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Black Watch returns to Basra base
The 850-strong Black Watch battle group has pulled out of Camp Dogwood and returned to its base in Basra. There was controversy when its troops were deployed near Baghdad a month ago to back US operations, but Tony Blair said the country was proud of them. They are expected to return home within the next week. Five troops were killed during the deployment in central Iraq. Lt Col James Cowan who led the mission said: "Their deaths are something we will never forget." Three soldiers died in a suicide car bomb attack along with an Iraqi translator, another in a roadside bombing and one in a road traffic accident. A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister believes the country can be very proud of the job the Black Watch have done in difficult circumstances."Lance Corporal Danny Buist, 29, from Arbroath, said: "I'm very happy to be out of Dogwood but the operation isn't over until we're back in Scotland - that's when the fat lady sings, when we are back with our families. "When we touch down in Edinburgh I'll be singing I can tell you." He added that he would like to think their mission had made a difference "for the sake of the guys we lost. I think we have done something good to hopefully make this country safer." Lance Corporal Thomas Rennie said: "I can't wait to get back to Scotland for Christmas and New Year and Hogmanay. It's going to be brilliant. I'm going to drink as much beer as possible and get the kilt on and get out on the town." Corporal Alec Wilson, 27, from Fife, who was had to postpone his wedding planning for this month said: "The first thing I'm going to do is go for a curry." The British commander who sent the Black Watch north told the BBC last week that other British units could be redeployed to other parts of Iraq in the future. With respect to the men who gave their lives during the posting, I think it's appropriate to borrow and adapt some of Churchill's words to comemorate this occasion: Never in the field of human conflict has so much fuss been made by so many about so few... Posted by: Bulldog 2004-12-04 |
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