9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2001 - Page 0044
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
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44 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) Lt Coma/an, Tpr S/ater and Tpr HopK/ns , or /s M 80/70, The Edge and Adam C/ayton7 The larger picture has been dominated by the peace talks between KFOR, Serbia and the Albanian Extremists, and the subsequent reintroduction of Serb forces into the Ground Safety Zone. Many of these talks took place at Gate 3, a small but important enclave of Badger Sqn within our area, and of course much of the security for these talks came under our wing, work- ing in close harmony with Badger and the rest of 2 RTR. The results have been international news for sometime, but their immediate effect for us was a shift of focus to the Provincial Boundary. Being a Formation Reconnaissance Regiment, this sort of task is our bread and butter and many a day and night was spent out on the boundary monitoring the movement of the Serb soldiers as they reoccupied old positions. The Serbs, it seems, had also not lost their sense of humour; the clouds part- ed one morning at Gate 2 to reveal a dummy on the other side of the boundary dressed in police uniform letting us know what he thought of the situation. Of course, our role was not confined solely within our own area of operations (AO) but also elsewhere in Kosovo, particularly near the Macedonian border and Dobrosin. Consequently, as part of 2 RTR BG, we deployed in support of the multinational task forces sent to stabilise these areas. It was in just such a role, as the recce element of Task Force Viking, alongside lDWR, that we suffered our second and more personal tragedy. Whilst helping to coordi- nate the artillery illumination of Krivenik in the south, Lt Corcoran’s CVR(T) struck a mine resulting in the death of his operator, Tpr Adam Slater. It seems that fate had conspired against them: the heavy rains had softened the ground in an area previously thought cleared and, on a routine task, the CVR(T) had clipped a deeply laid, undetected mine as it rounded a corner. It is a difficult thing for a Squadron, particular- Tpr Sa/Ih, /oaded and made ready ly one as close as C Sqn, ' 1 I to come to terms with, but the operational sit- uation meant we had to simply crack on, and with characteristic for- titude, the soldiers con- tinued with gusto. I can only say that we will miss him and long will he be in our thoughts. As the tour neared its conclusion, some of us were once more deployed out of the A0 with the Battle Group. Initially, this was to oversee the movement of the Serb |
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