Fighting force shipped to Gulf
A huge deployment of British tanks and armoured personnel carriers were today being loaded on to ships in Germany headed for the Gulf.
A total of 2,900 military vehicles have already been despatched, with the same number again being loaded and shipped out from Emden on the north coast of Germany during the next ten days.
Approximately British 10,000 troops will be flown out from Germany over the next few weeks to join the equipment.
Although officially being deployed on exercise, the equipment is being fully prepared for war, according to a spokesman for the 1st Armoured Division which, based in Hereford, near Hannover, is responsible for the preparation and shipping of the military machinery.
The main equipment being loaded today were Challenger II tanks, AS90 self-propelled 155mm artillery and Warrior armoured personnel carriers.
British Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Jim Bowden said: “The Government has made the decision to deploy a substantial force to The Gulf.
“Their role at the moment is to move the equipment to the theatre of operations and to marry them up with the troops who’ll be flown out there.
“Of course we, like you, hope for a peaceful resolution but we need to be ready if there is a war.”
As the military vehicles are being transported they are undergoing the process of ‘desertification’ to prepare them for action in the conditions they face in The Gulf.
This includes painting them in sand colours and fitting the Challenger II tanks with special filters capable of handling the sand.
The Challengers came under criticism when they broke down during the recent Operation Swift Sword exercises.
But, according to Britain's Major Alun Powell of the 7th Armoured Brigade, known as the Desert Rats, the budget restrictions have been dropped to allow all vehicles to be ready for war.
He said: “In the exercises the vehicles weren’t properly desertified but this is a totally different scenario, we do not have the budget limitations and the vehicles we are transporting today will be 100% ready for battle.”
The journey to the unspecified destination in The Gulf is expected to take up to ten days.
The massive loading operations at Emden involve transporting the 6,000 military vehicles from across Germany using the roads and the rail network.
The activity today attracted an anti-war demonstration by a small number of German protesters waving banners with slogans against the possible conflict in Iraq.
Student Sandra Anna-Lena Kurre, 26, from Emden said: “Now I have seen all these tanks I am more scared than before, it’s not that I am just scared I am sad and angry also.”
