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British soldiers then found themselves stuck in a violent conflict with insufficient support and equipment.

We had put forward a plan saying that ... for the limited objectives that we had set ourselves, this was a reasonable force. And I freely admit now, that calculus was wrong, said Sir Peter.

General Lord Richards, the former Chief of the Defence Staff, said that the army traditionally hoped for the best and planned for worst, but in Afghanistan We were actually hoping for the best and planning for the best.

I didnt have the resources I needed, he said. I mean we just werent in the real world.

Commanders said that the problems arose because after the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the British governments focus then moved to Iraq in 2003, with Tony Blair determined to support the American operation there.

When the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated rapidly, the government decided to engage in major operations in both countries at the same time.

In May 2006, the UK took responsibility for security in the southern province of Helmand, which proved far more difficult than anticipated.

General Lord Dannatt, who was the Chief of the General Staff between 2006 and 2009, said that this decision created the perfect storm.

We called it the perfect storm, because we knew that we were heading for two considerable size operations and we really only had the organisation and manpower for one, said Lord Dannatt. As far as an operation like Iraq or Afghanistan was concerned, we could do one of that size indefinitely, and we could do another similar size but for a maximum of 6 months.

Commanders on the ground said that the decision led to resources on the ground being stretched to breaking point.

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Fighting simultaneously in Iraq and Afghanistan created "perfect storm" for British Armed Forces