Post on 30-Jun-2018
aged the crew walked away
unhurt. The Sqn's actions di-
rectly reinforce the local‟s perception of safety in Hel-
mand and will become vital as
we look to create the envi-
ronment for Afghans to take
the lead in the security of GERESHK, the second biggest
city in the province. The BRF
have conducted a lengthy re-
connaissance of a relatively untouched area of central Hel-
mand and have vastly in-
creased the understanding of
that area, setting the condi-
tions for the Afghan Govern-ment to reach out to a large
swathe of the pollution. In
addition they have conducted
a series of disruption activities, often partnered with Special
Forces and Afghan teams. This
activity has seriously degraded
the insurgent‟s ability to oper-
ate against ISAF and their negative influence on the local
population. The BRF have
conducted a number of avia-
tion assaults, often alongside Afghan Special Forces, against
senior members of the Insur-
gent leadership - detaining a
number of key individuals
('Jackpots'). All of the above would not be possible without
the sterling hard work of the
Brigade Troops Echelon.
The majority of the Regi-
ment have now completed
their first month in theatre; it is amazing how fast it has
passed, but as always it is
good to be busy! There is
no doubt that 20 Armd Bde
continue to move the cam-paign forward - we are
making a positive change
in the lives of the Hel-
mandi people. The winter will be crucial in order to
set the conditions for the
next summer fighting sea-
son. The aim is to force
the insurgent to flee out of our area over the win-
ter to give us the oppor-
tunity to win over the
people to the side of the Afghan Government.
There have been a num-
ber of early successes and I
thought it would be worth
bringing a couple of high-lights to your attention: A
Sqn have just completed
the mentoring of their
ANA Kandak on a major operation in Nad-e Ali -
which is likely to be the
next District to Transition
to Afghan security control.
The operation was part of the final push to secure the
population in their area.
As I am sure you can imag-
ine it was very complex and
their advice and support was
crucial to the success of the
operation. The QDG men-toring influence is clearly
starting to change the atti-
tude of many of our Afghan
Army brothers with the
adoption of morning PT! B Sqn are currently ensuring
that the key routes in the
centre of Helmand are se-
cure for both our movement but critically the Local Na-
tionals. Their new vehicle
(Scimitar 2) is proving to be
ideal in terms of protection and agility and has increased
their ability to cover the
great distances of the vital
communications routes in
our area. The vehicle has already proved its worth
when an IED exploded dur-
ing a routine patrol. Al-
though the vehicle was dam-
Commanding Officer’s Foreword. Lt Col JJ de Quincey Adams C O N T E N T
CO’s Fore-
word
1
A Sqn 2
BRF 3
B Sqn 4
RHQ 5
FAC 6
TFH LAD 7
BTE 8
EOD &
Search
9
D M C
THE AFGHAN HOUND 1 9 N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2
Valete. It is with great regret that I have to inform you of the tragic loss of Lt David Boyce
and LCpl Richard Scanlon. Proud members of B Squadron they were Killed In Action while
on patrol with their Troop in Nahr-e-Seraj. They were patrolling in a Scimitar 2 vehicle
when they were contacted by an Improvised Explosive Device. Our thoughts are with their
families and friends. We will remember them.
P A G E 2
Major Hanlon speaks to
the Secretary of state of
defense. Commanding
Officer 3 Scots
Centre fighting Centre
Below A Sqn TAC
A SQUADRON . Major Jonny Hanlon & WO2 (SSM) Russ Kimsey
Commanding Officers Foreword Continued
This small group of very
hard working and pa-
tient man and women are responsible for sus-
taining over 1,100
troops across the entire
Theatre. They process
all of Echelon Troops' paperwork and provide
the stores and equip-
ment that keep them
going. I am very happy with the Regiment's per-
formance so far, it is
early days, but they are
setting a very high stan-
dard and their physical
robustness, mental
strength and wilco atti-
tude has been remarked upon by all the units
that they have worked
with.
No foreword can be
complete without men-tioning the stalwart sup-
port from home. The
support from the fami-
lies and the QDG rear party is what keeps us
going when that extra
step, mile, report or
hour is required. We
are hugely grateful for all of the encourage-
ment from home and
we could not keep going
without the bed rock that is the QDG Rear
Ops Group and the
Home Headquarters.
the most enjoyable, yet
frustrating, jobs in Af-
ghanistan and whilst, for the most part, we are
Recce soldiers without
vehicles, we have had to
become infantrymen in
every sense of the word. The Squadron
HQ is based in FOB
SHAWQUAT, on the
site of an old British fort built at the time of the
Second Afghan war, and
the 5 TATTs are based
at Patrol Bases (PB)
within the Nad-e-Ali area Helmand. The
SQMS, SSgt Rob Jones is
our rear link, in Camp
Bastion and also has the difficult job of trying to
improve the Afghan sup-
ply chain but he comes
forward to visit us regu-
larly to ensure he does-n't loose touch with the
rest of the team! The
role of advisors is multi
faceted; a teacher, a friend and a problem
solver to both the Af-
ghan National
A Squadron have now
been on the ground for
almost two months and we are well settled in
our role as advisors.
There is real hope for
optimism here in Nad-e-
Ali district which has seen huge improve-
ments in security in the
last year or so. The Af-
ghan Army who we are all working with as advi-
sors have also come on
a long way and we all
are working hard to
build a strong relation-ship with them. Whilst
the Afghan culture is
very different the fact
that we are all soldiers gives us a common
bond, helped along by
their genuine hospitality.
It is almost impossible
to hold a meeting with-out being offered
„chai‟ (Afghan sweet tea)
or be invited to share a
meal. I have no doubt that we are in one of
Army (ANA) and the
ISAF troops (mainly
from 3 SCOTS) who we work alongside. The
ANA have just finished
celebrating their main
festival of the year
known as Eid. To help celebrate we gave the
ANA six sheep which
spent a few days roam-
ing around our camp before becoming the
centre piece in their
feast for Eid. Nad-e-Ali
will be in the spot light
over the coming weeks as the Afghans increas-
ingly take on responsi-
bility for security them-
selves in this district. Indeed last week we
were visited by the new
Secretary of State for
Defence, Phil
Hammond, who was very interested in our
role in developing the
Afghan Army.
T H E A F G H A N H O U N D
Above Commanding
officer at the remem-
brance service in
Lashkah Gah.
