Princess boosts morale at Camp Bastion
5 Mar 10
Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, made a morale-boosting visit to British troops at their base in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, this week.
An Army sniffer dog leaps up from a cooling bath to greet Her Royal Highness Princess Anne at Camp Bastion, Helmand province
[Picture: Corporal Tim Hammond, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Her Royal Highness Princess Anne met with members of The Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, 9 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, the Household Cavalry Regiment, and 205 (Scottish) Field Hospital, and staff of the Joint Force Support Headquarters.
The Princess Royal, accompanied by her husband Vice Admiral Tim Laurence, spoke with dog handlers of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and met the working dogs.
Her Royal Highness also spoke with officers and soldiers of The Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment who received her with a traditional battle display.
Soldiers and officers of 9 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, the Coldstream Guards and Household Cavalry Regiment each explained the role of their units in theatre and showed her examples of the equipment currently in use.
Princess Anne meets one of the sniffer dogs and his Royal Army Veterinary Corps handler during her visit to Camp Bastion
[Picture: Corporal Tim Hammond, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Her Royal Highness later met with staff and patients of Camp Bastion Field Hospital.
The visit was the first of a two-day programme of visits to troops currently on operations.
Speaking after the visit, Captain Jo Barr, Adjutant of Bastion Joint Operating Base, said:
"This visit has been a great morale-boost for the troops. They see that dignitaries like The Princess Royal are genuinely interested in what we do out here."
Corporal Edward Kingsland, a dog handler in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, said:
"The importance of today's visit cannot be underestimated. The Princess Royal has taken a real interest in our work and experiences.
"I am personally delighted that the dog unit is getting the recognition it deserves. It will be the same for all of those units who don't necessarily make it into the headlines."