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Duchess visits 4 Rifles
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| Camilla watches the mechanised platoon attack from a BULLDOG armoured vehicle. |
THE Duchess of Cornwall donned a combat jacket to join 4th Battalion The Rifles at Bulford camp on Monday.
From a BULLDOG armoured personnel carrier, the Duchess, Royal Colonel of 4 Rifles, watched a demonstration of a mechanised platoon attack. After the soldiers in the six armoured vehicles finished the demonstration, she met and spoke to them about the vehicles, the equipment used on the battlefield and their lives in 4 Rifles.
The battalion returned from operations in Iraq in December last year, during which four of their soldiers were killed and 72 were injured.
Before the attack demonstration, the Duchess presented medals and certificates to members of 4 Rifles who were awarded gallantry and commendations after their recent tour to Iraq.
Lieutenant Charlie Kilner was awarded a Joint Commanders Commendation. He had only been in Iraq for seven days when a member of his team was shot by a sniper during a search operation.
Lt Kilner and another team member immediately attempted to rescue the injured man under constant heavy fire during which he was shot in the arm and Cpl Rodney Wilson being killed outright.
Cpl Lee Miller was awarded a Long Service and Good Conduct medal. He joined the army in 1990 and joined the 3rd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets after completing his training. He continued his service with 2nd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets and 4 Rifles. Throughout his long service his conduct has been exemplary.
The Battalion is now conducting re-training as a Mechanized Infantry Battalion, equipped with the new armoured fighting vehicle, the BULLDOG. They will then take up the role as the Small Scale Focussed Intervention Battle Group, which could see them deployed anywhere in the world. After that the Battalion will start pre-deployment training for another operational tour to Iraq or Afghanistan in late 2009.
The Duchess also met the wives and children of some of the soldiers at The Beaches Community Centre.
5:31pm Monday 14th July 2008
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CommentPosted by: cindy, darkest Corsham on 6:47am Tue 15 Jul 08
Camilla and a Bulldog? Isn't that the breed with the flat, wrinkled face?
Camilla and a Bulldog? Isn't that the breed with the flat, wrinkled face?
Posted by: Bri, Arlington on 3:07pm Tue 15 Jul 08
The photograph of The Duchess of Cornwall that accompanies this article is stunningly beautiful -- and a fine counterpoint to the very stirring speech the Duchess delivered in December to the enormously brave 4th Battalion The Rifles on their return, less five fallen comrades, from Basra, Iraq, in late 2007. "I am proud of you, and proud to be British" -- these are some of the words The Duchess spoke then, and all to great effect upon soldiers who needed very badly to hear them, and it seems to me that so should we all be this: proud of these incredibly fine soliders, who operated in the most hellish conditions known abroad, and proud of their Royal Colonel, who has, in the words of her own soldiers, "bled right along with us," as she followed their work in war so closely, and as she quietly, steadily and loyally has written, quite movingly and quite personally, to each of The Rifles that was injured and to each family that grievously suffered the loss of a loved one to the fiery maw of war. Camilla's father was himself a soft-spoken but brave and twice-decorated soldier (Cross and Bar) in WWII who even spent time as a prisoner of war in Germany; he clearly bore the scars of war on his body until the day he died, just two years ago, and we were deeply proud to see The Duchess, his strong and loving daughter, wearing her father's 12th Lancers badge at the Veteran's Day ceremonies in Blackpool last month. As her Battalion prepares for another operational tour to Iraq or Afghanistan in late 2009 (God bless each one of 'em), they will be in the fervent prayers of our great big family of regimental and nonregimental members alike, and we are thankful for the The Rifles to have the undying support of most of the British people and also the support of their royal -- and most loyal -- colonel.
The photograph of The Duchess of Cornwall that accompanies this article is stunningly beautiful -- and a fine counterpoint to the very stirring speech the Duchess delivered in December to the enormously brave 4th Battalion The Rifles on their return, less five fallen comrades, from Basra, Iraq, in late 2007. "I am proud of you, and proud to be British" -- these are some of the words The Duchess spoke then, and all to great effect upon soldiers who needed very badly to hear them, and it seems to me that so should we all be this: proud of these incredibly fine soliders, who operated in the most hellish conditions known abroad, and proud of their Royal Colonel, who has, in the words of her own soldiers, "bled right along with us," as she followed their work in war so closely, and as she quietly, steadily and loyally has written, quite movingly and quite personally, to each of The Rifles that was injured and to each family that grievously suffered the loss of a loved one to the fiery maw of war. Camilla's father was himself a soft-spoken but brave and twice-decorated soldier (Cross and Bar) in WWII who even spent time as a prisoner of war in Germany; he clearly bore the scars of war on his body until the day he died, just two years ago, and we were deeply proud to see The Duchess, his strong and loving daughter, wearing her father's 12th Lancers badge at the Veteran's Day ceremonies in Blackpool last month. As her Battalion prepares for another operational tour to Iraq or Afghanistan in late 2009 (God bless each one of 'em), they will be in the fervent prayers of our great big family of regimental and nonregimental members alike, and we are thankful for the The Rifles to have the undying support of most of the British people and also the support of their royal -- and most loyal -- colonel.
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