V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2 P A G E 3
A Sqn Advisor 15. Capt Jimmy Carroll & Sgt Des O Connor
Advisor 15 troop have now
well and truly settled into
the surrounds of PB Khaamar and all that it has
to offer. The troop have
been busy since the start,
with the survival of RSOI
and all the delights of dodg-ing those people in Bastion
who have too much time
on their hands and worry
about the un-ironed com-bats being worn! Our first
month was spent drink-
ing wets, eating in the
galley and spinning dits
about the merits of hit-ting the gym in hoofing
sunshine so to maximise
the Op Bronze potential,
as you could guess the Marines were in full flow
and amazed to see the
blonde locks of A15 Tp
Ldr. Much to the amaze-
ment of all on camp, in-cluding the ANA com-
mander the long blonde
hair was here to stay,
especially after the ANA CO ordered that it was not
to be cut. The Tp Sgt, Dez
O‟Connor, spent most of
his time batting off the
CSM with words to the effect “He won‟t cut his
hair for love nor money”!
The month with the Ma-
rines flew by and HAF Ops
came and went as quick as Sam Warburton lasted in
the World Cup Semi Final
game. The biggest issues
surrounding the ANA re-volved around John Bags
and their need for consid-
erably more than the aver-
age ISAF soldier, never be-
fore had I thought that I would be sat with a Coy
Comd and ANA Tly Comd
for 2hrs discussing the hab-
its of ANA soldiers and
their ablutions. The mix of
patrols and gym time cer-tainly ensured we had a
hunger when it came to
scran time, the chef here is
considerably better than
any in the Officers‟ or Sgts‟ Mess back in Dempsey and
the delights of rare fillet
steak have been whole-
heartedly enjoyed by all.
“ The Sight of
blankets and
mess tins
hanging off the
ANA bergans,
was something
like the YMCA
sponsored
walk” The ANA cuisine on the
other hand is somewhat hit and miss and not even a
starved Vanessa Feltz
would eat some of the
items placed in front of us, in particular the dried yo-
ghurt, the Afghan toe nail
bread is warmly received
and devoured whenever we
get the chance to eat it. It fell to one man to cut the
Vidal Sassoon sponsored
hair of Capt JC Carroll, the
outgoing RM CSM Jamie Miles. It was as if Mr Miles
Christmas‟ had all come at
once and the sound of
chainsaws and angle grind-
ers could be heard long into the night. With only
35 days of his military
career to push, Mr Miles had
never seen such long hair or
had the pure delight of shav-
ing it. Our new GH Coy ar-rived and we became the old
and bold, pulling up a sand-
bag at night and spinning dits
into the early hours about war stories with the Marines
(mainly about John Bags!).
With the arrival of the B
Coy, 2 Mercians, came our
very own QDG Doctor, Capt Sarah Crabb and Sgt
„Wisey‟ Naituku (ex QDG
medic), the Cavalry contin-
gent suddenly grew two fold. The ANA also revelled in
the arrival of the Doctor and
gave them a new reason to
attend the gym, albeit in an
observatory way only, but who can blame them. After
much debating we finally ca-
joled the ANA to patrol in
the vicinity of CP FOLAD
and overnight at the CP. The sight of blankets and
mess tins hanging off the
ANA bergans was something
like a YMCA sponsored walk through Dale Farm, but this
didn‟t have any bearing on
their effectiveness and pro-
fessionalism on the ground.
Sgt „Dez‟ had trouble staying on his feet and luckily
dodged the warm treats left
by locals in the irrigation
ditches. The patrol was a success and the ANA deliv-
ered much reassurance to
the local nationals in the
area, whilst also proving
their skills and drills and the hard work of lessons taught
by Sgt „Dez‟. We have all
been reminded on numerous
occasions about a special day, firmly marked on the
calendar, Capt Crabbs birth-
day.
Op Tora Panchai. Capt Arthur , Sgt Jones & Capt
Berry. Heavy Weapons Tolay.
P A G E 4
Celebrations started early in the day and the helicopter of mail that she had received
started to be unwrapped. Much to the delight of all the boys plenty of girl‟s maga-
zines arrived and are now staple reading in the loos. Capt Carroll found himself pre-sent shopping in the local Bazaar on a dangerous patrol to barter with the locals for
the finest make-up set available, his excellent knowledge of female cosmetics sur-
prised the local sellers and even with their Afghan Thursday night knowledge they
were not prepared for such a strong haggle. Sgt „Wisey‟ cooked a superb birthday
meal for the QDG contingent and has been voted in to replace our temporary chef who is more like Sweeney Todd (only 10 days until our regular chef returns from
R&R (Not that we are counting!)).
The winter months keep lapping at the door and the occasional cold night makes us
dream of having someone warm to cuddle up to, although the ANA keep offering and even Brig Gen Sheren Shah commented two in a bed was a viable option to his men,
we all dream of our girls back at home. Being away from home means we have
missed out on the rather ridiculously long build up to Christmas but even the BFPO
postal system has now registered that Christmas is rapidly approaching, hopefully they
will deliver all our presents on time if they were posted a month ago!! We will keep our fingers crossed that Santa makes it out here, otherwise it will be a case of feeding
up the fattest man and making him grow a beard in order to deliver us some Christ-
mas merriment. A15 Troop wish all those members of the QDG, families and friends
wherever they are a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all soon.
Advisor 15 Continued
Sgt Jones left, Capt
Arthur centre & Capt
Berry right.
T H E A F G H A N H O U N D
Late last month ele-
ments of A Squadron
took part in Op Tora
Panchai with the Heavy Weapons (HW) Tolay
of 3/215 Brigade. The
operation was to clear
either side of a main supply route in North
Nad Ali so that the Af-
ghan Uniformed Police
(AUP) could move up
behind the Army and search compounds for
insurgents. Once the
area was secure a team
of engineers moved in to build checkpoints which
would be manned by the
AUP.The Heavy Weap-
ons Tolay is a cross be-
tween what we would
think of as a support
company and an opera-
tions company. They are
equipped with a plethora of heavy weapons includ-
ing heavy machine guns,
82mm recoilless rifles,
SPG-9 rocket launchers and mortars. They are
the largest Tolay in the
Battalion and have a ma-
noeuvre capability on
Ford Rangers and up-armoured Humvees. The
HW Tolay deployed two
platoons of warriors
with Capt Arthur, Capt Berry and Sgt Jones 402
on the ground to advise
them. Squadron HQ and
the EHRT (Explosive
Hazard Reduction Team)
Advisers also deployed
with the Kandak (Battalion)
HQ in order to support
the operation. The opera-tion lasted for three days
and throughout the HW
Tolay displayed typical Af-
ghan enthusiasm.
