Image: The British Army.
A joint Army-RAF mission delivered specialists and 2,500 kg of supplies to Tristan da Cunha within 48 hours of the initial alert.
An isolated community under pressure
The British Army’s 16 Air Assault Brigade parachuted a medical team and critical supplies onto Tristan da Cunha on Saturday, responding to a suspected Hantavirus case on Britain’s most remote inhabited territory.
Tristan da Cunha, a volcanic island group in the South Atlantic with a population of around 200, has no airstrip and is otherwise only accessible by a week-long sea crossing from South Africa. With oxygen stocks depleted and the island’s two-person medical team overwhelmed, an airdrop was the only viable option.
A 7,000-mile race against time
Alerted on Thursday, the brigade assembled a team of eight and flew them more than 7,000 miles in under 48 hours. Six Pathfinder soldiers and two medics, a consultant anaesthetist and an intensive care nurse from 16 Medical Regiment, made the journey aboard an RAF A400M transport aircraft from RAF Brize Norton.
An RAF Voyager tanker refuelled the aircraft mid-mission before a stopover at RAF Ascension Island for final preparations. The team then flew the final 1,800 miles south.
Specialist skills put to the test
Pathfinders, trained in freefall insertion behind enemy lines, jumped from 7,000 feet and landed on the island’s rock-strewn golf course. The medics jumped tandem with Pathfinder soldiers before heading directly to the island’s hospital. The Pathfinders then marked a vegetable patch as a drop zone for the incoming stores. Supplies weighing 2,500 kg, packed and despatched by 47 Air Despatch Squadron Royal Logistic Corps, landed safely.
Demonstrating the reach of airborne forces
The operation underlines the strategic value of airborne forces and 16 Air Assault Brigade’s role as Defence’s global response force. Brigadier Ed Cartwright, Officer Commanding 16 Air Assault Brigade, said the mission was “a joint effort with the Royal Air Force” that highlighted “the speed, reach and utility of parachuting,” adding that the arrival of personnel and supplies from the sky had “hopefully reassured the people of Tristan da Cunha,” according to the British Army.
You can read more on The British Army website
