Royal Marines from 45 Commando in Arbroath will be deployed to Afghanistan as early as this weekend, sources have told The Courier.
We understand key members are making final preparations to travel to the country, with a further group set to join them in Helmand Province in the near future.
It follows an announcement last year from the Ministry of Defence that over 1500 Scotland-based service personnel would be sent to the region throughout 2011.
MoD officials were last night unable to confirm details of the operation, but sources close to 45 Commando locally have suggested those affected are in the final stage of training.
It is expected around 700 personnel from Condor will carry out a six-month tour of duty and will be based in Nad-e-Ali south. They will join troops from the Royal Regiment of Scotland and crews from RAF Lossiemouth as part of 3 Commando Brigade.
During the brigade’s last tour in the country, which began in October 2008, 32 service personnel lives were lost. In December that year 45 Commando suffered its single largest loss of life since the Falklands campaign when three of its marines died as a result of two explosions on the same day.
Arbroath councillor David Fairweather, whose son-in-law Grant Allan has twice been seriously injured while serving with 45 Commando in Afghanistan, spoke of the anxiety the families of the marines will be experiencing as they prepare for the deployment.
“It’s going to be a very difficult time for them and my heart goes out to them. It’s hard to imagine or to describe how you feel when something like this happens to close family,” he said.
“I was in holiday in Egypt when Grant was first shot in Afghanistan and my heart was in my mouth when I got the phone call from Carey, my daughter. Fortunately, he was okay, but he has now had to retire on medical grounds due to loss of hearing.
“Every family who has a loved one out there has the same horrible feeling when they hear on the news that someone has been killed or seriously injured. You always wonder if it’s your own.
“For me, it was the worry that something had happened to my daughter’s husband the father of my grandchildren. But one thing that can be said in situations like this is that the families all join together, which is tremendous.
“I hope that God goes with them and, while I know that this is a tall order, that they all come home safely.”
Mr Fairweather has also praised the marines from 45 Commando for their “fantastic professionalism” in carrying out operations in the country.
He added, “What they do shows great skill in very dangerous and difficult circumstances.”