Squadron History

48 Field Squadron have a long and proud history, having seen service in most major conflicts since as early as 1900. This section of the site looks back at where they have been and what they have seen since they formed under Royal Charter in the final months of the reign of Queen Victoria.

The Squadron identity can be traced back to 1900 when 48 Submarine Mining Company were formed and billeted at Chatham Docks in Kent. They were quickly reformed under the banner of 48 Fortress Company and found themselves in British Columbia shortly after. It was here that the Squadron adopted the Beaver as its emblem, following in the foot steps of the Canadian Engineers with whom they built up a close working relationship.

The Beaver pelt was the first currency used by settlers in Canada and had been the emblem of Canadian Sappers since 1903 symbolising the energy, speed and efficiency of construction associated with the animal. It seemed only natural that the Squadron would, therefore, adopt the emblem as its own. With it's work in Canada completed the Squadron was recalled to Chatham in 1906, only to find that it was to be disbanded and that its manpower would be distributed amongst other Sapper Units.

It wasn't until 1914 and the outbreak of the Great War that 48 would be called upon again and it is here that the Squadron history becomes sketchy. Three Units were formed; 48 Field Company (later to become 48 Fortress Company), 48 Divisional Signal Company and 48 (Hants) AA Company to meet the growing requirements of the war effort. All of the units can lay claim to being part of the Squadron's history and the Squadron is very proud to be able to include all of them in it. In 1919, shortly after hostilities had ceased, the 48 brotherhood were disbanded once more and the Squadron would find itself in the wilderness for many years to come.

In fact, it wasn't until 1951 that the Squadron would appear again, this time as 48 Field Squadron. They were formed and sent immediately to join 21 Engineer Regiment in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine. Six very enjoyable years followed until another review carried out in 1957 found the Squadron packing up and moving back to Ripon in North Yorkshire to come under command of 38 Engineer Regiment. It was from here that they would serve on Christmas Island in 1958 and on exercises in Germany, Canada, Libya and Kenya between 1959 and 1969. Also during this period they carried out operational tours in Gibraltar and in Aden, ensuring that they played their part in a very busy period for HM Forces.

1970 and 1971 brought further operational deployments, in Anguilla (Op SHEEPSKIN) and Bahrain respectively as the Squadron proved to be very adaptable and extremely deployable. They found themselves back in Germany on exercise in 1972 before a tense tour of Northern Ireland in 1973. It was during this tour, on 24 May 1973, that the very popular Sergeant Major at the time, WO2 Donald RE, was killed in action whilst leading the Squadron Search Troop. A memorial (pictured here) stands outside the Squadron Office to this day in his memory.

The Squadron were quickly back in Northern Ireland in 1974 as tensions increased in the Province and, upon their return, were flown immediately to Oman to take part in Op TENABLE. Busy days indeed! The next two years were relatively quiet, a much needed break from the high tempo of operations, though they still managed to fit in exercises in Cyprus, Kenya and twice in Germany.

A Corp restructure found the Squadron moving again in 1977, this time making the relatively short trip to Cambridgeshire to come under command of 39 Engineer Regiment in Waterbeach.  They immediately deployed on exercises in BAOR and Gambia before returning home to relinquish their Harrier Support Role on 30 March 1979.  The end of that year brought another operational tour, this time to Belize, before 1980 would be largely taken up with the planning and execution of an ambitious trip to Antarctica which became known as Project STILT.

1981 brought another tour of Northern Ireland before the squadron re-roled as 48 Field Squadron (Construction) in 1982.  Their first task under the new banner was an operational deployment to the Falkland Islands in the wake of the recent war with Argentina.  The next two years brought a welcome change of pace as exercises in Kenya and Cyprus allowed the Squadron to find its feet in the new role.

1986, however, brought one of the more interesting years the Squadron has seen.  An operational tour of Belize was punctuated with an emergency deployment to El Salvador as part of Op ANGORA, the earthquake disaster relief effort that was working hard to bring humanitarian aid to much needed areas of the country.

More trips to Germany followed until the Squadron deployed to Cyprus, then onwards to the Gulf for the first Gulf war in 1990/91.  The early years of the 1990’s would be stark contrast to the latter period as routine deployments to Canada and the Falklands were punctuated by adventure training and low level exercises.  Another change of role, this time to 48 Field Squadron (Air Support) in 1993, meant that the emphasis was on learning the doctrines associated with the title.

