Army
4 LANCS Patrol World's Only Divided City
One of the more unique tasks carried out by the British Army is patrolling the UN buffer zone in Cyprus.
Every six months a different battalion takes on the role.
Wearing the blue beret at the moment is 4 LANCS, a reservist unit based in the North West.
Forces TV has been with them as they patrol the Green Line in the world's only city divided by a military force; Nicosia.
For more than half a century the streets in the city have stood eerily empty, a physical divide between the Greek and Turkish sides of Cyprus.
4 LANCS arrived in Nicosia in October, with the task of patrolling sector 2 - the British portion of the 112 mile-long UN buffer zone that divides this island.
"I've never been out of the country. It gives you a bit more life experience. It opens your horizon to different cultures."- Kgn Nicholas Kershaw, Student & Reservist
Around 113 soldiers from 4 LANCS are in Cyprus, along with another 40 from their sister battalion 2 LANCS.
They come from a cross-section of civilian life, from police officers to lawyers and plumbers, aged from 19 to 58.
4 LANCS are there at a key moment, with Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders involved in intense negotiations to try and end the so-called Cyprus Problem.
With 1 LANCS also present in Cyprus as the Army's Theatre Reserve all three of the Duke of Lancaster’s battalions are now represented here on the island.
2016 has been another busy year for the Lions of England.
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