9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2001 - Page 0043
Image details
| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
| Transcription |
REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) 43 b2. ’_, C San Troop Leaders u n er a dark c/oud , ag‘a/n‘ armoured past, it made perfect sense for C Sqn to deploy to Kosovo as part of 2 RTR Battle Group. Indeed, it was a part- nership that worked extremely well; unlike many regiments thrust together on operations, we have many similarities and a work ethic that stands comparison. Deployment into Theatre saw the Battle Group take over responsibility from 1 PWRR and B Sqn QRH. In the slice up of the pie, C Sqn were lucky enough to have a nice large north- ern chunk including much of the provincial boundary and the dusty market town of Podujevo. We settled our headquarters in the centre of the town in an old and rather feared police sta- tion and ran two outstations: one up at Gazala Lines nestling near the village of Krpmej, and one at Gate 2, a now blocked route into Serbia. Between these three places, the five troops rotated on a ten day basis. This division of the spoils kept the tour varied: once we had mastered the urban confusion of Podujevo it was time to depart to Gazala Lines and the moun- tains of the north. From there, we moved to Gate 2 and kept vigilant watch over the boundary. Unquestionably, each of these places had its own character, and indeed its own tribula- tions. Who can forget the sight ofa mangled Spartan that had taken a rather quick, and fortuitously empty, shortcut to the bottom of a mountain in the north, or the rocking cars of young love parked near Gate 2, blissfully ignorant of the Lancer’s natural curiosity? It has been a tour characterised by humour, but also by tragedy. It was after only a four day honeymoon period that we came face to face with the horrors of the Merdare Bus Bomb. It was only due to the speed of reaction and the pro- fessionalism of the soldiers on the ground that the situation was so promptly controlled and the casualties evacuated. We were afforded some small satisfaction when follow up opera- tions lead to the arrest and detention of the perpetrators. This set the scene, somewhat uncomfortably, for a tour ofvigilance, an attitude that we managed to maintain even during the qui- eter periods. ”H/ AJ, /t’s Sp/Ke ” |
| Title |