CAMP Bastion is the biggest British military camp since the Second World War. We discover how a massive stretch of desert in the north of Lashkar Gah has become the hub for military operations in the Helmand province.

IT started as nothing more than a desert strip created by compressing sand on a flat, high altitude area.

Now it is a 35-square kilometre base that is growing daily.

Back in 2006, after the desert had been checked for mines, a Hercules flew into the area, rolled on its back wheels with its nose in the air while a troop of vehicles drove off the moving plane.

Within hours Camp Bastion airstrip was born and four years on, it now ranks as the UK’s fourth busiest airport.

Around 500 aircraft from helicopters to giant Hercules to C17 transport planes fly to and from the base every day.

The massive infrastructure now houses 60 units - around 4,500 troops – from the Army, Navy, and RAF..

UK forces have expanded so much that Camp Bastion has been divided into four areas, Bastion Zero, Bastion One, Bastion Two, and Bastion Three.

There are also designated areas for the Americans, Afghan nationals who work and live in the site, and the 22,000 military staff stationed there.

Camp Bastion has doubled its size in the last year following the arrival of an additional 12,000 US troops who run their own camp called Leatherneck.

Bastion's commander Colonel Mark Dunn said: “The camp has blossomed in line with the threat.”

There's a NAAFI, a mini-supermarket, non alcoholic bars, a Pizza Hut, barbers, local Afghanistan markets, a post office, a fire station and volleyball courts.

Camp personal also get reguular entertainment including a monthly comedy night which has seen top comedians such as Ross Noble perform.

But Bastion exists for a very important reason. The rows of rows of tents provide a hub for all operations in Helmand province.

Aims include flushing out the Taliban and clamping down on poppy cultivation which feeds the drugs trade.

The force in Camp Bastion is part of a programme to develop a corruption-free police force and army in Afghanistan, as well as helping build key infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.

The ultimate aim is to give the power back top the Afghans.

In the heat of the desert. the superb air conditioning provides some respite.

A patrolled perimeter fence keeps the enemy out and the troops protected so attacks on the base are rare but inevitable. The area is surrounded by mountains where the Taliban are known to live.

Colonel Dunn revealed there had been a couple of failed attacks on camp when the Taliban launched rockets at the site and also used a truck to ram the perimeter in a suicide bomb attack with a truck ram raid.

Last year 13 improvised explosive devices were found in the area.

Colonel Dunn said: “The Taliban have checked us out. It's a desert so they can't creep up on us and within 30 seconds we can get an Apache helicopter on to them.

“We tell soldiers continually to assume nothing and be suspicious of everything. If we compromise it our life will change forever.”

* Click on the link below for more stories by Nafeesa Shan in Afghanistan.