MPs welcome 7th Armoured Brigade

Service personnel who have recently returned from service on operations in Iraq will parade through central London on Monday, 23rd February, as they head for a prestigious Westminster reception.

Members of Parliament from all parties have invited members of 7th Armoured Brigade to attend the event to allow them to show their appreciation for the dedication and sacrifice shown by the troops on Operation TELIC 12.

Around 120 personnel will march from Wellington Barracks, led by the Brigade Commander, Brigadier Sandy Storrie OBE. The parade will depart at 1530hrs, via Birdcage Walk and Parliament Square to arrive at the Houses of Parliament.

7th Armoured Brigade returned from Iraq over a period of several weeks, beginning in Nov 08. Their tour was a story of success.

They arrived in Multi-National Division (South East) (MND(SE)) in June 2008, after the Iraqi Army Operation Charge of the Knights, having trained hard for a different situation to one in which they found themselves.

The Militias had been driven from Basra and an inexperienced though successful Iraqi Army was in charge, assisted by an Iraqi Police Force in poor condition. Basra was secure but very fragile.

Faced with a changed situation, the Brigade swiftly reorganised, adapted to the prevailing conditions and committed over 1,000 of its soldiers into small Military Training Teams (MiTTs) attached to the Iraqi Army.

The aim was to build resilience into the Iraqi Army. Starting with advice on basic tactics, the MiTTs rapidly moved onto command, logistics, administration and specialist training, moving gradually towards an Iraqi lead in each area once confidence and competence improved.

Trust between commanders was vital. At the same time, the remainder of the Brigade tackled the remaining threat from indirect fire to the contingency operating base (COB) through targeted patrolling and searches both on land and in the rivers.

Basra 'Won't Be The Same Again'

Lisa Holland, Foreign affairs correspondent

If British troops pull-out from Basra next spring it will be just over six years since the war in Iraq began.

British servicemen try to win the support of the local children near Basra

That's been six long years of occupation for the people of Basra and beyond - an occupation although not planned this way - which has meant an end to ordinary life.

It's meant insecurity, fear and rising unemployment as the militias battled with British forces and each other to exert their influence.

For years it meant a life of never quite knowing whether a gun battle could happen down your street at any moment.

And it was an occupation that changed the character of a city.

The situation has changed dramatically in Basra since the Iraqi government took on the local militias earlier this year. As a result, the British presence in Basra could be all over by next summer. Sky's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay

Basra used to be a place where people would travel to from neighbouring Kuwait for a beer or just an evening out.

It was a place where female students walked the streets happily in a fashionable mini-skirt - unafraid of the religious fundamentalists who came to exert such influence in recent times.

It's been a long road which began with a honeymoon period for British forces.

In the beginning they used to be able to walk the streets wearing so-called 'soft' berets. Those days soon disappeared.

The British used to have their headquarters down town in an old palace of Saddam Hussein.

The soldiers I went on patrols with called the road out of the palace into town Death Alley.

By June 2006 things were so bad they told me that seven out of ten patrols were hit by some kind of attack - everything from sniper fire to a roadside bomb.

When you got back to base even the toughest of soldiers must surely have heaved a private sight of relief - there was no doubt you took your life in your hands just leaving the base.

Progress has most certainly been made. And it is considerable.

British troops in Basra

In March this year Iraqi security forces fought fierce gun battles with powerful Shi'ite militias in Basra in a major operation aimed at bringing the southern oil city under government control.

It was a critical test of the training they had undergone at the hands of British forces and of the political will of Mr al Maliki to take on the militias who for so long had undermined his control of the country.

It was a pivotal moment. Iraqi security forces passed the test and life in Basra turned a corner.

Things are slowly changing back but life will never be the same again.

For the Iraqi people the hope is that the promises of those invading forces of the spring of 2003 to deliver a better life might finally be round the corner.

Just as long as the militias haven't simply been biding their time until the last Hercules transporter plane takes off from Basra carrying the last of Britain's fighting forces with them.

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