Battalion to head out to Afghanistan for fourth tour

SOLDIERS from a battalion which recruits mainly in Notts and Derbyshire are to make their fourth tour of Afghanistan in October.

The 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Battalion (Worcesters and Foresters) will fly out to Helmand Province to take part in Operation Herrick 15.

It will be the third time in five years that they will have fought the Taliban in Helmand. They first went there in 2007 and again in 2009.

In 2005, they were based in the capital, Kabul, and in the north of the country.

Today the battalion, which is based in Belfast, was expected to receive a visit from its Colonel-in-Chief, Prince Charles.

Pte Cameron Jowett, 25, of Kirk Hallam, has served his country with the battalion on all the tours.

His mum, Liz Jowett, said she was not surprised by the announcement of a fourth tour.

She said: "Cameron has been to Afghan in 2005, 2007, 2009 and so we expected to hear he would be going again this year. We accept that it is part of his job but it doesn't stop us from thinking about how it will be for him when he is out there.

"Cameron has a son now who is two, so we hope that he and all of the boys in the battalion come home safe both physically and mentally."

On the Mercians' last deployment to Afghanistan, in 2009, five members of the battalion were killed. They included Kieron Hill, 20, from Clifton, and Private Gavin Elliott, 19, of Woodsetts, near Worksop.

And in 2007, nine of their number died at the hands of the Taliban, including Drummer Thomas Wright, 21, of Ripley, and Pte Brian Tunnicliffe, 33, of Ilkeston.

Judith Wright, Drummer Wright's mother, also hopes this year's tour see the battalion return home casualty-free.

She said: "Me, Tom's dad, sister and brother wish them all the best of luck and we hope they all come back safe.

"They are doing a brilliant job and we will support them as much as we possibly can while they are out there fighting."

The Mercians are recruited from Notts, Derbyshire and Worcestershire. The exact details of what their roles will be are yet to be announced.

In 2009, about half of the battalion's 400 soldiers were fighting on the front line while other small pockets of soldiers were embedded with the Afghan national army to train.

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