1996 signalled an increase in tempo for the Squadron when it was deployed to Bosnia as part of a peace keeping and stabilizing force.  The former Yugoslavian states had been at war since 1991 and 48 squadron worked hard to ensure freedom of movement and security were in place for all throughout their tour.  Another trip to Belize in 1998 was closely followed by yet another 6 months in Northern Ireland in 1999.

The Millennium brought with it the belief that someone, somewhere was determined to turn the Squadron in to desert rats.  A long exercise in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 2000 was to be the forerunner to exercise SAIF SAREEA II in Oman that took up most of 2001.  With some of the Squadron still in Thumrait it was  a case of don’t unpack the sun cream as they deloyed to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2002 as part of Op FINGAL, itself a part of the global war against terrorism.  The corrupt Taleban were the targets on this occasion.  Some 12 weeks after the return of the Squadron from the Afghan capital they were once more bound for the sand as they deployed as part of the Op TELIC force who would go on to fight for the liberation of Iraq, serving in both Kuwait and Iraq in support of the war effort.

The Squadron is currently preparing for another operational deployment in 2004 that will see it having deployed in this role every year for the last three years.  It looks like the future will be every bit as interesting and diverse as the past has been for 48 Field Squadron (Air Support).

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Officers Commanding

48 Field Squadron

Ripon

1972 - Maj Blashford-Snell MBE RE

1974 - Maj CC Parsons RE

1976 - Maj SCE Weld Re

Waterbeach

1978 - Maj AW Skinner RE

1980 - Maj RA Hills RE

48 Field Squadron (Construction)

1982 - Maj CL Elliott RE

1984 - Maj TJ Brad RE

1986 - Maj JC Walmisley RE

1988 - Maj SL Naile RE

1990 - Maj RA Ogden RE

1991 - Maj AM Souter RE

48 Field Squadron (Air Support)

1993 - Maj JP Miller RE

1996 - Maj CJ Wilman RE

1998 - Maj JA Howard RE

2000 - Maj SD Morgan RE

2002 - Maj HM Ward MBE RE

2004 - Maj AD Boyle MBE RE

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Sergeant Majors

48 Field Squadron

Waterbeach

1978 - WO2 E Lowbridge RE

1980 - WO2 H Lockwood RE

48 Field Squadron (Construction)

1982 - WO2 DH Hamilton RE

1984 - WO2 ID Cann RE

1986 - WO2 R Charlton RE

1988 - WO2 G Ferguson RE

1990 - WO2 JB Boyle RE

48 Field Squadron (Air Support)

1993 - WO2 MP Pickard RE

1995 - WO2 G Hartill RE

1997 - WO2 PJ Leigh RE

1998 - WO2 CP Bray RE

2000 - WO2 JE Leighton RE

2002 - WO2 R Fielder RE

2004 - WO2 SM Wright RE

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48 FD SQN (AIR SUPPORT)

By: L/Cpl ‘Rob’ Hebb 

Whilst on Op Descant I was asked to organise a charityevent for 1 Tp of 48 Fd Sqn (Air Sp). So yself and some of the lads came up with the idea of doing a triathalon of the equivalent distance from Antrim to Waterbeach. With the time and event set all we had to do was to select a charity. With October being breast cancer awareness month I thought Cancer Research UK would be the chosen charity, so all we had to do was get the sponsor forms out and actually do the event itself. Twenty people were to take part, in five teams of four. On Wednesday 15th Sept we all got to the gym ready to start the 25 mile run at 0800. This was completed in a respectable time of three hours and with no problems at all, but things were going too well! The next part was the swim and with a distance of 16 miles we all knew it would be tiring. However tiredness was the least of our worries because the heating for the outdoor pool was broken and with a pool temperature of just 15 degrees every man that dived in the pool suddenly had two lumps in his throat and they weren’t his tonsils. Even though he looked like a pest Spr ‘Killer’ Mason had the right idea by wearing his wet suit. To make things even better, our best swimmer, Spr Sparks, decided that when not in the pool he would ride his push bike around a corner straight into the SSM and injure both the SSM and himself. So now we were our best man down and the pool seemed to be getting colder by the second. But with some much appreciated help from the fishlike swimmers in our  QMS dept and our chief clerk we eventually finished. Our relief was short lived as the thought of the daunting 350 mile cycle made us all look forward to the finish. With everyone doing a 15 minute blast on the bike we slowly but surely got the distance covered. However with our troopy, Lt Dave Walker, arriving back from Ireland that evening we had another bloke in the team even though in true troop commander style, he was late for every stint his team was on the bike. By the morning everyone was tired and saddle sore but by 1300 hrs on the Thursday all the miles had been covered. The whole event took 29 hrs to complete and with the results of the LCpl-Cpl board being published on the same day we had a double celebration that evening. The only thing left to do was the hard part of trying to get the people to part with their money, but we should have in excess of £1800 to give to Cancer Research UK.