Capt Arthur briefs the Tolay Com-
mander on ISAF
Capt Arthur with his heavy
wpns Tolay
Above Sgt O Conner
centre, on patrol
Op Tora Panchai Continued
P A G E 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2
The Advisers on the ground found themselves advising the ANA on the tactical
situation, navigation, resupply and also acting as a liaison between the ANA and the
other ISAF callsigns. On the first day one of the lead scouts found a pressure plate IED and the Afghan chain sprung into action sending forward the EHRT, the Afghan
counter-ied specialists. The IED was confirmed, evidence was gathered and then
destroyed in-situ with the help of Chief Petty Officer
Amaira. This showed that the ANA are capable of dealing with IEDs which is a
great step forward in their capability development and shows real promise for the future. Overall the HW Tolay completed their mission successfully and the AUP
now hold three checkpoints along the main supply route. This was the first time
the ANA and AUP had worked together in a major operation in Nad Ali and it was
a great achievement getting so many moving parts working together in unison.
Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) Capt Steve Day & CSgt Simon Patrick 2nd Troop
Having now been in thea-
tre and in the job for over
a month, the BRF are set-
tling in nicely. Life in Bas-tion is generally very good.
The food is fresh (though
starting to get a bit repeti-
tive already), our beds our comfortable and the mail is
certainly getting through.
We‟ve had a few com-
plaints from the lads about
the rules on hair cuts etc but unfortunately, this is
the price we pay for the
facilities we have. The
SQMS team are in the process of trying to make a
good thing even better by
sourcing TVs for rooms
and we have a full welfare
tent on the way, to include
TV/projector and a games machine. We just need the
contractors to install a
power supply and we‟ll be
up and running. Cpl LK and the SQMS‟s team get to
play Father Christmas on a
near daily basis when col-
lecting our mail from the
post room. Parcels and blueys from home are plen-
tiful, always appreciated
and a constant source of
morale for many. Unfortu-nately, the pace of life and
availability of equipment
make us getting in contact
with home slightly more
tricky but we do the best we can. On the subject of
the pace of life, things have
been very busy around
here recently. Being at a
constant state of readiness, we have a fair amount of
administration to conduct
on a daily basis and the OC‟s „Bat-phone‟ rings
regularly to „stand us too‟ for potential tasks. Mo-
tivation for these tasks is high as fortunately for
us, the results are quiet clear and visible. Some of the tasks that we have been asked to prepare for
have included assisting in the search for a missing
ISAF employee and the destruction of a large
amount of explosives that the intelligence team have managed to track down. There is a real
sense that this job will allow us to really help the
rest of the Task Force out here and make their
tours a lot safer.
The Heavy Weap-
ons Tolay
are equipped with
a plethora of
Heavy weapons
Above & Left BRF lads out on
patrol.
31.10.11 OB BURMA
P A G E 6
“CSgt Patrick
teaching on ranges”
BRF 2nd Troop Continued
We‟ve had various visi-
tors over the last month
which have included the CO QDG flying down
to congratulate us on a
successful operation and
promote Tpr Welfoot
to LCpl; and a team from the treasury who
wanted to know what
our kit is like, how
much we have to carry and whether we think it
is good enough. Though
our feedback on the kit
was good – we are well
supplied with excellent equipment out here – I
think they may have
been shocked by the
quantity of it and the amount that the men
have to carry when out
on the ground. The
weather remains very
warm during the day but temperatures are no-
ticeably dropping at
night time. Despite the
heat of the midday sun, the men of 2 Troop
have recently conducted
a very successful opera-
tion in the desert not
far from Bastion. Visiting
a couple of Bazaars and
interacting with a large
amount of Local Nation-als (LNs) as they go
about their daily rou-
tine. The LNs were
happy to see us and
very willing to discuss their problems and
hopes for the future.
Many of them are keen
to break away from growing poppy and find
a more ethical way to
make a living. To my
surprise, I found that
many of the lads really have been getting into
their language cards as
they are now capable of
starting conversations, giving instructions and
asking questions in
Pashto. Specifically LCpl
Griffiths has a talent for
getting the locals talking and LCpl Parker is now
in charge of asking the
hordes of local children
to stop trying to take things out of our
pouches. We‟ve also
developed a good sys-
tem for lowering men,
usually Sgt Greenwood,
down into caves and
wells to search for
banned items, recently finding a couple of Kgs
of Opium. Finally I need
to mention the recent
CASEVAC of Pte Cairns
who was wounded on 31 Oct 11. As soon as
this occurred LCpl
Pearce, assisted by LCpl
Grills, began administer-ing first aid and sending
information over the
radio so that the heli-
copter could land-on
and extract him.
Cpl Raco also played a fundamental part in this he-
roic effort which got Pte Cairns back to Bastion, to
what is unquestionably the best resourced hospital I have ever seen, in quick time. He received out-
standing treatment and despite breaking the bones
in his lower leg, he was back on-form, laughing and
joking with the rest of the BRF the next day.
Shortly after he was moved back to Selly Oak in Birmingham. We‟re hopeful that Pte Cairns will
make a full recovery, our thoughts are with him and
his loved ones and our thanks go out to those men
who looked after him so well.
Above Jackal Patrol BRF
Below Tpr Delana on patrol
T H E A F G H A N H O U N D
Above Sgt Doherty & Tpr Hicks.
Claymore range
Below Sgt Greenwood & White
LCpl Scott Grills
P A G E 7 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2
First I'm going to tell you about Camp Bastion:
We have extremely hot and dusty days here. It's so big we have to go around in buses! The food is of a high
standard. All the lads agree that the food here is loads better than the food back at Dempsey Barracks.
We have the luxury of Pizza Hut and KFC here which is nice after one of the long Ops we conduct. You'll be
able to tell who goes there the most in the end of tour pictures - most of us will have lost some weight and
saved some money, some will have done the opposite!
