"A Friendly Power in Iraq"

by David Rowlands

Image Size 58 x 38 cm


This picture commemorates two tours of duty in Iraq by 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Wales:

October 2003 to April 2004 (Operation TELIC 3); and May to November 2005 (Operation TELIC 6).

Soldiers are engaging with local people in a rural village. On the body armour was a green fabric label upon which the soldier's zap code was written; it consisted of the first two letters of his surname and the last few digits of his number. If a soldier was wearing a smock, his body armour was worn under it.

Bar armour was attached to the Warriors. The configuration of antennas varied; I have depicted those typical of a section Warrior. In 2005, ECM equipment was not fixed to this battalion's Warriors, but was carried in the bergens which were placed between the armoured hull and the bar armour.