Op Haven with
Sp Company 45 Cdo RM

Returning from leave with barely a backward glance to Northern Ireland, we reformed. Apart from the heat there was an air of deja vu as once again we were patrolling the towns in multiples as a strong rifle company. First of all it was Zakho and then Batufa, the important crossroads between the mountains and Zakho. Everyone except the Iraqi Army and Secret Police were delighted to see us, especially in Batufa.

Two companies of Iraqis were still there when we arrived. They were invited to leave, and scuttled away during the night. They had been responsible for the ransacking and destruction of much of the town and terrorising the population. A poor place at the best of times, Batufa had few people and little food and most of their belongings had been stolen. However within a few days people were returning to the town in droves and using the opened-up crossroads to return from the mountains to Zakho. By the time we moved on, we had established a food and medical station and the town was returning to some form of normality.

Our next challenge was the old Turkish hill fort town of Al Amadiyah some 45km to the East, sited spectacularly on a rock outcrop at 4, 000ft and with only one access road. This regional centre once had a population of over 5, 000 and supported a further 50, 000 and it proved to be a key centre for the unlocking of the whole valley. With half an hour's notice we flew into the only open ground in the town, the football pitch, knowing the Iraqi Army, Secret Police and Police were still in control. We were welcomed by the usual group of children but soon discovered that there were only about 300 people left in the town, and most of these were Christian. The remainder had fled to the mountains, mostly to Turkey but some to Iran. Fanning out in the town, we soon encountered some nervous and very surprised Army and Police. The senior officers had already left, leaving the remnants of an ill-equipped, ill-disciplined and despised force behind. We told the Army they had to leave and once again they did so almost immediately. The next two days were spent assessing and identifying the Secret Police, whose insidious terrorising effect had long dominated the town. We encouraged them to leave and they shrank away in the night of the second day and for the first time in years the town was free. It lacked a population, water, food, power and the means to organise; this was up to us.

Making Friends at Amadiyah

By our presence, and the expulsion of the Iraqi security forces, we re-established local confidence so by our third day many men had returned to the town from their refugee camps to report that it was safe for the families to come home. With the population returning, the need for civil aid and organisation became our primary concern.

Lt Rory Copinger-Symes was given the pleasure of being the Humanitarian Officer and with assistance from CSgt Gallagher (Mr Shugs' to the locals) we began. One of the first priorities was to clean up the town. Mobilising the locals was not easy but with a carrot and stick approach 'Mr C-S' and 'Mr Shugs'got it going and once started the process snowballed until the whole town was cleaned up. A certain pride was detected in the locals and self respect began to return.

Our approach throughout was to fully involve the local population in everything. We quickly discovered that the Iraqis had bred a dependency culture. By destroying 300 villages in the valley they had forced people to live in 'prison' towns and had more or less destroyed the local economy. They replaced it by providing nearly everything, strictly rationed, at cheap prices. The locals looked to us to continue this; however the future of the area cannot lie in the provision of free handouts from the coalition forces or aid agencies. The regeneration of the economy must be effected by the Kurds themselves.

We formed a town committee, involving representatives from the numerous Peshmerga groups as well as the local leaders. e discussed the issues of security, provision and distribution of food, the reconnection of utilities and the future direction and administration of the town. After only a few days we managed to hand over responsibility for food distribution to the local population. The same has taken place in most of the other areas with the result that Lt C-S' is now the only Royal Marine involved day to day, and then only in an advisory role.

The next stage was to re-establish the trading system and thus the local economy, which will take some time. There is virtually no money coming in as there are no jobs and thus no income. Due to the international trade embargo and the devaluation of the dinar there are also virtually no goods with which to trade.

The town has come back to life: within a week 3,000 had returned, in two weeks we were feeding 7-8,000 and now at the end of the third week there are some 11,000 on our register. The pattern has been repeated throughout the valley.

Many of the refugees returning, especially the children, were in dire straits. MA Hart worked in the local hospital in Amadiyah and at Quadish treating cases of cholera, typhoid, malaria and dysentery, even delivering a baby, his first experience of midwifery. We have a large transit population and many remain in the mountains awaiting the opening up of Dahuk and the areas to the South.

Mne's Sean Keelly & Wayne Lambers (SF Tp)

We have now partly reverted to our more conventional roles and deployed Mortars, Milan and SF sections to X Coy, to the South. With Mortar Troop at Quadish, Anti Tanks at Amadiyah and SF at Kuwani we have the twin roles of local security and the provision of supporting arms. Our eyes and ears, Recce Troop, are operating as part of the Brigade Patrol Squadron with the Assault Engineers providing absolutely invaluable support to troop locations and the local community. They have disposed of large quantities of Iraqi ammunition strewn all over the area, which caused the deaths of two Iraqi children and injured many others. They will now concentrate on helping the local population to rebuild many of the destroyed villages.

Despite the numerous frustrations and yet more time away after a long taxing Ireland tour the Kurdish experience has been rewarding and fulfilling. Seeing towns come back to life and giving these people more liberty than they have had for 30 years has been both salutary and satisfying. It make us all realise how lucky we all are and how we take simple liberties and democracy for granted. Despite the current privations and difficulties we have given the Kurds hope of better times to come. Our deployment has saved many lives; it is only to be hoped that their future security can now be guaranteed to prevent a repeat of this monumental human tragedy.

MORTAR MEMORIES

Four weeks into Op Haven, new experiences and sights, many unpleasant, combine to leave a variety of impressions, the greatest of which is probably the enormity of the task facing us and the hopelessness of the Kurds' situation. Our experiences are typical of the rest of the unit; the excitement and uncertainty of the initial deployment; the move East from Zakho hot on the tall of the Iraqis; the tedium of waiting for distant politicians to make a decision; and the nitty-gritty of it all: providing relief for the Kurds.

The devastation wreaked by the Iraqi army surprised us all; very few of us have any experience of the power a totalitarian regime can wield. A simple glance at any of the maps of this region demonstrates this; the word 'destroyed' appears beside 90% of the villages marked. On the ground all that remains are the poppy‑strewn overgrown foundations of buildings and a few neglected orchards. In the towns the destruction varies from burglary and vandalism in Zakho or AI Amadiyah, to the razing of whole blocks in Dahuk.

At present we are looking after the town of Quadish, just to the East of Saddam Hussein's Winter Palace, and it is a mess. An American Civil Aid team takes care of food distribution while we organise a massive clean-up to prevent a spread of disease, the restoration of the water and power supplies and the setting up of the surgery. We are fortunate in having two Peshmerga groups to deal with, both of which have a firm grip. By liasing with the guerrilla leaders we are able to get the people to help themselves, clean-up the town and organise their own lives.

Mne's Aaron Lowe, Pete Dory & Tom Laird
run through their drills

We have also had sections away providing support to X Coy, 20km to our South, practising the drills we have hardly thought for over a year now. We also have an OP overlooking the Winter Palace observing the Palace guards. One of them blew his hand off with a grenade one night, was treated by Med Sqn and then returned to the Palace by his own company commander 'for disciplinary action'! With one Christian already having been murdered in the town, apparently for 'looking after' one of the Moslem Kurd's livestock while he disappeared to Turkey, we patrol the town and its environs as much as possible.

Despite the suntans, there is little spare time. We will return with some sharp memories; the sadness at seeing yet another sick child; incredulity at the fact that, in this day and age, genocide on this scale is still allowed to happen; the self-sacrifice and hard work of the aid workers; and lastly, the way in which the average Marine is able to adapt to a changing, uncertain environment yet still maintain his sense of humour.

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