Page 50 - The Light Dragoon Vol. 8 No. 2

Far away on the Eastern frontier, the War in Ukraine raged into its 7th month. The images of beleaguered soldiers in
increasingly dreich conditions smattering the British press. At home, the cost of liv- ing rose, and as the leaves began to turn, as the nights grew shorter and the sky’s grew grey, B Squadron ‘The Guards’ sought to turn their backs on this depressive morass.
Khedive Abdullah ibn Glover held a coun- cil of war with his senior advisors, the tent flaps of the squadron hangar spat in the wind, the smell of cardamom hung heavy as the coffee was poured. “We must migrate to fresh grazing grounds for these portentous months. The men grow weary, the great four-wheeled camels grow thin”.
Disgruntled muttering ensued, there was clearly unanimous assent, the Sheiks had been pushing for such a move for a long time.
Khedive ibn Glover had few options geo- graphically. The plains of Salisbury to his South were bountiful, but prone to foul weather and far too close to Mecca-nised HQ. There was every chance his people would be interfered with there. Further afield in BATUS, his kind were no longer welcome.
“We must travel”, he said, glaring across the world map, “to the sand seas. But not only that, we must seek to establish a regional hub, a seasonal base that we may return to each year. We must form alliances with the local population, endear our- selves to them. We shall call this the Land Regional Hub”.
“It is genius, hamdulallah!”, the council clamoured in consent.
The vehicles were sent in advance under the command of SSgt Purvis and his assis- tant Sgt ‘Rooster’ Punton, who arrived at the Renaissance Village (RSV) to establish the squadron’s presence.
The main body arrived 3 weeks later in early September and immediately began the monotonous routine of ‘acclimatisa- tion’. This consisted of walking around the Joint Logistics Support Base (JLSB) tank park for increasing durations with increas- ing weights and decreasing enthusiasm. The remainder of the day was given over to personal time or ‘ROC’ drills for various mounted manoeuvres. This was particu- larly pertinent as B Squadron were inte- grated as part of 2SCOTS BG. Having only recently converted to a mounted role, they were very much in need of a guiding hand when it came to this new type of soldiering.
No sooner had acclimatisation finished than the Squadron was out on its first exer- cise. 2 weeks in the desert with the training schedules dictated by the Troops internally. A glorious sense of freedom was granted to the Troop leaders who had seemingly infi- nite space and time in the expansive Ras Madrakah training area.
The routine and pace of life was like noth- ing experienced before. Waking up warm and dry, enjoying a leisurely breakfast and coffee, setting a gentlemanly time to begin the days exertions before postponing those vigour’s for the 11-15:00 heat-break. A quick spin in the dust in the afternoon before sighting a desert box for Sundown, preferentially in some advantageous spot. Yes, it was good living, and the Guards did it well. So much so, that by the end of the exercise, with 2SCOTS Anti-Tank platoon attached to the squadron, we had
convinced almost all of them to cast aside the rigidity of a foot-soldiers lifestyle and embrace the amiable metro-sexual exist- ence of the Light Cav soldier in the field.
With morale through the roof and a suc- cessful training syllabus and integration period completed, the sqn emerged from the desert. Tanned, fit and fresh but ready for a well deserved rest. Life at the RSV was not so bad at all. It had two gyms on site, a pool, volleyball courts, football pitch, shisha bar and shops. The food was outstanding and offered an all you can eat buffet each meal, including hummus by the litre which was devoured greedily.
But the Sqn wanted more. Within a cou- ple of days, the squadron had formed an Xl and was travelling 6 hours North to Muscat to play in a three day T20 cricket tournament.
Staying at a 4 star hotel, the Guards topped up their tans, explored the city, sampled the delicious cuisine and took to the high seas for deep water fishing, all before a lit- tle cricket in the evenings at the national stadium.
The Guards Xl put on a good show, reach- ing the final and narrowly losing to a 2SCOTS team drawn from their entire bat- talion. One need only think of our ‘Desert Springs Desperados’ to surmise that a regi- mental strength team would have wiped the floor with the Scotsmen. But one must not invent false narratives.
The Xl were joined 4 days later by the remainder of the Sqn to explore the cul- ture of the city. A trip to the Sooq and Grand Mosque as well as plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere and sample the hummus. A cigar shop was located by the beach, allowing one to fritter away idle hours between smoking room and sand,
The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Land Regional Hub – Oman
48
The Khedive and His war party