Camp Bastion Unseen Images From Afghanistan

Stunning unseen photographs documenting daily life at Camp Bastion, the base used by British troops in Afghanistan. IWM’s photographer was allowed unprecedented access to the base – access which was not given to journalists

Camp Bastion was the main base used by British Forces when they were operating in Helmand Province during the War in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2014. Purpose built in a remote location in the desert, it grew from a few small tents into a huge facility that covered 20 square miles and housed almost 30,000 people. Most British troops spent time at Camp Bastion, which had its own airport, state of the art hospital, water bottling plant, offices, canteens, gyms, stores and workshops. This book will showcase a unique series of photographs of the base taken by IWM photographer Richard Ash, who was part of a team of museum staff who visited Camp Bastion and other parts of Afghanistan between 2012 and 2014. The team were given unprecedented access to the site and were able to meet some of the men and women serving there and to interview them about their experiences. These trips to Afghanistan represented the first time that IWM staff had been in an active war zone since the First World War. The book will open with an introductory essay exploring the role of Camp Bastion and its significance for British forces in Afghanistan. It will then comprise a series of 50 stunning previously unpublished photographs exploring aspects of life at the base. Extracts of interviews with service personnel will also be woven in, offering personal insights in what it was like to live and work in this city in the desert. These records are now all the remains of the this once bustling city, as the base was completely disassembled in 2014 when the British left Helmand.