Soldiers from York have returned from a spell in Jamaica - but this was no

holiday, as Evening Press reporter TONY TIERNEY discovered when some of them told him about their experiences.

DREAMS of downing ice-cold lagers on the sun-kissed beaches of Jamaica were soon shattered when soldiers from York headed to the Caribbean island to hone their jungle warfare skills.

"With a tropical storm centred over the Caribbean," said Warrant Officer 1 Paul Handley, from York, "the conditions were more like a monsoon than paradise. Endless rain, mudslides and flash floods were the order of the day."

Exercise Red Stripe - coincidentally the name of the island's world famous beer - saw members of the 1st Battalion The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire (1PWO) take part in a joint exercise with the Jamaican Defence Force and run a training course for non-commissioned officers from Bermuda, Barbados, Belize, Antigua, St Kitts and Jamaica.

Major Richard Lockwood, the officer commanding the 1PWO troops, said: "We were based in the rugged north of the island at Moneague training camp, where we instructed specialist jungle infantry skills, such as patrolling.

"The lads were great. It was hot and very wet at times, but we kept on smiling through."

The high ridges, fast-flowing streams and primary and secondary jungle of the island's high country provided troops with the ideal conditions for jungle training without the inherent dangers of a remote location.

"It's a great place when it's sunny, but with the storm all hell broke out," said Lance Corporal Marcus Ellis, who is based in York. At one point the troops had to evacuate at 3am in the morning because of flash flooding and mudslides.

Jungle warfare instructors were in their element, but many of the younger soldiers, who were in the jungle for the first time, found it hard.

The troops' base camp was a burned-out hotel, which had been patched up with plywood and corrugated iron.

From there the soldiers who were not involved in the training course went through a four-day programme of jungle training, live firing and adventure training.

They also found time to renovate the School of Hope, an institution for children with learning difficulties.

Away from the rigours of the jungle, the troops had the chance to take on their Jamaican counterparts at sports.

The locals managed to beat the Yorkshire soldiers at cricket, but were thrashed at football.

The adventure training programme, which included cycling, sailing, deep-sea fishing and scuba diving, was run from the idyllic surroundings of The Dragon Bay Hotel, which was used as a setting for the bar in the Tom Cruise film Cocktail.

Soldiers experienced diving with sea turtles, landing great swordfish, and watching sharks as the rain subsided in the heat and sun of the Caribbean at the end of the four-week adventure.

Updated: 16:53 Wednesday, July 04, 2001