Page 13 - 1RHA 2021

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
B Battery RHA Major A J L Coffey RHA
It is with immense pleasure that I write this battery overview as the new Battery Commander of B Battery. Unsurprisingly, the period covered by this Regimental Journal has been dominated
by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the issues and tasks that have arisen because of it. Thankfully, life for Super B is rap- idly returning to normal, although the pandemic goes on effecting our routine and less routine activity as the update covers.
As many of us were working form home or unable to return to work at all, B Battery was held at readiness as part of the UK Resilience Unit (UKRU). UKRU was the mechanism set up by the MOD to provide support to all government departments as part of the UK’s response to COVID-19. As the key pinch points in NHS and local government activity became notable, UKRUs were deployed across the country; from building the NHS Nightingale hospitals to manning hospitals, reinforcing logistic chains and, when the vaccine role out began, adding much needed capacity to the system. For B Battery, this year has seen two significant deployments; one to Reading and the wider South West region in February, and another to Bolton in May.
The deployment to Reading saw the Battery’s soldiers step in to support NHS hospital staff across the South-West. Working diligently and without complaint, the Battery’s soldiers worked directly to nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff to ensure that, during the period which saw many with COVID-19 isolating or recovering from the virus, hospitals could continue to function. During May, as the national vaccine role out was gaining signifi- cant momentum saw the Battery deploy, at very short notice, to Bolton after it had identified that a spike in cases was gaining momentum. Working at the heart of the city, 75 B Battery sol- diers deployed to support the Bolton Local Authority focusing on generating surge capacity in the vaccination pipeline. Manning mobile testing centres, advertising locations and encouraging the population to get vaccinated – B Battery worked tirelessly,
without a day off in over a month, to deliver much needed vac- cination capacity to Bolton. The list of thanks and appreciation was significant, demonstrating the humility and fortitude of our soldiers to deliver at pace in unfamiliar circumstances.
Operation CABRIT, the UK’s contribution to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in Estonia and Poland is an enduring com- mitment for the 3rd Division. Whilst 1 RHA is not deployed for the 6-month rotations in this reporting period, it has deployed as part of the 1st Artillery Brigade’s support to the deployment. Exer- cise SPRING TIDE is one of the key exercises undertaken by the deployed force. Supporting the Estonia training for conscript sol- diers, B Battery along with E Battery and other elements of the 1st
11