Third Afghan tour of duty for Scottish commando unit

Published Date: 09 July 2008 ABOUT 500 Scottish-based Marines will spearhead Britain's next deployment to Afghanistan in October, it was announced yesterday. The men of 45 Commando, from HMS Condor, in Arbroath, will be sent as part of 3 Commando Brigade to replace the paratroopers and two Scots infantry battalions of 16 Air Assault Brigade fighting the Taleban. This will be the third operational tour of Helmand province in six years for 45 Commando and the second since last April, when they lost six of their comrades. About 400 Marines from 45 Commando also served as reinforcements for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, although because the entire unit did not go to war as a single body with its own headquarters, the Ministry of Defence does not count it as a full deployment. In effect, however, the Arbroath-based Marines have... [read full story]