1. Overjoyed to meet
new Royals babyTHIS is the moment
Sergeant Andy Evans met
his new baby daughter
Eva-Lily for the first time.
The Tilehurst man had to
wait six weeks for his R&R
(two-week rest and
recuperation break), but
when it finally came he
wasted no time in getting her
into a Reading FC shirt.
Sgt Evans’ job is like the AA
with guns. The 29-year-old,
with the Royal Electrical and
Mechanical Engineers
(REME), is a platoon sergeant
for the recovery platoon of 6
Close Support Battalion
based in Tidworth, Wiltshire.
In Afghanistan they are
part of Theatre Equipment
Support Group based at
Camp Bastion.
The former Denefield
School pupil said: “If
anything breaks down, gets
an IED strike, we can supply
the recovery cover for it,”
Sgt Evans, who has been in
REME for 11 years, and his
team have to act fast with the
potential threat of being a
sitting duck to insurgents
both for the soldiers who
break down and the recovery
team who have to come and
help get them moving.
“We have a very short time
out on the ground to make an
assessment,” he said.
He said if they can’t fix it
there and then or haven’t got
the spares they just have to
tow it to the next location
where a mechanic will have a
look.
He had just returned from a
five-day trip when I met him
where his team had to deal
with vehicles which had hit
an IED, one with a brakes
problem and picking up
vehicles which had already
broken down in the Forward
Operating Bases (FOB) to get
back into Camp Bastion for
repair.
“If vehicles break down,
you can’t choose where
where they break down. We
have to keep calm and get the
job done as quickly as we
can. There can be a knock-on
effect on the timings they
proud dad: Sergeant Andy
Evans on duty in Afghanistan and
with baby Eva-Lily
19FIRST FOR READINGAdvertising (0118) 921 7700WEDNESDAY JULY 31 2013 l READING POST l getreading.co.uk
n we leave
be ready’
downtime: Winding down in the
gym and the NAAFI at Camp Bastion
Pictures: Corporal Si Longworth RLC (Phot)
Email: SimonLongworth@mediaops.army.mod.uk
highly trained: Soldiers of the
Afghan National Army will soon be left
in charge and, above right, soldiers
conduct joint planning with the ANA
[soldiers they are helping]
have got [and] the air cover.
Forty minutes is a quick
recovery for us.”
He continued: “When I’m
driving with 50 vehicles,
spacing is like on a
motorway. There could be
6km from the back to the
front vehicle.”
If an IED strike happens, at
say, 3km, communication is
key as Sgt Evans has to move
up the convoy to get to the
incident. And again, it’s a
security issue as perhaps an
alternative route will
have to be
considered with
the IED threat.
It’s Sgt Evans’
second tour of
Afghanistan, first
deploying in
2009. He has also
served two tours
in Iraq and one in
Bosnia.
He said his first tour of
Afghanistan was completely
different to this one as quite
often before he’d find himself
further forward that the
infantry, “like a shield”.
With the drawdown, Sgt
Evans’ job will also involve
recovering vehicles which
have been serving FOBs for
years.
“There have been vehicles
that have been in these FOBs
for over 10 years. Things will
need craning out, things
growing weeds. We’ll do it a
week at a time.”
And like other regiments in
the British Army, REME is
also helping to train up
Afghan counterparts.
The battalion’s adjutant
Captain Sophie Tasker said:
“The Afghan vehicle
mechanics are fantastic. You
go into an ANA or ANP
garage and maybe they don’t
have the same number of
tools but they are very
inventive.
“Our guys go in as an
advisory role.”
Of this tour Sgt Evans said:
“It’s exciting, a bit of a
challenge, good for the young
lads. To be part of the
handover to the Afghan
forces, they should be able to
take something away and
have a massive part in the
future of this campaign.”
And if the Denefield School
pupil could see the man Sgt
Evans is now?
“I think he will be surprised
how well he has done and
how quickly. Even the
teachers knew in Year 10
what I was going to do
because I would talk about it
all the time.”
He joked: “I have two
brothers, one is older, one is
younger so there was
already a stretcher
party in the family.”
Sgt Evans also
remembers his
grandmother
buying old
uniforms from
jumble sales when
he was younger so he
could play make-believe
with his siblings. One of
them would be the officer,
one the NCO and the other
“the stupid private”, he
laughs.
Now, older brother Robert,
32, is a lecturer, a doctor of
chemistry at Oxford, while
younger sibling Tom, 27, is a
sous chef at London Street
Brasserie in Reading town
centre.
But it’s not only the Afghans
Sgt Evans, who likes a tipple
at Tilehurst’s Victoria pub,
has a bit of advice for.
“I’m a massive Reading fan.
We’re looking out for signings
at the moment,” he said.
“They should try and sign
up Wayne Rooney. We just
need a decent striker at the
moment and inventive
midfield player.”
Join
Sgt Evans on
a tour round of
one of his recovery
vehicles by visiting
www.getreading.
co.uk and clicking
on the video
link.
han locals
the battalion photographer,
chronicling life for the Rifles
soldiers on patrol, in forward
operating bases as well as group
pictures. .
“I look at subject matter,
aesthetic, concept. Not really a
message, just is it good
aesthetically,” he explained.
Rfn Carter is a snapper on Civvy
Street working for advertising
company Tapestry.
The Esher man, based at 7 Rifles’
unit in Mayfair, London, has been
in the TA for three years and it is
his first tour.
“The best bit is going out on
operations, advising the ANA,
getting out on the ground,” he said.