"It has been an honour to lead these men," says Lt-Col Cartwright.

Interview: Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Cartwright, Black Watch commander

AS Black Watch troops prepare to return home from Afghanistan, their commander speaks to Stephen McGinty about the regiment's experiences
IN A corner of Kandahar airfield, amid the whop-whop-whop of Chinook helicopter rotors and the roar of the engines of Hercules transport planes, sits the headquarters of the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland. It is a wooden hut and when temperatures at the base, Camp Roberts, reach their highs of about 55C, the building is lost amid the shimmer of a heat haze.

For the past seven months this has been home to the battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Cartwright, from where he has planned mission after mission in the districts of Babaji, Zhari and Nahr-E-Saraj, exotic place names now as familiar to his soldiers, from Perth, Dundee and Inverness, as the names of their own towns.

But today the maps, once pinned to the walls of the planning room next door, are gone, the computers have been removed and the battalion is preparing to return home this week after a long, hot summer in which it participated in the bloodiest fighting for a generation. The troops have fought by the bodies of comrades killed in action and heard IEDs explode in the distance then listened to the radio crackle as medics try in vain to save a fellow soldier. They have hung to canvas straps inside Chinooks and flown through the Afghan night as part of the largest aviation assault in recent British history, and fixed bayonets in readiness for close-quarters combat. Along the way, a Black Watch sniper applied "the lead sleeping tablet" to a Taleban insurgent from a distance of 1.2 miles, and so claimed a macabre record.

"It has been an honour to lead these men," says Lt-Col Cartwright. "I am incredibly proud of their achievements."

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3 SCOTS thwart Taliban to recover US Chinook

Soldiers from Alpha (Grenadier) Company of The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS), have fought off Taliban attackers in order to facilitate the recovery of a US Army Chinook helicopter.

When the helicopter of the US 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade suffered a hard landing on difficult ground in the Upper Sangin Valley, troops from 3 SCOTS were mobilised at short notice to secure the crash site.

A number of UK and Afghan troops had been on the troop-carrying aircraft but thankfully, although it was badly damaged, no-one was injured.

In a bid to secure the area, recover the airframe and to prevent it falling into Taliban hands, 120 men of Alpha (Grenadier) Company were flown to the desert site.

However, as a specialist US recovery team set to work to prepare the Chinook for extraction, insurgents began to mass.

Air cover was called in and devastating strikes by US attack helicopters and A-10 jets killed and injured several insurgents; one badly injured insurgent was subsequently treated by 3 SCOTS' medics and evacuated by helicopter to an International Security Assistance Force medical facility.

This was sufficient to discourage the attackers and the rest of the day passed off without major incident.

With the crash site secured the helicopter was extracted just as the light began to fade; it was underslung beneath another helicopter and slowly lifted away to the safety of Kandahar Airfield.

An hour later the men of Alpha Company followed on and returned back to base.

Major Matt Munro, Officer Commanding Alpha (Grenadier) Company, said:

"I'm delighted that this operation went so well.

"Given that we have worked so closely with the American aviators of the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade throughout our seven-month tour I'm pleased that we were able to play an important part in the recovery of one of their airframes.

"It was a team effort that highlighted our high levels of preparedness and combat-readiness."

Major Neil Kugler, Operations Officer of Task Force (TF) Tallon, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, said:

"The troopers of TF Tallon and the Jocks of The Black Watch, 3 SCOTS Battle Group, developed a great professional relationship over the past four months during the conduct of numerous combat air assault operations.

"It was fitting that the final combat mission in Afghanistan for The Black Watch was to recover one of our damaged aircraft."

Lance Corporal Aaron Graham, aged 20 from Kirkcaldy, and a Section Second-in-Command in 1 Platoon, said:

"This was unlike any other job we have done out here. Once again we produced the goods and were pleased to keep the Taliban firmly on the back foot."

