Reservist paratroopers are preparing to spend six months in Cyprus to continue the British Army’s 60-year history of supporting United Nations peacekeeping on the divided island.
Built around 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (4 PARA), the unit of some 250 soldiers has completed six weeks of training ahead of going on Operation Tosca – the British Army’s contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) - in April.
With troops from 71 Engineer Regiment currently wearing the UN’s blue beret, British troops have served with UNFICYP since it was set up in 1964 to keep the peace after fighting between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. Its core role is to maintain the 180km-long Green Line buffer zone separating the two communities.
Access to the area is restricted and 4 PARA will be responsible for monitoring Sector 2, which includes the island’s capital Nicosia. Troops patrol the zone in vehicles, on foot or by mountain bike, working to maintain stability and liaise with residents and local authorities.
Lieutenant Colonel Bob Mackay, 4 PARA’s commanding officer, said: “Britain has long historical links to Cyprus and has sovereign bases on the island, and our sustained support to UN peacekeeping there is vitally important and something to be proud of. All of us deploying feel the responsibility to keep on doing a good job.”
“Britain has long historical links to Cyprus and has sovereign bases on the island, and our sustained support to UN peacekeeping there is vitally important and something to be proud of." Lieutenant Colonel Bob Mackay
4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment
4 PARA’s training was delivered by the Mission Ready Training Centre (MRTC) based at Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire. Key skills the training focussed on included patrolling, mediation and observation skills, as well as public order drills to deal with confrontations.
“We’ve got troops from 13 different Regular and Reserve units, and we first came together when we mobilised in January,” Lt Col Mackay said. “We’ve done an incredible job to build the team and develop our skills to be ready to hit the ground running.
“What Reservists bring to the operation is their life experience. I’ve got soldiers who are police officers, work in the NHS, or run their own businesses. They all bring really varied skills to contribute to what is a very human operation, dealing with people with very different mindsets.
“What every soldier will take back to their civilian lives is the experience of having deployed in their military rank and role. They will have more credibility and confidence in their skills and the experience of being part of, or leading, a team working in challenging conditions.”
Private Murray Sharpe, a 23-year-old paratrooper and physiotherapist from Stirling, said: “This is going to be my first tour, and I joined 4 PARA to have the opportunity to go on operations. My role is to be on patrol on the Green Line or on standby to respond to incidents – that could be anything from a car accident to a farmer finding an unexploded bomb.
“Deploying will be an excellent way to develop my soldiering skills, and I think I’m going to learn a lot by being in a team delivering under pressure.” Private Murray Sharpe
4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment
“Deploying will be an excellent way to develop my soldiering skills, and I think I’m going to learn a lot by being in a team delivering under pressure.”
Corporal Beth Brown, an emergency department nurse in her civilian life at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and as an Army Reserve with 215 (Scottish) Multirole Medical Regiment, is one of soldiers augmenting 4 PARA. She will be working as a senior nurse to train and mentor more junior medics on the operation.
“Last year I did some medical training with 4 PARA, and then a few weeks later they asked me to come out to Cyprus with them – so I must have made a good impression,” the 29-year-old from Kilmarnock said. “I jumped at the chance, and it’ll be interesting to serve with the UN and work alongside other armies, to get a sense of how they operate a bit differently.
“The training is going well. We’ve come together as a group of nine medics just for this tour, and we’ve gelled quickly as an effective team.”
"It’ll be interesting to serve with the UN and work alongside other armies, to get a sense of how they operate a bit differently." Corporal Beth Brown
215 (Scottish) Multirole Medical Regiment
4 PARA is The Parachute Regiment’s Army Reserve battalion, based at Thornbury Barracks in Leeds with detachments across the country. It provides reservists held at very high readiness to support its regular counterparts in 2 and 3 PARA when they deploy on operations as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, the British Army’s global response force.
