Page 19 - QDG Year of 2022 CREST

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
17
Well armed safari
tifying further weapons and ammunition caches and abandoned motorbikes. Such action and finds, whilst relatively modest, demonstrated that where and when necessary, the UN has the teeth to defend itself and heavily disrupt TAG activity. Op MANKALAN 2a had proved an exciting, exhausting and hugely successful patrol and one that clearly demonstrated why Op NEWCOMBE is the UN’s most dangerous peacekeeping operation.
A welcome return to Camp Bagnold was followed by a period of recupera- tion and vehicle maintenance – the heat, terrain and tasks having taken their toll on both soldiers and equipment alike. Camp Bagnold then hosted a Strong-Man Competition, split into three weight cate- gories, heavy, middle, and light. They say only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, but I know for a fact many Welsh, Irish, Fijians and Ghurkhas have been known to as well, and in my expe- rience of Bagnold’s strongest Man (and Woman) they are to be seen carrying, lifting and pulling items of unnecessary weight or bulk. The scorching sun and dust only added to the spectacle as some of our biggest and strongest pitted their wills and overly developed lats against one another. Once again, A Squadron led the way with 2 of our fine Sergeants winning the heavy (Sergeant Griffiths) and middle (Sergeant Speed) male weight categories. Lieutenant Al-Khamiri (3rd Strongest heavy man) receives an honourable mention for wowing the crowds and coming second to Sergeant Griffiths in two events that involved running and fast movement – neither of which are his forte. It was like watching a (smiling, moustachioed) bull elephant at the charge. The competition was a huge success and was followed by the now familiar and ever popular BBQ, charity auction and film night.
As April gave way to May, the end of the tour was well and truly in sight. But before thoughts could be turned entirely to home there was one more patrol in the offing, as well as the vital business of the handover-takeover (HOTO) with the incoming LRRG (Led by 1 Royal Irish BGHQ). The final patrol of the tour had
been extensively planned by Task Group HQ to be the most challenging, complex, and interesting for the LRRG so far. We would be deploying to an area of uncer- tain security, in the border zone between TAGs to the south, heavily armed tribal militias to the west and Tuareg separa- tists to the north. Joint patrols and fuel resupply were planned with our German allies and there was even the prospect of air re-supply of water and food from an Algerian C-130, another first in Mali. There was also another push to
encourage the deployment
of the UN’s civilian agencies
alongside the LRRG, an
effort which was bearing fruit
with UNPOL, and Govern-
ance directors once again
set to join us. Trouble was
brewing however in the form
of a small COVID outbreak
amongst the German troops
on the other side of the
camp complex. Then came
the news that there were
one or two LRRG cases,
another blow. We remained
very operationally focussed
and taking every extra precaution we could drove on with preparation for the Op. The LRRG did manage, despite these setbacks, to deploy out to the east of Gao for what were the first few days of a planned 25-day operation. Unfortunately, COVID cases began to emerge and took their toll on the Task Group and Squadron. The few days that we did have on the ground showed to me the resilience and flexibility of the Soldiers and Officers in 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards. Due to illness, crews and Troops were being split up and rapidly reformed to maintain both security and conduct useful activity where we could. 1st Troop, bolstered by Major Steph Shallow, managed to take part in some useful engagement in nearby towns, meeting with Govern- ment-aligned militias as well as civilian residents including many women who were chattier than the men in most cases. Once again, the FET proved its worth, allowing us to connect with and learn from a half of the population often
unavailable to male only patrols. Seeing Malian ladies’ faces light up when they realised there was long hair under the helmet was quite a sight.
With the Covid outbreak continuing to develop, the CO had to make the incred- ibly difficult decision to call off the patrol after only a few days on the ground. The Squadron were very disappointed, not only to have so much planning, prepa- ration, and vehicle maintenance come to very little but also to be denied what
felt like an appropriately interesting, complex, and challenging end to this fascinating tour. That said we all entirely understood and supported the CO’s decision which was the right one in the circumstances. On return to Bagnold, there followed a difficult period for the Squadron and Task Group as a whole. With the Covid outbreak now wide- spread, and many members of the Task Group in isola- tion, the regeneration of the vehicle fleet in time for
HOTO patrols and the next Task Group fell to a much-diminished workforce. Additionally, the strict, but necessary, virus limitation measures imposed on the camp put an end to Gym sessions, BBQs and film nights.
Thanks to the hard work of the LAD, with special mentions to Corporals Quant and Downey, on the vehicles, and the available troops on all of the stores and accommodation, special mention to Lance Corporal Cox for his work on amnesty boxes, the HOTO with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Scots DG) progressed as smoothly as possible. The fleet was tired, but we had asked a great deal of it, over punishing ground and it showed. With much of the Sqn already departed to the UK, all that remained to be done was the handover patrol, which was our opportunity to pass on top tips, knowledge of the ground and driving conditions to our Light Cavalry colleagues. With that we wished them well and packed our kit for the final time.
It was like watching
a (smiling, moustachioed) bull elephant at the charge