Jonny Greatrex joins the West Midlands Gunners

May 17 2010 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

Jonny Greatrex

“WHAT kit have you brought?” barked Regimental Sergeant Major Russ ‘Burny’ Bernett.

I looked at him blankly and thought about replying: “Just what I’d take for a weekend camping.’’

But looking at his stern face, I thought better of it.

Instead I said I’d brought an extra jumper, woolly hat and my golf shoes – just in case we went anywhere wet.

Who was I kidding?

The troops of the 159 Battery of the 26th Royal Artillery Regiment had spent a week in the tree-covered Czech countryside, about 35 miles south of the capital Prague.

And they had been repeatedly soaked to their skin in the torrential rain which had turned much of the ground into deep mud pools.

Golf shoes were definitely out...

The aim of the exercise, codenamed Flying Rhino, was to give the regiment a chance to hone their gunnery skills while learning to work alongside troops from Denmark and the Czech Republic.

Explosives

To do this the British Army had the use of a massive area of rolling woodland, with permission to pummel three designated areas with high explosives.

The training was designed to recreating the conditions and challenges the soldiers would face in a real conflict – and I had been invited to join them.

First I was whisked to the stores where Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant Major Steve William, 37, loaded me up with my regulation army kit.

He handed over one Bergen, a camouflaged Gortex jacket and trousers, a pair of size nine boots, a thermos, mess tin, helmet, gloves, sweater, rations, bivvy bag and the all-important ear defenders.

I was ready.

Right on queue as I clambered into the back of a green Army Range Rover to take me to the ‘frontline’, the rain returned in earnest.

Pretty soon the vehicle was squelching down a muddy track before we emerged on to a misty opening, surrounded by gentle hills.

As we neared what I thought were clumps of bushes, they began to take a more solid shape. It was military hardware, covered in camouflage nets to hide them from the enemy and scattered through the clearing.