Part 2 - Op Panther's Claw: Lt Col Stephen Cartwright, CO Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

The final air assault and armoured thrust - 20-27 July 2009

It seemed apt that, having been involved at the very start of the British strike in Babaji, we should be allowed to take part its finale. Once again, we were given enough Chinooks to lift the aviation element of the Battlegroup in a single wave. As with our first battlegroup operation, the key lay in surprising the insurgents.

“The Battlegroup for this operation consisted of Alpha (Grenadier) Company, 3 SCOTS, C Company, 2 R WELSH mounted in Warrior fighting vehicles (their role mentioned above) and Assaye Squadron, Light Dragoons, in armoured recce vehicles; 500 personnel and 60 vehicles.

A Company swooped on the target area by Chinook, Charlie Company led an armoured punch in through the Green Zone (the first of its kind) from the east using Warrior armoured fighting vehicles. They were joined by Assaye Squadron. Our logistics tail followed up in Mastiff troop carriers and armoured trucks.

It became immediately clear that the Brigade plan had been a huge success. The isolation of the area and the success of the Light Dragoon Battlegroup’s battle in the North East had taken its toll against the insurgent. Both the aviation assault and armoured manoeuvre avoided the expected IED screen and the remaining insurgents realised that they were completely overmatched by the combat power and melted into the ‘Green Zone’.

The local population was initially cautious but slowly they realised that ISAF intended to stay in the area for good and became very helpful. In turn, we provided our doctor to start conducting medical clinics. The Light Dragoons even organised a football afternoon which attracted 30 youngsters.

Further to the west in our operational area, A Company was dominating the insurgents’ old ground. Shuras were arranged quickly and the relationships are developing well. The insurgents mounted a lame attack on the night of 24th July but they were quickly overwhelmed by the A Company. C Company did a fantastic job of clearing a supply route north, linking us up to the Luy Mandah Wadi that the Battlegroup seized at the start of the operation. They found several IEDs laid waiting for them, which their attached bomb disposal officers destroyed in situ.

Tragically, our luck ran out on 25th July when my Fire Support Group, who had re-inserted into the area in Jackal vehicles, hit an IED. One soldier was killed and several others wounded. Another IED also caused injuries. The Fire Support Group had been searching for potential polling station locations for the Presidential elections, underlining stark contrast between the aims of the Battlegroup and the insurgents’ aims in the area.

Throughout the next 48 hours it became clear that there were insurgent IED teams operating in the area and several inadvertently killed themselves whilst laying devices. A Company continued to dominate the ground, understand the locals’ concerns and kill insurgents, wherever they could find them. The Battlegroup extracted by vehicle and Chinook early on 27th July.

It has been an immense operation; emotionally and physically exhausting but exhilarating at the same time. As the Regional Battlegroup (South), I am delighted that 3 SCOTS have contributed so much to 19 (Light) Brigade’s Panther’s Claw. I am certain that everyone in the Battlegroup will look back in a few years to an extraordinary operation when we did our jobs in the most demanding environment.

The main factor of the success has been team work from the lowest infantry section to the whole Brigade.

I am very proud of my jocks, gunners, sappers, redcaps and signallers. Their contribution to the UK’s summer offensive has been outstanding. The Battlegroup’s attention now turns to other operations in Southern Afghanistan but we will never forget those that they gave their lives during this one.

Operation Panther's Claw: Lt Col Stephen Cartwright, CO of The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Operation Claw

First air assualt into key drugs bazaar - 20 June 2009

The Battlegroup was privileged to be given the task of breaking into the Babaji area at the start of Operation Panther’s Claw. We knew the enemy had laid an IED screen to the north of the area so I decided to launch an audacious air assault of 2 aviation strike companies behind the insurgent forward defences.

To achieve tactical surprise, the Battlegroup used 10 Chinook helicopters and inserted 350 men at 3.30 am on 20 June in one wave. It was very successful and we had occupied defensive positions of our own by first light. The remainder of the Battlegroup, in armoured and wheeled vehicles, approached from the north to link up. However, the enemy were watching us and began their assaults from 7am targeting our positions with a mixture of small arms fire (SAF) and rocket propelled grenades (RPG).

These initial attacks delayed our link up but we consolidated our positions and defeated the enemy with our ability to overmatch their weapon systems. Our snipers were particularly effective in these early hours, although we did require support from guided rockets and attack helicopters. B Company to the West secured the compounds that dominated the wadi crossing and A Company to the East cleared the drugs bazaar of 15 IEDs whilst under harassing fire.

It was during this operation that an ANA soldier, Wahid, was tragically killed by an IED as the Company cleared to the extremities of the bazaar. Lance Corporal Stacey Quinn, a medic, was first on the scene, but despite her best efforts he died shortly after the explosion. Despite this setback, we successfully brought in our armoured vehicles, our logistics and the engineer equipment required to build the force protection. The aviation assault was supported by fast air, command helicopters and UAVs and given its complexity was an overwhelming tactical success.

For the next four days we consolidated our bridgehead into the insurgent held territory and pushed them further to the south. The Royal Engineers built a protective ‘Hesco’ Bastion wall across the wadi to control the population and to prevent the insurgents from escaping to the North. It was quickly nicknamed ‘Hadrian’s Wall’. B Company began to establish their operating base by building up the fortifications. Sporadic attacks continued every day and although we were in a defensive posture, the companies pushed forward with aggressive patrols to afford us the initiative that is so vital for a defensive battle.

On the second night, up to 30 insurgents assaulted A Company in the bazaar but were beaten back after a 2-hour engagement. A conservative estimate would suggest that over half of their force was killed in this engagement alone.”

C Company, in their Jackal vehicles, pushed to the West and seized the top of the Shamalan Canal in preparation for the link up with the Welsh Guards. They too had to deal with a determined and persistent enemy who realised that they were losing their dominance of the area.

After the engineer work had been completed, the majority of the Battlegroup extracted to Bastion, leaving B Company to cover the whole area with their 180 personnel. They dominated the area, constantly keeping the enemy on the back foot and won every engagement. More importantly they starting engaging with the local nationals to the north of the wadi and established positive dialogue with the aim of getting them to return to their homes as soon as the fighting had ceased. Our contribution ended when B Company handed over area to No 2 Coy Welsh Guards on 4 Jul.