The western desert of Iraq is an inhospitable place.

SOCOMD Chief of Staff Col John Mansell described the area as open and bare with few places to hide.

He said as such, it was difficult for the SASR Task Group to move anywhere without being detected by the Bedouins or local Iraqis.

“The SAS Task Group experienced all the extremes that a desert can offer,” he said.

“Early on the temperatures dropped to minus 5 degrees and that’s not taking into account the wind chill factor.

“Later in the operations, temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.

“On one occasion sandstorms blew constantly for two days with winds averaging 30km/h, reducing visibility to 10m.

“On another occasion, it rained so heavily that the task group’s weapons systems were being clogged and jammed by wind-blown mud.

“Apart from that, you can say it was perfect weather.”

The weather was also a challenge for the task group’s Combat Services Support Coy.

Strong winds gusting up to 50km/h challenged the group's patience, blowing away tents and getting dust into everything.

Fortunately communications and computer networks held up in the same demanding conditions.

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