WE left the safety of Bastion behind and headed for Kandahar.

It was reasonably safe last time we did the trip, despite the Taliban launching rockets into Kandahar Airfield on a regular basis, both day and night.

The airfield is not too far from the mountains which the Taliban use to mount their attacks.

But everyone knows the drill, drop to the floor, lie face down on the floor when the alarm goes off and stay there until the all clear is given over the tannoy.

I was half way through my sponge and chocolate sauce and having a conversation when we heard the alarm. We all looked at each other in a panic and within a second we were face down on the floor.

Of course I was concerned, worrried about where the rocket could land and so were the others who hadn’t experienced a rocket attack before.

But after I got over the initial shock I had a look round and people were chatting, having a laugh and others, mainly the non British, were still sat in their seats as though nothing had happened.

Within five minutes bums were back on seats and I was finishing my cold sponge with chocolate sauce.

And that was our last supper before we continued on what turned out to be a three-day trip back to the UK.