Stretched along Iran’s border of desert and marshes, Maysan province is a dangerous wilderness that is being used by Iraq’s Shia extremist groups as a testing ground for their latest explosive devices. It is on British patrols – which may soon include Prince Harry – that they are sharpening their deadly skills.

“Maysan is a very useful place for them to develop stuff because it is out in the open,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Nixon-Eckersall, the commanding officer of The Queen’s Royal Lancers. The regiment is responsible for patrolling the province known as Iraq’s “Wild West”, trying to stop Iranian smugglers bringing weapons across the border.

Last week, he lost two of his men to a massive improvised explosive device near the city. The soldiers were killed when their Scimitar, a tracked reconnaissance vehicle, was hit by one of the devices that they are trying to prevent slipping across the border.

April has been the deadliest month for British troops since the invasion, with rogue militia jostling for prominence in the south, often playing a long-term political game to establish their credentials as antioccupation fighters once the British have wound down their presence in Iraq. They are also vying for supremacy in a region that contains most of Iraq’s enormous oil wealth.

Some Western officials in the south feel that the environment is hazardous enough for British troops without introducing a high-value target such as Prince Harry, whose presence could provoke an increase in attacks. The military also worries that his presence may lure paparazzi, travelling with private security teams, into one of the most dangerous areas of southern Iraq in the hope of getting a lucrative shot of the Prince on patrol. The Army would then have to risk its own troops rescuing any who landed in trouble.

If he joins his Blues and Royals regiment on the border, Prince Harry will find himself on patrols deep into the desert and marshlands of Maysan, living in a harsh environment of heat, dust and deadly explosives lurking beneath the desert tracks. The battlegroup disappears into the desert for days or weeks at a time, often travelling off-road in Scimitars and open-back Land Rovers mounted with 50-calibre machineguns. The soldiers live on rations of precooked, vacuum-sealed meals and dry biscuits, and are sometimes so far from any base that they have to be resupplied by air drops.

British forces started to patrol the border last year, after abandoning their base of Abu Naji in the provincial capital, al-Amarah, which came under incessant rocket and mortar fire. Shia militiamen, especially those from the rabidly antiBritish al-Mahdi Army, claimed to have bombed the British out, using what the British insist was merely a tactical redeployment as a powerful propaganda tool.

“Some people would say it’s a benign environment, when you compare it with Basra,” said Colonel Nixon-Eckersall. “I would use that word with caution, in that there are people who would seek to do us harm.”

As the Army hands over more of its small bases inside Basra to Iraqi security forces, the attacks on the city’s airport – one of the few remaining targets – have become far more concentrated. It is not uncommon to see an entire restaurant filled with uniformed soldiers eating their fish and chips off plates on the floor as they await the all-clear signal.

After dark, no soldier is allowed out without wearing body armour. Those wanting to shower at night wear their helmet and flak jackets.

Killed in April

Corporal Ben Leaning 24, of The Queen’s Royal Lancers Battle Group

Trooper Kristen Turton 28, of The Queen’s Royal Lancers Battle Group, lived in Grimsby

Kingsman Alan Jones 20, of the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, was an Everton fan

Colour Sergeant Mark Powell 37, of the Parachute Regiment, was born in South Wales

Sergeant Mark McLaren 25, joined the Royal Air Force in January; “a caring husband and father”

Second Lieutenant Joanna Dyer 23, with Intelligence Corps. Friend of Prince William

Corporal Kris O'Neill 27, was deployed to Iraq with the Royal Army Medical Corps in January

Private Eleanor Dlugosz 19, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, travelled with patrols into Basra

Kingsman Adam Smith,19, of the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment. Born in the Isle of Man

Rifleman Aaron Lincoln,18, of the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles. His grandfather had served in the Army

Kingsman Danny Wilson,28, of the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment; “a proud Cumbrian”

Incidents in the region

— Majar al-Kabir, June 2003 Six Royal Military Police surrounded in a house. Hold out for two hours before being overwhelmed

— Al-Amarah, summer 2004 Shia cleric Moqtadr al-Sadr stages major uprising. UK forces involved in some of the fiercest battles of the conflict so far

— Al-Amarah, 16 July 2005 Three British soldiers killed when Land Rovers are attacked

— Maysan, 19 April 2007 Scimitar hit by explosive device, two crew killed

Source: MOD, Times Archive

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• Why Ann Widdecombe has got it wrong
• Alas, it’s the end of the road for petrolheads