London: Britain's Prince Harry recounted for the first time the "horrendous" images he saw during the US-led coalition war in Afghanistan, a media report said on Sunday.
Writing for "The Sunday Times", the 29-year-old Prince Harry shared how unprepared he was for the reality of war after witnessing young men "wrapped in plastic and missing limbs" as well as children dying from roadside bombs, The Independent reported.
The fourth in line to the British throne served in Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2007-2008 and then again briefly in 2012-13 with the Army Air Corps.
Harry, who is a Captain in the Army, said he was horrified on his return to Britain in February 2008 from the battlefield in Afghanistan.
"Loss of life is as tragic and devastating as it gets, but to see young lads -- much younger than me -- wrapped in plastic and missing limbs, with hundreds of tubes coming out of them, was something I never prepared myself for. For me, this is where it all started," the prince said.
In his second tour of Afghanistan, Harry served as an Apache helicopter pilot often flying injured personnel and civilians to Camp Bastion military base hospital.
"I saw some horrendous things: the tragic injuries and deaths of local people from roadside bombs, some of whom were children and coalition forces lying on the battlefield," the Royal said.
Harry, who has now taken an office-based managerial Army role, said it was hard to fathom how anyone could get over the loss of body parts or witness the death of a friend.
