9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2003 - Page 0046
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2003 |
| Transcription |
REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) Warriors, moved forward. We realised that our footage was exclusive and set up on the border to transmit it back to the UK. We later found out it was used world wide. We then rushed forward to catch '- up with l RRF BG. US and _' British artillery was in action at the roadside and burning hulks of Iraq armoured vehicles lay all over the desert scrub. Cobra heli- copters flew constantly overhead. We felt slightly venerable in out Land rovers as we followed CO 1 RRF and his recce party in tanks and Warriors forward to the US Marines, who were still engaging small enemy groups in the area, and indeed came under RPG attack as we arrived! Having taken over, the BG moved up to the Shatt al Basra canal to the West of the city. There were a number of platoon and company attacks to clear the bridges, but sadly we, in our Land rovers, could not get close enough to film. This was to be a frustration throughout. Capt Fu//er W/th Ne// MoAnd/ew ang the dream/ The next three weeks were exciting, occasionally worrying, sometimes frustrating but all in all an amazing experience. We filmed everything we could - from night raids into the Basrah suburbs, to regimental artillery fire missions. We moved up to 16 AA Bde for a few days and spent nights with D Sqn HCR under mortar fire and days with 3 PARA in conditions that resembled Gallipoli, before joining them for a BG night advance to contact supported by an impressive display of firepower from CAS and light guns. It was a experience that I shall probably never have again 7 certainly not armed just with a pistol and camera! As Basrah was about to fall we returned to 7 Armd Bde but ended up tabbing into the old city with the Para’s who had been told to expect a bit ofa fight. Once again, armed with pistol and camera I was missing the comparative safety of even a Scimitar! Luckily the remaining fighters had fled and a different kind of welcome was given by the local people instead. Success in the media is sometimes difficult to judge, but by the end of the war our two CCT’s had managed to get far in excess of 700 minutes of TV footage on screen, much of it on UK regional TV, but an impressive percentage on both national and international channels. We also had 100’s of photographs pub- lished in papers, magazines and books all over the world. Since the end of the war CCT photographs have appeared in exhibi- tions in London and New York. We stayed in Iraq until the end of]une. It was a busy time, and with incredible temperatures, but there were highlights; film- ing, interviewing and being invited to dinner in Kuwait with the rather lovely Miss Nell McAndrew being the number one! Interviewing Mr Hoon, on the other hand, was not such a pleas- ure! We also managed to get up to Baghdad for a few days, visit the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the ziggurat of Ur and the Garden of Eden (more work needed there I feel!). This was, of course, all in the line of duty! On returning to the UK, after some leave, I was sent to Uganda to cover a University OTC expedition and then after a short interlude with the HCR Mounted Regiment on the beaches of Norfolk found myselfback in Iraq for 9 weeks covering TELIC 2 and 3! As I am about to head back to the Regiment I can look back on a fun, rewarding and very different 18 months in this job. It is normally an excellent opportunity to get about the world at the Army’s expense and see what it actually gets up to. With the addition of TELIC, in which I can safely say I must have been the only SO3 to get about and see as much as I did, I have had a magical year. 'vAdded 110 this are the skills, not just in Army Media Ops, but-also in radio, TV and photography that are learnt and picked up along the way. However 7 readers will rest assured that I have no yearning to head off to SKY TV, just yet anyway! I have said it before, but if you are looking for a fun SO3 post, I really believe you cannot beat SO3 MNT! 713717 |
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