North Shropshire villagers get view of flying Land Rover
Villagers in north Shropshire were left looking to the skies when a Chinook helicopter began circling above - while dangling a Land Rover.
It was spotted over the home of the 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment at Clive Barracks, in Tern Hill, near Market Drayton yesterday afternoon.
It was part of preparations for a training exercise which starts in the Ukraine on Saturday and involves 35 soldiers.
They are heading out to work alongside troops from Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other Balkan countries.
Lieutenant Anthony Kirkham will be the commanding officer for British troops on the excursion. He said: "We are going out to work alongside soldiers from other countries in a bid for form friendships and learn from one another.
"There are 15 different countries sending out more than 1,400 people on the exercise which has been named Rapid Trident and will last two weeks.
"Most of the countries we are working with are hoping to join the EU so the idea is to get together now, build relationships and solve any frictions that may arise from different nations working together."
Lieutenant Kirkham said the Royal Irish troops will be showing how a helicopter can be used to lower a vehicle and other equipment onto the ground for waiting soldiers.
He said: "It's quite a sight seeing a Land Rover vehicle hanging from a helicopter so I can imagine people were shocked when they saw it.
"The Polish, Ukrainian and Moldavian paratroopers are very good at landing on the ground after jumping from planes. We'll be showing the different things you can do with a helicopter and how they can be used to lower vehicles and equipment into certain locations. We all can't wait to get out there and get going."
