Black Watch roar into action

Bravo Two Zero troops were among the first out on the operation

It was the day The Black Watch chose to take prisoners.

But hours before Operation Tobruk unleashed 700 of Camp Dogwood's finest on Iraq's worst, Corporal Alex Wilson was in no mood for peace.

Standing on top of his Warrior Fighting Vehicle he switched on the Tannoy and blasted Scotland The Brave over a battle group of nervy squaddies and edgy officers.

As the sun went down on Camp Dogwood, Cpl Wilson addressed fellow soldiers screaming Black Watch battle-cries like: "C'mon lads. All I need now is a kilt - c'mon the devils in skirts," referring to the nickname given them by German troops puzzled by the sight of kilts.

Squaddies and non-commissioned officers joined in, singing along to Scottish pipe music.

Hours later he and the lads of Bravo Two Zero were screaming across the Iraqi desert into battle, one of the first assault vehicles in and the last one out.

'Calm nerves'

Stopping at a rendezvous point Platoon Commander Second Lieutenant Chris Baddeley, 23, leant down from the turret asking for a cigarette.

Stun grenades were thrown into some of the houses during the raid

He and the driver Kenneth Brown, 22, and gunner Lance Corporal Colin Edwards got a barrage of verbal, although it was clearly well-humoured.

Then the vehicle was off again, belting up and down undulations like the most uncomfortable fairground waltzer in the world, hurling us all over the wagon, everyone cursing driver Browney, everyone lighting up another cigarette, everyone cursing the foul atmosphere, everyone cursing the bitter cold and then lighting up another cigarette in the dim light.

There was no escalation in nerves as they had all seen it all before down in Basra and Nasiriya.

As the vehicle slowed down the dismounts, 18-year-old Privates Wayne Hardy and Phil Duthie started donning their helmets, ever-cursing the cold, the Iraqis, the Army, the smoke-filled atmosphere.

Action

Suddenly the Warrior was increasing speed, belting down the road. Then we stopped. The hydraulic door yawned open and the dismounts, the two privates, jumped out ready to set up the cordon.

Cpl Wilson oversaw the barbed wire cordon shouting: "Well done lads," proud of the professionalism of the two soldiers.

Another Warrior belted down a lane, smashing though a wall soldiers jumping out, hurling "flash bangs" into a house, kicked the door in and screamed for the men to show themselves.

Minutes later the Black Watch were out shouting "clear," a man each pushing two terrified-looking and handcuffed Iraqis along the road.

Black Watch holding 'insurgents'

In the background Arabic messages on a loud-hailer belted out a "don't get into your vehicles or you may be shot," warning.

Every now and then the sound of Scotland The Brave and The Toa Recruiting Sergeants came wafting over the palm trees, setting the dogs off again.

Second Lieutenant Baddeley and his gunner Colin constantly looked through their night vision, swirling the turret and gun round, looking for insurgents.

After hours there had been no casualties. Twenty four detainees - some aged as young as 14 - were taken to Dogwood to be questioned further by intelligence officers.

Our Warrior was off again, screaming through the palm trees, whining across the desert, throwing us all over the wagon.

For the journey home everybody was asleep, waking up every now and then to moan about the "bastard" cold, the foul air, running out of cigarettes, what a f*****g hole Camp Dogwood is and the fact that the rebels hadn't put up a fight.

From pool reporter Chris Hughes of the Daily Mirror at Camp Dogwood.