The call came at 4am. Even before he answered, Bob Ainsworth knew he was about to receive more bad news from the front-line in Helmand.
The defence secretary's worst fears were confirmed when the voice on the end of the line said: "Secretary of State, I have some bad news. Earlier today we lost six men in an attack in Helmand."
Those deaths and the loss of another two soldiers in Southern Afghanistan brought the number of troops killed in southern Afghanistan to 184, four more than those who died in Iraq.
It has been a tough time for Mr Ainsworth, who until a month ago was a junior member of the cabinet and, outside his constituency, just another relatively unknown Labour MP.
Since the 1st of July he has been told on several occasions that yet another British soldier has fallen while fighting in, what much of the public now believes to be an intractable war with no end in sight.
But despite the recent "terrible" losses, Mr Ainsworth, remains convinced that the war in Afghanistan can be won.
In his first interview with a national newspaper since taking up his post, the defence secretary said that he found the recent deaths very hard to take but added that it was important for the public and the government to show resolve during what was clearly a "testing time for the country".
He said: "My first thoughts were for the families of the dead. It's pretty grim stuff and its horribly hard to take but it's not my son, husband or father who has been killed.
"If those who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan questioned whether or not the mission was worth the cost, then I would find that difficult but that isn't the way the armed forces think.
"They don't think they are being defeated in Afghanistan – quite the reverse. When they lose a mate they find it very hard but straight away they are back into the job.
"What can you do other than back them up and if the public failed to do [so] that would be disgraceful."
Mr Ainsworth also revealed that he knew Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, who was killed last week when his Viking armoured vehicle was destroyed by an improvised explosive device.
"Rupert was the military assistant to the last secretary of state and I remember him as this big smiley fellow who was the life and soul of this office. His death was a tragedy."
Speaking from his office in Whitehall, the defence secretary said he acknowledged that "a mood of gloom" now existed within the UK but added that he was convinced the war in Afghanistan was winnable.
"People are dying and it would be pretty strange if difficult questions weren't being asked," he said.
"But there is a mood contrast between what's happening in Afghanistan where morale is high – I was there last week and saw this – and what is happening in the UK.
"This is a war we can win. We can make Afghanistan a better place for the Afghans and a safer place for us and thereby make the region a darn site more stable than it is and has been for a long period of time.
"I believe we can do that but I don't think we can do that in a short period of time. But courage is not enough, we have got to have patience and resolve. Remember we are there to protect our national security."
So if the mission in Afghanistan is vital to the security of the British state then why is it not properly resourced? Why have commanders been told that they will not be getting more troops and why is there still a shortage of helicopters?
Mr Ainsworth insists that the government is supporting its troops in the field but is clearly wary of criticising the Treasury which has so far refused to fund the extra troop reinforcements called for by defence chiefs. "We have 9,000 there now."
But 700 of those will return after the elections.
Mr Ainsworth continues: "Well we have 9,000 for the period of the elections. Whether we come down from 9,000 after the election will be looked at."
But why should the chiefs not be given what they want? If the mission is so critically important to the security of the UK why not send more troops?
"We are making a huge contribution," Mr Ainsworth responds. "We have 9,000 troops in southern Afghanistan. I want this to be sustainable in terms of equipment and sustainable in terms of people.
"I want us to make the contribution we are able to make but also recognise as well that we are part of a coalition. There are huge increases of troops in Helmand.
"The Americans have just put a brigade in to the province. But the very notion that the Americans are coming in to bale us out is disgusting."
Billions have been spent on equipment but nothing on aircraft so why not go and buy some Chinooks from the Americans or lease them?
"You don't just go and buy some Chinooks and that gives you an extra number of flying hours.
"You have to have a training methodology, you have to have crews, you have to keep them flying. Its flying hours that matter and helicopter availability that matters not the number of frames that you might have."
When he is asked about the eight Chinooks which have been sitting in Boscombe Down gathering dust since 2001; helicopters which were bought for use by special forces but were unable to fly at night because of software problems, Mr Ainsworth shifts in his seat, looking uncomfortable.
"You're right we have got those eight and we are working on them and I am not saying that that is something anyone can be proud of. It started under a Tory government and continued under our government. But those eight will go into theatre."
Again I interject and tell the minister that while he says that the aircraft will be used in Afghanistan, the head of the RAF recently said that they would only be used for training.
"Well some of those will be used for training," Mr Ainsworth replies. "We cannot have a Chinook fleet out there and not have a training fleet back here.
"We have got to configure the fleet so that we can do the business in the correct way but those eight will be available to the fleet next year and as many of them as is sensible to put at the front line will be put at the front line."
Is that why no more were bought "No, no – look I know what Liam Fox (the shadow defence secretary) is saying."
But it's not just him, there is a head of steam building up over the issue of helicopters.
Looking increasingly frustrated, Mr Ainsworth adds: "There are people who are demanding more helicopters and who can blame them?
"They want more of anything they can get there hands on but we have had a 60 per cent up lift in helicopter frames in theatre in the last two years.
"We will have the Merlin (Royal Navy helicopter), we will have the upgraded Lynx (army Air Corps helicopter) and we will have the upgrade on the Chinook, which means it will be able to carry an extra 12 people. So all around, we are stepping up the helicopter availability and capability. You cannot just go and buy a Chinook."
Mr Ainsworth also warned of dire consequences for Afghanistan and the rest of the world if Nato was to fail in its mission.
He continued: "If we fail, the consequences are enormous. The Afghan government will fail and the Taliban in all probability will replace them and they will not be any different from the one that existed in 2001.
"There is a chance that they might have learnt their lessons and won't do business with international Jihadists but I doubt it very much. So it will become an epicentre of terror.
"And the message which will go out to the rest of the world is that Nato does not have the will to take on difficult tasks.
"I would be hugely worried if I thought it would fail, but I genuinely think we can do this. We are at a position where we are losing soldiers and quite rightly that doubt over the mission has arisen but I believe we can succeed.
"This is a far away land which a lot of Army's have marched over in history and which hasn't lead to huge improvements in the country and so people are bound to say that this is an enormously difficult task.
"But look at what we are achieving in the current operation. We are attacking the heartland area of a very ingrained insurgency and we are making progress.
"We have lost people, they have been terrible losses but we have killed an awful lot of enemy as well. We've killed them because they are standing and fighting because that area is of vital importance to them."
The defence secretary also said that both Nato and the Afghan government should be prepared to talk and listen to members of the Taliban who were prepared to lay down their weapons.
He added: "We can deal with the Taliban – not all of them are hardened international terrorists. There are lots of people fighting there with different motives and if we have any sense at all we should be trying to peal them off.
"We ought to try and do that through the Afghan government and when I met President Karzai he told me that reconciliation would be part of his presidential platform. So for all the right reasons, we ought to be trying to split the insurgency.
"There are some people though who are utterly irreconcilable to our way of life and our very existence and if they think we have not got the resolve to see this through at the political level then why on Earth would they reconcile."
He defined the "end state" as the moment when Nato could claim success.
"The end state will be a government that is acceptable to the people, with growing influence on the people and with an ability to provide security. And that would equal success and would be the time for us to leave."
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