We arrived in the heat of Ali AL Salem, Kuwait, 13 hours later.  Ali Al Salem was a very well established operating base for the RAF prosecuting Op RESINATE (South).  It had been, up until this point, sleepy hollow.  It was soon to become the largest RAF Detached Operating Base with 3 Bomber Squadrons, 9, 31 and & 217 (19 x Tornado GR 4s).  They were now receiving upwards of 100 personnel a night and would soon reach their capacity.  Elements of 529 STRE, commanded by Capt Philip Westwood RE, had been developing the bases capability using contractors.  However, as Full Operating Capability approached it was clear that the Squadron would need to increase the pace on a number of critical tasks, eg Explosive Storage Areas, Aircraft Slots and a 750-man camp.

The Main Effort had to be the 4 extra Aircraft Slots as the Tornados were arriving on 11 Feb 03.  We had insufficient time to create concrete pads so we resolved to create semi permanent slots with AM2, a robust and durable type of matting designed for use with aircraft.  The problem was that we had no AM2 matting available.  Resource teams were sent out to scavenge and after 24 hours we had located sufficient matting to construct both the Aircraft Slots and the Explosive Storage Weapons Preparation Area.  The Aircraft Slots were completed with 1hour to spare.  1 Troop, under command of Lt Rich Jones and SSgt Tony Black, had worked for 72 hours without a break to achieve this.  In the mean time, Lt Andy Mackenzie and SSgt Frankie Franklin of 3 Troop had been given the job of creating lightning protection for the Explosive Storage Area.  Anyone who has ever seen an electrical storm in the desert will understand why.  Again, there were absolutely no resources available so they used their own experience and technical knowledge to develop a solution that was both workable and effective.  In fact, once it had been completed and inspected it became the defacto Theatre method of providing lightening protection.

In early March 03 our vehicles finally arrived.  1 Troop found themselves deployed just short of the Kuwait/Iraq border shortly after when they built a forward air refuelling point to assist with exercises as the eve of battle approached.  As tension increased it was becoming clear that the main threat to the Base would be long range missiles fired from within the borders of Iraq, possibly armed with chemical or biological warheads.  This meant that bunkers, sufficient to protect 2500 personnel, had to be built, and quickly.  The Squadron refocused and rose to the challenge.  In 4 days everyone had a place of safety to go to in the event of an attack.  The day the final bunker was completed was the day the first missile was fired at Kuwait City.  Maj Ward, Capt Brown and the Squadron Sergeant Major, Rick Fielder, were at a meeting in Araf Jan at the time.  They found themselvestaking cover under a plywood table, with everyone else, watching Sky News report on all those personnel who had stood idly by watching us work ourselves in to the ground run to safety in the freshly constructed bunkers back at Ali.

On the 21 Mar 03 the Squadron moved forward to Umm Qasr.  On reaching the 5km point, marked by a prominent earth berm, we were stopped by the Royal Military Police.  Although the Royal Marines (42 Commando) were in Umm Qasr itself it was deemed by the border guards that it was not safe enough for the Squadron to deploy any further forward.  With the clock already ticking on the pipeline task Maj Ward was allowed through to liaise with the Second in Command of 42 Cdo, Maj Rob McGowen.  He agreed that 48 sqn could move forward in to our camp, known as Camp Khor.  Cpl Richard Walsh, a section commander with 1 Troop, deployed forward to secure and guard the camp whilst the rest of the Squadron mounted up.  With the help of the RAF EOD we occupied the buildings we needed and set about securing a small perimeter.  Minds began to focus as they pulled in to the camp; the war was less than 1km away and the Squadron had a job to do.

