IN THE largest British naval mobilisation since the Falklands war, 15 vessels headed by the Navy’s flagship HMS Ark Royal, arrived off Cyprus yesterday.
British Bases Spokesman Rob Need told the Cyprus News Agency the arrival of the fleet had been hindered by the bad weather that struck Larnaca and Limassol early yesterday, allowing only the arrival of two landing ships at Akrotiri. The flotilla remained in international waters last night.
Need told journalists that no decisions had yet been taken by the British government on military action against Iraq and that the armada was arriving on the island for training.
The bases will provide facilities for the training of Royal Marines.
Major Hugh Milner of the Royal Marines said Cyprus was an ideal environment for the Marines.
“The bases on Cyprus offer a unique blend of logistic support, as well as Eastern Mediterranean coastal environment to work up an Amphibious Task Force its associated Landing Craft and boats, Commando personnel and Helicopter Squadrons,” Milner said.
Lieutenant Commander John Bower of the Royal Navy said Cyprus offered an ideal location for ships to collect stores, spare parts, mail and fresh provisions, while they operate in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“Already waiting for the fleet at the Bases is over 10,000kg of stores ranging from important helicopter spares and engineering items to domestic items such as cleaning gear for the ablutions and galleys,” Bower said.
“Cyprus will be supplying the 5,000 men and women with over 80,000kg of fresh provisions. Cyprus is also the first opportunity the fleet has had to collect mail since leaving the UK.
“Letters from home are a tremendous morale booster, so collecting the 200 bags of mail which have already arrived at the Bases will be a top priority.”
The Times newspaper yesterday said the exercises are part a long planned deployment which military spokesmen insist does not represent a commitment of forces to military action. However, the task group, which has more than 40 helicopters at its disposal, is understood to have been boosted by extra personnel and hardware because of the possibility of war in Iraq.
Need said the task group’s arrival for provisions, training of the Royal Marines and the work at Akrotiri should all be seen in the context of the broad range of contingency preparations which are currently underway.
“It would be neither sensible nor constructive for me to speculate on how these capabilities would be used in the event of operations in the months ahead,” he said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
