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ALPHA COMPANY ‘THE SAINTS’ A belated Happy Christmas to you all from the increasingly cold HMS Price! Temperatures have noticeably plummeted in the last few weeks as we usher in the Afghan winter. The good news is that the cold snap will not last long, with temperatures back to pleasant levels by February and the boys will be topping up their tans again by March!

Amos, on a visit to the Coy to spread festive thanks and greetings. Peculiarly, Gen Amos was accompanied by his wife, Bonnie, who narrowly missed the sight of a naked Cpl Bridgeman flossing himself during a tour around the accommodation!

Operations wise, it has been a busy and successful month for ‘The Saints’, culminating in a period of 3 Coy level ops in 4 days, the last of which succeeded in finding and removing a significant amount of IED components from the insurgents hands. We also played a supporting role to a large Afghan army operation into an insurgent safehaven, the success of which demonstrates real development in their confidence and capability to succeed following the ISAF drawdown in 2014. Additionally we have hosted a number of high-profile visitors, all keen to spread festive goodwill at a time when we are separated from our loved ones. Prime Minister David Cameron enjoyed spending time with the lads, taking a trip around our accommodation, answering some probing questions from the lads and challenging LCpl Tucker to a game of table football in the glare of the national press. LCpl Tucker displayed no mercy, resoundingly beating the PM, much to his obvious frustration! On Christmas Day, Commandant General Royal Marines, Major General Ed Davis accompanied the Commandant US Marine Corps, Gen

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As we rapidly near the halfway point of the tour, morale amongst the men of Alpha Coy remains high. The second half will undoubtedly bring more change and different challenges but I’m confident we will tackle these head on, in the understated and professional manner that has characterised our first 3 months in theatre. On behalf of all the Marines I have the privilege to command I bid you a Happy New Year. Maj Fraser Allan RM

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you lovely welfare package sending folks back home. Life has been extremely busy here since the last newsletter and even with the onset of Christmas, the tempo has not relented. The Company has been transported all over the area of operations in the back of Chinooks, Jackals and Mastiffs in support of the Afghan National Security Forces. The successful transformation of their security forces from a rag-tag militia to a professional fighting unit is now very evident. On our last Company operation, 450 Afghan National Army personnel conducted a clear of a well renowned insurgent safehaven.

the rest of 1 Troop, managed to surprise us all when he won a march, organised by Danish forces, in record time. The race is 25km long (inside the perimeter wire of the camp obviously), with competitors carrying 22lbs of kit, which he managed in an impressive 2hrs 26mins! A fantastic effort from someone whose idea of physical training is eating as many bags of Percy Pigs as he can get his hands on! Dom’s multiple has participated in all Coy level ops and have provided a number of QRF tasks (including a chilly Vehicle Checkpoint task on Christmas Eve which saw them greet Christmas morning in the desert!).

Despite stiff resistance, they managed to find and destroy a large quantity of IED making materials, drugs, weapons and mortars. The Afghans are now showing they can conduct operations independently with very little support from us, demonstrating that when we leave in 2014 they should be able to comfortably stand on their own two feet. Around the Troops, half of 1 Troop have been deployed to a small but extremely important checkpoint a few kilometres away from our main

operating base. Under the command of Sgt Nige Quarman, they were sent to help with the drawdown of forces in the area and were there to provide force protection during the prolonged extraction. Capt Dom ‘Del Boy’ Weldon, remaining in HMS Price with

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Keep your eyes peeled for some future celebrities from the ranks of 2 Troop, as they have proven this month to be hiding some considerable entertainment talent. You may have heard on BBC Radio 1 that DJ Greg James has been broadcasting from Helmand Province. Whilst visiting Task Force Headquarters, a group of 2 Troop lads won a ‘Lashkar Gar’s got Talent’ competition. With some tough opposition, Cpl Keenan, Mne Vince and Mne Van der Linden prevailed with a boy band called ‘Essence’. Their costume consisted of hot pants, mini-waistcoats, and lots of Vaseline. What impressed the judges was their eccentric dance routine and numerous frantic groupies shouting their support. Back at HMS Price, the remainder of 2 Tp were intimately

involved in all Coy level operations during December and also found the time to support the Christmas nativity play. Mne Powell (the head) and Mne Pennington (the back end) stole the show as the camel with a Borat-esque accent.

they then deployed to a checkpoint on the edge of the Green Zone in their Jackal vehicles. Hosted by the Gurkhas, they deterred insurgents from interfering with the closure of 2 ISAF base closures to the north. Most noteworthy, was the Christmas dinner that was transported out to us to ensure we didn’t miss out! In summary, it has been a pretty successful month. Our operations are proving fruitful, with IED material, weapons and other lethal aid being discovered and destroyed, ensuring it will not be used against us in the future. Morale is high with Christmas and New Year approaching and the weather hasn’t been that bad. Thank you all for the welfare packages, your time and effort has been appreciated and the lads are always smiling after a delivery of post!

