This is the real thing

SOLDIERS from East Lancashire were among the first on the scene when a car bomb exploded in Omagh in August last year, killing 29 people and injuring 220 more.

Now, with the peace process in Northern Ireland on a knife-edge, soldiers from the 1st Battalion the Queen's Lancashire Regiment are patrolling one of two key areas where the terrorist threat has not yet subsided.

The toughest part of the soldiers' routine comes when they spend five weeks backing up the police force and carrying out gruelling cross-country patrols to detect terrorist activity. The soldiers, usually based in large, comfortable barracks in the market town of Omagh, move to the cramped conditions inside small, high security police stations in south east Fermanagh for their patrolling operations.

Some terrorists, disillusioned with steps towards renouncing violence, have moved out of traditional groups like the Provisional IRA and set up their own splinter groups.

Although the south east Fermanagh area is recognised by the Army as a stronghold for such groups including the Continuity IRA, who have not signed up for the ceasefire, the East Lancashire soldiers who help police this tough area relish the chance to put their training into practice.

Lance Corporal John Mitchell, 27, from Accrington, commands a patrol team operating from Lisnaskea, close to the border with the Republic. L/Cpl Mitchell, a Burnley FC fan, said: "The rural patrols are tough physically - it is very muddy, you are carrying a lot of gear and wearing body armour, and you have to climb over lots of fences and wade through rivers." Lance Corporal Alan Ward, 22, from Helmshore, has served in Canada, Belize, Oman and Bosnia. He explained how he keeps the team under his command motivated when they are on anti-terrorist patrols: "We have certain people we look out for, so I start a game with the lads where they get points for the number of 'personalities' they spot. The patrols are the best part of the job for me because that's when I take on a lot of responsibility."

Private Stuart Parkinson, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, was one of the first soldiers called to the bomb scene in Omagh. He said: "You have to be alert all the time - no one expected the Omagh bomb. I helped put up a cordon around the bomb site.

"This month I'm patrolling in south east Fermanagh. Because it's nationalist territory down here the people are not very friendly. When I first started patrolling I was scared but you get used to it."

Private Lee Cole, 19, of Accrington, said: "The area we are patrolling is the main place where the terrorists are based now. We know we are doing something really important."

Private Keith Lambert, 22, from Darwen, said: "I have served in places including Berlin, Cyprus, Bosnia, Belize, Canada and Austria in the last six years, but this is the real thing. It is really long hours and I try to get away as much as possible on leave. But it's good to know we are doing something worthwhile.

"The people in the town are really helpful and we get on really well with them especially after the bomb."

Private Billy Billington, 20, from Darwen, joined the army two years ago after completing a sign-writing course at Blackburn College. "I had been thinking about it for a while and the work out here is good for your head - you get a bit more informed."

Private Adrian Redfearn, from Mill Hill, Blackburn, said: "Because of my age I haven't been outside camp yet but now I'm 18 I'm looking forward to getting out on the streets." Private Patrick Ward, 24, from Blackburn, has served three years in the regiment. But his message has a more personal note after his sister Amanda was recently admitted to Preston Royal Infirmary for an operation to remove a brain tumour. He said: "I just want to tell her to get well."

Lance Corporal Darren Taylor, 21, of Padiham, has served with the regiment for four years. "I like getting out on the patrols because that is when we are doing what we are trained to do instead of staying in camp.

"On a typical day on patrol, we get up, have a briefing on where we are going, what we are looking for, we get our kit on and get into the helicopter with the RUC patrol. We make sure they are safe while they are doing vehicle checks and searching buildings for terrorist weapons. You have to be alert all the time and think like a terrorist thinks." Lance Corporal Don Payne, 28, who lives in the Brunshaw area of Burnley, has previously served in Bosnia, Germany and Canada. The anti-terrorist patrols he carries out in Northern Ireland are more challenging than his previous missions. He said: "If we go into rough areas we can feel there is a real atmosphere there. But that helps toughen up the new lads who join us out here.

"Things have changed in this town since the bomb. People never used to speak to you but now they realise we are here to help them and they will talk to us. A lot of that is down to the work we did the day the bomb went off."

Dog handler Private Matthew Bond, 19, from Colne, is the only person who can fully control three-year-old alsatian guard dog Wax. The dogs are used to patrol the perimeter fence of the barracks at night, but are so ferocious that they are only allowed on patrol with their designated handler.

Pte Bond, who has served with the regiment for three years, showed how he has trained Wax to bring an intruder to the ground by attacking them on the right arm.

When he regiment moves back to England at the end of this year, Wax ill stay in Omagh where a new handler will be assigned to re-train him. Private Martin Jennings, 26, from the Duke Bar area of Burnley, said: "I have served in Bosnia but here we are patrolling much more frequently and it really tests your self-discipline. Even if we don't think anything out on patrol that is good because we are showing the terrorists we are watching them."

Private Anthony Brynes, 18, from the Harle Syke area of Burnley, is currently patrolling in south east Fermanagh. He said: "People aren't as friendly down here as they are in Omagh - they are very wary of us. Some won't even talk to us and their dogs chase us around the streets."

Private Shaun Khan, 29, from Nelson, said: "It is very hard work here. Soon I'm off on a training exercise in England which is like a conventional battle, so that will be a break from the terrorist stuff."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.