The 2009
Afghanistan tour of the Black Watch
3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
During their 2009 Operation Herrick tour, The Black Watch’s role was
to raid into Taliban insurgent heartlands, rather than ‘hold ground’, like other
battle groups. Working directly to Regional Command South and with all Coalition
helicopter forces available, the Battlegroup was dupped the ‘flying squad’ by
the media as it took the fight to the Taliban with aggressive aviation assaults
I both Helmand and Kandahar Provinces.
The book charts the experiences of the Battlegroup from its training,
deployment, its thirteen operations including raids into the Sangin Valley, the
Battlegroup’s one wave assault at the start of Operation Panther's Claw and
Battle Group fighting patrols in Kandahar Province, an area known as the ‘heart
of darkness’; it reflects on its losses and its home coming. The book is written
by the young men of the Battlegroup who were individually and collectively asked
to do extraordinary things in the face of an highly experienced and ruthless
insurgent; they were not found wanting.
With the use of photographs, stories and letters, the book explores
the paradox of combat and the boredom of waiting; the calm of camp life and the
chaos of battle. The book exposes the humour, the grief, the hardshipand the
camaraderie experienced by our soldiers on the front line of modern
warfare.
Representing the UK in coalition operations across Southern Afghanistan, the Battlegroup’s reputation was
characterised by humanity and restraint in combat, complemented by ruthless
ferocity when required.
