They said their goodbyes to their families weeks ago and are now in action. Steve Parsley analyses the role the thousands of servicemen and women usually stationed in the North-East and North Yorkshire are playing in the conflict

IN THE AIR ABOUT 160 personnel from RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, have been in the Gulf since February, supporting the RAF Tornados and Jaguars which will have been the first aircraft to strike Iraq.

The Leeming contingent includes members of 34 Squadron of the RAF Regiment, whose primary role is airfield defence. There are also Leeming chefs, engineers and staff officers in the Gulf, and they will be working with 609 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, which recruits across the North-East, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

There are two squadrons of Tornado F3s based at RAF Leeming, and they have been on standby since mid-February. They are 25 and 11 Squadrons and, practically at a moment's notice, they could take an estimated 200 people out with them, including flight crew, engineers and other ground staff. The aircraft could fly directly from Leeming to the Gulf or, alternatively, the crews could fly out to pilot the F3s already there.

ON THE GROUND THE troops pushing towards Baghdad will probably include the Queen's Dragoon Guards, from Catterick Garrison's Cambrai Barracks. The 600-strong, fast-moving reconnaissance regiment - equipped with Spartans, Scimitars and Strikers - will identify targets for the Allied tanks following and warn them of any dangers which may lay ahead, both in terms of terrain and enemy forces.

Artillery support will be provided by the huge firepower of the AS90s of Topcliffe's 40 Regiment, or the guns of 5 Regiment from Catterick's Marne Barracks.

Communications between front-line units will be vital, and 2 Signals Regiment from York's Imphal Barracks will supply the battlefield networks to British troops.

Two armoured squadrons from 38 Engineer Regiment, based at Ripon, North Yorkshire, will keep supply lines open between the front line and forces to the rear, mending roads, building bridges and recovering and salvaging broken or damaged equipment, while a 200-strong unit from the Royal Logistical Corps' 8 Transport Regiment - also from Catterick's Marne Barracks - will move men and equipment.

The 3 Close Medical Support from Catterick Garrison and 34 Field Hospital from Strensall, near York - supplemented by the men and women of Catterick Garrison's Normandy Band - will care for casualties or staff who fall ill during the conflict.

Dishforth's 9 Regiment, Army Air Corps, has sent 60 support staff to join Joint Helicopter Command operations in the Gulf. They are either flight engineers or administration officers.

There are also another three infantry battalions based at Catterick Garrison but, while the risk of more firefighters' strikes remains at home, it seems unlikely they will be called upon to fight in the Gulf.

In total, there are about 2,100 servicemen and women on duty in the Gulf who are usually stationed in North Yorkshire.

RESERVISTS OFTEN derided as "weekend warriors", the Territorial Army units are playing an important part in the war.

All volunteers who have left family and jobs at home, they are trained to a standard which allows them to supplement full-time soldiers - mostly behind the lines but sometimes in combat.

A spokesman at 15 (North-East) Brigade headquarters in York said most of the region's units have reservists already in the Gulf.

There are about 400 in total, including doctors and nurses, communications experts, drivers from Tynemouth's 150 Transport Regiment and mechanics from 102 Battalion of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, based at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

A contingent of part-time Royal Military Policemen and women from the North-East have been helping to keep the troops under control.

20/03/2003