The FSG Troop has also been busy during December. Involved in Coy operations at the start of the month,

Mathew Cook Hi to my wife, family and unborn baby girl. I’m doing OK out here so don’t worry. Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. Andy McDermott I would like to send my love to my wife, family and friends. Hope you are all well and I’m looking forward to seeing you all in April. X

Capt Tom Huckle RM

fine back home and looking forward to my RnR so I can spin you some dits. Charlie Eccelson To all at home, I hope you all had a great Xmas. Ours was good here, got a few parcels on the day which was nice. Wishing you all the best for the New Year. Get the beers ready for me on New Years Eve. Martin O’Grady Just wanted to say thank you to everyone back home for the Christmas parcels and to wish everyone Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year x x

Jack Pitts-Caton Hello to all back home. Just to give you a quick heads up, all is well and I’ve settled in. Got a few operations under my belt now. Hope you are all

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Chris Lambert Hello, had a good Xmas at Price with a good Xmas dinner. Looking forward to future Operations and going on RnR in a couple of months. Nige Quarman Ben and Jack. Happy Hew Year. See you soon. Love Dad x

Rob Terry Hey guys, Merry Christmas! Hope you had fun over the festive season. Thinking of you all and can’t wait to see you all soon. Love Bob Kyle Noblett Just a quick hello to all my family, friends and girlfriend Abby. All is fine out here and I’m doing well. Can’t wait to see you all at the end of the tour! Stock up on the beer as it’s going to be messy! See you soon. Dewald Groenewald Mom, dad, Melanie, thanks again for the Xmas parcels and hope you have a happy New Year! Looking forward to our skiing trip in Switzerland. Lots of love Tom Huckle Highlight of the tour so far was when the 4-Star Commandant General of the USMC was shown the lads accommodation and unexpectedly saw a naked marine who had just gotten out of the shower! Brilliant. Haydn Jones Just a quick hello to all my family and friends back home. Hope you all had a great Xmas and an even better New Year. Thank you for all of the support, miss you all and see you soon. Dan Thomas I’d like to wish my girlfriend, friends and family a Merry Christmas and an excellent New Year. Thank you to everyone who has written to me and for all the parcels. Andy Bartlett Hi Mum and Dad, Christopher, Donna, Ryan, Linda and Barney. I hope everyone had had a good New Year. Missing you all and will see you all soon. Lots of love Andy x x x James Caisley To Steph, only 8 weeks from writing this until our little baby girl is here. I can’t wait to meet her. James x x

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James Burdis Hello to all of my family, all is well and I’m looking forward to spending time with you all when I’m back on RnR.

Andy Tucker Met some bloke called Dave who kept banging on about what a good job we were doing. Then I spanked him at table football. Josh Gibson Miss you all, hope you have a great start to the New Year. See you in a few months. Big love Josh x x x Lee Dearden Hope you all had a great Xmas and have a Happy New Year! X x James Bezant Hi mum, happy birthday. Hope you have a good one. Lots of love Junior

Matt Redfern Merry Xmas to all my family and my beautiful girlfriend, Kerrie and her son Tyler-Jay. Looking forward to seeing you all soon and hope you’re all well. P.S. Remember to keep the Xmas tree up for me. X x x Neil Swanson Had a good Xmas. Missing you all. Iain Clanachan Hey Princess, not long now until the big day. Can’t wait to see your smile. Love you lots, Irish x x x

Jamie Firth Miss you, see you soon. Love Jamie x Kurt Gledhill Xmas was good. See you in the New Year x Lee Dodkin HMS Price has been my new home for a week or so now. Before that a group of us did a 2 month stint at MOB Lashkar Gar. In those 2 months our job had us interacting with the local Afghan nationals on a day to day basis. Now at Price, I’m happy to be getting back with the lads and doing the job I’ve been training for the last year to do. Not forgetting though harassing the dhobi worker with my Pashtu!

Josh Davis The Afghan winter is well and truly here. Cold nights and the odd rainy day but all is well and I’m looking forward to seeing you all in January. Dave Brennan All is well at HMS Price. A Coy are keeping busy and morale is high, especially now it’s Xmas. We’re all thinking of loved ones at home and we’re grateful for all the support we are receiving and all the welfare packages. It’s getting cold now, though we are slowly getting used to it. Thanks for all the support from back home, it’s much appreciated.

Anthony Pennington Sarah, Jack and baby Holly. Looking forward to being a part of my new family of four. See you soon, Ant x Rob Oliver It’s getting colder here and its one week till my RnR. Looking forward to going home for a bit where it is probable even colder. Will Tindle Just a quick one. I’m enjoying it out here and looking forward to seeing you in April. Ronnie Cox I will come home when England stops flooding. Tom Pottage The weather is getting colder over here, so we are keeping ourselves occupied with PT and ping pong! Thanks for all the Xmas presents.

Billy Bowyer Hello Mum and Dad, I am OK and keeping safe. Looking forward to coming home soon. Lots of Love x Matt Claremont-Davies A Coy have taken on our new role in NES very well. The weather has cooled considerably, which is not so good. However, it made Xmas feel more like it is back at home (even though the PM doesn’t visit Cullompton). We are all thinking of our family and friends back at home. Thank you for all your love and support. Paul Fairholm Ice in the desert is less than ideal. Could be worse though, could be in the UK experiencing their winter.

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