Now onto the BRF:
SSM Mark Hawtin is the lads‟ best friend; he doesn't let us have sideburns and makes sure you get your haircut
regularly, ensuring we are a professional organization. The BRF does have some very good perks. After every
operation you know you are coming back to your air conditioned room and double bed! As the nights get
colder the heating will make life nice and comfortable. What would I give to be living out of PBs with B Squad-
ron? Not a lot really!
Pte Hassell
Living out of the back of a Warthog in the desert:
We had just received orders for our next Op which involved deploying onto
the ground with the Warthog Group (WHG). A Warthog is an armoured ve-hicle made up of two carriages; the front consists of the driver and gunner/
commander; the rear has eight seats but you can just about squeeze a 6 man
team in the back with all of their kit. It is not exactly spacious and rather un-
comfortable. Once we were all loaded up into the vehicles we left Camp Bas-tion and set off for the Afghan desert. Within ten minutes of the journey
starting, the back of our Warthog was full of dust and the only thing we really
had going for us was that the air conditioning was still working-just! Once we
reached our destination, the WHG teams made sure the area was safe for us
to de-bus and we got out to complete any final bits of battle prep and eat some rations. We then did our best to get as much sleep as we could prior to
a very early start and the next days task. Above Cpl Raco, Pte Cairns & LCpl Grills travelling in a Warthog
Left Tpr Petre & Tpr Delana on patrol. Below Shura. (meeting with
the locals)
P A G E 8
“Squadron Leader I have
told you on a number of
occasions , I am taller than
you”
B SQUADRON Major Paddy Bond & WO2 (SSM) Rob Mansel
Saving the best until last
B Sqn is now complete
and on task in Afghan after completing the
RSOI course in Camp
Bastion six weeks after
the first formed QDG
group went through. Having read the first
addition of the Hound I
can report our journey
to Bastion went a lot smoother than most
with only a 2 hour stop
off at Cyprus; enough
time to use the free mo-
bile phones and have a brew. The Sqn took
ownership of their new
Scimitar 2 and Jackals in
the last few evenings of the RSOI, and as soon
as the package was
complete on the last day
the Sqn moved to their
new home in MOB PRICE. The Sqn 2IC
(Capt Mildinhall), Battle
Captain (Capt Cham-
bers) and SHQ Tp Sgt
(Sgt Wood) had been
working with A Sqn
9/12L since early October, working out how to make our
arrival as seamless as possible and bolting down anything
useful. Our first destination, Camp BASTION, is a huge military complex with its own runway, Pizza Hut, several
different Dining Facilities (DEFACs), thousands of troops,
a state of the art hospital and a bus service! All of which is
coated in a layer of chalky dust which is regularly blown
around into every corner of the tents and clothing. Whilst it was good to see the friendly face of QDG working in
the Brigade Troops Echelon (BTE), it was a relief to roll
out of the gates of Bastion (a journey in itself taking 20
minutes) and drive East on Highway 1 to our new home in MOB PRICE just outside Helmand‟s second city (and for-
mer Provincial Capital) Gereshk.
British troops. The boys
in the Sqn are working a
very busy schedule and spend periods of up to a
week out at any one
time they are more than
happy however, to take
advantage of the Danish welfare system when
not on patrol. The
KUFN is a particular
favourite; the Danish version of the YMCA it
has a constant supply of
filter
Fresh from the frenetic
training serials of our
Mission Specific Training (MST), it was hard not
to be suspicious of
every pile of stones,
every racing motorcycle
and to imagine “what if?” every time we
slowed down or the
radio chirped into life.
MOB PRICE itself is a multi national base with
a sprinkling of Danish,
American, Bosnian and
coffee, cake and slush
puppy with only a small
donation needed. The first three weeks
on the ground have
been both busy and suc-
cessful for B Sqn, the
troops are working in-dependently in different
areas around the
Gereshk valley. The
quick reactions of Sgt (Bitch) Davies and 3rd
Troop have resulted in
Above Cpl Cleater, Tpr Can-
ning & Tpr Parry” on a Jackal
T H E A F G H A N H O U N D
NATO SECRET REL ISAF
NATO SECRET REL ISAF
2
For COS ISTAR…
Nearly gone
Where’s the litter bin?
Mmmm. Burn
pit was
here…
Must delete all
other evidence of
H14 FR Sqn Good luck. Will be thinking of
you over beer in Cyprus
Some light Humour. “COS please keep
cool”
Left Sgt Thurston and Lt Williams in
CP Kalay North of Yakhchal
P A G E 9 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2
insurgents and 1 less IED Team operating in our area,
making it safer for both the local population and coali-
tion troops on the ground. 2nd Tp Ldr (Lt Gordon-Finlayson) has been proving Scimitar 2 is a capable vehi-
cle both against the IED threat and cross country. The
Sqn has also had the chance to come together almost
completely for Sqn operations. All of the work we have
been conducting has been hand in hand with our Afghani partners and it is encouraging to see how far they have
progressed since the last time the Regiment were in
Helmand on Herrick 9.
The Sqn is now fully focused on the job at hand and looking forward to making a difference to the area of
Gereshk before returning home to our family and
friends. Major Bond giving final patrol orders in FOB NICE,
sorry PRICE..
In 1919 a British Army fought through Helmond. It hasn’t changed much.
Lt Peter Gordon-Finlayson & Sgt Mitchell. 2nd Troop B Sqn
With the lingering aftertaste of coffee from the MOB Price cook house still fresh in our mouths, we loaded our
cocktail of different weapons and left the gates. The sun was rising through the dusty haze over the hustle and
bustle of Gereshk as we manoeuvred our mechanical beasts through the crowd. Some children wave, some ask
for water, most stare. As we cross the bridges over the River Helmand the acrid taste of Afghan dust fills our
mouths and cakes us in a facemask that many women would pay a fortune for. Highway one stretches before us
like a long leather belt strapped around the waist of Helmand Province, the throbbing life line stimulating eco-
nomic development. It is also the main transit route for ISAF forces going about our business and allowing us to
safely access more remote areas. It surely must carry a more sinister traffic hidden behind the dusty, scratched
windscreens of passing cars. Each wrinkled and weathered face observes us. The enemy must lurk in some of
these vehicles waiting to go about their malign work. The highway is like a no man‟s land, it is on nobody‟s side,
offering safe passage to our vehicles but also providing transit to the insurgents, running the gauntlet of dodging
check points. The markets and bazaars are filled with people although some, in more troubled spots have a less
carefree atmosphere than the comparative sanctuary of Gereshk. As we drive past I am captivated by the food
stalls and I wonder how the colourful fruits are produced from this arid and barren land.
