Soldiers from York have been tested to their limits in one of the toughest settings in the world. ANDREW HITCHON joined them in the jungle.

THE light seeped gradually through the trees as morning slowly came to the jungle. Never quiet, it was at least peaceful - until the stillness was shattered by a crack and blast of an explosion.

As we reached a small, scrubby island there was another flash and explosion - a flare, shooting above the thick foliage on the other side of the river. Then there was movement above the opposite bank, at first indistinct, then forming itself into a small group of men coming out of the dank forest, clad in camouflage green and with painted faces.

Two men slipped into the water and started swimming, taking a rope across the 80-metre crossing point. The rest of C Company, more than 100 men, would use the rope to pull across themselves, their kit, and anything else they needed.

As the first party set off shots came from our bank. Troops fired back, their rifles quickly joined by machine gun fire. Then all was relatively quiet once more.

The soldiers, from the 1st Battalion of the Prince of Wales's Regiment of Yorkshire (1PWO), had marched hard through the jungle in the previous days, in temperatures of about 110 degrees F, to get here. Now they had to launch a company attack on enemy positions just ahead of them.

There were actually three of them, hidden within the foliage, which reconnaissance patrols had found the previous day.

The first position was seized quickly. The track ahead was "mined", so one of the platoons had to take to a surprisingly cold jungle stream to work their way round the flank of the second position.

We overtook soldiers lying flat by the side of a jungle track, and stood alongside the "enemy", actually members of the Belize Defence Force (BDF).

There was rustling, then the hill in front burst into life as men fired and ran down the slope - though the main attack was coming from the other side. The remaining positions were swiftly overrun. After that there was time to go down to the river for a wash. It was all done with blank rounds, of course, but taken very seriously.

We saw live firing later that day, as artillery pounded positions, Milan missiles were fired, and infantry advanced across rolling hills which form another facet of Belize's varied countryside. Fires swept across the landscape, leading to a precautionary evacuation of ammo and fuel from a nearby camp.

The previous night we slept in the jungle. Unlike most members of C Company, who had only a bedroll, we were in the School House, which consisted of a few upright poles and a leaf roof, with logs laid out on the ground and just about enough room to fit a cot bed between.

Our host, Captain Rob Lord, who combined the roles of Adjutant and jungle warfare instructor, told us that to see the river crossing and company attack we would have to be in position early.

We had already seen how reconnaissance patrols provided the eyes and ears for the rifle companies, the skills of concealed snipers (I couldn't see them even after they stood up), and the concerted firepower of 1PWO's mortar teams.

Initially we were supposed to stay the night at Augustine Camp, where 1PWO's A1 Echelon, the unit's most forward support post, with vital supplies like food, water and fuel, and the regimental aid post where frontline medical help was provided, was based.

But then Captain Mark McLellan, C Company's intelligence officer, invited us to get more "hands-on" experience of the jungle.

I guess the mosquito net wasn't wrapped tight enough in my case, since something woke me in the middle of the night, biting my hand as I groped for my torch. I flicked the torch on, to reveal a very large beetle, with matching mandibles. But at least it wasn't a snake, or even a spider.

Colour Sergeant Martin Field, originally from Clifton, York, had relinquished his role as a platoon leader to bring his experience as a jungle warfare instructor to the exercise.

"I love this environment," he said. "It's the hardest environment. We have got everything. We have got the heat, the humidity, the bugs. You have got to adapt to the environment, you have got to fight in it.

"Everything in this place wants a piece of you. The insects, even the plants are against you.

"If you can soldier in the jungle, you can soldier anywhere."

It was true about the plants. One sergeant from East Yorkshire had been hacking his way through the forest and wiped the sweat from his brow - and poisonous tree sap ran into his eyes.

The result was agony, temporary blindness, and a big quandary for medics who had never seen anything like it. Fortunately, with help from a specialist in Belize City, he was recovering at the main Price Barracks base when we arrived.

By then 1PWO had suffered 55 casualties, largely from machete injuries from hacking through the jungle, heatstroke, and snake, spider and insect bites.

The most serious incident was when a lorry with 13 BDF soldiers in the back overturned on a bridge. Fortunately, though a number of men were badly injured, all survived.

Its driver Corporal Adrian Smith, 34, from Acomb, York, pictured, suffered broken ribs and a twisted knee.

"I actually flaked out," he said. "I remember it going, the next thing I remember was another soldier saying: 'Are you all right?' "

His companion had suffered a serious spinal injury, but was recovering in hospital, while Corporal Smith was recuperating at Price Barracks.

The medical teams didn't just help stricken servicemen. A Belizean logger who suffered an appalling leg injury was treated and flown by Army helicopter straight to hospital in Belize City from Augustine Camp, after his companions carried him there.

600 personnel are put through their paces

FOR Exercise Tropical Storm 2 more than 600 personnel and vast amounts of equipment had to be moved from the UK to the tiny Central American country of Belize - and that was just the start.

Once there the troops of 1PWO and their support elements were put through a variety of arduous tasks, which included learning how to live and work in the jungle, patrolling skills, a live firing exercise, and more relaxed adventure training on an island off the coast.

The exercise was to conclude with a visit by the brigade commander, Brigadier "Chip" Chapman, who was to set his own tests to ensure that 1PWO was performing at the highest level.

The point was to test out the unit's ability to deploy to such a distant location, and to pitch individual soldiers into an environment which would really stretch them.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Germain, 1PWO's commanding officer, said they had brought even their youngest recruits out for the exercise, because it was such a great opportunity for them.

"The sheer act of getting here with 600 plus men is a test in itself," he said. "It's good to have the opportunity as a whole regiment to train as a battle group."

Updated: 10:53 Monday, May 16, 2005