From the unforgiving sands of the desert to the dangerous wreck-strewn waterways of southern Iraq, the Sea King helicopters of 846 Naval Air Squadron have been tested to the extreme in seven challenging – but rewarding – months attempting to bring stability to a nation ravaged by Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical regime.

The Fleet Air Arm team joined counterparts from the RAF and Army as part of the Joint Helicopter Force (Iraq), supporting efforts to return the war-torn country to something approaching normality.

846 arrived in the Middle East after the initial fighting had died down last May to take part in Operation Telic II – the post-war peacekeeping effort.

Five Sea King HC4s were sent to the Middle East accompanied by around 70 squadron personnel to provide air support to the military and civilian forces, maintaining order around the southern city of Basra.

Among the tasks the unit undertook from their base at Basra International Airport were to act as air ambulances, to carry VIP ‘cargos’, help with ordnance disposal and check point patrols, and to help turn the screw on smugglers and subversives.

The Yeovilton-based unit was ordered to provide two Sea Kings for missions daily by the Multi-National Division troops responsible for peacekeeping in southern Iraq.

A third helicopter had to be at 15 minutes readiness by day and 30 minutes by night for emergency missions by Immediate Response Teams (IRT), such as casualty evacuation and airlifting bomb disposal teams in to minefields and other areas where the remnants of Saddam’s arsenal had been found by patrolling forces on the ground.

“During the deployment the IRT crews saved many lives, including members of the British Armed Forces, Italian Military Police from the An Nasiriyah bomb, and scores of Iraqi civilians,” said pilot and squadron press officer Lt Steve Baldie.

“Common tasks during the summer were the rescue of heat stress casualties, as well as numerous mine strikes, gunshot wounds, road traffic accidents and bombings.”

Key peacekeeping roles included supporting ground troops by ferrying them around the country, providing aerial support at check points where soldiers searched vehicles for arms and contraband, and policing vital areas of Iraq’s infrastructure such as power and water installations from the air.

There were some unusual requests, too.

“We were asked to fly a walkie talkie to a hostage negotiator – we were the only ones who could do it. We did it, and the negotiations were successful,” said Lt Baldie.

And all this was carried out in conditions which caused maximum pressure on both humans and machines, whether flying or on the ground.

Lt Baldie said that engineering teams struggled with temperatures which touched 50°C by day and rarely dropped below 30°C by night, yet managed to ensure that at least three of the five Sea Kings remained serviceable for operations daily.

“Some of the maintainers found that they had to immerse their tools in cool water before using them, as they’d become too hot to touch,” Lt Baldie explained.

Pilots fared no better. Cockpit temperatures at times hit a staggering 65°C – 149°F – and crew still had to maintain control of their aircraft, which in the desert environment was far from easy.

“You’d think it would be easy flying over a nice, reasonably flat desert, and despite the dust it was – by day,” said Lt Baldie.

“But by night, it was a very different story. With the very low light levels, even with night vision goggles, it was very hard to identify the horizon – which meant it was extremely difficult to tell how high you were.”

Lt Baldie said beyond the testing desert environment, which meant sorties “at the edge of the performance envelope”, and the still-unsettled nature of life in post-Saddam Iraq ensured the fliers could never let their guard down.

“With a real threat of ambush, small arms fire, surface-to-air missiles and mine strikes, the crews remained at a high state of alertness on even the most routine of sorties,” he said.

The performance of all Fleet Air Arm squadrons in Iraq in the past 12 months has already been praised by independent Government watchdogs, who were impressed by the efforts to keep helicopters fit for operations in punishing conditions.

On a human level, it meant extreme dedication and hard work from 846’s ground crew.

“During the deployment they completed four main gearbox changes with minimal facilities and comfort,” said Lt Baldie.

“That’s several times more work than would have been carried out on all ten squadron aircraft in a year back at Yeovilton.

“In spite of the dust and sand, the squadron did not lose or change one main rotor blade in the whole deployment – something which plagued operations in Gulf War I and Exercise Saif Sareea in Oman in 2001.

“It’s a testament to the professionalism of the engineers that they kept the aircraft airworthy in the field, where hot dusty conditions plagued the helicopters day after day.”

The ground team also had the chance for some goodwill initiatives, with 846’s chefs in particular spreading the word in Basra schools.

Although the squadron was based in Basra, it didn’t remain land-locked throughout the deployment.

Aircraft were requested to aid operations in the northern Gulf, notably flying crucial spare parts to Type 23 frigate HMS Norfolk to allow the warship’s Lynx to continue anti-smuggling sorties over the sea.

And another Sea King crew was asked to fly a military VIP to a dinner on board the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

The squadron returned to Yeovilton in December after completing 1,266 sorties, accumulating 1,500 flying hours in the process, and saving at least 40 lives.

As the last Sea King was squeezed aboard an RAF C-17 aircraft for transport back to Somerset just eight days before Christmas, the airmen were glad to be leaving – but glad they had made a difference too.

The changes in the landscape of Iraq since 846 arrived in May were distinct, according to Lt Baldie.

“The country was looking a lot more civilised. Children were running around, going to school. Clean water supplies and power were back to normal,” he said.

“When we first got out there, terrorists were regularly attacking the infrastructure, disrupting water and power – and stealing the piping and cable to make repairs difficult. They were blaming the Coalition Forces for the problem.

“But the Iraqi people were becoming wise to this after a while. They could see that things were changing.”