I want to explore and experience the weird
and wonderful tastes of local produce but I am
checked by the sight of my pistol ready in my
hand and the uniform on my back. We will
always be different to these people and thus
our overarching mission of transition to the
Afghan security forces is reaffirmed in my
mind. As we reach a preplanned point, we
leave the highway and head north tracking into
the open desert. We follow the course of a
vast dry river that in a few months will once
more flow with water. For the time being
however it is our vehicle tracks that flow over
the river bed, negotiating the ditches and sand
banks.
Above Lt GF, (comd) LCpl
Hatton (operator)
Tpr Griffiths (driver)
P A G E 1 0
Lt Gordon-Finlayson Continues
Before long we leave the wadi and head up into rolling desert hills curiously peppered by
round pebbles half buried in the sand. This could be the undulating moors of Scotland although
the heather, grass and bog are replaced by sand, rocks and the interminable desert sun. Iso-
lated compounds appear over the crests of hills and the ancient walls made of sand look as if
they have grown out of the desert floor itself. A lurid slash of greenery marks the flow of wa-
ter from a well that sustains these remote communities. We reach a patrol base and the com-
pany of infantry based there are delighted to see us and our little tanks, as our presence in the
area has the effect of silencing the enemy. Rightly so, the insurgents fear us and our lethal ca-
pability. Wherever we go, those who would seek to harm us melt away; they can‟t match
tackling us head on. It is thrilling to know that simply by turning up, we have provided the
brave and long suffering infantry boys with some respite.
T H E A F G H A N H O U N D
Life back in MOB Price is comfortable, with the Danish cafe providing a central meeting place for Brits,
Danish, American and Bosnian soldiers alike. It is a strange spectrum of cultures and military customs
on display: the bearded Danes, the square jawed Americans with their peaked caps, and the Slavic Bos-
nians seemed perplexed by a Welsh accent and our ceaseless banter. Our morale is insatiable and car-ries us through incidents that should seem grave.
I left the gates and completed the familiar routine of loading weapons and announcing our departure
over the radio. This patrol however would be a little more exciting than I was anticipating. Gereshk
held its usual visual delights of rusty, aged lorries carrying loads that seem improbable, cars balanced
teetering on the roofs of buses and various farm animals crammed onto the back seats of cars along
with family members. We drove on by, waving to children and nodding greeting to the omnipresent
Afghan soldiers that man the many check points. Upon leaving the highway my vehicle led the small
convoy into the desert. We rolled over dunes and peacefully cut through the sand as if skiing through
virgin snow. A convoy drove slowly along a track nearby going in the opposite direction. The peaceful
scene was suddenly shattered by a huge explosion and the entire world seemed to shake as if it had
been seized in the grasp of an angry baby. It took a few seconds to realise what had happened. To
start with I was indignant that my reflections should be shattered so violently. After what seemed like
a long time, although must really have been fractions of a second I felt fear, a thrill of excitement, relief
at being unharmed and then composure. The vehicle skidded to a halt and I immediately checked the
status of the other crewmembers. My operator, LCpl Hatton was holding his elbow but said he was
fine so I turned my attention to the driver. Tpr Griffiths initially did not answer and I feared the worst.
However after a second or two he answered my worried calls by appearing out of his hatch with a
camera and immediately took a picture of me! I instinctively grinned at him like a goon and the result
is a very obscure picture!
Right LCpl
Hatton Scimitar
Operator
P A G E 1 1 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2
The vehicle had dealt with the blast fantastically well. In fact al-
though the damage looked severe from the outside, the hull of
the Scimitar was almost untouched. The training that had seemed
endless before our deployment kicked in like second nature. We were back in Price within the hour and I then had the unenviable
task of apologising to my troop corporal, whose vehicle I had
borrowed for the day. I had not brought back his treasured steed
in the same state in which he had lent it to me. To make matters worse, that particular wagon bore the signature of Cheryl Cole,
from her trip to Afghanistan over the summer. I owe her a letter
of apology.
In the true nature of young men in a thrilling job, seeking and
finding great adventure, we relished the story telling that ensued.
Although we were clearly very lucky to walk away totally un-
scathed, there was no room for remorse or fear. We were
elated by our survival and considered it a victory over those who
would try to harm us in such a cowardly way. The next move is
ours in this great game and we will not miss.
Regimental Headquarters. 20X ISTAR FIND GROUP. Lashkah Gah.
Many readers will be familiar with
the film Shawshank Redemption star-
ring Morgan Freeman and Tim Rob-
bins. In it there is a scene where a group of prisoners who have been
sweating hard to tar a roof get a
moment to relax in the last rays of
a setting sun, beer in hand, and re-flect on a job well done. Almost all
of QDG RHQ have now managed
to travel outside the four walls of
Brigade Headquarters to other
bases, and have experienced that moment of breathing the fresh air
of a patrol base many kilometres
from emails and PowerPoint brief-
ings. We know how those prisoners must have felt – though sadly there
is no cold beer for us, and if an es-
cape tunnel from MOB Lashkar Gah
is being dug then your correspon-
dent has not been let into the se-cret. On a serious note, it is impor-
tant that the busy bees of HQ get
out from their ivory tower from
time to time to visit the troops on
the ground, who are, after all, the very purpose of our planning, co-
ordinating and intelligence analysing
work. This also gives the welcome
side effect of being able to draw breath away from what can be
a frantic schedule. Reports
that a certain high-ranking
individual in the Regiment
found it difficult to draw breath during a demanding
phys session with the Brigade
Troops Echelon in Bastion
remain only a rumour at this
time – but we all know that if
three people have heard it
then it must be true! It must be said, though, that life in the
Brigade HQ is nothing less
than exciting, as critical deci-
sions made every day not only affect the shape of the cam-
paign for years to come. The
ISTAR Group is an integral
part of Task Force Helmand
and it is immensely satisfying
to see that the sub-units are living
up to the high level of performance
the Commanding Officer is promis-
ing they can deliver when tasks are dished out at a mission planning
meeting.
