Yorkshire Regiment’s ‘League of Nations’ ready for Helmand battle

PRIVATE Bula Waquanivalu does not sound like your average Yorkshire soldier.

The 33-year-old Fijian does not look like one either.

But he is one of many foreign troops from across the world serving in the Yorkshire Regiment and set to deploy next year to fight for Queen and country on the front line in Helmand Province.

The international soldiers have just returned from the Stanford Training Area in Norfolk, alongside their colleagues from the 3rd Battalion, where the MoD has created a miniature Helmand Province complete with nearly 300 Afghan nationals, a £14m village, specially planted green zones and forward operating bases replicating those where soldiers will be stationed during their tour in Afghanistan.

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The Yorkshire Post was given exclusive access to the exercise, which is run by veterans with recent experience of the conflict, who throw everything at the soldiers from Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) strikes to suicide bombers, 24 hours a day.

The dangers of Helmand Province weigh heavy on the thoughts of the foreign soldiers as they prepare for an expected deployment next year.

There are six Fijians alone that have lost their lives fighting for Britain in Afghanistan since the conflict began. But for many, it is the thought of their families, thousands of miles away that spur them on.

“It is a good job for me because I always wanted to travel overseas,” said Pt Waquanivalu.

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“I have been in the Army for 10 years and at first it was strange because I found it was difficult to understand the Yorkshire accent, but after a while I found out they were all really good blokes.

“Some of the accents are very difficult to understand, though there was a soldier from Barnsley that I found very hard. We all get along very well.

“Most of the families in Fiji are proud of their sons fighting here.”

Private Omar Fofana, 30, of Gambia, joined the 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, four months ago after serving in the Army for a year-and-a-half.

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He is preparing to visit his family back in Africa during Christmas leave, alongside fellow Gambian Private Lamin Darboe, 28, who has not seen his relatives for three years.

“Since I was young I have always wanted to serve in the Army and the British Army is the best there is,” said Pt Fofana. “It is a little bit different at first but you just get used to it.

“Everybody has treated me the same and we all get on well.”

Despite the League of Nations represented through its ranks, the 3rd Battalion is still very much Yorkshire through and through.

Its proud history, which includes fighting in the third Afghan War in 1919, also looms large in soldiers’ minds

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Burma Company Sergeant Major Liam Seviour, of Haworth, is one of the regiment’s longest- serving soldiers at 22 years, and is expecting to be on operations in Afghanistan alongside his 23-year-old son John next year. “I have been thinking a lot about John,” said the father-of-three, whose youngest daughter, Lily Mae, is one and a half. “But it will be harder for my wife.

“I never talk to her about the realities of Afghanistan, she does not read the news or watch television programmes about it.

“There are 102 soldiers in this company, and every one of them I worry about.

“I am the longest serving person in Burma Company and I am the one who has the strong shoulders who carries the burden.

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“It is massively important for us to spend time with our families, it is what gets you through it when you are out there fighting.

“I cannot wait for this Christmas when I get to spend time with my family and my wife who has been there for me through so much.

“She is my rock.”

Bidding on our online auction comes to a close this Friday. Alternatively, cheques with individual donations payable to ABF The Soldiers’ Charity can be sent to the Editor’s Secretary, Yorkshire Post, Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 1RF.

Charity backing military heroes

ABF – The Soldiers’ Charity was founded in 1944 as the Army Benevolent Fund to cope with the enormous strain following the end of the Second World War and need for a charity to give practical help to our soldiers and veterans.

Its first patron was King George VI.

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It exists to provide lifetime support to serving and retired soldiers and their families and works closely with the other main Armed Forces charities the Royal British Legion and Help For Heroes.

In 2007, the charity launched the Current Operations Fund, to support soldiers, former soldiers and their families affected by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.