Page 27 - Bugle Spring 2023

Jordan Battlefield Study
The British campaign of military assistance to the Arab Revolt between 1916-18, codenamed Op HEDGEHOG, is one of the finest historical examples of a successful military campaign facilitated through training, advising, and assisting. 4 RANGER’s battlefield study
to Jordan aimed to determine the key components of Op HEDGEHOG and analyse those decisions which affected its success.
Our study started with a visit to the Martyr’s Memorial Museum in Amman. The museum houses Jordan’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and, as indicated by our guide’s exhaustive knowledge of Jordanian military history, is a point of great pride for the Jordanian Armed Forces. The museum’s collections begin with the story of The Great Arab Revolt, and our resident academic, Prof Nick Lloyd of King’s College London, was on hand to provide historical inject. From the museum we made our way to the Hejaz Railway. Al-Jizah Railway Station, appeared to be a point of slightly less pride than our initial stop, but made no less contribution to our learning and prompted much discussion on the lived experiences of Ottoman soldiers tasked with the railway’s defence.
The following day ushered in our first vehicle move of the trip. Four and a half hours of Taylor Swift and Peter O’Toole impressions ensured the trip was passed without pain and we soon arrived in Aqaba. The city, which is home to the world’s fourth/fifth/sixth largest flagpole... or perhaps flag, was captured
by Arab forces in 1917 after an unexpected attack from the Northern flank. Following spirited discussion regarding the importance of deception in SOF operations, we soon departed for our overnight stay in Wadi Rum. Discussion in Wadi Rum focused on the importance of logistical support to irregular campaigns and, despite Capt James ‘DS Solution’ Blakemore’s insistence that he hadn’t done any revision, James led an illuminating session amongst the stunning Wadi Rum scenery.
From Wadi Rum, the study made its way further into the Jordanian desert to the site of Lawrence’s former desert camp at Tooth Hill. An excellent ground brief from Capt Ollie Dean at Tooth Hill expertly tied the land to tactical considerations made by Lawrence before he deployed from that very spot. Unfortunately for Ollie, during his brief Professor Lloyd
Professor Lloyd determined that the tooth shaped hill we were looking
determined that the tooth shaped hill we
were looking at was, in fact, the wrong one. A short walk later and we were looking at the other tooth shaped hill. Undoubtedly the right one. Following a quick photo, we re-mounted and re-cocked before our visit to Petra the following day. Although all efforts were made to link Petra to our study of Op HEDGEHOG,
not even Professor Lloyd could muster up a historical justification for our visit. Nonetheless, it was unanimously decided that to bypass Petra would not only be unacceptable, but much to the detriment of our education and Instagram stories.
The final stop on our study was to the Royal Jordanian National Defence College (NDC). Comparable to our Staff College, the NDC kindly extended an invitation to attend a series of discussions on Arab Revolt delivered by senior instructors and academics. As ever, Jordanian hospitality humbled us all and the pride with which our hosts recounted the events of the Revolt perfectly demonstrated the importance of our study to all attendees. Captain Ben Tomlinson
Team Commander
at was, in fact, the wrong one
4 RANGER
G Coy enjoying the great outdoors
The British Army promotes Adventurous Training (AT) to develop physical and mental fitness which are essential components of our fighting spirit and the will to win; leadership, team cohesion, inclusivity, self-confidence, resilience and determination are also critical to our success. Adventurous training enhances all of these attributes.
With this in mind 30 personnel from 4 RANGERS deployed to Capel Curig, North Wales for a multi-activity adventurous training package. The objective was to reunite the team members who were dispersed across the globe during operational cycle and to enhance cultural
G Coy after a great week
inclusivity within the Battalion.
The weeklong AT package included mountain biking, mountaineering, rock
climbing and a local town tour. This was
the company’s first adventurous training package after our designation as 4 RANGER and despite all the commitments time was identified to organise the activity besides our professional life, giving individual members of the company the opportunity to socialise across the Battalion. These types of activities are essential for leadership development by controlled exposure to risk, and thus building team cohesion. Sergeant Vishal Gurung
Local Resources Sergeant
RIFLES The Bugle 27
G COY AT