Page 13 - Mercian Eagle 2013

All those from 5 Platoon not on stag enjoying Christmas lunch. Spaghetti bolognaise and jam pudding, thanks chef!
scale advent calendar by converting used ORP boxes into a secret luxury box per day. The lucky contestant was chosen on the quality of the joke given at the evening conference. The lucky contestants could win anything from a Jon Bag to a beef goulash. Every one was a winner.
The start of December saw us begin the rapid close down of CP Polad to align with the wider drawdown. Over the next couple
of days the Coy had a minimum of five multiples deployed on the ground along with three FSG vehicles and an Estonian Coy deployed in the Daschte. With very little sleep for all those involved and a few sporadic contacts it was largely un-contested, purely through sheer numbers of troops on the ground. Upon closure 5 Platoon moved in to Salang and a large amount of re-organisation was necessary to get every one in.
If any of the blokes say they didn’t leave CP Polad slightly gutted then in my books they must be liars; for the last 3 months that had been our home, the area where we lived, slept, ate, played and most of all had a great experience. No matter what got thrown at us each member of 5 Platoon left CP Polad on 6 Dec 13 with their head held
B Coy all present and correct just before closing PB Salang down
The ANP taking the lead on searching compounds in and around CP Polad
high knowing they had made a difference to the locals and knew they would never forgot what they had achieved.
From here on, we saw the intensity drop off considerably for 5 Platoon. Being in
a Company location meant slightly fewer patrols and with the draw down in patrolling tasked by the Brigade Commander even
less was on the cards. The remaining three months saw us packing up PB Salang then on to PB Wahid before accounting for all the kit in Bastion. With a well earned a stop off in Cyprus, B (Malta) Company were reunited with their loved ones that had kept us all sane throughout the deployment.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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