We had made it to the Kuwait - Iraq border with all our manpower, most of our vehicles and absolutely no resources.  Why were we there?  The whole of the southeastern region of Iraq, centred on Basrah, had had its water supply shut off.  Whether this was by the regime or because of damage caused by the war fighting is still an ongoing debate.  The Sqn mission was to locate a water mains point, believed to be in Camp Khor somewhere, renovate it and tap in to it.  Simultaneously we had to produce a 4.6 km long pipeline and a water distribution point in the UN compound over the border on the outskirts of Umm Qasr.  There was both a set time limit and a human desire to get water to dying people as soon as possible.  42 Cdo had secured the UN compound in Iraq whilst 48 Sqn did much the same in Kuwait.  Sgt Andy Hall continued to run the CV crews and assist the Ops Warrant Officer and the 2IC.  In a huge undertaking he pushed out a 4km landline from Camp Khor to the Royal Marines HQ in Umm Qasr ensuring that both units had a constant means of communication.  This was possibly a record wire run for modern times and certainly a testament to the team that did not sleep until it was completed.  It became especially useful in light of the fact that we found ourselves to be the reserve Infantry Company for 42 Cdo Royal Marines.  This was not a role we had expected whilst concrete training in Waterbeach. 

The Sqn moved from one potential political minefield to another: the Civil/Military committee who were overseeing our task had decided that the Iraqi people would have to pay for the delivery of water.  This was justified as "restoring normality" as people could not expect services, in this case water delivery, to be for free.  The theory was that by charging for the delivery the system could employ Iraqis and kick-start the economy.  This idea was dropped onto the laps of the Sqn and 42 Cdo who were to oversee the distribution and who would try to ensure that fair distribution was carried out.  This, in itself, became another source of disagreement.  The Marines were adamant that there should be deliveries in controllable areas, to prevent rioting over the water that everyone had heard about on SITREP and seen on BBC World News sources.  Unfortunately the Civil/Military committee had already given the go ahead to allow the delivery tanker drivers to deliver to individual homes and houses and without escorts or protection.

Whilst the arguments raged the Sqn continued to push the three parts of the pipeline forward.  1 Troop worked on the pipeline itself, cutting through existing roads, producing culverts, building and bonding the pipe.  2 Troop had the least glamorous but hardest task, that of connecting the new pipeline to the existing system within Camp Khor and ensuring the flow of water would be sufficient by installing pumps at the "home" end.  3 Troop were tasked to produce the distribution point, a large water tower with a boom which allowed tankers to fill up.  Of course they also had to build an access track, waiting areas, filling point and other sundry miscellany to ensure a quick delivery - all within 30 metres of an in-use Helicopter Landing Site.  Support Troop did as their name suggests, they gave each Troop specialist assistance, general manpower and backfilled the security and guard shifts to release Field Troop manpower - not exciting but essential.  Without doubt, none of this would have been possible had it not been for the timely influx of TA and Reservist soldiers, they brought an enormous amount of energy, experience and enthusiasm to the party.  Understandably nervous in parts, they bonded immediately with their Troops and were thrown into the deep end.  Time waits for no man and no Sqn and the pipeline had to be finished.  It was completed with 14 hours to spare.  Although the media weren't all on site we decided to get the water pipeline opened as soon as possible.  This included the water standpipe which 3 Troop had installed just outside the Royal Marine perimeter to make sure that the nearest locals didn't have to stand and watch as millions of gallons of water drove past their houses without ever receiving a drop themselves (this was a small victory for Cpl Gav Hastings and his section, who carried out the work).

Points of particular note during this period of frenetic activity included the arrival of beer from RFA Sir Galahad (don't ask - don't tell), the night assault by enemy forces on working plant vehicles of Support Troop who were assisting 1 Troop on the pipeline, the capture of the Sqn's only POW who approached the perimeter wire just as the 2IC, Capt Baldwin, was walking over to a sentry post to see what the fuss was all about, and the ongoing joy of NAIAD alarms causing the constant donning and removal of respirators and NBC eqpt.  The NBC alarms were of particular worry to various UN, ICRC and media figures who visited the camp; eventually the Sqn learnt to look at the real wildlife and these "walking canaries" as indicators for false alarms.

With the completion of the pipeline there was a natural pause, the battle for Basrah had not started in earnest and there were concerns over our next tasking.  It was quite clear that no one wanted to return to Ali Al Salem to fix broken ablutions and eat ice cream and so Squadron Headquarters went hunting for gainful employment.  "There's never enough Sappers" is an old saw, but true.  We detached Troops to assist where we could - Support Troop moved some of its plant equipment to Shaiba Airfield to support 2 HQ Sqn and to watch the AS90 firing throughout the night.  1 Troop moved up to assist 59 Independent Commando Squadron in the Umm Qasr Port complex, repairing and installing infrastructure.  2 Tp moved to 202 Field Hospital in the middle of the desert to "plug them in" to an existing water supply mains and ensure good water supply for the hospital and 3 Troop remained at Camp Khor to maintain the pipeline which was vital to the Coalition plan.

