Chantelle Taylor, 32, said she opened fire on the bearded insurgent after her convoy was ambushed near Marjah in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Although there are growing numbers of female soldiers in the British Army, none are allowed to serve in front line positions involving close combat.
But Miss Taylor was forced to fire on the combatant during the kill-or-be-killed encounter.
She said: "Faced with the choice of him or me, I chose me."
Miss Taylor was serving as a sergeant with the Royal Army Medical Corps when her patrol came under heavy fire during a patrol in July 2008.
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Medic Chantelle Taylor is understood to have become the first female soldier in the British Army to have killed an enemy in combat Photo: MOD |
6:44AM GMT 05 Dec 2011
A woman medic is understood to have become the first female soldier in the British Army to have killed an enemy in combat, after shooting a Taliban fighter dead.
Chantelle Taylor, 32, said she opened fire on the bearded insurgent after her convoy was ambushed near Marjah in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Although there are growing numbers of female soldiers in the British Army, none are allowed to serve in front line positions involving close combat.
But Miss Taylor was forced to fire on the combatant during the kill-or-be-killed encounter.
She said: "Faced with the choice of him or me, I chose me."
Miss Taylor was serving as a sergeant with the Royal Army Medical Corps when her patrol came under heavy fire during a patrol in July 2008.
She said she was "overwhelmed with fear" and experienced a "massive rush of blood to the head" when she spotted the fighter, who was firing an AK47, just 50ft away.
She outlined the attack in her new book Bad Company: A Woman Face To Face With The Taliban, serialised in The Mail on Sunday's Review magazine.
More than 20 fighters attacked the lightly-armoured convoy with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and rifles, turning it into a "Taliban shooting gallery".
She recalled the vehicles being rocked by two explosions, hit by shrapnel and coming under sustained rifle fire.
She wrote: "Our vehicles cannot withstand small arms fire for long so we must react. I pop back up and immediately get eyes on a Taliban fighter – just over 50ft away, half right of me in a field to our left.
"Suddenly, overwhelmed by a fear that I was about to be shot in the face, I experience a massive rush of blood to the head."
Miss Taylor, who was serving with 16 Air Assault Brigade attached to B Company of (5 Scots) The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, said at that moment her training kicked in.
"I take in a mouthful of dust as I remind myself to breathe. Instinctively and purposefully, I engage him, firing seven shots."
Describing her enemy as having a long face with a "straggly black beard", she said: "I am struck by the fearlessness. He knows the odds are that he is about to die, but continues to fire elaborate drug-crazed bursts from his AK47."
When she hit him he fell to the ground.
She added: "The fighter that I engaged has dropped. It would never be right to claim a kill as a medic, but at the end of the day he no longer had the ability to engage us and that’s all that I am concerned about.
"Faced with the choice of him or me, I chose me."
Miss Taylor, who grew up on a Plymouth council estate, has now left the Army to work as a security consultant.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said in a statement: "Women are fundamental to the operational effectiveness of Britain’s Armed Forces, bringing talent and skills across the board.
"Our medical personnel bear arms for personal protection, and for the protection of their patients. Sgt Taylor describes how she helped to ensure her personal protection and that of her team."
He said women were not allowed to serve in circumstances that involved "ground close combat". There are no plans to change the rules.
However, medics sometimes get involved in situations where they must defend themselves as they are often required at the front line.
She outlined the attack in her new book Bad Company: A Woman Face To Face With The Taliban, serialised in The Mail on Sunday's Review magazine.
More than 20 fighters attacked the lightly-armoured convoy with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and rifles, turning it into a "Taliban shooting gallery".
She recalled the vehicles being rocked by two explosions, hit by shrapnel and coming under sustained rifle fire.
She wrote: "Our vehicles cannot withstand small arms fire for long so we must react. I pop back up and immediately get eyes on a Taliban fighter – just over 50ft away, half right of me in a field to our left.
"Suddenly, overwhelmed by a fear that I was about to be shot in the face, I experience a massive rush of blood to the head."
Miss Taylor, who was serving with 16 Air Assault Brigade attached to B Company of (5 Scots) The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, said at that moment her training kicked in.
"I take in a mouthful of dust as I remind myself to breathe. Instinctively and purposefully, I engage him, firing seven shots."
Describing her enemy as having a long face with a "straggly black beard", she said: "I am struck by the fearlessness. He knows the odds are that he is about to die, but continues to fire elaborate drug-crazed bursts from his AK47."
When she hit him he fell to the ground.
She added: "The fighter that I engaged has dropped. It would never be right to claim a kill as a medic, but at the end of the day he no longer had the ability to engage us and that’s all that I am concerned about.
"Faced with the choice of him or me, I chose me."
Miss Taylor, who grew up on a Plymouth council estate, has now left the Army to work as a security consultant.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said in a statement: "Women are fundamental to the operational effectiveness of Britain’s Armed Forces, bringing talent and skills across the board.
"Our medical personnel bear arms for personal protection, and for the protection of their patients. Sgt Taylor describes how she helped to ensure her personal protection and that of her team."
He said women were not allowed to serve in circumstances that involved "ground close combat". There are no plans to change the rules.
However, medics sometimes get involved in situations where they must defend themselves as they are often required at the front line.
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