Page 21 - The Chapka 2016

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 19
Holding Court - the Commanding Officer visits Exercise WESSEX STORM in Imber Village
After a couple of dry run-throughs, 4 SCOTS BG were ready for some freethinking, free-play OPFOR. However, ground and weather were to conspire against us that fateful night. We were to advance against a 4 SCOTS BG defensive position over the notoriously difficult terrain of Salisbury Plain West, under the cover of 14th November’s super-moon. If you weren’t involved in a complex equipment recovery serial you were advancing to- ward the enemy in what amounted to broad daylight. It was not our finest hour, but there was some success. Honour the charge they made: a couple of BMPs drove straight through the mid- dle of the 4 SCOTS MDA, down the Imber Road where – inex- cusably – their anti-tank matrix yawed open. The BMPs broke through into the BG zulu muster... Christmas had come early.
The next night – with lessons learnt and merciful cloud cover – we managed to pursue 4 SCOTS off their defensive positions as they tried to withdraw. Cutting-off 4 SCOTS withdrawal route, by seizing their crossing point over the fast-flowing Berrill River in an audacious encirclement, a pitched battle ensued. Lieu- tenant Marriot ‘stalked’ (new action lexicon) a lone Mastiff who obligingly led Harry back to his company.
Switching to the defensive, the Company Group bravely defend- ed Copehill Down before we made our last stand in Imber Vil- lage. We were given two days in which to prepare our positions until 4 SCOTS Battlegroup descended. The village was a hive of activity, with Sergeant Clements and his assault troopers setting up razor wire and defences along with Lieutenant Gardner’s sus- pect cardboard tanks (turns out they’re fair weather machines!). The attack itself hit in the early hours and carried on well into
Grimes Grave Diggers
the morning. Cries of ‘Death or Glory’ echoed through build- ings, as positions were overrun.
Exercise WESSEX STORM was a great chance for the Lancers to widen their skill-set and interact with our northern neigh- bours here in Catterick. The Company Group received high- praise from FTU, billed as the most effective OPFOR the Com- mander had seen in his 18 months in the job.
MM
A plan as cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University
Underground Lancers
Captain Nickell-Lean – was his delicious coffee spiked?