1st Battalion
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Op Luff - Belfast
18th March 1992 to 30th June 1992
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1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Op Luff - Belfast 18th March 1992 to 30th June 1992
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All photographs are the property of RHQ Argylls and may not be reproduced or copied without permission from RHQ Argylls.
The Battalion receiving orders on 14 February 1992 to prepare to deploy to Belfast and take over from the Spearhead Battalion, 1 RHF, on 22 March 1992. The Battalion was reorganised over the weekend and began training on 16 February with one day of presentations about operations in Northern Ireland given by SOTAT (BAOR). The reconnaissance party left for a short visit to 1 RHF in Belfast later that day and the Battalion moved to Sennelager to prepare to begin the Northern Ireland training package the following morning. After completing a reduced training package, some continuation training, run at company level, and leave for an extended weekend, the Battalion began to deploy to Belfast on 18 March and were complete there on 22 March. The tour lasted for over fourteen weeks and handed over to 2 PARA on 30 June.
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1. a b c d e f g h i j
The purpose of the deployment was to participate in OPERATION LUFF, which was the reinforcement of the Army presence in Belfast by an additional battalion in order to better support the Police in deterring terrorists from placing bombs in the city centre and carrying out sectarian attacks. A and Support Companies were put under command of 7/10 UDR and lived at HMP Maze, near Lisburn. A Company supported the Police in the Dunmurry, Finaghy, Malone and the Markets areas. Support Company operated in a similar manner in Ballymacarrett, Lower Ormeau and the University areas of the city. Both B and D Companies were put under command of the Belfast Roulement Battalion, which was our task during the Battalion's last tour in Belfast, between December 1990 and May 1991. Accordingly, B and D Companies reinforced 1 PWO and, subsequently, 1SG. A reduced size Battalion Tactical Headquarters and an Echelon were based at HMP Maze with A and Support Companies. Such command arrangements, whereby a battalion's soldiers are tasked directly by officers of another battalion, so avoiding the chain of command within the reinforcement battalion, are not ideal; to be successful, considerable tolerance and cooperation was required by both parties to such an arrangement and, inevitably, it was difficult to ensure those arrangements withstood the pressures inherent in an operational tour. It is therefore considerably to the credit of all those concerned that the battalion completed the tour without a major disagreement between it and those under whose command our young officers, NCOs and soldiers operated.
Fortunately, despite the command arrangements, the battalion were able to achieve some Argyll - only success against the terrorists. Most notable perhaps was the arrest of a known terrorist red-handed on 15 May after he had thrown a blast bomb contained in a coffee jar at a patrol of the Anti Tank Platoon on Mountpottinger Link, adjacent to the Short Strand in Ballymacarrett. Fortunately, no one was injured. A rapid follow-up, in which the members of the patrol intercepted the terrorist's escape route, and some excellent terrorist recognition by members of the patrol, enabled the soldiers to close with the terrorist suspect and secure his arrest and the preservation of all possible forensic evidence. It was a textbook example of a follow-up operation in an urban area and it set the standard for many of the subsequent patrols by all the companies. Major Sandy Wade's personal discovery of a Mark 12 Mortar, which was ready for use in the Ballymurphy Estate, during the last patrol by his Company on the evening of 28 May, probably saved lives. That find, and the frustration it caused to the terrorists, provided an appropriate conclusion to a successful tour.
2. a b c d e f g h i j
By comparison, some may consider our other successes to be relatively minor, but they all happened as a result of good patrolling and alertness by members of the Battalion. This was another successful tour for the Battalion and, under the circumstances, the young officers, NCOs and the soldiers deserve full credit for all that they achieved. Members of the Battalion were closely involved in a total of fourteen serious terrorist incidents. Twenty one members of the Battalion were injured on operations, fortunately none of them seriously. Most injuries were from stones and bottles which were thrown at patrols or vehicles. Because, in general terms, much of B and D Companies' administration was effected through the battalions for which those companies worked, only a small Echelon was required. Because the Battalion Tactical Headquarters did not exercise operational command its manning was reduced to the minimum. Similar reductions were made in the size of every Company Headquarters. Consequently, the Rear Party in Minden was much larger than is normal during an operational tour. Major Alastair Campbell, the Second in Command, commanded the Rear Party.
3. a b c d e f g h i j
If anyone can put names to faces with rank, company, date and location. Please e-mail with page name, row number and picture letter to ayoung287@msn.com
Updated: 11 October 2014