Welcome To Tartan-Underground.

Welcome to Tartan-Underground.com.  This site is dedicated to all members, families past and present of the Scots Guards.  The site is designed to keep all informed on news of the Regiment whilst on deployments overseas.  The site has a Private Forums section with over 400 active members.  There are over 2500 images in the Galleries area and a small collection of video.  The team appreciates any suggestions, comments or feedback about the site....feedback.

A Job Well Done!

03 June 2008

The Battalion is now entering its last week out here in Iraq and shortly we shall all be reunited again with Right Flank, the Rear Party and our families. As the temperatures continue to soar in Basra, we remain as busy as ever as we continue to mount operations in support of the Iraqi Army and prepare for our handover of the Manoeuvre Battlegroup role to 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers as they start to arrive in theatre in larger numbers each day.In these last two months, we have seen the wholesale change to the situation in Basra, a process in which we have all played a major part.

In March, Prime Minister Maliki chose at no notice to mount a massive and comprehensive offensive to clear insurgent elements once and for all from Basra’s streets and period of intense military activity then ensued. Supported by a significant contingent of US forces with additional Iraqi Army units drafted in from all over Iraq, the ‘Charge of the Knights’ series of operations was launched that took each suburb of Basra in turn and subjected each one to comprehensive clearance and search. For our part, the Scots Guards Battlegroup provided intimate support to nightly strike operations conducted by British, American and Iraqi Special Forces as they sought out the very worst of insurgent leaders deep inside downtown Basra. Our role developed rapidly into what has now become our trademark, the provision of the ‘Guards Armoured Shield’, a linear cordon of Challengers and Warriors which cleared the route of IEDs ahead of the more vulnerable strike groups and then held it open for their safe extraction. We have now provided this ‘service’ many times over, on several occasions taking IED strikes against some of the Battlegroup’s armoured vehicles, but the reassurance that it has provided to those we have supported has now earned us the collective nickname of ‘The Rock’! I have been immensely impressed and proud of the sheer courage and cool heads displayed by all ranks during this especially frenzied and dangerous period, but again our collective discipline and professionalism has underwritten the activities of the rest of the Force and our reputation is as strong as ever.

In the last month, once Basra had been systematically brought under Iraqi Army control, the Battlegroup deployed north by 80 kilometres up to Al Qurnah, the fabled site of the Garden of Eden at the confluence of the Tigris and the great Euphrates rivers. Here C Company with Battlegroup Headquarters endured unprecedented temperatures for over a week while protecting a desert Forward Operating Base for an Iraqi Operation to clear and search the town. Often with temperatures reaching in excess of 50° C in the back of our Warriors and with no shade available, this proved a significant test of endurance but I was amazed at how stoically everyone managed in the withering heat. This particular part of the Battlegroup has now recovered safely back into the COB, but as I write the Reconnaissance Platoon is still deployed out onto the Iranian Border where they will remain right up until the end.

It will be with enormous relief that I can address the whole Battalion reunited in Munster in a few days from now. I look forward to telling them all how each and every one of them whether in Helmand, in Basra or back in Munster have lived up to our fiercely guarded reputation for excellence. Shortly we will bade a sad farewell to the Minden Contingent from 1 SCOTS who have forever won a place in our collective hearts over this last year, and especially we will think of LCpl ‘Reidy’ Reid who was badly wounded by a road side bomb in Basra. They have all been magnificent. The Blackhorse Squadron of the RDG leave us too, but not going very far away and we will always be able to keep alive a very strong association with them and A Squadron over the years to come. It was the Challenger tanks of the Blackhorse that led the Battlegroup everywhere, always first in and often soaking up the blast of IEDs ahead of the rest of us. As to the rest of us, too numerous to mention from amongst the 18 capbadges that have made up the Battlegroup, we can be certain in the knowledge that we have played our part to the full here in Basra, that we are known and admired and that our symbol of the ‘Ever Open Eye’ is recognised everywhere as a mark of the very best there is.

From ArmyNet.

Decompression

At the time of writing the Battalion has completed a very successful handover to The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in Basra and the companies are now proceeding on operational decompression in Cyprus.  Before leaving the COB all departments managed to produce excellent ‘skits’ on personalities and incidents throughout the battlegroup.  The evening was rounded of by the Sgts mess and L.E. officers version of ‘Rockstar’ which went down a storm and is now currently available on Youtube!
Left Flank, C and B Sqn have now all filtered through Cyprus with HQ Coy and The Reconnaissance Platoon brining up the rear.  The setup in Cyprus is extremely well organised with many activities available to everyone.  Lying in the sun is mostly the order of the day but the more adventurous ones amongst us can participate in the many water sports available such as water skiing, wake boarding, sailing and the banana boat.  For the less adventurous there are internet suits, Wii, Playstation 3 and a Cinema to entertain you.  The evening is caped of with a BBQ and a CSE show consisting of two excellent comedians, who know exactly what level of humour, is required.
All in all it is great to see all the smiling faces at the end of their short time in Cyprus.  Our thanks must go out to all the members of the decompression staff for all their hard work ensuring that we all have a safe and enjoyable time.

Admin