only one casualty.

In scenes likened to the famous Rorke’s Drift attack in 1879 when 139 soldiers defeated over 4,000 Zulu warriors, a platoon of 30 soldiers from 2 PWRR serving with its A Company made a heroic stand against some the 400 Taliban insurgents last week.

“The bravery of these few men knows no bounds. The siege of Roshan Tower should go down in history as perhaps the most savage of the Afghan conflict.”

Andy McNab

But brave Corporal Derosa described the attack as one of the best moments of his tour so far. He did however admit that he missed his friends and being able to go out clubbing. SAS trooper,

Andy McNab, famous for his harrowing ordeal in the first Iraq war said: “The bravery of these few men knows no bounds. The siege of Roshan Tower should go down in history as perhaps the most savage of the Afghan conflict.” Commenting on the heroic soldiers. Major General Paul Newton CBE, Colonel of the Regiment said: “Naturally, I was pleased but not surprised to read about the courage, determination and professionalism of our PWRR soldiers in combat in Afghanistan. They need and they appreciate this kind of public support.

"It shows the country, and the communities they come from, are right behind them. We can do with a few more good men not behind them but out there serving in the Regiment alongside them.”

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Comments(13)

cr2 says...
8:10am Fri 26 Sep 08

YEsterday i was involved in a small disturbance at Mayday when i ejected a young smoker who refuse to put out his ciggertte and blocking the entrance even though we give warnings to poeple.PLease if you see us trying to keep order in mayday dont just walk past and think it has nothing to do with you we all have to work together also i was kicked by this thug but it will not deter me from doing the same again please support your fellow man and woman or we may as well hand over everything we fought for.Thank you

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Bob Peel says...
9:17am Fri 26 Sep 08

Well done A Coy 2Bn Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and Cpl Derosa.

Cr2 you are cruising for a bruising. Be sensible and leave it to those who are paid to do the job and who are younger and fitter.


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scoffer says...
10:06am Fri 26 Sep 08

Yes... good luck to 'our boys' out in nasty old ganistan!! shame our MP's don't put their sons in the firing line to get a feel of what 'their' wars are like... and Cr3... listen old timer, you getting wheeled into A&E chucking people out of the hospital is not in your blooming contract mate!! leave it for the security teams in the hospital... even if means waking them up!!

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ANNE GILES says...
9:39pm Fri 26 Sep 08

cr2 - are you a volunteer at Mayday? I go there every 4 weeks for my blood test and Outpatient appointment,but I always go into the Cafe Ritazza for my "espresso" first. Later, I come back and have lunch there. I may have seen you many times. Last time I was there my mobile 'phone was stolen and I nice volunteer took me to security to see if they had it. Was it you???

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cr2 says...
8:47am Sat 27 Sep 08

YEs it could well have been me i deal with many problems in the hospital and we are very busy also some poeple call in sick which is a shame as we are short staffed i find some of the younger poeple call in sick when in fact when i was in paid work i never lost a single day to sickness in 14 years and was presented with a certificate and parker pen its the way we were brought up working through sniffles and colds and keeping fit sometimes walking or running 8 miles to work again we made this country with hard work and lets keep it that way.also harvest festival time is with us nominate a OAP near you please.THank you

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scoffer says...
10:37am Sat 27 Sep 08

Arr...yes the goody-two shoes bloke who never goes sick... in fact, a lot companies calculate their staff wages for the year averaging two weeks per person... I always take my quota... and my workmates too!! rofl!! And a cheesy parker pen ? my oh my, how to please the peasants!! no wonder the bosses managed to trample workers into the ground with dumb views like Cr3's!!

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ANNE GILES says...
6:59pm Sat 27 Sep 08

Well, cr2 - if it was you - then I must thank you. You did well. I don't agree with staff coming in with anything contagious, though, as they only pass it on to their colleagues. I am immunosuppressed because of a bone marrow disease and the cytotoxic drugs I have to take, so I have always asked my students not to come in to lessons if they have anything contagious. They are extremely considerate that way.

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scoffer says...
12:08pm Mon 29 Sep 08

Yawn... how boring has it become on here!! thank goodness i'm off to dumplington soon!!

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ANNE GILES says...
3:44pm Mon 29 Sep 08

Which country is that in??

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scoffer says...
5:30pm Mon 29 Sep 08

Sorry Anne... it's a joke between some of my work colleagues who dive around different websites who will see that message on here and have a laugh!! dumplington is one of our not so good places we are sent to sometimes!! rofl!! Salford area!!

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ANNE GILES says...
5:31pm Mon 29 Sep 08

I still don't know what rofl means!:)

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scoffer says...
8:24pm Mon 29 Sep 08

roll on floor laughing Anne... you'll have to excuse me, I do tend to use it far too often, terrible habit Anne!! - even my emails are covered with them, and i'm constantly being pulled up by my bosses!!

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ANNE GILES says...
9:54pm Mon 29 Sep 08

I shall remember that, rofl!:)

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