Whilst SHQ had been prostituting itself for work, HQ 1 (UK) Armoured Division had been keeping its eye on us - Air Support Squadrons may not work for the LAND component often but the Sapper HQ knew what we were capable of in infrastructure and engineering terms.  We were poached, with the permission of our Regiment, and told to re-deploy to Basrah International Airfield (BIA) and prepare it for the arrival of HQ 1 Div.  The Sqn bade a fond farewell to Camp Khor and moved up past destroyed Iraqi Main Battle Tanks and fighting positions to BIA where we moved into a baggage collection hall and began to work.  Once again, the manpower and equipment were ready but there were no resources, less those found by Sgt Green, Cpl Buckley and Cpl Washer.  The STRE had already arrived and was busy producing excellent plans to improve the facility and restore power, air conditioning and water.  As it turned out, none of it was remotely possible with the resources we had available.  Rather than wait for the resources to arrive and get bored the Squadron helped where it could. 

The whole of BIA was festering with filth, human excrement, rotting food and so on.  A near epidemic of Diarrhoea & Vomiting had struck down nearly a third of the British forces and only a few, hastily constructed, field latrines were available.  Condemning all those falling sick as "weak" the OC, Maj Ward, directed Support Troop to build new, better, latrines in sufficient numbers to host the troops in BIA and separate facilities for the "weak" to use.  Shortly after these were completed the OC carried out an in-depth examination of these facilities having, according to LCpl Taff Joseph, "just exploded on his camp cot - everywhere."  2 Troop were gainfully employed in improving the front gate: installing a chicane, building an elevated fighting position and removing burnt out Iraqi fighting vehicles.  During this work Sgt Jon Evans of 2 Troop discovered a huge cache of weapons and ammunition within 50m of the front gate including mortars, RPG and mines.  It is an indication of how busy the EOD teams were that by the time they could get to this cache, it had been removed by persons unknown.  1 Troop manfully tried to restore the perimeter fence around the airfield but the advance led by Challenger 2 had been most effective in destroying over 10km of fence.  3 Troop were tasked with assisting the Signal Regiment with getting the Divisional HQ in, tasks included the building of field showers (including modesty compartments!), security measures and barriers and the restoration of the shiny gold hotel to allow the Div Comd to host Iraqi dignitaries in style.  This included the restoration of a water feature fountain in the foyer, now with the charming addition of a brass beaver attached firmly to the wall.

In preparation for the return of the Squadron, the first formed UK sub-unit to return from the war, the 2IC arranged for press to be present, a kids bouncy castle and for tons of sticky sweets.  When the arrival time was changed to roughly 6.30 am the idea of sugar loaded kids on a bouncy castle seemed a cruel and unusual reward for the Squadron.  Therefore, on a fleet of coaches, the Sqn personnel swept in to barracks to be met by press and families (with children who weren't packed to bursting point with sweets), overjoyed to see their dads return home safely.  The following days newspapers, both local and national, featured Maj Ward on the front covers and inside pages - the return of heroes!  50 of the Sqn were persuaded to complete interviews and articles for their local papers, not popular at the time, but with a huge dividend with regards to meeting potential new girlfriends.

The events of 11 September 2001 left the world waiting for a reaction from the West and, when it came, it was swift.  Al Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden, were closely linked with the ruling Taleban government of Afghanistan and forces were mobilized in a bid to remove them from power.

From winning the war through the early part of 2002, fighting side by side with soldiers of the Afghan Northern Alliance, coalition forces soon found that they had a firm foothold on the ground by the February and realised that they now needed to consolidate and begin to create a stable environment in which the oppressed people of the country could begin to rebuild their lives.  UK soldiers became part of ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force, that was tasked with achieving that aim and would be based in and around the capital city of Kabul.

ISAF had three main objectives; to gain acceptance of the presence of an International Force, to consolidate a secure environment and, a hugely important task in the eyes of the watching world, to deliver humanitarian aid and to restore essential services.

48 Field Squadron received orders in April confirming ever growing rumours that they were likely to deploy to Kabul, possibly as early as July 2002, to take over as the UK Engineer Squadron attached to the Multi National Engineer Brigade (MNEB) based in the capital city.  As possibilities became reality the Squadron found itself packing and training towards a deployment that was suddenly less than 5 weeks away.

The Quarter Master, Capt Colin Prentice, and his right hand man, Staff Sergeant Kenny Everett had probably the most difficult task, that of getting the Squadron out to Kabul on time, with the right kit and with the right equipment.  As usual, and assisted by the ever reliable Cpl Mick Buckley, everything was completed on time and the Squadron’s arrival in Afghanistan was as smooth as it could be because of it.