3 SCOTS have been based in Kandahar where they took over as the Regional Battle Group (South) in April 2009. They are now coming to the end of their deployment and returning to the UK in the next few weeks

Young soldier speaks of intense Taliban battle

Pic: Private Declan Walton during a training session at Camp Bastion, Helmand province

A recently-recruited Scottish soldier has spoken of his role in an intense contact with the Taliban in Babaji district, Helmand, during which two colleagues from his company tragically lost their lives.

Private Declan Walton, aged 18, a rifleman in 2 Platoon, Alpha (Grenadier) Company, had not long completed his basic training when his unit deployed to Afghanistan with The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) Battle Group.

During an operation when his platoon had been tasked to set up a defensive screen to provide the Royal Engineers and Welsh Guards with protection as they closed an old checkpoint and crossing point on the Shamalan Canal, Pte Walton found himself in the middle of an intense battle with the Taliban.

The operation began on 30 August 2009 when, under cover of darkness, 3 SCOTS had moved into the enemy-held area and settled in among the compounds which would provide them with protected firing positions at dawn. Pte Walton explained:

"We'd been told to expect a robust enemy, but it was soon clear there were lots of them and they were very well organised, as well making it difficult to identify where they all were."

Pte Walton was one of the first on the roof to return fire when the Taliban launched their attack:

"I had just taken over sentry duty when a rocket-propelled grenade [RPG] was fired at a neighbouring compound. I was looking for where it had come from when an enemy fighter stepped out from a compound 250m away and fired another one at us," said Pte Walton.

"It all happened so quickly, but we were soon sending machine gun rounds back in his direction."

The tough training Pte Walton had completed to join his platoon on tour soon paid dividends:

"We have a good understanding of their tactics and, having found them, we quickly regained the initiative," he said. "Once we had returned accurate fire to keep their heads down, we were able to call in mortars to destroy their positions."

Two members of Alpha Company, Sergeant Stuart Millar and Pte Kevin Elliot, were killed in the first RPG attack, but with steadfast courage Pte Walton and his comrades continued the job in hand:


"It was a real shock, but you just have to focus on what needs doing," said Pte Walton. "Unfortunately it is a reality of what we do here."

"We killed a lot of Taliban fighters in those two days, but it doesn't change the fact we lost two good soldiers too."

After the checkpoint was closed and the bridge successfully blown, the Scottish troops were lifted by Chinooks back to Kandahar Airfield for a few days' rest and preparation for their next operation.

Speaking from Camp Roberts in Kandahar Airfield, Pte Walton said he was relieved to be back but admitted that he was 'still buzzing with excitement':

"It's good to have a chance to pause and reflect on what's happened and say your goodbyes," he said, "but I'm looking forward to getting back out there."

Scots soldiers smash Taliban bomb-makers' stronghold

Hundreds of soldiers from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS), launched an 'audacious' night-time assault on an insurgent stronghold in Kandahar province, finding an 'Aladdin's cave' of weapons.

Almost 500 soldiers, including Afghan Warriors and Canadian IED (improvised explosive device) experts, swooped into Howz-e Madad in Zhari district in three waves of six Chinook helicopters in the early hours of Monday 14 September 2009.

The masses of troops landed almost within touching distance of enemy positions, causing chaos and mayhem among the insurgents who were quickly engulfed by ISAF forces.

Supported by British, Canadian and American fast jets, attack helicopters and unmanned drones co-ordinated by experienced fire controllers from 40 Regiment Royal Artillery, the soldiers touched down in an area known to be one of the biggest insurgent strongholds in southern Afghanistan.

The insurgents opened fire, initiating a series of intense fire fights. Air support proved vital to the soldiers on the ground, as Private Kevin Murphy recalled:

"The weight of fire from the aircraft was staggering; it was like a fireworks show as heavy-calibre cannon and rockets ripped into the tree-lines around us as the insurgents tried to regroup; some of it was very close to us but we had total faith in the pilots above."

As dawn broke on the first day, Alpha (Grenadier) Company began to exploit the compounds that they had assaulted. They found an 'Aladdin's cave' of insurgent ammunition, 28kg of explosives, medical supplies, communications equipment and weaponry.

The finds included two motorbikes rigged as suicide bombs. Significantly, a grenade-launcher and recoilless rifle, both of which had been used effectively against coalition forces in the area for some months, were also recovered.

Meanwhile, Bravo Company had broken into three insurgent defensive lines to link with Alpha Company. They fought off insurgent counter-attacks to hold their ground. Corporal Jim Copeland said:

"The insurgent's defences were extraordinary. The wadi was lined with dug-in bunkers with interconnecting trenches, rat-runs and tunnel systems.

"IEDs laced the ground to their front. To the rear, the buildings had carefully constructed sniper positions and nearby hides were found where they cached their weapons.

"All around, strike marks in the walls told the story of where previous coalition assaults had attempted to dislodge the insurgent."

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British troops 'clear Taliban stronghold'

Troops conducting one of the British military's largest operations in Afghanistan have cleared a Taliban stronghold in the south and are encouraging villagers to return, an officer said Thursday.

About 12 British and US Chinook helicopters dropped 350 British troops into the Babaji area of the southern province of Helmand at midnight Friday, in the largest British-led air assault operation in Afghanistan.

"The operation continues to be successful and we are now encouraging the locals to return to the area to benefit from the improved security and freedom from Taliban control," British Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson told AFP.

Babaji is about 12 kilometres (eight miles) north of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand -- a vast desert province that shares a porous border with Pakistan across which militants are said to enter the Afghan insurgency.

The British troops working with Afghan forces had "pushed the Taliban out of one of their strongholds," Richardson said.

There had been some engagements that had caused fatalities to the insurgents but none to the troops, he said, without giving figures.

The Afghan defence ministry reported Wednesday that troops had killed 25 "terrorists" in days of operations in the area.

Richardson said Afghan locals had known about the operation and many had left ahead of the troops.

"The local people had been warned by a variety of means that there was an operation about to happen to allow to them to avoid the fighting," he said.

Helmand is perhaps the most intense battlefield in Afghanistan's insurgency which has grown apace since the hardliners were removed from government in a US-led assault in late 2001.

Attacks are at a record high in Afghanistan with a growing number of Afghan and international security forces on the ground, which the military says is stirring up insurgent nests.

The violence has led the United States to announce a new strategy in Afghanistan which includes deploying 21,000 troops, mostly into the south where forces have previously been unable to hold areas after driving out insurgents.

The security forces have meanwhile redoubled operations ahead of the August 20 presidential elections, which authorities fear could become a target of the insurgents.

Black Watch storm Taleban stronghold - Times

By Charlene Sweeney, Tom Coghlan

The Black Watch, whose experience of combat operations goes back to the Battle of Fontenoy and the Peninsula War, yesterday claimed success after taking part in one of the largest air assaults in its long and distinguished history.

The night-time attack was launched with the aim of seizing a Taleban stronghold in western Helmand province, and was carried out by 350 soldiers from 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland (the Black Watch), flown in by British and American Chinook helicopters on Friday at midnight against Nad Ali, a western district of the restless province.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Cartwright, Commanding Officer of The Black Watch, described it as “a major air assault operation with a large number of helicopters, both UK and US.” He added: “The Black Watch met some resistance but we were able to establish a firm foothold in the area.”

Black Watch digs in after daring swoop on Taleban's heartland - Scotsman

By Jerome Starkey in Lashkar Gah, Helmand

HUNDREDS of Scottish troops were consolidating their positions yesterday, following a daring airborne operation to seize a vital piece of territory in Helmand from the Taleban.

Around 350 soldiers from the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, swooped into Babaji, in central Helmand province, on a wave of Chinook helicopters, backed up by Apache gunships, American Black Hawks, Harrier jets and unmanned drones.

