Non-Subscriber Extract
Farewell to arms
By Max Blain
02 January 2008
During the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent struggle to restore order to the country, hundreds of British police officers, both Territorial Army reservists and officers on secondment with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, spent time in the war-torn province of Basra.
But by the end of 2008, almost all of the British presence will have been withdrawn. So what will the new year bring for the area and how will the British-trained Iraqi police officers cope when they take over the reins? Max Blain speaks to five serving police officers, each of whom spent time in Basra, to find out.
Sgt Duncan Southall, of Leicestershire Constabulary, was Major Southall in Iraq with the Territorial Army, in charge of the 118 men and two women of Cassino Company based at the Shaiba Logistics Base, 15 km southwest of Basra.
Few serving officers can have a better insight into the problems in Iraq than Sgt Southall.
He spent seven months in Basra as the commanding officer of 120 soldiers whose duties ranged from providing armed escorts for convoys to acting as prison guards at the military detention centre.
Sgt Southall, 40, believes the country is now on the road to recovery but says this year will be one of the toughest yet.
He tells Police Review: 'It is going to be interesting to see how it develops. The Government has said that some British forces will remain to assist the Iraqi army and, with the rise of the Shia militia, I believe they will be under constant attack until they leave.
'The country is on the right track but it still has a long way to go. Saddam Hussein ruled with an iron fist so once he was removed a lot of pent-up ethnic hatred was released. When we do finally pull out, it will be hard to avoid a power-vacuum which will lead to more fighting.'
On a personal level, Sgt Southall says he would be willing to reprise his role in Iraq, despite the danger. He said: 'I do have a family and it was a tough decision to go the first time and obviously the danger has only increased. By the time I left we were regularly coming under rocket attacks and one exploded just 50 feet away from me.
'But we did make a difference, even if it was in a small way and I think we helped stabilise the country.'
Sgt Southall says he regularly called on his police training to help deal with Iraqi civilians and that the skills he picked up while serving abroad will stand him in good stead for the future. He says: 'Having an understanding of different cultures was very useful and, of course, I was already accustomed to dealing with bizarre situations thanks to my time with the UK police service.
'When I returned home in April 2006, it did take me about three or four months to adjust as I had been working all hours of the day for seven days a week. But I do think my time in Iraq will pay dividends in my policing career, especially if I rise to a rank where I am in charge of a large group of people.'
Image: UK RAF Police in Basra (M J McBride)