Suddenly finding themselves in a country that is one of the most fought over in the world, that is fourth in the ‘most mines still in the ground’ League table and that has a history of swift and bloody revolutions focused everyone in on the potential threats to be faced and it was with some amount of trepidation that the new arrivals began the task of finding their way around their area of responsibility.

Accommodation for the Squadron was a three story abandoned Russian Army block and consisted of reinforced concrete walls that would have withstood direct attacks from artillery.  This is hardly surprising when you think back to the vicious fighting that took place whilst the Soviets were in country.  The renovation of this block, which had no windows, doors or electricity, became the main effort over the first three weeks.  Sgt John Evans and LCpl Geordie Westgarth set about the task of supplying electricity whilst the remainder of the Squadron got to it constructing window frames and partitions that at least would begin to make the place habitable.

A big part of making a tour like this one successful is ensuring that morale remains high and the Squadron get togethers went a long way to maintaining that on Op FINGAL.  From barbecues to a full blown fancy dress Halloween night, from 6-a-side football competitions within the Squadron to a hotly contested international tournament involving the Greeks, Spanish and Italians as well as ourselves, there was always something to keep the mind off the fact that we were thousands of miles from home with only one 20 minute phone call per week to our loved ones.

As the tempo of the operation increased and as the emphasis begun to be placed on handing control back to the Afghan people so the taskings themselves changed.  Camp Souter, located about 1km from Kabul International Airport, was the main reception centre for all British Forces flying in to theatre and it was to become a fully functional camp capable of accommodating 500 soldiers, possibly for the next 5 years. 

Vehicle parking, accommodation units, messing areas, maintenance areas, roads and paths, entrance ways and improved security arrangements all had to be completed before the Squadron could extract from theatre, leaving us approximately 12 weeks in which to get the project well under way.

With all this going on 1 Troop continued to find themselves working in and around Kabul on both hearts and mind tasks and with more specialized engineer projects.  The electricians, for example, spent a few days in the luxury of the British Embassy carrying out low level electrical works whilst Cpl Richie Walsh and his lads, with a comms detachment provided by Cpl Lee Cammock, deployed to the South Eastern corner of Kabul to begin repairs to the badly damaged walls of a local school house.  It is tasks such as these on any such deployment that decide whether the local community will accept your presence or turn against it.  As usual, the manner in which the section conducted themselves whilst on the ground was exemplary and played a significant part in raising the profile of British Troops in the area amongst a naturally curious and distrusting local population.  In addition Support Troop, under SSgt Mark Betts moved up to Bagram to begin essential works on the quarry and the quarrying equipment that had been neglected for so long.  The word ‘minestrike’ became part of their every day vocabulary as they cleared working areas and found plenty of the nasty little devices indiscriminately placed.

The transport section, controlled by Cpl George Williams, and the REME section, ran by Sgt Grant Kane, worked round the clock to keep the vital vehicle and plant fleet on the road so that the Squadron could continue to function.  The Operations room, with the Squadron’s very own grumpy old men in situ (WO2 Si Elson and Sgt Andy Hall) kept tabs on the developing situation and had to keep their team on stag around the clock throughout the tour, a thankless but necessary job.

The arrival of a new OC, Maj Hugh Ward MBE, who took over form Maj Stu Morgan with a little over half of the tour completed, added new impetus to the tasks and the focus switched to getting all works to a stage where they were either complete, or suitable for handover.  The Troop Commanders galvanised the men and every available soldier worked long hours, often in shift patterns, which helped the Squadron towards achieving its aim.  There was even time to make our mark our by leaving a water feature at the entrance to the main building on the camp, designed with 48 Field Squadron and the, by now, famous Beaver firmly in mind.

Despite some last minute panics and some show stopping fast balls the Resources team of SSgt Taff Ham and Sgt Alex Girvan pulled all the stops out to make sure that stores and equipment were in constant supply and the Squadron were clear to leave theatre by 10 November 2002. 

All that was left to do was a farewell parade, hosted by Commander ISAF and choreographed by Sergeant Major WO2 John Leighton, before the usual last men out of the door team of Captain Colin Prentice, SSgt Kenny Everett, Sgt Andy Hall, Cpl Mick Buckley and Cpl George Williams made sure that everywhere was closed down and ready for its new occupants as the plane to freedom waited patiently on the runway.

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