Army
Dramatic Pictures Feature 2 YORKS In Exercise Wessex Storm
Troops from 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment battled through driving rain and high winds during the aptly named Exercise Wessex Storm.
The soldiers from Yorkshire and the North East, braved the elements, digging trenches and marching across the muddy expanse of Salisbury Plain in Wilshire.
The month-long exercise saw 2 YORKS, normally based at Somme Barracks in Catterick, tested in a light mechanised infantry role. They used Foxhound and Husky armoured vehicles which were more than a match for the swamped terrain.
A soldier from 2 YORKS during Exercise Wessex Storm.
The soldiers were tested across a range of scenarios including everything from gas mask drills to river crossings.
Private Daniel Hurwood, 27, of 2 YORKS Alma Company, said: “It’s been great, the weather has made it hard and there have been times when I’ve been soaked through but the lads help get you through it.”
Pte Hurwood, from Middlesbrough, has been in the Army for five months, he added: “There’s been times when I’m patrolling and I think I’ve done it, I’m here, this is what I wanted, it’s so much better than a 9-to-5 job.
“Now I am looking forward to getting home, having a bath and a proper shave.”
Lance Corporal Tom Elliott, 26, of 2 YORKS Quebec Company, said: “The bad weather has followed us around the country. The conditions have made it very challenging. One moment it would be clear skies and the next it would be sideways rain.
“There has been a lot of sludgy mud and all the kit has been getting wet and dirty. You just have to grin and bear it.”
To be validated as a UK Battlegroup, they successfully seized an enemy-held village in a night attack. The troops used the Tactical Engagement System (TES) to enhance the realism of the exercise.
A 2 YORKS soldier makes his way though a rubble strewn street using smoke for cover.
Each soldier had sensors fitted on their body which can detect whether they have been hit with a fatal blow or if their limbs have been injured.
Private Liam Clark, 27, of 2 YORKS Alma Company, added: “The TES is really good, it’s much better than firing blanks. This way you know your action has been effective and it makes it much more realistic.”
2 YORKS have trained from fighting as a platoon of 30 men to operating as a battlegroup of more than 700 soldiers and 240 vehicles.
They were supported by reconnaissance troops from The Light Dragoons and men and women from a number of different units including 21 Engineer Regiment, based in Ripon, North Yorkshire.
Lance Corporal Alex Oliver, 22, of 4 Field Squadron, said: “We have been enabling the battlegroup, for example helping with river crossings.
“We have also had sections embedded into companies as they go through villages, helping with breaking into buildings.
“When the infantry were digging the trenches, we were able to support them with diggers so they didn’t have to do it all by hand.”
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