Black Watch soldiers are preparing for a dangerous mission to take on the Taliban in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
The Courier understands 600 troops from the 3 SCOTS battalion are being deployed in September and more than half of them will be from Fife, Perth and Angus communities.
They will be part of a 1000-strong battle group that will join forces with marines from Arbroath-based 45 Commando, who have been on the frontline supporting the Afghan national army and police since March.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence declined to comment about the deployment until an official announcement expected in the next few weeks is made.
Black Watch soldiers returned from their last tour of Afghanistan in November 2009. Sadly, five of them did not make it home.
Corporal Thomas Mason, who was raised in Rosyth, was given a military funeral just as the last of his comrades got back from Afghanistan. He died in Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, as a result of injuries sustained while on an operation in Kandahar province.
To date, 375 British soldiers have been killed while serving in Afghanistan.
Fife Black Watch veteran Rob Scott said for some of the younger soldiers the forthcoming tour would be the most perilous six months of their lives.
“We’re just going to have to say a few more words on Sunday morning and keep them safe,” he said. “Some of them will have been there before, but it’s not a party it is war and people get killed and get maimed on both sides.
“If a soldier goes away a boy, I guarantee he will come back a man.”
Having served in Cyprus and Northern Ireland, Mr Scott said he had not experienced anything close to what servicemen and women have been dealing with in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years.Training”Some of these young soldiers will see more in their first couple of years than someone like myself did in their whole career,” he said. “It’s not as if they are in a one-on-one situation they are taking on things like hidden bombs.
“It’s shocking to see what these guys have to deal with, but the training they get is second to none.”
Families of soldiers set for Afghanistan met in Kirkcaldy on Wednesday to find out about the 3 SCOTS’ next mission. Mr Scott said relatives were also given advice about what to expect when the troops return.
“There might be a change of mood when they come home, because it does change people. But if families recognise something is wrong there is always help there for them,” he said. “A soldier has a job to do, but will do it a lot better if he knows there is somebody supporting him back home.”
The veteran has been a critic of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but said British forces were making the best of a bad situation.
“Friends of mine in the know say they are winning the battle to get people on their side and try to change the mindset of the Afghans and oust the Taliban from the area.”
Commanding officer of 45 Commando, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Lee, recently said there was cause for optimism, and his troops, who are operating in temperatures of up to 50C, were making progress restoring security to the area.
Before they were deployed three months ago, the soldiers were told to “kill the enemy when necessary.”
There were concerns about attacks from insurgents following the death of Osama bin Laden, but the Ministry of Defence moved to reassure relatives and members of the public that the unit’s operations would not be affected.