Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Household Calvary Mounted Regiment (HCMR) – the ceremonial unit of the British Army, has paid a two-day visit to its counterparts of the Ghana Army (GA) – the 153 Armoured Regiment (153 Armd Regt), to foster closer ties between the two Armies.
The visit which was initiated by the Defence Adviser (DA) of the British High Commission, Accra, took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, 4 and 5 April, 2023, at the Regimental Headquarters, and the Abugah Square, at Gondar Barracks, and at the 3 Mounted Squadron, Medo Lines, Burma Camp, Accra.
The British Army team, led by the Commanding Officer (CO), HCMR – Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Tom Armitage, was briefed and guided on a tour of sections of 153 Armd Regt by the CO – Lt Col William Ohemeng, after the host had accorded the guest a mounted guard-of-honour, and introduced the team to Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Ben Gah – Commander, 15 Armoured Brigade (15 Armd Bde).
The calvary regimental delegation of eleven, included riding staff, veterinary officers, and farriers. It also included three musicians – experts in different instruments from the British Mounted Ceremonial Band, who during the visit, worked with the Ghana Armed Forces Central Band (AFCB), to explore musical cooperation to create a great musical effect, and performed at a concert with the Central Band.
The HCMR is a cavalry regiment of guards whose primary task is to perform State and Royal ceremonial duties, and as part of their duties, they mount daily guards, called the King’s Life Guard. The Regiment, which also has armoured reconnaissance regiment, in addition to the ceremonial regiment and Infantry responsibilities, consists of one sabre squadron – the Life Guards, the Blues and Royals – the Headquarters Squadron, and the Household Cavalry Training Wing.
The Ceremonial Regiment is responsible for the provision of the Sovereign’s Escort, most commonly seen at the monarch’s annual Birthday Parade, Trooping the Colour (in June each year), and will be a main attraction in June 2023 at the Coronation of the King of the United Kingdom – King Charles III.
Speaking to Peace Journal, Lt Col T Armitage said of the visit that, he observed similarity of functions between his Unit back in Great Britain and the 153 Armd Regt, such as the Armoured Regiment and the Mounted Squadron, which has farriers, saddlers, riding instructors, vets, amongst others.
On the benefits of the visit, the Scottish CO said it has been very important for the training of his soldiers, particularly those who had not yet had the opportunity to be outside of the UK, to learn many things about how the Ghanaian military does its business. He went on to say that they had also impressively observed how the GA is doing a lot of things, and hoped that the two regiments could cooperate in future, to help improve, subject to the DA’s consent.
The 153 Armd Regt has evolved from the 2 Field Battery of the Royal West Africa Frontier Force (RWAFF) in 1945, through a Reconnaissance Squadron, to Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment, to the now 153 Armoured Regiment, which was re-designated in 2019, and is now the premiere of three armoured regiments under 15 Armd Bde, responsible for the southern part of Ghana.
Its responsibilities include ceremonial roles, timely and accurate information acquisition, tactical deployment during Counter Insurgency/Internal Security (COIN/IS), offensive operations, enabling and peace operations – reinforcements, patrols, roadblocks, show-of-force and escorts – to support Infantry troops.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