Among personal news, Sgt Rouse is
looking nothing less than a new man owing to his strict DQA diet
– look out Staff Hughes! Meanwhile
the CO is formulating the DQA
diet Mk 2 which consists mainly of
other people‟s sweets. He‟d like to emphasise that the Velcro slit he
has had tailored in his shirt is to
make it easier to draw his pistol
and not bars of Dairy Milk. Capt Alex Seys and Flt Lt Ben Sola are
running the Model Aeroplane Ap-
preciation Society from Bleep HQ
in Room 20; although membership
so far stands at two, they confi-dently expect a deluge of applicants
any time now. Marginally more
successful is yoga (run by a civvy
from the PRT) which regularly has
three or four QDG attendees. Dis-appointingly all the pretty girls who
were there a few weeks ago have
stopped coming – they must have
been posted elsewhere.
Above Cheryl Coles signa-
ture.
P A G E 1 2
Regimental Headquarters Cont Due to the staggered deployments, chuff charts
show anywhere between a quarter and a half of the
tour completed. Whatever it is, we have the bit well and truly between our teeth now, apart from
the CO who is obviously holding the reins. We
have stopped counting how long we have been here
and started counting how long until R&R. It‟s not
too long now and we are all looking forward to seeing our loved ones again – and maybe enjoying a
cold beer or two.
T H E A F G H A N H O U N D
QDG Forward Air Controllers Op Herrick 15
Sgt Gareth (Sub) Thomas.
After a very long and varied
MST QDG FAC‟s deployed
to Herrick in good spirits.
Although being „‟owned‟‟ by 26 RA all the QDG FAC‟s
bring a great level of ex-
perience to an otherwise
untested group of FAC‟s. Capt Charlie Robinson sits
in Widow Toc which in
valley commando speak is
like the taxi office for get-
ting hold of planes and air-space, Capt Jimmy Hoenich
is busy (and somewhat frus-
trated) at a patrol base
somewhere in Nadi ali beasting himself in the gym
and is involved in
“influence” whatever that
is. Sgt „‟Sub‟‟ Thomas is
locked away within a com-pound within a compound
within a compound work-
the target support group
with his new friends from a
pleasant market town on
the welsh borders. How-ever, rumour has it he is
now has a customer loyalty
card from British aerospace
for his excessive use of Hellfire missiles. Sgt Chris
Whitehead has established
himself a nice little flip flop
wearing job at PB Attal. He
won‟t be there long al-though he doesn‟t know it
yet and a slightly busier
time awaits him (without
flip flops). Sgt Jon Patchett is attached to B Sqn via the
Danish Battlegroup, confir-
mation of his Aston Martin
ownership has been asked
by the Danish Air liaison Officer, the jury is out on
that one.
Cpl Jon Davies is one of
the BRF FAC‟s; he has been
shooting up the local suspi-
cious looking fields with UK Apache attack helicop-
ters. We wont forget L/Cpl
„‟Moggsy‟‟ Morgan and Tpr
„‟Suds‟‟ Sudlow , both of them are working at MOB
Lashkar gah with 618
TACP. Luckily for them
they are members of the
QRH CF so a certain Cav-alry brotherhood exists.
Although Moggsy has been
bitten by a tsetse fly and
sleeps 20 hours a day. All in all we are in good
shape, most of the key po-
sitions within the TACP/
FAC slots at 20 Bde have a
major QDG influence and long may it continue.
A little piece of Yorkshire in Helmand Province.
Capt James Hoenich
As the sun sets on the Yorkshire Rose in Nad Ali, I am made to feel incredibly wel-
come by A Coy 1 YORKS despite the never ending jibes about being Cavalry and the
constant offer of a haircut from the Company Sergeant Major.
“QDG FAC’S
bring
a great
level of
experience to
the party”
P A G E 1 3 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2
The Company, who are
fulfilling the role of a ground
holding sub-unit, also pro-vide some of the Force Pro-
tection for our native QDG
Advisors from A Sqn. The
Yorkshiremen and women
have now been in theatre for just over a month now
– which means medals for
some and another day
crossed off the calendar for others. On completion of
the RiP with B Coy 2RGR, a
unit with which the QDG
had built an outstanding
relationship on Op HER-RICK 9, the conditions
were set to move another
step closer towards Transi-
tion of Lead Security Au-thority to the Afghan Na-
tional Security Forces –
which in turn means Nad
Ali District moves closer to
finding a peaceful and se-cure resolution to the years
of conflict the region has
suffered. The Company
Commander Maj James Glossop has been very clear
in his direction to achieve
the „Gold‟ standard and is
intent on continuing to
build upon the huge success the Ghurkhas have achieved
in Nad Ali Centre West –
an area of significant impor-
tance when you consider it
plays home to the District Centre, District Governor
and Battle Group HQ – a
place best avoided unless
visiting the QDG KATT
HQ in their adjoining ANA compound for a native Bora
da! Advisors Captain Berry
and Sgt Watson have no
doubt been tested by their Afghan counterparts, how-
ever, following numerous
planning sessions and litres
of chai everyone is now
singing from the same hymn sheet. Lt Khalid has flour-
ished under the watchful
eye off the QDG KATT and
is now content to take the lead, his warriors growing
with confidence each day.
This is no doubt a direct
result of the excellent low-
level training cascaded down by the Advisors –
running First Aid, C-IED
and Patrol Skills training, as
well as some fairly interest-ing range packages. None
the less as time passes by it
feels as A Coy and the Ad-
visors have merely become
passengers on the motorcy-cle driven by an ANSF am-
bition to take ownership of
security across the Area of Op-eration in Nad Ali. From an Air
perspective things in Nad Ali are
deafly quiet – not to say there is
no work for a workshy JTAC –
as A Coy continue to execute partnered and deliberate opera-
tions, the role of the Forward
Air Controller becomes one of
influence and investigative sol-diering, developing Pattern of Life
surveys and providing an aerial
deterrent for any „would-be insur-
gents‟. Other consent winning
activities have included a Husky vs. Sheep celebrity death match
which culminated in buying road-
kill sheep in order to maintain
relationships. If all else fails, there‟s still scope for a low and
noisy fly past of Battle Group
HQ!
BTE LAD REME is an extension of the BTE and is located within Camp BASTION.
