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After successfully negotiating their way through a number of tree lines, the troops stepped into a crop field where the local farmer came out and guided them on a path he knew to be safe from IEDs.
Once beyond the farmer's field, the patrol moved through a neighbouring field of wheat with Marine Gately in the lead, guiding the patrol along a safe route.
The wheat in the field was about chest height when Corporal Stephen 'Whiskey' Walker, the Section Commander, bellowed at him to stop.
Marine Gately said: "I stopped, and when I looked down I saw a purple tripwire caught around my Osprey [body armour] and bayonet.
"I was terrified, but Whiskey told me to not move. I didn't breathe or anything. Whiskey came over and he plucked the wire out of my Osprey and then gently I started moving back."
Under Corporal Walker's orders, Marine Gately slowly inched back as his Section Commander carefully removed the tripwire from him, which took a couple of minutes.
Marine Gately continued: "I had about a minute or so just to come to terms with what could have happened. I moved to the back of the patrol and sat there for a couple of minutes to get my breath back.
"The moment I saw I was tangled up in the wire, my heart stopped. It was the longest two minutes of my life. Whiskey definitely saved my life that day.
"It was quite a weird moment, because normally, when someone shouts 'Stop, Stop, Stop' we would drop to our knees. If I'd have done that this time, it would have pulled the tripwire - who knows what would've happened."
Marine Gately's life was saved by Corporal Walker who himself was subsequently tragically killed on 21 May 2010 in an explosion near Patrol Base Almas in Sangin.
Corporal Walker was conducting a joint foot patrol with the Afghan National Army (ANA) to reassure and improve security for the local population in the area when the incident took place.
It would be an understatement to say that Corporal Walker's Royal Marine brothers and colleagues revered him.
Marine Gately said: "Many of us owe a lot to Whiskey; he was a legend and we miss him more than words can say."
Working side by side with the ANA, 40 Commando Royal Marines are working to push away the insurgents from the population centres of Sangin and extend the reach of the Afghan Government.
The Royal Marines have also been involved in clearing IEDs from roads within local communities to ensure the safety of the local population.
40 Commando Royal Marines deployed to Afghanistan on Op HERRICK 12 in April and are due to return to the UK in October 2010.
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