Russians buried ‘suitcase nuclear bombs’ in a bunker next to Suffolk RAF base
in Iraq and Afghanistan, often looking after news crews covering conflicts.
In one terrifying episode, he reveals how in Iraq he miraculously survived two terrorist bombs on his hotel, the Al-Hamra, in Baghdad.
He tells how, badly dazed from the first blast, a sixth sense told him a second blast would follow the 250lb truck bomb. Duncan writes: “I started to make my way towards where I thought my weapons might be . . .
“I considered going outside to see if an assault was in progress.
“I took a step forward, resting a hand on a huge supporting pillar …
“A voice in my head told me to stop and take shelter.
DAZE
“I have no other way of explaining what I did next. I put my hands to my head and rested my forehead against the pillar. I was still in a daze. The pillar was between me and the balcony.”
It was then that Duncan’s instinct proved right, as a second bomb went off, this one much larger at 3,000lbs. He said: “I’ve been close to a few bombs going off.
“But I’d never been so close to such a massive blast. A human body within 100 metres of a 1,000lb bomb was generally considered at risk of serious damage, even if behind cover.
“The sheer power that tore through my room, more than 10 times that of the first blast, should’ve sucked me along with it.
“The science of explosions is fascinating. Although indiscriminately destructive, there can be small areas left completely untouched.
“I remember a picture of a soldier in a First World War trench after a bomb had fallen on him and several comrades. He was virtually unscathed, yet his fellows had all been reduced to piles of minced meat.
“Perhaps something like that had happened to me and I had been in one of those untouched spaces.
“When the shockwave had spent its fury, I was left behind my pillar, unscathed but for a tiny piece of shrapnel that had burnt my groin.
“The threat of assault was still on my mind. I hadn’t entirely escaped the blasts – I would not be myself for weeks. “A concussion perhaps. Regardless, I had to concentrate, pull myself together and get going. “I stepped out from behind the pillar and picked my way over the rubble, pieces of wall and ceiling mixed in with the mashed furniture.
“I quickly dug through it and managed to locate my AK47. And also my pistol and holster…”