Page 25 - QDG Volume 9 No. 2 2021

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
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You can’t park there mate!
the mandated briefs. Towards the end of this package, there was a three-day handover patrol, very similar to the one conducted by C Squadron back in May with the Light Dragoons. The patrol was a real success as we tried to handover all our lessons learnt and had the obligatory photo! As November became December, the last few members of C Squadron handed over their kit, bid their farewells
and headed out of Mali marking the successful completion of Opera-
tion Newcombe 2.
As the Squadron grad-
ually left Mali, all personnel went via Gibraltar in order to complete decompression. This 24hr period saw the Squadron enjoying their first alcoholic beer in months and an enhanced meal. Once the hangovers had subsided the following day, activities such as climbing the famous Gib Rock, banana boat riding, a tour of the cave network and paddle boarding were all avail-
able. There was also the opportunity to sit in the cooler sun and enjoy a coffee or two, which at the end of a seven-month tour was most welcome. From here, the RAF took us the final bound back to RAF Brize Norton where
week saw the C Squadron Christmas day which allowed everyone to enjoy a few beers and sing the now tradi- tional Christmas carols, one of which Sgt Morgan will forever be immortalised
the journey had begun. It wouldn’t have been Op NEWCOMBE 2 had there not been the mandated PCR test on arrival into the UK! After saying our farewells to friends from other Units, the C Squadron personnel headed back to Swanton Morley and started the beginning of well-earned leave.
“In the Great Sand Sea, the Cavalry are King.”
in! It was during this week that Cpl Harrison won the Leathersellers’ Trophy and Sgt Morgan won the Queen Elizabeth trophy, testament to their hard work and dedi- cation over the year. As the Squadron departed on leave, spirits were high after what had been an almighty fun and interesting journey.
I will finish with two quotes that were the bedrock of the Squadron for the deploy-
Just before the Squadron
finished its Operational deployment year, it had one more week in work ahead of Christmas leave. This was an oppor- tunity to ‘normalise’ and saw the entire Squadron back together before the inev- itable career courses kick in and people are distributed throughout the UK. This
ment.
“Be Steady and Be Blue.” “In the Great Sand Sea, the Cavalry are King.” BW