WILKINSON SWORD OF PEACE (ARMY) 2003

The first half of 2003 saw 3 RHA deploy on Operation TELIC 1 as a war fighting establishment AS90 regiment.  On the cessation of war fighting operations, the Regiment transitioned immediately to peace support operations in the infantry role. For nearly three months the Regiment was responsible for an area of over 7000 km², with a population of 150,000 people, as well as some 42 schools, three police forces, three hospitals, one fire service and southern Iraq’s main oil distribution facility. 

Deploying in the infantry role, the Regiment found itself nation building at the lowest level.  Water was escorted to where it was needed and its distribution supervised.  Working with the local community, the repair of the power lines to Al Faw town began while industrial generators were sourced and delivered to the town.  The provision of power saved lives in local hospitals and ensured the delivery of clean water.  Within weeks the majority of schools had been repaired and re-equipped, allowing children to return and complete their annual examinations before the summer holidays.

In November 2003, the Regiment deployed to Nicosia on UN peacekeeping duties, the last divided capital in the world.  Just prior to 3 RHA’s arrival, the UN’s peace plan settlement talks failed.  It was therefore possible that the two communities might have moved further apart, if the wrong conditions prevailed in Cyprus.  As a key player in the shaping of these conditions, 3 RHA, from the moment it arrived, set about ensuring that the progress of reconciliation was continued.  It did so by encouraging bi-communal activities, on neutral ground in the UN Buffer Zone, which were fundamental to the shaping of conditions for the continued engagement of the two communities.  Furthermore, members of the Regiment organised and delivered humanitarian aid to the Maronite communities in the North of Cyprus, bringing relief and comfort to an ageing and isolated community.