Page 60 - Light Dragoons 2022 CREST

The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Whilst a week’s stalking on the west coast of Scotland may sound like a poor excuse to miss a week of work (aAnd Wessex Storm prep); the days on the hill enjoyed by five LDs and three members of the Royal Yeomanry were probably better preparation than any time spent in camp. Long treks up and down arduous terrain, making best use of dead ground, covered approaches, and wind direction, stalking up to and killing a living animal, before dragging it off a hill to be butchered and used for food, are all directly applicable to recce soldiering, and were skills learnt by those stalking.
Organised by Maj’s Charlie Rotherham and Merlin Hanbury-Tenison (former LDs, now RY), Cpls Newton and Hampson, Lt’s McDonald and Arulampalam and Capt O’Connor, spent an incredible week on the Knoydart Peninsula. Reachable only by boat or on foot, the peninsula is lauded as one of the wildest sports in Western Europe, and is home to a large population
Cpl Hampson gets the job done
of Red Deer which have to be carefully culled each year in order to maintain a sus- tainable population.
After a short boat from Mallaig, the LDs got themselves acquainted with the pen- insula, which house a community of around 120 people, a small shop, and the most remote pub in Britain (sadly shut at the time of our visit). Each day, the group split into two teams; one stalking on the Kilchoan Estate and the other the Knoydart Foundation. Both estates offered the most incredible terrain, and once the hills had been summitted, you could enjoy views of the Isles of Skye and Eig, as well as the otters, seals and sea eagles that popu- late the estate.
Cpl Newton was the first to be success- ful, followed by Cpl Hampson, who put his skills as a sniper to good use. Capt O’Connor was a particularly effective shot, proving that the eye sight and skills of an LE remain as sharp as ever. The knowl-
Knoydart Dragoon
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