Page 45 - Mercian Eagle 2014

campaign. The first day looked at the SAS raid on the Gun Battery South of Syracuse, located South East of the Island. We were split down into company groups and
began to conduct a full estimate on the
raid plan, the only difference from 1943 being we were able to plan with the aid of seeing the ground and able to use modern day weapons and equipment. Once we
had back briefed our DS on our estimate and chosen COA we then delivered a set
of orders. On delivery of the orders the entire group came back together and received a brief on how the SAS of 1943 actually conducted the raid and in so doing destroyed all the anti-shipping guns allowing the main invasion force to land.
We then followed the SAS’s advance and conducted a quick attack TEWT on another coastal gun position in Syracuse. This was in turn followed by a tactical vignette of
the Ponte Grand Bridge, a key Staffords Battle Honour where 28 men under Lt Louis Withers stormed the defences to secure this vital objective. The first day was closed off with a visit to the Syracuse War Grave Cemetery where we held a short service of remembrance to pay our respects to those of our antecedent Regiment and all those others who paid the ultimate price in the Sicilian campaign.
The second day was kicked off with the revelation that 2 MERCIAN were now in the Air Assault role and would be attacking the Primosola Bridge, South Catania from their secure bases in Malta. Here we again conducted a TEWT; the groups followed through different elements of the plan, some on the raid of the bridge and some on the capture of the vital ground to the South West. This again was followed by a set of orders and of course the update on how the UK 8th Army actually conducted the raid. The key lessons we learned from this stand were that raids work and the importance of not setting patterns. The German Paras jumped into the bridge site 24 hrs prior to the attack in broad daylight and were completely unharassed by Allied Forces, this is principally because they operated during British meal timings, which were key windows on Allied inactivity. We then moved onto the Malitai Bridge where
2 Mercian Officers Mess/ Catania, Sicily/May 2014
we had another tactical vignette, this was an extremely poignant time as the selfless commitment by a Royal Marine captain was revealed. In short, he was seriously injured by mortar fire and broke
the unpredictable weather system that surrounds the Volcano and into a well placed Mafia tourist ambush. Suffice to say our adversaries managed to rob a vehicle
both legs, however he was unwilling to simply sit by as his men fought, he therefore recovered an abandoned bicycle and ‘crawled’ around the position. The Captain assaulted a German MG single handed on his bicycle and although killed in the process inspired his men to fight on despite unrelenting German pressure.
The Captain assaulted a German MG single handed on his bicycle and although killed in the process inspired his men to fight on despite unrelenting German pressure.
no more than 100m from the group, in an ‘abandoned’ lay-by, half way up a mountain in the driving rain. After
an attempted cordon and search Op of the surrounding lay-bys and small off shooting roads we could only conclude that the ‘Cow Boy 13’ gang, who had tagged all the lay-bys were pros and long gone. Wednesday night
The third day saw us ascend Mtn Etna where we experienced the harsh realities that mountain warfare would present; several Kms up a fierce thigh burning climb were halted in a well placed ‘coffee shop’ and mountain warfare presentations were delivered. It was extremely valuable for all to consider warfare in this environment and collectively enhanced our understanding of the tactical functions in this environment. On completion we descended out of
also saw us indulge in the local culture with a true 2 MERCIAN style meal in central Catania adding many a Euro to the local economy.
Day four saw us conducting a TEWT
on the mountain town of Centuripe where we learned how tough an assault on a mountain town can be and how inefficient Artillery really is, as over 30,000 rounds were fired on a frontage of 1.5 km onto dug in troops resulting in only two KIA and 18 WIA, proving that the only true way to take and hold ground was by a bayonet wielded by
a well-trained infantry soldier. We rounded the day off with another visit to a War Grave Cemetery where we again held a short service and paid our respects to the fallen.
The final day saw us tackle the challenge of the Axis forces withdrawing from the Island to mainland Italy. It enabled a greater appreciation of the necessity to execute enabling operations with ruthless efficiency if both combat power and the initiative are to be preserved.
Throughout the entire trip the whole group worked tirelessly to support the local economy; primarily through the purchase of liquid – of all natures, although limoncello surprisingly rose to some notoriety.
A huge thanks must be made to Maj Kelly OC B (MALTA) Company for the effort he put into planning and executing the exercise; for the three new subalterns it was a very memorable first week in Battalion!
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
43