In December 2005 2nd Fusiliers left Palace Barracks, Belfast for Cyprus but before that, in October 2005, Major Matt Thorp with C Company returned from a 6 month tour of duty in Basrah. They were the first Northern Ireland based troops to be deployed out of the Province. Very sadly Fusiliers Stephen Manning and Donal Meade were killed when terrorists detonated a roadside bomb. In a similar attack, LCpl Craig Short and Fusilier Aveuta Tuila were injured and have each had to have below the knee amputations. (Fusilier Tuila recovered quickly and is now back with the battalion. LCpl Short remains in the Regiment and is a recruiter in Newcastle.)
A Company arriving in Afghanistan being met by Lt Col Merriman MBE (July 2006)
Barely settled in Dhekelia in the Northern Sovereign Base with their families, the Fusiliers assumed the role of Theatre Reserve Battalion. During the next 58 weeks there were only 11 weeks that Fusiliers were not deployed on operations in either Afghanistan or Iraq, This is an extraordinary fact; furthermore by luck and good leadership the Battalion avoided any fatalities while in contact.
Initially, two Companies deployed to Basra in March 2006 for 4 weeks. Then at the end of July, an A Company Group of 150 Fusiliers, reinforced by members of B Company under command of Major John Swift deployed to Afghanistan. They returned to their families in Cyprus in November 2006 with the distinction of having defended an outpost without relief for 107 days. Their exploits in the town of Naw Zad fully justified the centre page coverage in The Sun Newspaper as this was the longest such feat of arms by British forces since Korea.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Battalion went on a fantastic training exercise to Jordan at the end of which rather than returning to Cyprus, they too found themselves deployed back to Basrah. Each Company had its own area of operations and returned in December for their very well deserved Christmas Leave.
Formed up on parade in the New Year 2007, the CO greeted them with the news that they were required once again and within days, at the end of January, B Company, under Major Andrew Higgs, was once again back in Basrah. Shortly afterwards Major Jim Taylor took his company, complete with his slice of support weapons and snipers back to Helmand where after fighting off Taliban, frequently within hand grenade range, and calling in massive air support, this company began the first of the now largely successful clearance operations that have pushed the Taliban out of areas that they had previously held.
The Battalion was eventually complete and back in Cyprus in mid-May when they were able to hand over this most demanding Theatre Reserve Battalion role to the other Cyprus based infantry battalion of the Royal Welsh Regiment. In June they were delighted to receive a visit by their Colonel-in-Chief, a visit frequently postponed thanks to these unscheduled and continuous operational deployments. Details of his visit appear on the 2nd Battalion page accessed on the titles on the left of the page..
On 30/31 October, inspite of being on Exercise Saffron Sands in Jordan, the Battalion Rear Party in Dhekelia hosted 180 members of the Regimental Association to a splendid Fusilier Gathering. Seldom had so much work been done by so few, yet enjoyed by so many!
