Posted on 03/15/2003 5:32:39 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
SCOTLAND'S cavalry will fly the Lion Rampant as they roll into battle in Iraq.
The honour of carrying our nation's ancient emblem is given by the Queen to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
And the tank troops of Scotland's most senior regiment were proud to show the colours yesterday as they trained in the Kuwaiti desert for the looming war against Saddam Hussein.
Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Blackman, the regiment's commanding officer, watched as the Lion Rampant was fixed to the top of his Challenger II tank.
It will inspire his men if the order comes to cross the Iraqi border.
The regiment was given the privilege as the first Scots cavalry unit.
A spokesman for the battle group in Kuwait said: "It has long been an enormous honour for the regiment to be able to fly the flag.
"Whenever a new colonel takes command, he is granted an audience with Her Majesty the Queen. It is obviously a very proud moment for all concerned.
"The commanding officer's tank is distinguishable because it is the only one in the battle group flying the Lion Rampant."
Colonel Blackman is one of only two Scots officially allowed to fly the Lion Rampant. The other is the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the man who looks after the nation's heraldic emblems.
In theory, anyone else who dares display the Scottish royal flag can be charged with treason and executed under a law dating back to 1679.
So next time you go to a Scotland game, watch out!
Colonel Blackman and his men have the comfort of knowing that their flag is fully legal.
They also have total confidence in the massive war machine that will carry them into battle.
The Challenger II tank sailed through a series of final tests yesterday on a shooting range near the Iraqi border.
Critics had feared a repeat of the problems on desert exercises in Oman last year, when a shortage of air filters saw some Challengers grind to a halt.
But senior officers of the 7th Armoured Brigade, the "Desert Rats" believe that is all in the past.
Colonel Blackman said : "There was some hysteria surrounding Challenger II's performance in Oman, but we are confident all is well this time.
"We have enough air filters, and they are lasting longer than expected.
"And the sand here is easier to deal with than in Oman, where it is much finer.
"Challenger II is a magnificent piece of kit, and we were proud to have been chosen as the first regiment to take it into operation three years ago."
I travelled through the early hours of Friday alongside a group of 14 Challenger IIs. The tanks tackled more than 30miles of desert without any hitches.
They were joined by other tanks from the Scots battle group for training on the firing range.
The exercise allowed the troops to check the accuracy of their gun sights.
And controversially, it included the use of depleted uranium shells.
DU weapons are made of waste from the process of making nuclear weapons. The metal is nearly twice as dense as lead, making it ideal for armour- piercing shells.
But some veteran groups blame DU for soldiers' health problems after the last Gulf War. They fear dust from the shells may pose a radiation hazard or cause heavy metal poisoning.
The Ministry of Defence says there us no reliable evidence linking DU to ill-health.
The Challenger II's 120mm gun can destroy any known tank or armoured vehicle with one shot.
The tank's fire control system can tackle multiple targets at once, and a thermal imaging system hailed as the best in the world makes the Challenger just as deadly at night.
The tank carries a 7.62mm machine gun to take on lighter vehicles and infantry.
It can cross ground too rough for other vehicles at speeds of up to 36mph, and has a range of more than 270miles.
The four-man crew have air conditioning in their cab, which also protects them against nuclear, biological and chemical attacks.
Bonjour you cheese eating surrender monkeys.
Let's try this one.
%#$@!&! Brits. My South Carolina MacGregor ancestors paid them back at the Battle of Cowpens. Now I can fly that scrappy Stuart Lion anytime I dang well please.
And now:
Good show!
In other words, be careful how you pat the wimpycat . . :-D
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