GALLERY: RAF Chinooks in Afghanistan

Soldiers exit an RAF Chinook helicopter from 1310 Flight, Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) on operations in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Soldiers exit an RAF Chinook helicopter from 1310 Flight, Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) on operations in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Soldiers aboard an RAF Chinook helicopter from 1310 Flight, Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) on operations in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Two Chinooks on the rotary wing flight-line at Bastion Joint Operating Base [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Master Air Crewman Pete Galvin looks out over the tail ramp of a Chinook [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

A Chinook flies low across the Red Desert in Kandahar Province heading for Bastion Joint Operating Base [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Sergeant Russ Jenkins looks out the back of a Chinook while sitting on the tail ramp [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Sergeant Tony Sutherland looks out of the side door of a Chinook [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Two Chinooks fly low across the Red Desert in Kandahar Province heading for Bastion Joint Operating Base [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

A Chinook prepares for its final approach to the Task Force Helmand Brigade Headquarters helicopter landing site at Lashkar Gah [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Flight Lieutenants Rich Elford (left) and Tom Allen pilot their Chinook into the helicopter landing site at Task Force Helmand Brigade Headquarters, Lashkar Gah [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

A Chinook flies low over compounds in the fertile Green Zone of the Helmand river valley [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

At the end of an operation, soldiers board a Chinook helicopter in the desert, early in the morning [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

RAF Chinook helicopters from 1310 Flight, Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) on operations in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

A Chinook silhouetted against the evening sky over Helmand Province [Picture: Cpl Rupert Frere Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]