"In this case it was an F15, an awesomely superb ground attack aeroplane but if you don't want that you have to provide enough troops on the ground... such as you don't need to call on the Americans to pull your chestnuts out of the fire, " he said.

BBC: UK soldiers in Afghanistan

It is the one to whom others in trouble turn, hoping that we will pull their chestnuts out of the fire, and we have been doing that with some frequency.

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