Page 76 - MERCIAN Eagle 2011

LCpl Ainsworth and
Pte Davies Ex Askari
Thunder
Two F Company soldiers, LCpl Ainsworth and Pte Davies were both recently attached as exercising troops on Exercise Askari Thunder 7, as riflemen to 11 Pl, D Coy, 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh.
The battle group operated in numerous areas of Kenya, the main areas being Nanyuki, and Archers Post. The exercise consisted of hybrid training, a combination of conventional operations alongside contemporary operating environment training. LCpl Ainsworth described the experience as an excellent opportunity to work alongside the regular Army and that he really enjoyed the whole experience; “one day you would be doing conventional war fighting, clearing a Russian trench position, and the next day a compound would need to be cleared were we would be using all our skills and experience learnt on Op Herrick”.
The exercise ran for just over 4 weeks and allowed TA soldiers the chance to train and use equipment that they may never get an opportunity to use such
as the DETES vest and helmet attachments of the TESEX system. This equipment was used
throughout the exercise and to help bring realism to training, and prevent soldiers from
switching off. Ex Askari Thunder 7 allowed these F Company
soldiers a brilliant chance to operate at every level, with training building up from individual fire and movement, all the way up to a battle group attack.
MG Pl regeneration
The soldiers of F Company
from Burton-on-Tent have been focusing on the regeneration of
the 4 MERCIAN Machine Gun Platoon and have been training hard, practising their new skills
on Sennybridge Training Area in order to provide a vital role for the Battalion on exercises. The soldiers from Burton are always keen to pull the guns out of the armoury both on a Tuesday evening and
on weekends and have always been ready to take up such a demanding role.
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F Company
F Company has had an excellent year and we have supported soldiers on operations, sent people on overseas exercises and conducted the full range of Battalion activities back home.
The Cyprus Cycle Challenge by Capt C Hymas
Capt Chris Hymas, F Company PSAO, along with the CO’s driver Pte Campbell, took part
in the Cyprus Cycle Challenge in April, cycling a total of 600 km, from the 27 - 30 April 11 and raising £5000 towards the Mercian Benevolent Fund. All volunteer amateur cyclists set off from Ayios Nikolaos for the 4 day event and cycled a route around the borders of the Republic of Cyprus covering in excess of 550 km passing through British Military Bases along the way and including a climb of 5000m up Mount Troodos to the finish line.
LCpl Knott, LCpl Ainsworth - The final bound for D Coy during FTX
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
Corps of Drums
The Corps of Drums, based out of Burton TA Centre, are first and foremost, the soldiers
of the MG Platoon of 4 MERCIAN. Since formation 18 months ago the Corps has made significant improvements during this period and has achieved a high enough standard to play at public events.
This year they took pride of place at the farewell of the RSM, WO1 M Whillock, and other major events including the Regimental dinner night at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst alongside the Drums of the 1st Battalion, and the Bowyers Livery dinner
night held this year at the Honourable Artillery Company TA Centre in London. Both of which were highly prestigious occasions. The Corps of Drums also led the march past ahead of
the regimental band at the National Arboretum at Alrewas on the day of the dedication of
the Mercian Regimental Memorial Bbench with several hundred veterans of the Mercian Volunteers Regimental Association and their standards on parade, later giving a drums display of victory beating to entertain all those visiting that day. The performance was well received and highly complimented.
Future events planned include an invitation to another major event in London being run by RHQ and a fund raising event on October. At this stage the drums are still building in terms of numbers and ability under the direction of Lt Col Bridges and are always looking for new members.
See photographs on page 76