Flight Sergeant Will Barrow was crouched low, his heart pounding, in the belly of a Viking armoured vehicle under intense Taliban gunfire, when a clear and sudden understanding of his own mortality came to him.
But he had one immediate comfort: “I knew that if I died tonight, I would not be alone, because my best pal would be watching over me.”
It was at moments like this, as the bullets flew, that Flt Sgt Barrow realised the true value of Buster, the trusty springer spaniel whose job was to protect the troops fighting the bloody war in Afghanistan.
Buster is no ordinary animal but a highly trained arms and explosives detection dog with five military campaign medals to his name, who has saved a thousand lives in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
And to Flt Sgt Barrow, his handler, he was also a best friend during times of terror.
RAF Police Flight Sergeant Barrow, a career security forces man, is no softie. Almost 6ft tall, with rugged features and the steely core of a military professional, he has also served in Bosnia, Iraq, the Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland.
But as Buster saved him and his colleagues time and again from deadly explosives, an enduring bond developed between the pair.
Their friendship dates back to their Afghanistan tour. It was 2007 and Buster had been deployed with Flt Sgt Barrow to serve in the desert and poppy fields of Helmand and the slums of Lashkar Gah.
It was a treacherous point in the war, when roadside bombs – improvised explosive devices, or IEDS – and suicide missions were commonplace and the body count of British soldiers was rapidly climbing.
Conditions in the troops’ desert camp were basic: food consisted of boil-in-the-bag ration packs, the “mozzipods” they slept in were cramped, and sand permeated everything.
But for Flt Sgt Barrow, 48, at least there was Buster.
In the book he has written as a tribute to their partnership, he recalls the dog’s greatest triumph: a house raid in which he tracked down suicide vests primed for detonation. Two bomb-makers and two teenage would-be bombers were arrested as a result.
But Buster’s ability to track Taliban insurgents and sniff out bombs were just one aspect of his armoury.
Flt Sgt Barrow recounts how Buster became a diplomatic tool, too: “As we searched and chatted to the locals, we soon had a long train of children in tow – like a canine Pied Piper, Buster drew in his crowd and entertained them,” he writes. “Anyone looking on would have wondered how on earth a spaniel from the UK could do so much for the 'hearts and minds’ operation.”
He was, moreover, a model of calmness in terrifying situations, taking his handler’s mind off the immediate risks to himself.
“My main concern was always the little fella, because if he had been injured, my role was non-existent,” he says. “As much as I relied on him not to walk us into IEDs, he needed me to feed and water him.”
He was also an invaluable comfort, emotionally, to both his handler and his comrades.
Flt Sgt Barrow writes of one evening after coming under insurgent fire: “I was missing home and [my wife] Tracy but when he settled on my chest, I curled my arms around him. I needed to talk about the bad day at work, and this time Buster was the one listening.”
At times, Flt Sgt Barrow’s tale reads almost like a love story: the separations – when the serviceman flies home on leave and the springer spaniel is quarantined – are poignant, with the spaniel gazing forlornly after his handler as the latter walks away.
Their joint tour of duty in Afghanistan over in 2008, Buster went on to do four more months in Iraq in 2009. Then Buster found a home with Sgt Barrow in Lincoln.
He retired in 2011, aged seven, and a stream of honours followed. He was made the RAF Police’s lifetime mascot – unprecedented for any dog – and he has received more requests for television appearances than many human war heroes.
Flt Sgt Barrow, meanwhile, went on to become head of police at RAF Henlow. Looking back at his tours with Buster, he is phlegmatic about the life-or-death situations he faced.
“I don’t think we see it the same way as civilians do,” he says. “We deal with it, and just get on with things.”
Nor does he talk much about the horrors of war. “You don’t want to dwell on those sorts of things. It could tip you over the edge a bit.”
But whatever hardships life throws at him, Buster remains by his side.
“We made a pact from the start to look after each other, and Buster has stayed true to our bargain,” he writes. “He saved my life every day we were together. I owe him so much that I can never repay the debt, even if we lived for ever.”
'Buster: The Dog Who Saved a Thousand Lives’ by RAF Police Sergeant Will Barrow and Isabel George, is published by Virgin Books at £9.99. To order a copy, call 0844 871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk
