Coldstream Guards return from Afghanistan duty

Apr 30 2010 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

SOLDIERS from the North East returned home yesterday after risking their lives to carry out a dangerous operation in Afghanistan.

Troops from 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, some of whom are from the region, returned to their base in Aldershot, Hampshire, following an operational tour.

During their deployment five members of the battalion were killed along with two other members of the wider battle group attached to it.

Those who lost their lives included Guardsman Michael Sweeney, 19, from Blyth, and Sergeant John Amer, 30, of Sunderland.

Yesterday battalion adjutant Captain Jamie Russell, 29, said the homecoming was “tinged with sadness” because of the casualties.

In the last operation before their return, the battalion teamed up with Afghan Security Forces to conduct a helicopter operation to search a village suspected to be held under insurgent control. As soldiers on the ground approached one side of the village in south Malgir – just north of the Helmand River – a secondary force was lifted in two Chinooks from Bastion and inserted to the south of the village.

This second force then swept north, to eventually meet up with the ground troops.

The Battalion’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Toby Gray, said yesterday: “The deployment of Coldstream Guardsmen on aviation operations in Babaji has paralysed the Taliban in the area and reassured the local population.”

Afghan Security Forces spearheaded the operation, speaking to locals and conducting searches of village compounds looking for any signs of insurgent activity.

A British Army search dog, Caspian, also helped them in their hunt.