Page 23 - Mercian Eagle Year of 2023

Pl Comd Pl Sgt WR Sgt
2Lt Huw Price Sgt Stew Angus Sgt Luke Willis
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5 Platoon
In September, 5 Platoon deployed as part of TF HANNIBAL on Exercise IRON STORM 1/23. Situated within the Altmark Training Area Germany, this provided the Platoon and Company with a brilliant opportunity to practise battle group level exercises, while working alongside German counterparts within a high-class training facility. Acting as enemy to the 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh Battlegroup (1 R WELSH BG), B (Malta) Company were tasked with testing potential weaknesses in the Battlegroups’ approach to operations. Over the course of two weeks, it’s safe to say the Company was highly successful in causing many headaches for the 1 R WELSH BG.
Initially tasked with preventing an advance over an obstacle crossing
the Company’s Warrior commanders
and crew were able to demonstrate their effectiveness, destroying large amounts of enemy armour and utilising the attached artillery support to slow the advance of the BG. This proved so successful that the artillery support was eventually ‘turned off’ by the exercise controllers to allow
the Welsh to progress. Following the rural phase, the exercise then shifted, now centred around a vast urban facility within the training area. Tasked with defending the town, 6 Platoon carried out a valiant defence of a high-rise hotel, destroying multiple companies of R WELSH and RTR armour. This was followed by 4 and
5 Platoon holding the town well into the early hours of the following morning through some cleverly planned strong point defence. In the end we had to wait
B (Malta) Company moving through the vast Schnoggersburg urban training area (UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023)
for the 1 R WELSH BG to be ‘regenerated’ for another crack at the attack, as we’d written them down below 40% combat effectiveness. Another successful action for B (Malta) Company – though I was slightly shocked, being literally days out of passing the Platoon Commanders’ Battle Course, to find that the Welsh eventually found and destroyed Company HQ – leaving me in command of the Company!
During the final action of the exercise,
B (Malta) Company was tasked with attacking the same town – a vast objective for a Company. Following hasty orders to the North of the target, the break-in proved successful and we gained a foothold (more than I suspect we should’ve done given
the anti-tank capabilities of our 1 R WELSH adversary). This then forced the opposition to clear the area building to building, but gave us the opportunity to identify their positions and rain down artillery fire upon them. Given the large difference in numbers between the forces it was clear
Warrior AFV Within Urban Facility Altmark Training Centre, Germany (UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023)
that the efforts of all those Mercians involved paid dividends in causing the 1 R WELSH BG significant issues. This being a common theme throughout the exercise.
In summary the exercise proved to
be a good conclusion to a busy year for
5 Platoon following Ex AURORA 23 and IRON FIRE earlier in the year. It’s clear that the skills learned on both exercises allowed for the Company to box well above its
weight during it’s time in Germany.
A Malta Company Warrior conducting obstacle crossing during Ex IRON STORM (UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023)
THE MERCIAN EAGLE