Officials said they overwhelmed Taleban fighters who tried to defend a series of key bridges into the district, as engineers worked through the night to build a chain of combat outposts for the Afghan security forces.

The regiment's commanding officer, Lieutenant Stephen Cartwright, said: "The Black Watch met some resistance but we were able to establish a firm foothold in the area."

The airborne assault began just before midnight on Friday. The initial wave of troops were reinforced by around 150 soldiers including a further company of Black Watch and Royal Engineers who drove in convoys of Viking armoured vehicles, along with soldiers from the Afghan National Army.

Afghan commanding officer General Ghulab Mahayudin Ghuri said:

"There was a Taleban commander with around 60 men, who was attacking police checkpoints. At least 25 of them were killed."

The farmland, just eight miles north of the British base at Lashkar Gah, has been largely beyond the reach of UK and Afghan forces until now. Babaji sits between Helmand's two main towns, but it was cut off from government control by irrigation canals, used to water its poppy fields.

Refugees from the fighting claimed at least two British vehicles were destroyed during the attack.

Mohammed Nabi said: "There were two vehicles on fire, and soldiers patrolling everywhere."

Colonel Nick Richardson said troops found more than 1.2 tons of poppy seeds, which are grown for opium and turned into heroin. They also seized bomb-making equipment and home-made explosives during house-to-house searches. He said the operation was only possible because of the US surge into southern Afghanistan, which he said would "change the balance" in Helmand.

Most of Britain's troops are confined to patrolling close to their bases while the Taleban enjoy freedom of movement across huge parts of the province.

"This operation has been achieved in many ways due to the arrival of extra US troops into the south of Helmand, which has provided Isaf (the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force] with a massive increase in capability," he said.

Although Britain has around 8,300 troops in Afghanistan, only 4,500 are based in Helmand. The Americans are expected to outnumber them by the end of the summer.

Helmand governor Gulab Mangal said yesterday that security for the August general elections was his top priority. Col Richardson added: "This operation is all part of the wider Isaf plan to deliver that."

The Black Watch are based in Kandahar as a region-wide reserve for Isaf.

The operation in Babaji, code-named Panther's Claw, follows similar operations close to Lashkar Gah designed to flush out Taleban fighters who tried to storm the city last year.

But until recently, a shortage of "boots on the ground" has made it impossible for either Nato or the Afghan security forces to hold ground.

"It was very easy to capture this area, but it will be much harder to hold it," Gen Ghuri said.

It is not yet clear how this operation will impact the Taleban's ability to operate. The Black Watch are expected to occupy the new outposts until the Afghan police are ready to take over.

In Lashkar Gah, police were last night guarding a culvert, less than 100 metres from the British HQ, where they had found a roadside bomb.

In Ghazni province, two civilians were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a convoy of international troops, while further north three charity workers were killed when their car hit a roadside bomb in Jowzjan province.

In Khowst, in the east, six people were also killed in two coordinated explosions in Khost.

VIDEO - 3 SCOTS launch massive air assault - ITN

British soldiers are taking part in Operation Panther Claw, a huge airborne assault on the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

3 SCOTS repel sustained Taliban attack

Scottish soldiers have found a large quantity of Taliban weapons and drugs in an arduous six-day operation which saw them coming under sustained enemy attack for several hours.

Under the cover of dark, troops from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) were dropped by helicopter into Kandahar Province on 10 June 2009 in an operation called Op Tora Arwa.

The Battle Group came under sustained attack for several hours from insurgents using machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) yet repelled the attacks to amass the large finds.

In all, the unit found numerous weapons including AK47s and pistols, AK47 magazines, anti-personnel mines, 1176 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 150 rounds of 9mm ammunition, explosives as well as 118kg of wet opium, 190kg of marijuana, and 110kg of marijuana seeds.

Tragically, during the deployment, Private Robert McLaren, from the Isle of Mull, who had recently joined the unit after passing out from training, was killed by an improvised explosive device.

