AddThis SmartLayers

Sub-zero trip for James

When reporter James Slack was asked if he fancied a trip to Canada, he didn’t hesitate.

Then came the catch.

This was no luxury press facility visit but a seven-day stay in the Canadian wilderness, in temperatures of -25C, watching soldiers from the Nijmegen Company of Grenadier Guards train in Operation Snowshoe.

James, who has worked at the Nottingham Evening Post for 16 months, explained: “I’ve never been on an army trip before, so I was still happy to go.”

Nottingham is one of the areas from which the Grenadier Guards traditionally recruit, which was why the Evening Post was one of the media invited to attend.

“The journey out was a nightmare,” said James, who travelled with Evening Post photographer Neil Hoyle. “It took us 24 hours from Nottingham.”

The soldiers are from a regiment which normally performs ceremonial duties – like the Trooping of the Colour – and guard duties at Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, Windsor Castle and the Tower of London. But Operation Snowshoe was a chance for them to spend six weeks learning the art of surviving and fighting in extreme winter weather.

James, who trained at Sheffield and worked at the Mansfield Chad before joining Nottingham, admitted he didn’t know what to expect.

“The cold wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” he said. “It’s a different type of cold to the cold weather over here. They kept saying to us: ‘It’s -25′, or, ‘It’s -28′, but it really didn’t seem that bad. They gave us cold weather gear – balaclavas and thick socks – but it was a very ‘dry’ cold. The snow didn’t cling to you. It was so cold it just fell away in powder.”

Camp Wainwright, where the exercise took place, covers a massive area. The nearest major city, Edmonton, is a good two-hour drive away.

James said: “It was an incredibly barren place – a stark contrast to over here. In the middle of March they still had Christmas decorations up. It was real Northern Exposure stuff.”

The highlight of the trip, for James, was a formal regimental dinner.

“It was amazing how quickly it became very informal,” he said. “There was a tradition of drinking two glasses of port very quickly and it ended up with the drinking of flaming sambucca at 4am.”

James said he did find it strange, and a bit galling, to see university students – who were starting on officer training at Sandhurst – being called “Sir” by soldiers who had worked their way up through the Army for years.

He also said there was a distinct difference between what the Army thought made an interesting story and what he and Neil were interested in for the Evening Post.

“They thought it was fascinating for us to get up at 4am and watch soldiers firing off round after round of ammunition, but we were more interested in the human side of the story.”

James admitted that before the trip, he had a stereotyped image of the average soldier as a shaven-headed 6′ 2″ hard-man.

“I was surprised by how young and vulnerable these soldiers seemed,” he said.

The Post published a double-page spread by James, with photos by Neil, featuring six local soldiers.

Looking back on his experience, James said: “I’m glad I did it now. But I’m more glad now I’m back than I was when I was out there!”

Do you have a story for us?
Ring the HoldTheFrontPage newsdesk on
01332 291111 x6022, or e-mail us now