We are directly under control of 20X BEME (the Brigade Electrical and Mechanical
Engineer, a Major who controls all REME at Bde level) and we support independent sub-units that belong to the Bde. There are 8 sub-units we support; the main ones
are QDG (BRF, FR Sqn), 5 RIFLES Armoured Infantry Coy and QRH Warthog
Group, are our biggest customers who seem to break quite a lot of equipment. In
addition, we also support the Artillery with their various specialised sub units
(remote controlled planes, big guns, hot air balloons etc). All our fitter sections are located with their sub units outside of Bastion. We speak to them on a daily basis,
managing their repairs and maintenance from our HQ location. This also involves
giving them guidance and advice on repairs and current issues we have with the vehi-
cles. Look forward to Cfn O‟Neil‟s report on his G1098 store next time. We have truly settled in now, and have a routine. Besides regular conferences with our de-
pendencies, we conduct the odd advisory visit to the units on the ground. This last
month has been about physical exertion, muscles, power and endurance.
TFH LAD Capt Frazer Alexander
Capt James
Hoenich
poses with
his load
tested boots
Below WO1 (ASM) Andy Thompson puts Cfn O Neil through
his paces
P A G E 1 4
Brigade Troops Echelon WO2 (RQMS) Lee Bilner PWRR
TFH LAD Cont 15 Tyre-flips across the
compound! Every member
of the LAD has tried this strength-endurance test
and I can tell you, it doesn‟t
get any easier. The aim is
to flip a truck tyre that
weights about 100kg 15 times and the challenge is
to do it as quickly as possi-
ble. Besides the tyre flips,
the OC ran in the US Ma-rine Corps Marathon, Cfn
O‟Neill tabbed around
BASTION, completing the
DANCON 25 km loaded
march and the AQMS went to the Physio. Q has
been given some arduous
stretch exercises, he re-
sembles a Buddha engulfed in his karma, practising
Yoga. He does the exer-
cise in the nude out on in
the yard when the sun
comes up. His favourite stance is the one legged-
superman. Meanwhile the
ASM is keeping trim once a
day (early morning PT is not his cup of tea). A bit of
advice for all budding ath-
letes out there; prepa-
ration is half the battle.
Cfn O‟Neill was beaten to the finish line by the
more junior AGC clerk
Pte Lane. If only he had
prepared his feet better
Besides the AQMS‟s yoga, spirituality is com-
mon practice in the HQ
LAD. The ASM has
been reading God‟s little book of Peace and likes
to share his master‟s
lectures with the sol-
diers. The Guru‟s
monthly message is: “Remember, there is one
greater than you, in
whom all fear dissolves”.
He is the ASM. Don‟t worry, the LAD has not
become a sect with a
disillusioned, neurotic,
psychotic ASM (when
dealing with infidels who do not adhere to
simple principles of ES,
mainly the RAF, he will
adopt such qualities). He does however, take
pleasure in punishing
Cfn O‟Neill with Tyre
flips. Cfn Rayner has now
come to HQ LAD from B Sqn‟s Fitter Section. His
main task is to get massive
and in his spare time he is
fixing vehicles. A look
forward is the upcoming seasonal period with the
Danish Contingent‟s race
series (marathon, ½ mara-
thon and 10km) on the second Sunday in Advent.
The LAD is entering 4
people so far; OC, ASM,
Taff and Muscles.
Newsflash: This just in, Cfn O‟Neill had been
pleading with his masters
to get out of Bastion. We
allowed him to do a tail gate drop off for some
much needed equipment
in Kharnika. For some
reason, the helicopter had
to take off without him. A tearful Cfn O‟Neill rang,
forcing back the tears say-
ing he wouldn‟t be in
work the next morning. Lets all hope he has his
sleeping bag with him.
& G4 support to the for-
ward elements. Major Paul
Corfield has completed his mandatory 28 days in
theatre to earn his Afghan
medal and is settled back
in Germany as OC QDG
ROG, whilst Capt Stu „The Laminator‟ John has
arrived into the BTE fold,
bringing a little bit of Ger-
many with him, and amuses the Department
conducting PT in his socks
and sandals. Major
Brigade Troops Echelon
(BTE) has now settled into
routine at Camp 251 in Bas-tion with all the dependen-
cies having pretty much
taken over, with the last ele-
ments of Herrick 14 on their
way back home. The multi-cap badge organisation of
QDG, PWRR, YORKS, AGC
(SPS) and RLC that make up
BTE have come together, and figured each other out.
We are now working as one
polished team providing G1
„Trigger Time‟ Tyson still
parades the Dept at 0615
to conduct PT pretty much everyday with a view to
getting everyone ready for
the Olympics in 2012.
T H E A F G H A N H O U N D
WO2 (RQMS) Lee
Bilner PWRR running
BTE ranges
LCpl Tupou heavy weapons
ranges
Above Capt Frazer
Alexander (EME) win-
ing the US Marine Corps
Marathon
P A G E 1 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2
Major Tyson celebrated his
birthday in style in late Oc-
tober courtesy of Sgt Alwyn Bancroft who sweet talked
the Master Chef for a
chocolate cake – which we
all had to burn off the next
morning during sprint train-ing around Bastion. LCpl „T‟
Tupou amongst others also
celebrated her birthday in
November with a big chocolate cake, inhaled
mostly by the G1 staff. Pull-
up‟s have been taken on by
everyone as a pull-up bar
has been placed outside the back of the G4 tent which
has become a pre-requisite
to having a smoke break.
The working day tops out around 15 hours a day, 7
days a week providing a
„Tesco‟s‟ style approach of
forward Sub-Units demand-
ing kit and equipment, BTE collecting it and pushing it
out forward. At present we
are turning over around 7
million pounds worth of kit each month. The day is usu-
ally broken up around 1600
when Pte Stacey „Bag-of-
Spare Body Parts‟ Lane de-
livers the post and the guys in the office walk around
like the Women‟s Institute,
sharing cakes and sweets to
everyone that have been
received from our loved ones. In and amongst all
this, we are still re-defining
Camp 251 by emptying and
getting rid of ISO contain-
ers left over from previous
HERRICKs. This is proving
to be a lengthy process, however towards the end
of the tour we should be
conforming to the austerity
measures that TFH want to
achieve. Training is also tak-ing place in the margins of
day-to-day running of BTE,
WO2 RQMS(T) Lee „P-
Dub‟ Bilner ran ranges for the Dept in the early part of
Nov consisting of a snap
shooting with rifles and pis-
tols preceded by a couple
of hours getting some fa-miliarisation on HMG, GMG
and shotguns. Visiting the
forward locations is now
starting to take place now we have settled into routine
which breaks the monotony
of Bastion routine. First out
of the door was Capt Mike
„Weapon of choice‟ Day; BTEs very own well sea-
soned and fully operational
RAO, followed then by
Trigger Time Tys, WO1 (RSM) „Pull the Pin‟ Paul
Jones and WO2 Jase „The
Ace‟ Wilcox who ventured
out into the dangerous
depths known as MOB PRICE. You‟ll be thankful to
know that they all returned
safely with no injuries, how-
ever they all sit together in
the cookhouse now giving everyone the „1000 yard
stare‟ and stroking their
imaginary „tasches now they
are hardened Afghan vets!
