Page 44 - Mercian Eagle 2014

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deaths we so readily refer to when looking at these great battles. His letters home at the time showed this same dedication to his companions and allowed the soldiers of B Company to see that although war has changed, its combatants haven’t.
We move through Loos and Gommecourt before receiving our first TEWT, another way for us to really see how difficult the men of the Great War had it. The men of 4 Pl notice quickly that despite the lack of equipment, the basics remain the same, there’s no movement without fire, and you have to out manoeuvre your enemy. The tactical lessons from these small TEWTs bring the battles to life, and for everyone there painted a vivid image of what truly happened.
As we move through Thiepval, La Boiselle, Pargny, Annoeullin and Bulgar Wood we experience eleven more VC citations each one cementing the bravery of those that fought in the Great War,
we arrive at out last VC Commemorative stand; Neuve Eglise, home to the daring of John Crowe VC, a junior officer who boldly captured three enemy Machine gun positions, in order to
allow his battle group
to withdraw safely. He
remains immortalized
by the village with
the local beer being
bottled and named after
him. After the men of
B Company had bought
all the JJ Crowe VC beer
they could carry, we
embarked for the Menin Gate.
The Menin Gate holds a daily service at 2000 hrs to mark the gratitude held by the people of Ypres for the freedom of Belgium. As the sides of the gate became filled
with onlookers and dignitaries visiting the memorial, the men of B Company adorned in their Service dress marched on ten abreast, the halt shaking the ground. The
B Coy Group/Gheluvelt Chateau/Feb 14
pride we felt as a body of men to be able to commemorate such a significant event in such an impressive location was prodigious and everyone felt the honour of carrying it out.
On the final day we set off from the hotel to visit our last area Polygon Wood and
Warrior. The occasion was marked by two Buglers from Ypres’ Last Post committee playing the ‘Last Post,’ a truly hair-raising experience.
The Exercise gave us as a fantastic opportunity to commemorate the Great War; there is generally seldom opportunity, time or funding to engage in battlefield tours in the modern army, especially exercises as large as Ex Fallen Warrior. But with a lot of work behind the scenes we were able to take ninety soldiers and Officers away to experience WW1. Whether it be the scores of WW1 ordnance and JJ Crowe beer we now hold at Battalion, or the realization of how difficult a war our Regiment fought
a hundred years ago; without question
all of those that went on the exercise
took something away from it. I feel this is perfectly captured by Pte Webster.
‘From the trip to France/Belgium it made me realise how much the British Soldiers gave and sacrificed for us to be able to live like we do today. They gave all they could, including their lives so we could have ours.’ Pte Webster.
He remains immortalized by the village with the local beer being bottled and named after him.
Gheluvelt Château. Adorned in our Service dress, truly mimicking what the men of the Great War fought in we set off on the 1.5 mile long march across the fields from Polygon Wood to Gheluvelt.
We slip and slide around, trying to find
our footing, doubling towards the château just as Major Hankey did a hundred years previous. With Gheluvelt being such a vital location to the Allied forces during the Great War and such an important battle honour
to us as a Regiment, having our last service here will have a lasting impact for all those that were lucky enough to attend Ex Fallen
Ex Husky Ram – Lt M B Sones OC 4 Pl B (MALTA) Company
The majority of the Officers’ Mess deployed on Ex Husky Ram, an Officers’ development week, on 11th May under false pretences. All had been briefed that we would be deploying to Paris to work with the French Army then to Scotland to conduct planning exercises with the Navy and summit Ben Nevis. However, on arrival at Gatwick airport, where we thought we would be conducting a planning exercise with the Gatwick armed police, we were told that in fact we were deploying to Sicily to study Op Husky, the invasion of Sicily during World War Two. This was all part of a plan to ‘keep us on our toes’ and apply the principle of flexibility that all commanders must have.
All the days began with a FRAGO and situation update on the campaign to date and an issuing of the new problem that faced the British 8th Army in the 1943
Officers’ Mess/Mtn Etna, Sicily/May 2014
THE MERCIAN EAGLE