We were being mobilised with H Squadron of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment (1RTR). They were sending out a Company-strength subunit of dismounted troops to support 40 Regiment Royal Artillery Battle Group (BG), part of 19 Light Brigade.
The mobilisation process seemed to have changed beyond recognition from 2003 – although the mobilisation papers were still late! The soldiers went off to the mobilisation centre at Chilwell, near Nottingham, in November 2006 to complete their mandatory Military Annual Training Tests (MATTs) whilst I overcame a few problems with paperwork which were impeding my mobilisation. Fears about lack of kit were groundless: the kit issue at Chilwell was excellent, with more issued than could be carried.
With the MATTs completed, it was time for the soldiers to head to the Operational Training and Advisory Group (OPTAG) for some pre-deployment training. After that, a few days’ leave, a quick return to the Squadron for Ladies’ Night and then they were off just before Christmas. I followed a few days later.
The flight from RAF Brize Norton was by charter jet, which was all very pleasant until after it landed at a US Air Force base in Qatar, taxiing past a row of F-15 fighters, just to let the passengers know that everything is about to change.
The flight from Qatar to Basra Air Station really lets you know where you are going, as all the lights are turned out in the Hercules and you put on your helmet and body armour as it crosses the Iraqi border.
Upon arrival at Basra Air Station (known as the Contingency Operating Base or COB for short) you are thrown into a little world of organised chaos with your first instructions being what you need to do should the mortar alarm go off. Having spoken to several people who had been to Iraq before, both on the original TELIC and subsequent tours, we thought we had a fair idea about what life would be like and how bad the threat was. We were wrong. Things seemed to be getting worse, with the threat level increased greatly. Only a couple of years before, people would move from the COB to the nearby Shaibah Logistic Base (SLB) by coach, a journey that only takes twenty minutes. Now you could only travel by helicopter unless you could hitch a ride on an armoured convoy heading in the right direction.
The soldiers were attached directly to H Sqn and were split amongst the various Troops. They adapted well and were welcomed by the tankies, slotting into their roles with ease. When I arrived, I was sent off to work with 6/36 Battery, 40 Regiment Royal Artillery.
The battlegroup’s roles ranged from the interesting to the not quite so interesting, as it would be with any battlegroup. They ranged from SLB Force Protection (largely ‘stagging on’ around SLB), convoy support (providing protection for the numerous convoys that ran from Kuwait to SLB, the COB, into Basra city, Umm Qasr port plus others), running the Divisional Temporary Detention Facility (DTDF), local patrols (a role taken by the Light Infantry Companies that were attached to the BG) and the much sought-after Baghdad job.
The boys and girls started in the DTDF. Although this role was generally less exciting than others, it was a vital task and one which involved a great deal of self control.
With 6/36 Battery, Iwas about to start working on convoy protection. The vehicles for this task were the armoured Land Rovers known as Snatches. They offered little protection, especially against the rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and roadside improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were becoming an all-too-common sight. However, in traditional British Army style, the Battery cracked on with what they had. This role did have the big advantage of getting out of SLB and seeing a decent amount of southern Iraq and the Iraqi people, whom I found to be very friendly in the majority. I started out as doing the “top cover” role before taking my rightful place as vehicle commander. In that way, I was able to experience the various roles and get a much better picture as to what demands are made of a Trooper/Gunner in the back of a Snatch.
By half-way through the tour, things were substantially changing. The two Light Infantry Companies (no, “The Rifles”) were off home, as the role that they were doing was disappearing. SLB was emptying at a rapid pace before, ready for the hand back to the Iraqis. Various other British bases were being shut down, with everybody moving to the COB.
No sooner had I moved back to H Squadron to rejoin the rest of the WDs than over half the Squadron started to get ready for deployment up to Baghdad. L/Cpl Wilson, Tpr Nim and Tpr Rahman were going too, looking forward to a change of scenery and role as part of the Baghdad Support Unit (BSU) protection force.
Their journey from Basra to Baghdad was an interesting one, a little different to your usual holiday flight to Greece. They first moved by Hercules to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) followed by a quick helicopter flight from BIAP to the BSU which was a memorable and breathtaking rooftop ride through the Red Zone, following Route Irish to the heart of the Green Zone.
Route Irish is the road that the RTR team were to travel along when escorting VIPs and supply wagons between BIAP and BSU. Route Irish runs involved four Snatch Land Rovers, with the three WDs undertaking the top cover role. Only their heads, shoulders and weapons stuck out of the top of their vehicle as it proceeded aggressively along the most dangerous road in the world. They all spent a good deal of time learning, practising and developing their Route Irish skills: how to drive in convoy while taking into account the threat of roadside IEDs, snipers, indirect fire from rockets and mortars (known as IDF), ambushes from the road, rooftop and river, and the constant threat of suicide vehicles and individuals. As top cover, there is a lot of input to process whilst travelling at speed. Practicing all of these drills was highly important, as a mistake leading to the convoy stopping could be the difference between life and death.
