"2 Battalion REME"

by David Rowlands

Size 58 x 38 cm

June 1999: 2 Battalion REME was responsible for the maintenance, repair and operational effectiveness of vehicles and machinery within the British force in Kosovo. This painting depicts the battalion’s Close Support Company at its base at Kosovo Polje, on the outskirts of the city of Pristina.

A Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle (CRARRV) lifts the power pack from a Challenger tank (Zero Charlie) of the King’s Royal Hussars. A Warrior 513 of the REME is at the left. The Commanding Officer of 2 Battalion, Lt Col Ian Simpson, looks on, with his second-in-command, Major Bernie Lauinger RAEME (in the uniform of the Australian Army). In the background at right is the Battalion HQ, formed by three CVRTs (Sultans) joined by tents. When I was with the British troops in Kosovo, it was remarkable that there was a thunderstorm in the early evening every day.

The General Support Company of the battalion was based at Skopje, Macedonia, under Major I C Adkins REME.

For the Serbs, Kosovo Polje is the site of a famous medieval battle in 1389, and is known as ‘the Battlefield of the Blackbirds'.