Page 74 - WishStream Year of 2023

Exercise TEMPLAR’S TRIUMPH
OCdt O’Toole
On a sleepy Saturday morning, The Somme Company set off to Salisbury for Ex TEM- PLAR’S TRIUMPH. The first challenge that
awaited was the pig-sty of a patrol base in the rural phase, which consisted of both a boggy slip and slide outside, and a dry and dusty pen of mud under the shelter of a barn (shelter for which we were very grateful). We enjoyed yet more soak periods in Rookes plantation, bringing back fond memories of digging-in on Churchills. Ambushes, raids and patrols around the vibrant, bustling vil- lage of Aerodromi followed, often involving a num- ber of OCdts (and staff) stacking it as the HMNVS struggled almost as much as our ankles in the mud.
Moving into the town of Darcheli, we caught glimpses of Gaza company preparing to be a slightly less than friendly civilian population (civ- pop) for us. The FOB offered previously unheard- of comforts, such as a field kitchen which, for the
one or two meals we were actually fed, was fan- tastic. The Quick Reaction Force learnt to under- stand what ‘quick’ really meant, and those on guard witnessed the biblical ‘drum and mass’ holy rave of the civpop. Tensions escalated until Gaza decided that they had had enough of us, and so our understanding of crowd dynamics was put to the test. Despite their best efforts of hurling abuse and themselves at us, The Somme stood strong
72 SANDHURST