"37 Aussies vs 200 Taliban": The Forgotten 19-Hour Battle Of Uruzgan

Join this channel to get access to perks:    / @australiashiddenwar   At 4 AM on 2 September 2008, a convoy of five Humvees rolled into the Ana Kalay valley in Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province. Inside were Australian SAS operators, US Special Forces, Afghan soldiers, and one explosive detection dog named Sarbi. This is the documented story of the Battle of Khaz Oruzgan — the day 37 Coalition soldiers were ambushed by up to 200 enemy fighters and fought their way back alive. ──────────────────────────── 📍 WHAT HAPPENED ON 2 SEPTEMBER 2008 From Forward Operating Base Anaconda, a combined Australian-American patrol had been working to disrupt enemy movement in the Khaz Oruzgan district. The plan for September 2nd was an ambush mission near the village of Ana Kalay. Two SASR patrols moved into the northern ridges on foot in darkness. At 4 AM, five Humvees crewed by US Special Forces from the 7th SFG, Afghan Special Forces, two more SASR patrols, two Australian engineers, and Sarbi the EDD, drove east into the valley. The 37-man patrol was about to walk into a trap. ──────────────────────────── ⚔️ THE AMBUSH The enemy had prepared the ground. As the convoy moved deep into the valley, fire opened up from elevated positions on multiple ridges simultaneously — heavy machine guns, sustained small arms, and rocket- propelled grenades. Enemy strength was estimated at 100 to 200 fighters, dug into compounds, terraced fields, and rocky outcrops. It was a textbook "rolling ambush" — the enemy followed the convoy as it tried to break contact. The Coalition force had to fight and move at the same time, extracting roughly 4 kilometres under continuous fire. Within minutes, several soldiers were down. An American medic was lost in the engagement. Nine Australians were wounded. Vehicles were damaged. The convoy's escape became a slow, fighting withdrawal. ──────────────────────────── 🎖️ SERGEANT TROY SIMMONDS — SASR PATROL COMMANDER According to the Australian War Memorial, Simmonds was hit early — wounded in the calf by a ricocheting bullet, then blown off his feet by an RPG and peppered with shrapnel. While firing back at enemy fighters on the ridge line, his rifle was struck by an incoming round near the ejection port. The impact smashed the weapon into his face. He kept fighting. As the convoy moved out, Simmonds crawled under a vehicle and held on — he was dragged 25 metres before being dislodged, then followed on foot under fire until another vehicle stopped for him. ──────────────────────────── 🎖️ TROOPER MARK DONALDSON — VICTORIA CROSS The youngest hero of the day was 29-year-old Trooper Mark Donaldson. What he did during the ambush would earn him the Victoria Cross for Australia — the first awarded since Vietnam in 1969. The citation reads in part: "Of his own volition and displaying complete disregard for his own safety, Trooper Donaldson moved alone, on foot, across approximately 80 metres of exposed ground to recover the wounded interpreter." Earlier, Donaldson had repeatedly drawn enemy fire onto himself to give wounded soldiers time to reach cover. As the convoy fought through the rolling ambush — every vehicle full of casualties, the uninjured running alongside under fire — a severely wounded interpreter was inadvertently left behind in the kill zone. Donaldson turned around. He ran back through open ground under sustained fire, covered 80 metres in a single exposed sprint, picked up the interpreter, and carried him to the vehicles. He was 29. ──────────────────────────── 📊 THE FACTS 📅 Date: 2 September 2008 📍 Location: Ana Kalay valley, Uruzgan Province 🎖️ Coalition: 37 personnel ⚔️ Enemy: 100–200 fighters ⏱️ Duration: approximately 6 hours 🏅 First Australian Victoria Cross since 1969 ──────────────────────────── 📚 OFFICIAL SOURCES ▪️ Battle of Khaz Oruzgan — Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_... ▪️ Mark Donaldson VC Citation — Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C12... ▪️ Sergeant Troy Simmonds — AWM Collection https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C26... ▪️ Sarbi the EDD — Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/learn/memorial... ▪️ Mark Donaldson VC — DVA / Open Arms https://www.openarms.gov.au/home/resp... ▪️ Battle of Khaz Oruzgan 2008 — Anzac Portal (DVA) https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/milita... ▪️ Australian SAS Association https://www.sasassociation.org.au