NEWS: Bring the boys back home

Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
July 6, 2009

THE city gave a warm welcome back to the soldiers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards as they paraded down the Royal Mile on Saturday.

The Dragoons, the army's "cavalry" and the only tank regiment in Scotland, recently returned from Iraq as part of the UK's penultimate operation, codenamed Telic 12.

Soldiers stopped to chat with tourists as they marvelled at the other star of the show - the mighty Challenger 2 tank.

The Dragoons were the first regiment to fire the Challenger 2's guns in anger, during operation Telic 1 in 2003. On that operation was tank commander Sgt Steven Chart, 30, from Tranent, who was proud to show off the machine that was his home and workplace for up to four months at a time.

"There was a lot of uneasiness in Iraq in 2003 about what was going to happen and a few of us were quite nervous," said the father-of-two, who joined the army straight from Ross High School aged 16.

"But the sense of confidence you get once you climb into a 60-ton machine like the Challenger 2 is unimaginable. One of the first times it was used was during a battle in an industrial estate in Basra. We were being engaged by RPGs [rocket propelled grenades] fired from a boat under construction in the middle of the estate.

"The smaller Warrior vehicles were having no effect so the Challanger 2 was deployed, the target was destroyed and the enemy engagement was over."

The parade was led by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Pipes and Drums, who recently became the first non-professional musicians to win a Classical Brit Award with their album Spirit of the Glen.

As well as soldiers dressed in jungle and desert combats, some Dragoons paraded in full No 1 dress, proudly displaying the medals they have received in the service of their country.

Among them was Portobello-born Sgt Colin Stewart, bearing medals from his 17 years' service in Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Iraq, as well as his Queen's Jubilee medal and a final pin for long service and good conduct.

"You get the last one if you've behaved yourself for 15 years," said Sgt Stewart. "It's a great honour to parade through my home town. We're normally based in Fallingbostel, in Germany, so I don't get to see Edinburgh much any more. I'm proud to be back."