Major Matt Munro, Officer Commanding Alpha (Grenadier) Company, said:

"Op TORA ARWA 1 was an enormous success. We emphatically achieved our mission of disrupting the insurgents, we secured the area and killed large numbers of insurgents and found and denied large quantities of his equipment and material."

"The operation was overshadowed by the tragic loss of 20-year-old Private Robert McLaren. He was a huge talent and, despite his tender years and inexperience was very highly regarded.

"He was killed by the blast from an improvised explosive device as he manoeuvred forward under accurate enemy machine gun and rocket fire in order to support imperilled colleagues. He was the epitome of a proud and effective Highland soldier. He will be sorely missed but never forgotten."

Renowned as the "heart of darkness" by ISAF commanders, the Black Watch deployed into the region from six Canadian Chinook helicopters in the early hours backed by Canadian artillery and American jets.

Operating in rugged terrain, blistering heat and under intense weight from body armour and other equipment, Maj Munro expressed great admiration for his troops.

"The Jocks are awe-inspiring. It is very hard soldiering out here and the boys are shouldering huge weights in very high temperature for days at a time in a complex, demanding and dangerous environment."

In addition to Pte McLaren, two soldiers from the Afghanistan National Army were similarly killed by an IED, and other soldiers were injured in the blast that killed Pte McLaren.

Despite the losses, the morale amongst the troops is buoyant. Private Liam Salter, aged 19 on his first tour of Afghanistan, said:

"These were the most difficult six days of my life; mentally, physically, and emotionally, definitely the hardest, but also the most exciting and rewarding."

The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS), took over in Afghanistan as the Regional Battle Group (South) on 10 April 2009 from 42 Commando Royal Marines.

The battalion is responsible for supporting a variety of operations across the whole of southern Afghanistan, not just those of the main UK Task Force in Helmand province.

The battalion will be based within Camp Roberts at Kandahar Airfield for their deployment and will work directly to the Dutch-led divisional headquarters known as Regional Command (South), part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force.

Kandahar is home to the forces of seven nationalities within the ISAF coalition and contains a huge array of supporting equipment.

Private Robert McLaren killed in Afghanistan

It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a Private Robert McLaren from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS), was killed in Afghanistan on the morning of 11 June 2009.

Pte McLaren aged 20 years old from Kintra, by Fionnphort on the Isle of Mull, was fresh out of infantry recruit training. He was schooled at Bunnessan Primary and then Oban High School. Pte McLaren joined the Army in November 2007 and trained first at the Army Training Regiment in Winchester and then as a Royal Engineer in Surrey.

Pte McLaren ultimately decided to pursue a career as a Scottish Infantryman and attended and comfortably passed the Combat Infantryman's Course at the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick. He passed out of Seven Platoon on 3 April 2009 and was posted to The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland on operations in Southern Afghanistan.

Pte McLaren's family said:

"We are very proud of Robert; he died doing a job he loved and we will cherish fond memories of Robert for ever."

Commanding Officer 3 SCOTS, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Cartwright said:

"Private Robert McLaren has been cruelly taken from us after only four weeks of active service in The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

"The Battalion was conducting an offensive operation against the insurgents in one of the most dangerous parts of the southern Afghanistan. His Company had been engaged in close combat with the insurgents for several hours and Robert had displayed enormous physical courage during this battle for one so young.

"He gave his life for his friends with his selfless commitment, moving forward in the face of a determined and ruthless enemy.

"From the moment he arrived he threw his heart and body into everything he was asked to do. He completed three large operations with his Company and he made an immediate positive impression with his JNCOs (Junior Non-Commissioned Officer).

"Fit, keen to learn and easy company, Robert had so much going for him and was so proud to be on operations so soon in his career.

"Any death in this close knit Battalion delivers an emotional body blow, but the loss of this young man so soon after joining us has hit us particularly hard."