Page 81 - QDG Year of 2022 CREST

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards 79
Lelehoy, April 22
We were patrolling in a town called Lelehoy on the West Bank of the River Niger, for the second time during the tour. We knew this town had been subject to strict rules from a Terrorist Armed Group after our previous patrolling there in January. To name a few, this meant no modern education, sport, games or smoking and strict restrictions on how the villagers went about their day to day lives. One afternoon mid patrol, when 2 Platoon was having some respite from the ruthless afternoon heat in our ‘ring of steel, we were approached by a large group of local children. The guys interacted as brilliantly as they always did, doing their best to converse with the children and having a laugh and joke with them. One of the Section Commanders decided to try and explain the game ‘duck, duck, goose’ to the children through our interpreter. Soon after there was a large group of both local children and Rangers sat in a circle, and a fantastic game of ‘duck, duck, goose’ ensued. The local kids had never played the game, and one or two didn’t really understand or agree with the rules, but nevertheless they were abso- lutely engrossed with it and loved it. It was quite humbling to think that these children usually weren’t allowed to play games with their friends, and that the small window of security the LRRG had provided allowed them this basic human right. Not as per the pam, but the best display of hearts and minds that I saw throughout the tour and a memory that made me incredibly proud to have worked with those Rangers.
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