Soldiers from the Tidworth-based 1st Battalion the Royal Horse Artillery (1 RHA) returned from a six month tour of duty in Iraq. The one hundred and sixty men and women were attached to Chestnut Troop and B Battery.

The Chestnut Troop operated the gun line and three of the massive AS90 self-propelled guns to defend the British camp at Basra Airport, and soldiers from B Battery re-roled as infantry and worked with Iraqi town councils and Security Forces to help improve the security and living conditions of local people.

Many thanks to Spire FM for the use of their audio for this production, listen to the homecoming of 1 RHA, Click here.

Background to 1 RHA Iraq tour:
First Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (1 RHA) served on Operation TELIC 10 with 1 Mechanized Brigade between the months of May and December 2007. 1 RHA re-roled from being an AS90 Artillery Regiment to performing the function of an infantry unit working in an area south of Basra, which was the size of Yorkshire.

The variety of terrain that the soldiers operated in varied from urban areas in Az Zubayr to the rural/urban interface of Basrah to the open desert to the coast and the port of Um Qasr. All posed different challenges and in whatever circumstance or environment the Battle Group rose to those challenges.

The Battle Group was over 430 strong and primarily made up of soldiers from 1 RHA and 522 Squadron, 23 Pioneer Regiment who were based in Um Qasr. 522 Sqn were replaced later on through the tour by A Squadron of the Household Cavalry. 1 RHA was also well supported by a number of other cap badges including Royal Engineers, Royal Army Medical Corp and a number of TA and Reservist soldiers.