IF YOU ARE familiar with Regimental history, you will know that the 1st Bn was deployed to Iraq in November 1942.
t was therefore appropriate that about sixty one years later, four members of D Company – Capt Colin Campbell, Sgt Alex Downard, LCpls Leigh Groombridge and Jim Henderson – were called up for Operation (Op) TELIC 1, the initial war phase.
In January 2004, 13 London Irishmen were mobilised to serve with Cambrai Company, the force protection unit for the headquarters of MND SE (Multi-National Division, South East), based at Basrah International Airport (BIA).
Messines Company was mobilised on 23rd March 2004, its task being to relieve Cambrai of its duties at the end of its tour. This time, the London Irish contingent was smaller, consisting of Maj Conrad Giles (OC Messines Company), CSgt Robert Denman (Platoon Sergeant of 4 Platoon), Cpl Nick Roche, LCpl David O’Brien and me – Taff Hughes. As it happened, Cpl Geordie Roberts, already out in Iraq, volunteered to transfer to Messines before Cambrai left theatre. Another London Irishman, Capt Jason Hargreaves, was mobilised separately in February 2004, serving as a civil affairs officer in Al Amarah.
On being called up, we were processed by the RTMC (mobilisation centre) at Chilwell. Messines Company went through six weeks of beat-up training at Stamford and Lydd, involving weapon-handling, PT, peace support operations (PSO) tactics and combat shooting. The Company’s Advance Party flew to Iraq in mid-May 2004, with the main body arriving by the 22nd. After a week or so patrolling with Cambrai, picking up as much local knowledge as possible and refining our vehicle patrol tactics, we took over our predecessors’ duties at the end of the May.
Our main task in theatre was to guard MND SE Headquarters – a tedious job which was only enlivened by the increasingly ridiculous uniforms worn by the Italian liaison officers. But Messines Company also escorted convoys to and from Kuwait, and guarded RAF fuel trucks making the difficult journey to and from Al Amarah. Our third task was to escort key personnel across the area of operations, although in practice most of these tasks took us into Basrah. Platoons changed roles every three days. One platoon would guard the HQ, a second would be on convoy duties, and a third on escort tasks. The Company therefore worked a nine-day week! During August 2004 Messines Company was also involved in Op CENTURIAN – which was to restrict the flow of insurgent personnel and weapons into Basrah. As part of this Op, we manned a vehicle checkpoint on the road between Basrah and Al Zubayr.
The threats were real, ranging from the prosaic (such as that posed by Iraqi driving standards), to the farcical (such as the risk of being caught up in tribal fighting) to the deadly serious. BIA was hit by around 20 mortar attacks during our tour, but these were a nuisance rather than a mortal threat. I was grateful for the first attack on tour, which broke up an atrocious American concert.
Far more serious were roadside bomb attacks and the potential for multi-weapon ambushes against our vehicle patrols. Given that Southern Iraq is mainly Shia, the threat from Ba’athist hardliners and al-Zarqawi’s fanatics was less severe than that in the American sector, but Coalition forces still had to deal with
Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militia staged an insurrection in August 2004. This led to fierce fighting in Basrah and Al Amarah (the latter being experienced by Capt Hargreaves), but had petered out by early September, largely as a result of political pressure.
Messines Company did not escape the tour unscathed. One of my comrades from 4 Platoon was injured in a bomb attack south of Al Amarah in June 2004, and was evacuated home. 5 (RGJ) Platoon had one casualty in the same month – a Land Rover struck an anti-personnel mine and its driver had his ankle broken. Thankfully, we suffered no fatalities on tour, although whenever other units suffered losses we were reminded of how dangerous our job was.
Contacts were nevertheless rare, and most of the time our patrols received a friendly reception from local civilians. We did what we could to foster relations with the Iraqis with our own ‘hearts and minds’ Operations (focused on dishing out sweets and toys to children). We also had the phenomenon, familiar to soldiers everywhere, of ‘hurry up and wait’, and there were days when we had no tasks to do. Above all, there were moments of bizarre comedy, such as the day when the author of this article led a patrol which escorted a double-decker London bus from Umm Qasr to the Kuwaiti border!
