I was on that exercise.
One of the biggest exercises ever. Tactics at the time were I believe - head to Germany and face the 3rd Russian Shock Army (otherwise known as 3rd Assault Army or 3rd Red Banner Army) hold them for a few days then drop a nuclear bomb on our position of they keep advancing.
May as well give my account for posterity.
Really pee'd off when I arrived back in the UK and found how easy some other units had had it in this exercise.
A m8 in a field artillery unit told me they spent 4 days travelling there via the channel ferries, then through to Germany, looked around for a few days, then headed back...all along comfortable in their vehicles with meals provided. (B******S).
Meanwhile I was with 7 LI, believe that was part of 15th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, BAOR; sent over to protect the vital rear areas ie for us; bridge crossing at Hameln /Hamelin where the Tank Battalions ahead of us were left with an access west.
We took off from Newcastle and the pilot reported we were so overweight he just missed the trees at the end of the runway. not surprised really, I myself had a 30 lb pack, 500 rounds of ammo tucked in my jacket and SLR -thank god I didn't have the usual 27 lb of GPMG instead! and there was a full battalion of us...
A hair raising emergency decent to Gutersloh and then immediately boarded a battered old cattle train sweating to death inside heading to Paderborn, before swapping to Chinooks to arrive at Hameln.
Of course, it started to go tits up from then on,
With the massed Chinooks arriving at the LZ; except mine which landed on the wrong side of the river - seen a picture of our arrival somewhere and will try to find it - ploughed fields, sodden with water, our Chinook began to sink as we formed all round defensive positions.
With rotor blades skimming my head on the up slope side of the helicopter, we were ordered back aboard so he could evacuate us to the correct side of the river where the rest of the battalion was....none of us could move, we were sinking into the ground thanks to our heavy equipment packs, not an easy job to extricate ourselves especially with those rotor blades inching there way closer and having to physically pull each other from the ooze...But we didn't lose our heads (pun) and got on with the job.
We then got bollocked for being late arriving !!!
Next was a jolly time digging in...full trenches on the outer northern reaches of the town - mine about 20ft x 3ft, full depth for standing in with foot ledge for firing positions and an NCB shelter to boot...
Of course, it started to go tits up from then on though,
Some idiot arrived having been dumped on us from another regiment -think it was 4 Para..What a D***H*** this lad was - no wonder they got shot of him. He couldn't even dig, didn't know how to load or clean his rifle, slept through his watches - I ended up on one night watch (in full NBC gear BTW) when he doesn't come on watch to relieve me at 4am....finally decides there's only one thing to do, abandon look out and get stuck into him...so a kicking later, plus pi**ing on him and he's still out like a light. I returns to my guarding my m8's right through to 6am, debating whether to bury him in the trench, beat him till he's hospitalised and gone, or report it, if not removed by superior when reported I was going to be seriously pee'd off....
But of course it was always going to go tits up from there....
Close to passing out from exhaustion my respirator was faulty and I was hyperventilating, barely drawing any breath through a blocked filter. I think of ignoring orders and removing it, and then takes the risk of not being on look out to deal with this B****** again; a good kicking later he still hasn't stirred -What the F*** has this lad been taking? I could do with some! Even a wellie-ing with an SLR and he's still out cold?
No choice but to go back to doing his watch until the next watch comes on and we can deal with T***** during daylight hours...I put my head back over the trench....to be confronted by an Officer and patrol of twenty men, armed to the teeth, lined up on the track nearby...The B****** couldn't have planned it better.
I got rollocked again; the incident not being cleared up till later that day went it was realised I shouldn't have even been on watch... Tell you what. if that had been warfare instead of exercise I guarantee he would have 'accidently' shot 'himself' within minutes. At least he was sent packing and some normality returned.