We are pleased to an-
nounce the return of the Capt (Adjt) Harry Pilcher,
who decided, having only
been in theatre three weeks
to take four weeks off, and
still ask for R&R. The re-sults of his biopsy showed
some foreign body like sub-
stance lodged in his system.
This had nothing to do with his frantic Olympic training
regime, oh and a just meat
diet. There is however, no
one more pleased to see
him that Capt Mike Day, who is clearly very relieved
at the prospect of only hav-
ing to deliver the output of
1 very busy RHQ staff offi-cer instead of 2 and to get
some sleep – the RAO has
even made a few brews in-
stead of relying on the team
and random visitors to belt feed him copious caffeine!
Christmas is looming next
month and preparations are
underway to make it as en-joyable as possible with
plans of secret Santa and
skits. The BTE R&R rota-
tion has started with LCpl
Kev „Boaby‟ Young getting asked to explain the very
large phallic shaped object
detected in his daysack
whilst going through the X-
Ray machine at Heathrow. The moral of the story is to
NEVER leave your bags un-
attended!
Above Major
Jerome Tyson
cuts his
birthday cake,
old git
Left Cpl Sky
Korovulavula firing
his pistol
LCpl Tackle berry
Hanbury waiting to
fire on ranges
P A G E 1 6
Explosive Ordnance Detachment & Search
(EOD). LCpl Jackson. (The Dirty Dozen) Well we are now about
two months into Op Her-
rick 15 and we seem to be keeping up with the fast
tempo of a busy opera-
tional tour. The lads are
now fully integrated with
there teams, and spread around the area of opera-
tions from the smallest
check points (CP) to the
comforts of FOB price (nice). Tpr Harry finds him-
self stuck in camp Bastion,
most of the time. This
however is not to his liking
as he is at present on ten minutes notice to move, as
part of High readiness
force (HRF or Quick Reac-
tion Force (QRF) for a find of an Improvised Explosive
Device IED). I don‟t think I
have ever seen him so
busy, but he still finds time
to get to the gym on Op-eration massive .. . .not that
its working mind you.
Apart from all the time in
gym trooper Harry has managed to get out on the
ground with his team help-
ing to clear IEDs from
within Helmand Province.
The biggest success for Tpr
Harry so far was when he
received a call out to the NES South area, where he
and his team cleared a
truck carrying a large
amount of HME and bomb
making equipment (BME), which was said could make
up to 400 IEDs. This was
successfully handed over
to the Afghan National Se-curity Forces (ANSF) as
part of joint operations. He
has also been involved in
recent successful Special
Forces and BRF operations. Tpr Carroll is working in
the taskforce QM`S depart-
ment where he runs the
expense store and he sticks to his word of stores are
not for storing. Tpr Car-
roll, I have been told has
mastered the art of giving
kit away, but he continues his daily battle with Uni-
com. (A stores demand
system for Kit and equip-
ment). Maybe he will get it by the end of the tour.
The rest of the dirty dozen
as we are affectionately
known as in taskforce are
spread about Helmand, and
are getting stuck into every-
thing thrown at them, re-sponding to 10 liners (IED
find), and the day to day pa-
trols with kit up to 65kg in and
around the green zone. It has
proved to be challenging and demanding but we have
proved that The Welsh Cav-
alry are up to the challenge.
The boy´s are now starting to look forward to their R&R.
Tpr Robinson has found him-
self on the first slot, which he
was happy with until he real-
ised he still had 4 months to push when he gets back. . .
chin up boyo.
T H E A F G H A N H O U N D
BELOW LEFT Tpr Harry In NES
South.
BELOW RIGHT HME Find
“ We found
enough bomb
making
equipment to
make 400
Improvised
Explosive
Devices”
1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
Coming soon
A lot of thought has gone in to the development of Regimental branding. Some new designs are shown here for the
first time. Left: Welsh Dragon for the Daysack or Commanders pouch. Centre: QDG cap badge which will be
sewn on the side of the issued floppy hat. Right: The new QDG Tactical Recognition Flash, bringing us in line with
the future of the Regiment as we join with the Infantry in DCOMBAT. We are hoping to receive the badges early next year, and they will be issued free of charge courtesy of the Commanding Officer. There is a further design in
the pipe line for a spread eagle.
Photographs of the Regiment and attached arms currently deployed on Op HERRICK 15
“ISTAR Gp Take a visit to the gym in Lashkah Gah”.
“ What would you choose”
Quote of the Month
“The best argument against democracy is a
five minute conversation with the average
voter" - Winston Churchill
Births
Congratulations to: Maj Stenhouse and Lucy
Harry George Arthur on 14 Oct 2011 weighing in at
8lbs 4oz
Sgt Ruddock and Nina Ryan 14 Oct 2011 weighing in at 7lbs 2oz Tpr Sudlow and Alex Grace on 10 Oct 2011 weighing in at 7lbs 11oz Tpr Delana and Emele Inoke Raluvou on 17 Oct 2011 weighing in at 6lbs 8oz Lcpl Dean Hanbury and Carina Miley May 2nd November 2011 weighing in at 7lb
Lookalike Corner
BRF OC
QDG WRIST BAND Op HERRICK 15 2011/12
Prices:
£1.50 $2.00 Euro 2.00
Contact the Unit Welfare Officer (UWO)
Capt Kelvin Thomas on the following e-mail:
QDG-HQ-UWO @ MOD.UK
Also available at HHQ
We are on the Web ! Contact the RSM QDG on:
rsmqdg@hotmail.com
“He wants your stories”
Joke of the Month
This week's entry
So I said to the Gym instructor "Can you teach me to do
the splits?" He said, "How flexible are you?" I said, "I can't
make Tuesdays". Peter Kay