In mid-November our relief, in the form of Normandy Company from the East and West Riding Regiment, arrived in theatre. As one wit noted, never were so many Londoners so pleased to see so many Yorkshiremen. After a few days, we handed over to Normandy Company and flew out of BIA on 1st December. We arrived back in the UK on the 3rd, and were demobilised that day. The next morning we had our homecoming parade in London, and Messines Company was disbanded.
And so we went back to normality – or what passes for it – after one of the most intense and challenging experiences of our lives. It is clear that all the men of D Company who have served in Iraq found it to be a life-changing event, and have found it hard to convey their experiences to their families, friends and loved ones. For my part, I miss the patrols and the days spent on real operations, as opposed to exercises, and I also miss the camaraderie, team spirit and the strong friendships which bound 4 Platoon together.
I do not claim to speak for all of us who have served, but I strongly believe that our effort in Iraq was worth it. Unlike the Galloways of this world, we gave ourselves and risked our lives in Iraq for six months. In the process we played a small role in the complex task of reconstructing that unhappy country, and the tasks we performed were of material benefit to the Iraqi people. I am proud that I was a part of this effort, and particularly proud that I did my job wearing a caubeen.
Faugh A Ballagh!
Geraint ‘Taff’ Hughes
Messines Company Report
Messines Company is the composite company deployed by the London Regiment to Iraq for Op TELIC 4, commanded by Maj Conrad Giles, London Irish. The company is made up of soldiers from across the London Regiment, including the LIR. It has been bolstered by a platoon from The Royal Irish Rangers, who have also provided the Company Second-In-Command. Messines Company has had an enormously busy time, having to cope both with heightened dissident activity, and a very hot summer. The following is an extract from a message written by Maj Giles to the London Scottish, on the occasion of their Hallowe’en Dinner, which celebrates their action at the Battle of Messines. Jeremy Mooney
“OP TELIC 4 HAS BEEN an operation of intense contact with those opposed to Multinational forces and by association the Interim Iraqi Government. In this country of complex social, religious, economic and political groups there has always been someone with a grudge to bear and an obvious target, British Forces, to deliver this feeling towards. This has meant that the company has had to carry and maintain a forthright, dare I say aggressive, stance in all our dealings both in the urban and rural environments.
Your men have stood stoically, guarding the Multi-National Divisional Headquarters as rockets and mortars have fallen around them – 21 attacks, and 45 munitions so far. They count the impacts and calmly provide details to the relevant organisations whilst holding their positions. The majority of their work however has been ‘out there’, amongst the general population as we carry out armed escort duties and indeed assist in the wider ground operations within SE Iraq. Messines Company, on several occasions, have been the only armed escort force able to carry out essential convoy tasks, more recently the only escort force to be allowed into Basrah City from the Air Station, further they are the force of choice and the point of referral for tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP’s) by all other escort forces of both the regular army, RAF and multi-national forces in armed escort. Indeed, we trained A,B and D Coy, the Black Watch in route familiarisation on their arrival in theatre.
Negotiating Basrah City every day is not simply a navigational challenge, it tests observation, speed of skill, judgement and indeed ‘sixth sense’; another supernatural reference. There is a ubiquitous threat here, from IED’s (roadside bombs), ambushes with RPG and small arms to thrown grenades and even stones. The enemy are opportunists, any lapse in posture has proved to attract the wrong kind of attention. Attention I am grateful to say we have not attracted too much of, whilst others have been less fortunate. Your men have been shot at, they have returned fire, they have been blown up and they have recovered the situation. They have had this happen to them, yet still they rise, determined as ever, to go back out again – ready for whatever comes next.
So yes, these boys to men are courageous– and you should think this of them, as we remember those that have in our history also been courageous. These Messines men have endured the stadium of Iraq, and in doing so earn a place alongside their forebears of years gone by. I am sure that this night of enjoyment and remembrance will celebrate the brave, and honour all great men that selflessly place themselves in harm’s way for the greater good. Messines men are to this end, second to none on this night. This leaves room for a closing message, that we are in good spirits and that we look forward with great delight to the day we return to this place where we will no doubt join you and our families in bonny celebrations.”
Major Conrad Giles.