Anyway, it wasn't all bad, after arriving and spending a 5 days in defensive positions in the a*** end of nowhere and not seeing any sign of life apart from some dubious 'Germans' - who were obviously some of our soldiers pretending to be fifth columnists and telling us to p*** off back to England so they could welcome the Russians in, - constantly being bussed all day by low flying aircraft - (In the end we just started waving at them) ; If it was war the Nuclear facility nearby would have gone up by then and we'd all be in cellars, or scarpering for England in anything that moved, - And having rats running over us all night - Not known as the Pied Piper Legend town for nothing methinks: We'd run out of our arctic ration packs and were close to starvation; of no bloody good anyway, because we were desperately short of water, when a truck arrives with FOOD.
Yippee.? No chance boyo-.One slice of white bread thick sliced mind, one sausage, and another bread slice plonked on top..."Sorry the rest of the battalion ate all the rest"....but we have got some tea and a few gallons of water for you...half a mug of luke warm tea later -" sorry no sugar" off it goes...back to an eerie silence apart from the occasional screaming jet...I honestly think our own battalion had forgotten we were there...
But then it got interesting; defence turned to attack.
Repeated night helicopter attacks for the next 5 days or so, taking forest areas from Paras etc, taking villages against multiple units, storming bridges and keeping the local neighbourhoods wide awake; hiding out during daylight, repeatedly digging shell scrapes then being rumbled and moving on...PS the open back doors of the Chinooks when passing over ridges scared the S*** out of me -wouldn't fly again for 20years...
But of course it wasn't all fun and games it had to go wrong again....
In the form of .torrential rain and soaked to the skin...we'd have felt offended at this stage if we'd been given any form of kindness by the top brass....We trudged past other units -all looking well fed and with nice clean uniforms, looking for all the world like we'd been that US Infantry lot who'd been shelled for weeks during the Battle of Bastogne...Up to our eyes in mud, soleless eyes, dripping wet and BEGGING for boiled sweets to give us some energy as we passed whilst threatening violent repercussions on those who didn't help out...
We must have looked a sight.
I'd personally only had 7 hours sleep the whole time of that two week exercise; grabbed as ten minutes here, 10 minutes there...and found when I got back home I'd lost one and a half stone in weight. Thank god I was fit, some of the others must have struggled...
But someone did like us, we were told we could go to skeleton order after we went on the attack, suddenly without having to lug all our gear we were freed, no more struggling to negotiate a fence helped by pals, we could now run with rifles and GPMG's and leap 4 ft fences! Much faster tactics -thanks to the contingent Honk Kong Protection Force (I beleive) who suggested that to our commander...Many wild adventures at night with some memorable incidences to recall we finally finished the exercise and got back to Paderborn where I got no sleep again and was selected for duties helping peel spuds for 2LI...Grrrrh! If this was to test my resolve it wasn't going to work....Until rescued by our RSM who then asked if we'd eaten that day -Eaten -I hadn't had a square meal in a nearly a fortnight! Thanks RSM Wroe, but after only a mouthful of chicken and two or three chips I couldn't even eat it -the warmth of the canteen was bliss and was knocking me out...we weren't used to such luxury as being indoors...even electric lights were strange at this juncture...
Anyway wegot on a plane back, I said to m8 next to me, "Give me a shove when we take off" , and started to read the in flight magazine. He shoves me. "Taking off are we" says I.
"No we've just landed you've been out like a light -and I hadn't even dropped the magazine.
Walked 5 miles back home from our base, still in uniform and webbing, filthy black, with every dog I passed going ballistic and every kid saying excitedly "Are you a soldier" Reply "No son -I ain't a soldier, I just get ridiculed for being Light Infantry T.A."
Hit my bed at about 8pm Sunday night with orders to parents not to wake me as I felt a 'little tired' ...Was woken up Tuesday night 11pm by parents who were calling medics...I told them not to worry, and went back to sleep till Thursday 10am without stirring once....Light Infantry - A doddle - back to a 12hour shift in the shipyards getting Falklands Warships replaced.
Do it again - For Q & C in an instant. But somewhere, someone must start to get into the mindset oft he British people that we ain't just "Weekend warriors" We are willing to die for our country just like any regular.
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11/4/2024, 13:02 by deandarvill
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