ONE HUNDRED and fifty British soldiers based in Dhekelia have been ordered to deploy on operations to southern Iraq.
The troops, consisting of two rifle companies, will travel from Cyprus this week and initially come under command of Multi National Headquarters South East, based in Basra. The men are all from the Second Fusiliers, the Eastern Sovereign Base Area Resident Infantry Battalion.
According to Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Merriman, the soldiers’ task will be to keep watch over procedures as one British contingent goes into Basra to replace the one that is currently there.
“I am delighted that the opportunity to deploy at least part of the Battalion has come,” said Merriman at the Alexander Barracks of the Dhekelia Base yesterday.
“This sort of short duration task is exactly what the Second Fusiliers have trained and prepared for, and Fusiliers themselves are looking forward to the opportunity to put all the skills that they have learnt into practice. I am confident they will do a cracking job.”
As well as preparing their soldiers, a great deal of effort is given to ensuring that while men are away, families are given all the support and advice they need.
“The Families Office led a briefing to the families yesterday in the Key Cinema, during which the deployment was explained,” Merriman said.
Mark Proctor, an infantryman in A Company of the task, has been to Iraq before. He said he wasn’t scared of going there again.
“Each day is different; you don’t know what is coming. Some days can be really quiet and some can be very busy and full of incidents,” Proctor told the Cyprus Mail.
Incidents, he explained, could be anything from being disliked by the locals and coming into conflict, to coming under rocket attack.
How do you deal with such incidents? “Adrenalin. Training comes into practice and you just get on with it. You’re trained well enough beforehand, so anything that happened we could deal with it.
“In Basra it’s usually quiet at this time of year; there’s not much going on. There might be a few attacks every now and then.”
If he had the choice, Proctor said he would prefer to go to Iraq rather than stay at home. “In a way, I do prefer going. Because there, you’re doing something worthwhile.”
But how does his family feel about him going for a second time to Iraq?
“They’re slightly worried, which is understandable, but they know I’ve got a job to do.”
Proctor has only recently been transferred to Cyprus from Northern Ireland. When he was in Iraq with his previous contingent last year, he said that the British soldiers had got on with the majority of the local population.
“Kids would run up to us and ask us for sweets and chocolates.”
Commander of A Company, Major Mike Butterwick, admitted that even though they were going to one of the safer parts of Iraq, there was still some unease.
“There is still danger; there’s a risk to everybody there. But our soldiers are very well trained to deal with it. We are ready to do what we have to do.”
His family is understandably slightly concerned, he added. “But they know I’m in the army and they know I can handle it.”
