Page 46 - RADC 2023

Malta
Battlefield
Tour Recce
Capt Angshu Gurung
& LCpl Natalie Richards
The RADC held their first Battlefield Study Tour in 7 years to the historic country of Malta from 18-21 Sept 23. In preparation
for this myself and LCpl Richardson flew out to Malta for the recce in April 23. The inspiration for the Malta Battlefield Tour came about when I was posted as the SDO DC Aldergrove in sunny Northern Ireland. I saw how the local units organised battlefield studies allowing their service personnel (SP) the opportunity to get
to know their peers, learn about and be inspired by military history and gain a greater insight into our own Corps history.
I wanted to reinvigorate the motion for battlefield tours within the RADC and provide our personnel an experience outside of Primary Health Care. From this the idea for the 2023 Malta Battlefield tour was formed.
Being the first RADC battlefield tour in many years, I knew that there would be challenges and many questions I did not have the answers to. However, with a strong
planning team made up of Maj Bassi, Maj Milward-Wiffen, Capt Trinick, WO2 Gotora, LCpl Hughes and LCpl Richards, we were ready to tackle these challenges head-
on. The planning team was formed and ready a year in advance. The interest in the battlefield tour was present from our junior soldiers to senior officers as well as our veterans.
We collected expressions of interest from across the Corps, with a significant amount of interest from past and present personnel.
After narrowing down the attendance to 20 personnel, the committee set about planning the groundwork and organising the recce to be attended by myself and LCpl Richards.
On Monday 17th April 2023 we arrived
in Luqla Airport, me having flown from Germany and LCpl Richards from London. Upon arrival we headed into the capital, Valletta by bus. LCpl Richards was very keen to help with the tour from the get-go. She recounts her experience below.
“Malta was surprisingly easy and cheap to navigate around. I suggested to Ma’am
44 RADC BULLETIN 2023
ENGAGEMENT