20 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2008
AAcchtung Viking!
S
IMILARITIES between Dorset
the caterpillar tracks forward). There are windscreen
and Helmand are not immedi-
wipers and washers (although the gutter is full of
ately apparent, writes Richard
empty shell casings rather than dead fl ies and leaves).
There’s no MP3 or CD player, but there is a radio
Hargreaves. (not for picking up Terry Wogan, of course).
The countryside is lush. The climate is Behind the driver, the controller stands on a raised
temperate. The rolling terrain is only a few score
platform, his arms and head popping through a hatch
feet above sea level and liberally sprinkled with
to man the machine-gun, Viking’s principal weapon,
copses and clearings. Homes are made of brick.
and direct the vehicle’s movements via constant radio
And the locals are relatively sedate.
contact with his comrade below.
The engine throbs, not as loudly as that of a
But a square mile or so of Dorset is Helmand.
helicopter, and we’re off.
The roads are dusty and littered with mines. Locals
“In a Scimitar, you’re chucked all over the place,”
are agitated, excitable. Insurgents lie in wait in trucks
our driver says. “The ride in these is so comfy.”
packed with explosives or hide in the undergrowth
He’s not wrong. We’d covered the course in an off-
with their RPGs. Homes are makeshift and rather less
roader beforehand and were thoroughly bumped and
than solid. The countryside is still lush, however. And
bounced all over the place.
there’s little we can do about the elevation.
By comparison, Viking almost glides over the
But here, at the southernmost tip of Bovington
potholes and bumps, it rattles through streams
Camp, the spiritual home of the tank, is where we
sending water cascading over the windshield before
train Viking warriors. Not those of horned helmet and
climbing the opposite bank effortlessly.
eyepatch variety à la Kirk Douglas, but men to man
Onwards, onwards.
the Royal Marines’ weapon du jour.
The lead vehicle slows. Ours too. Ahead is an
Except that it’s no longer just the green berets’
Afghan village.
weapon du jour. The Army are now muscling in on
I say ‘Afghan’ and ‘village’, but both words have
Viking territory.
been rather loosely applied.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Royals’
Ahead are a few tents, a bit of corrugated iron, a
Viking warriors need a break. The armoured vehicle is
small fi re and some excitable inhabitants.
heavily in demand in Afghanistan – so heavily that the
The local fancy dress shop has evidently been
men are doing six months
in theatre, six months at “Everyone wants a piece of Viking,” says
doing good business:
the Afghans are actually
home, then back again.
Maj Doug Gilding, Offi cer Commanding
soldiers and marines
“Everyone wants a
Armoured Support Company Royal
wearing fake ’taches,
piece of Viking,” says Maj
Marines. “It’s a victim of its own permed black wigs
Doug Gilding, Offi cer
Commanding Armoured
success.” and garish clothes (the
impression is rather more
Support Company Royal
Liverpool in the 1980s than Helmand in 2008). They
Marines. “It’s a victim of its own success.”
wield long sticks with coloured scraps of cloth tied to
It is. Just 108 of these vehicles were ordered from
the end and poke them at the Viking controller.
Swedish fi rm Hagglunds. At least half of them are
Oi!
now in Helmand – and they will stay there for the
He’s not amused.
foreseeable future. They are in action daily.
“It’s good that we’re wanted, but it does put a strain
The villagers persist.
on the lads because they do a cracking job, right in the
Back off!
thick of the fi ght,” Maj Gilding adds.
The villagers still persist.
A couple of rounds from his SA80 are fi red into
T
his spring and summer that will change. The
the air.
Vikings will stay. Their commando masters
The villagers disperse.
will return and a new breed of warriors
Our Viking ‘breaks down’.
– Rifles, Scots Guards, Queen’s Royal Lancers will
The driver is getting somewhat tense.
take over the vehicles.
“Come on,” he mutters. “Get your skates on. We
That means a crash (or, more accurately, a how-
need to get the **** out of here.”
not-to-crash) course in the art of Viking warfare from
The controller of the lead Viking climbs down and
the commandos who have half a decade’s experience
attaches a tow rope from the back of his vehicle (it
to call upon.
looks rather like an enormous red elastic band) to the
Over four weeks, they impart their knowledge of
front of ours.
maintenance, on and off-road driving, gunnery, and
Onwards, onwards.
riverine operations (much of Viking’s work is focused
The column kicks up dust and pebbles as it twists
around the Helmand River), then test the two-man
and turns down the narrow track, then grinds to a
crews during a fi nal week of drills and exercises.
halt on a bend (a small sign by the side of the road
That fi nal week reaches its climax with the ‘Battle
warns ‘mine’ although the Taleban are invariably not
Exercise’, a Thursday War (but on a Wednesday) in
so obliging...).
miniature (it lasts about 45 minutes) waged over that
The controller is expected to scramble down from
pretty small battleground.
his turret and sweep the road with a mine detector
The looping, jinking course is nevertheless large
(think big black pretzel with a long rod attached to
enough to squeeze in a breakdown, a minefi eld,
it).
several streams, a checkpoint, an ambush, a suicide So much for the theory. The cab in front decides
bomber and some sheep. not to bother and simply rolls forward again after a
The sheep are, admittedly, not part of the exercise. short pause.
It’s all part of the rather surreal environment of rural Bang.
England living side-by-side with an armoured warfare A soldier hiding by the side of the road tosses a
school. grenade. Thick white smoke billows across the track,
“The battle exercise is about making decisions,” over the vehicle, through the controller’s hatch and
explains Sgt ‘H’ Harrison RM. “ These lads know how fi lls the cab. The driver reaches for the fan. In reality,
to shoot, for example. Now they have to decide when he’d probably have been scrambling out of his door.
to shoot.” After exercising caution for much of the ride, the
The soldiers saddle up in a leafy lane. Their lead vehicle is now spoiling for a fi ght.
assessors clamber into a 4x4 following behind the Afghan National Army checkpoint ahead.
three Vikings under scrutiny. I climb into the right- Rat-a-tat-tat. Rat-a-tat-tat. Empty shell cases
hand seat of the second Viking (these Swedish-built bounce off the windscreen.
vehicles are left-hand drive) and buckle up. An Afghan soldier (our Allies, remember)
Inside Viking is rudimentary – rather like a Land theatrically throws himself to the ground.
Rover. The controls are similar to a very basic car, too, Wumm. Wumm. Wumm.
even down to the dashboard indicators. RPG!
You steer using a wheel with a large black handle Ambush!
fi xed to it (rather than left and right levers to push Rat-a-tat-tat. Rat-a-tat-tat.
020-021_NN_May.indd 1 21/4/08 10:10:11
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