Altar of the Chapel of St Martin, Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2008

Digital photograph by Corporal Ian Houlding, Operation HERRICK, 2 May 2008.

A chapel set up in a tent for use by the Royal Army Chaplains' Department at the Main Operating Base Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2008. Lashkar Gah (LKG) is the provincial capital of the Afghan province of Helmand. With the International Security Assistance Force's deployment to Helmand in 2006, it became the site of a Main Operating Base, and Task Force Helmand's headquarters until 2013. It was handed over to Afghan national forces in 2014.

Chaplains from the Royal Army Chaplains' Department and their counterparts in the other Services provide pastoral care as well as spiritual and moral support when it is required by service personnel. In Afghanistan, Army chaplains worked at military installations, like Camp Bastion and Lashkar Gah, but also accompanied troops on operations outside bases. As well as holding formal services, and attending ceremonies relating to the repatriation of the bodies of the fallen, chaplains would be on hand to minister to informal groups and individuals.