GrenadierThe Gazette 2010 THE REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE GRENADIER GUARDS IssueNo33 Price £5.00 IN MEMORIAM Gdsm Jamie Janes Gdsm Jamie Janes was killed by an improvised explosive device on October 5, 2009, just after arriving in theatre. He was the first Battalion and 11 Light Brigade fatality in Helmand Province. As a member of 6 Platoon, No 2 Company, he was terribly injured whilst clearing a route for his patrol and died en route to hospital near Nad-e_Ali district centre. On his second tour of Afghanistan, he was an experienced guardsman who willingly stepped forward to take on the difficult task of clearing routes; he was an example to all less experienced soldiers and gave his section and platoon great confidence. He died protecting his friends from danger. WO1 (RSM) Darren Chant On a day which no one within the serving Battalion will forget, WO1 (RSM) Chant was one of three Grenadiers murdered by a rogue Afghan policeman 3 November 2009. The policeman opened fire on a large number of British mentors at a secure Police checkpoint in the Nad-e-Ali having just returned from a joint patrol. The Sergeant Major, Sgt Matthew Telford and Gdsm James Major of the 1st Battalion were killed alongside two Royal Military Police mentors, Cpl Steve Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith. As the senior soldier in the Battalion, WO1 (RSM) Chant had been detached from the remainder of the Battalion and been commanding the mixed team of British troops responsible for mentoring Afghan police in the area. He had joined the Regiment in 1986 and had served multiple tours of Northern Ireland, as well as Kuwait in 1990, Bosnia and previously in Afghanistan. He was a stand-out Grenadier of his generation, both within the Battalion, at the forefront of the Guards Parachute Platoon and as an instructor and example to countless Army officers at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was killed just as he was to receive news of his commissioning into the Regiment. Sgt Matthew Telford There are few Grenadiers who do not remember Sgt Matthew Telford. He was killed in the infamous ‘Blue 25’ shooting alongside the Sergeant Major and Gdsm Major. He joined the Regiment in 1991, and was vastly experienced after a variety of different jobs throughout his career. Best known as a very successful Regimental recruiter, he was hugely popular across the wider Regiment and the Army recruiting world. Professional and gifted, Sgt Telford was at the heart of a very strong Sergeants’ Mess, and was known as the gentle giant of the Regimental Police, a job he held when he deployed to Afghanistan with the remainder of the 1st Battalion. Gdsm James Major Gdsm James Major was the youngest of the soldiers killed November 3, 2009 alongside the mentors and British soldiers of his patrol. Like Sgt Telford, he was from Grimsby and had joined the Regiment in April 2008. He had spent some time on London ceremonial duty before training with the remainder of the Battalion for this tour. He was selected to be the top cover gunner in the roving Battalion Headquarters’ Tactical Group and had made a huge impression on the remainder of the Group for someone so young. LSgt Dave Greenhalgh As the latest Battalion fatality of the 2009-2010 Battalion tour of Afghanistan, LSgt Dave Greenhalgh was a very well-known member of the Queen’s Company. He was killed when his vehicle was caught in a large explosion near Lashkar Gar in Helmand 13 February 2010, approximately six weeks before the Battalion returned home. Sgt Greenhalgh was a popular, tough, very experi enced soldier and a natural non-commissioned officer in the Queen’s Company, leaving a lasting impression on both the Company and the wider Battalion. Originally from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, he joined the Regiment in 2001, and had served in Bosnia, Iraq and the previous tour of Afghanistan. He was also a highly skilled soldier with a number of very diverse qualifications: search team commander, highly qualified driver, tactical questioner with experience of independent psychological operations. Never forgotten. GrenadierTHE Gazette 2010 THE REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE GRENADIER GUARDS IST BATTALION CONTENTS Page MID TOUR REGIMENTAL NEWS Regimental Headquarters . 4 UPDATE Sergeants’ (Past and Present) Club . 7 From Battle Group Regimental Band . 8 Headquarters 14th Company . 14 1st Battalion . 16 page 16 The Queen’s Company . 17 No 2 Company . 18 COMMEMORATION Inkerman Company . 22 OF THE 65TH Nijmegen Company . 26 ANNIVERSARY OF FEATURES My Experiences of Selly Oak Hospital . 28 THE BATTLE OF Deploying to Afghanistan . 28 NIJMEGEN Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of page 29 the Battle of Nijmegen – 20th Sept 2009 . 29 The Irish Guards are best . 31 Horse Guards News . 32 DEATH OF A 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards . 33 People . 34 SERGEANT ITU World Long Distance Triathlon MAJOR Championships . 38 The Battle of Heesch – The Forgotten Battle . 39 by Henry Hanning Inspiring One and All . 44 page 37 THE REGIMENT – Regimental Rolls . 46 OBITUARIES . 54 INSPIRING ONE GRENADIER GUARDS ASSOCIATION 61 AND ALL Association Focus . 66 Grenadier Cadets . 67 by Major PAJ Wright Branch Notes . 91 page 43 Who, What, When, Where? . 130 DIARY OF EVENTS . 132 The GRENADIER GAZETTE is published annually in March. EDITORS: Lt Col DJC Russell Parsons and Capt (QM) TA Rolfe, c/o Regimental Headquarters, Grenadier Guards Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London SW1E 6HQ (Tel: 0207-414 3225). Email: [email protected] The opinions expressed in the articles of this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy and views, official or otherwise, of the Regiment or the MOD. This publication contains official information. It should be treated with discretion by the recipient. © Crown Copyright Member of the Association of Service Journals Printed by Healeys Print Group, Ipswich 1 EDITORIAL coming home after a gruelling six month tour. Once Foreword again, it is been in the limelight for both tragic and The Lieutenant Colonel operational reasons, with the nadir of the tour being the Brigadier D J H Maddan loss of three Grenadiers, including the Sergeant Major, murdered by a rogue policeman. And yet the Battalion This year’s Gazette gives an excellent feel for the many have also been at the forefront of a myriad of high ways that the Regiment has been occupied over the last profile successes including Op Mostarak, the biggest year and I hope that you will enjoy the many contribu- military operation since 2001 in Afghanistan, to round tions. I am very grateful for all the hard work put in by off their time at an exceptional high water mark. so many to make this possible and particular thanks For those lucky enough to have seen the Battalion in goes to our Editor for drawing it all together. theatre, and watch their exploits from a distant (and The main event during the year has been the 1st comparatively safe) Divisional Headquarters, both Battalion’s Afghanistan tour, where it has done a superb serving and retired Grenadiers should take great pride job. It would be difficult to exagerate the depth of the in what 600-odd Grenadiers have achieved and are changes to the counter-insurgency operation over the continuing to achieve. They have succeeded in spite of last year (Obama/McChrystal et al.) and there is now a the tragic losses they suffered to make the prospects tangible sense that, in the area of security at least, for success more realisable. Those who have been out ISAF and the Afghan Security Forces are on a clear there would genuinely testify to beginnings of hope of path to success. When you read the articles by sustainable and measurable progress: that governance Grenadiers involved in a range of guises you will no in Helmand is improving, Taliban influence is waning, doubt be struck by the breadth of our contribution. The and hope amongst the Guardsmen that progress has nature of the tactical level operations is of immense been made with the Afghan Security Forces, especially complexity that makes exceptional demands on all with the Army and after all the 1st Battalion achieved ranks, not least the all-important embedded partnering on its 2006 tour. of the Afghan Security Forces, which itself has brought success and tragedy in equal measure. The cost has been high and we mourn the loss of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Our thoughts are with their loved ones. Beyond the 1st Battalion there has been a great deal going on, and as you would expect much of it has been in direct or indirect support of the 1st Battalion. An example has been the impressive turnout of First Guard’s Club and Association members at the funerals of those killed in Afghanistan. Equally you will read about historical commemorations, developments in the Association structure and how the next generation are being recruited and trained. I hope that you enjoy this edition. EDITORIAL NOTES Afghanistan Readers of this edition of our journal will find some, and certainly not all, of these successes recorded here. Once again, Afghanistan dominates the headlines both There was sufficient material (especially with the very for the Battalion and the nation in terms of military significant contribution made by the 1st Battalion to Op commitment. It is a huge commitment. At the time of Mostarak) to fill two years’ worth of journals. It is been printing, the Battalion itself will be on the verge of a remarkable and unforgettable year. 2 E D I T O R I A L Wounded as well to ensure a healthy balance in the Gazette and it is hoped that more readers may reach for a pen or a And yet all the success enjoyed by the Battalion has keyboard for future editions.