24 February 2025, 08:24

By Joseph Draper

It’s lunchtime in the dining tent, which the British soldiers around me affectionately call the ‘scoff house.

’Hundreds of fresh-faced men and women, some of them as young as 18, are bumping elbows on the long benches, warming themselves up over steaming bowls of sausage and mash.

Iconic hits from Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys, oozing with nostalgia, are blaring from a speaker as the troops sing along, their vocal enthusiasm for ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Mardy Bum’ lost in translation among their bemused European comrades.

It’s a heartening scene in an otherwise cold and unforgiving landscape. Soon these troops will have to pick up their guns again and face the biting wind outside, digging trenches and learning how to rush enemy positions under heavy fire.

We’re just 13 miles from the border of Ukraine, where hundreds are dying every day in real trench warfare on vast open plains much like these ones on Romania’s eastern edge.

They’ve travelled thousands of miles, across land and sea, through Greece and Bulgaria, to take part in NATO’s largest exercise of the year, Operation Steadfast Dart. For some, it’s their first time away from home.

“It’s like the European road trip everyone dreams of,” says Corporal Charles Sweet from the Scottish Isle of Bute. “We’ve had plenty of waves and cheers on our way.” He’s just turned 27, and his two young girls have sent him a card and candles for his birthday cake.

While it might feel like an adventure at times, the true purpose of this journey is never far from his mind. Just a few days earlier, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that troops just like him might soon have to protect Ukraine if American President Donald Trump negotiates a ceasefire with Russia. Corporal Sweet tells me he’s prepared for whatever the future holds.

"It feels good to be part of something [larger], especially with the news we’ve been hearing.“We’re doing some high-quality training, building to the bigger........

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