When not driving along Route Irish, there was time to practise drills in the Green Zone, occasionally to look at the sights – Saddam's Crossed Swords that were made out of the helmets of one million dead Iranians was one – and if you were lucky, to get to eat at a US cookhouse! BSU was a rather basic facility situated next door to the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister. PROFOR duties did get tedious at times but with constant suicide bombings, rocket attacks and kidnap threats, even in the 'safe' Green Zone, there was no room for complacency.
Those of us that were left behind in the COB moved across to work with 137 Battery who were now in the DTDF but required much more manpower for a very important impending task: the move of the DTDF to a new facility at the COB.
Temperatures were starting to heat up and the aircon units in our accommodation tents were being switched over from ‘heat’ to ‘cool’. Rocket attacks within SLB started up again almost as if the insurgents knew exactly what was going on inside the camp. There were now less than 250 British soldiers left at SLB with the only operational unit being the DTDF. It was supposed to be moved near the beginning of the SLB shut-down but there had been issues with the construction of the new facility. Things were starting to get restless so extra armoured support in the form of Challenger 2s and Warriors were permanently based at SLB to lend a hand.
The move of the DTDF was a big event for the British Division to the extent that it had the whole helicopter fleet on standby, including the supporting US Army Apache gunships, more armour on the ground and a couple of companies of infantry to help. Luckily, none of this was needed on the night. The next day, the Royal Engineers were already in by the time the old facility was being rigged for destruction. Later, helicopters arrived and the WDs were whisked off to their new home at the COB. They were among the last soldiers at SLB; it was handed back to the Iraqi Army a few days later.
For the three of us who had moved to the COB it was time to settle into new accommodation but with the same old routine within the new Divisional Internment Facility (DIF). It was good to be back at a location that had some shops and even a coffee shop but the greatly increased number of rockets heading in their direction at the COB was a little disconcerting. There were surreal moments: you would be quietly ordering your Caffé Americano from a Scandinavian civilian, when you would have to dive to the floor with your helmet and body armour on (which you wore/carried at all times whilst in theatre) whilst being rocketed, before getting up when it had all finished to pay for your coffee.
The WDs’ stint at the COB was broken up to two week- long stints to go and ‘look after’ Safwan Hill, the only hill it would seem in the whole of Southern Iraq, near the Kuwaiti border. It was there that I came across quite a number of camel spiders, several of whom became Troop pets (one called Elvis was a particular favourite of the guys). The trips to Safwan used to take a couple of hours by road and as much as we tried to not set patterns, there were limitations as to how much you could vary things. It was excellent when for the last couple of rotations to the hill we were able to move by helicopter and it was a welcome respite from the daily rocket attacks back at the COB.
After six months, the tour came towards its end. Handovers were taking place, the lads from Baghdad were starting to make their way back to the COB and then the day arrived when we were due to fly out. In traditional style, the flight was delayed and just before we boarded the Hercules, the mortar alarm went off, just to remind us of what we would be missing.
On the return journey we flew to Kuwait by Hercules and then on to Cyprus by charter jet for an enforced decompression period. We then finally flew back to a slightly damp Brize Norton.
Things had changed a lot in Iraq during the WDs’ sojourn there. It had been a tough tour for 19 Light Brigade, not just because of the number of people who had been lost or, as importantly, badly injured but also because the skills and techniques of the insurgents seemed to be getting better. However, the improvements achieved as a result of these sacrifices were considerable. Several UK bases were handed back to the Iraqis and this helped to stem some of the violence targeted against us. Despite what is, or in some cases isn’t, being reported in the press, general life for the Iraqis was also steadily improving with electricity available for longer hours and significant works to the clean and waste water systems to name just a couple of examples.
The best thing about this tour was that the luck of the Westminster Dragoons again held strong with all six of us back in one piece. We all came back with a sense of pride of what they had achieved no matter how big or small.
When one Trooper was asked to reflect upon his experiences in Iraq, he replied, “Telic 9 has to be the single most exciting adventure of my life. Every time I reflect on my experiences there in Basra, whether dramatic or mundane moments, I always appreciate the difference between Iraq and the UK. The surreal sense one gets when they realise the sheer scale of a journey and how much of an impact it has made is hard to explain. To have taken part in a piece of history, controversial or not, is something I am proud to have done”.
The six members of the Westminster Dragoons who went off to Iraq on Operation Telic 9 have started a small constant flow of WDs who are now heading off on operations. The most fitting ending to this piece would be to say to all to all Westminster Dragoons, especially those currently on operations or about to go, to ‘keep low, move fast’ and may the luck of the Westminster Dragoons hold true.
