A BIG operation took place in Basra and Az Zubayr, involving 200 men from A and B companies and divisional reserve convoy in Warriors on my second night there. The aim was to ?deter and disrupt? Shia retaliation, following the Sunni suicide car bomb in Najaf. At 8pm around 70 members of A company assembled in front of their vehicles for last minute briefings. There was an air of expectancy though not all were convinced. ?They always say it?s serious but nothing ever happens,? muttered one, snatching a quick fag. The wind had dropped, the worst of the heat was over. In the slanting rays of the sun, it was almost pleasant. Hardly had we set off than the Snatch vehicle I was in broke down. It was the first in what was to prove a night of frustrations. Vehicle break-down, equipment failure, getting stuck in the sand: it was a vivid illustration of all the men have to cope with. Although never, they were anxious to tell me, had it happened in one go before. We found one desert track blocked after another, where farmers had spontaneously decided to throw up a berm to protect their tomato crop. We passed a family stretched out on rugs watching a huge TV. For the second time in half-an-hour the lead vehicle got stuck and had to be dug out. At this stage any normal person would have said, ?this is not our night? and gone home. ?I have to carry on until I?m told to stand down,? said Lt Whitehouse, 24. Eventually we made Az Zubayr and passed little box houses with fluorescent strips burning outside. Dogs barked in the darkness. The men set up a vehicle check point, the sky lit up by orange parachute flares set off to give the insurgents another problem. Cars stopped and were searched with much smiling and ?Salaams? all round, one of the soldiers using his rudimentary Arabic. Names, addresses and vehicle details were noted down to be passed onto intelligence in the morning. Lt Whitehouse said that a reluctance to open the boot may not mean anything sinister. Soldiers have been known to lift the boot lid on hot and claustrophobic sheep ? which then have to be stuffed back inside. The Iraqi Police Force is not exempt from vehicle searches, as many are corrupt and allow their vehicles and weapons to be used by their dodgy friends. Lt Whitehouse said that a certain amount of tact is needed, so that egos are not dented. Police cars get stolen, or cloned and anyone can buy police arm badges in the local market. The most interesting customer of the evening was an off-duty border policeman carrying a Beretta and an AK47, without the correct paperwork. Walid the interpreter was called and he appeared in a balaclava, to protect his identity. Lt Whitehouse told the policeman they were going to confiscate the weapons but that they could be reclaimed once the necessary authentication was produced. The man looked distraught and after considerable argy bargy and every conceivable serial number had been taken, he was allowed to keep them. ?He was frightened he would be at risk without them ? which he could be. If it was a fake it was a very good one,? said Lt Whitehouse. Elsewhere Company A troops came under fire for the first time. Multiple 20A, commanded by Lt Aaron West, had been conducting vehicle checks in the north of Az Zubayr when they heard a burst of automatic gunfire. ?I believed it was a ?contact?. We made ready and got in there quite hard and aggressive towards the fire,? said ?Westy?, 24, from Helford. At the corner he got a strong whiff of cordite but the men managed to leg it. Locals told them they thought it was a feud between market traders and that the two had been firing at each other. But next morning, Company A?s chief interpreter, Mohammed, heard that the fire had indeed been directed at the troops. Major Matt Maynard?s Rover Group gave chase to a car evading their vehicle check point and found it abandoned in an alleyway with two pairs of sandals ? still warm ? beside it. They made a great show of leaving, only to sneak back to survey the area through their night sights. Their patience was rewarded. An hour later the men returned but again managed to escape into the labyinth of alleyways. ?We got photos of the vehicle to pass to the police. It was an eventful night ? we?ve had no reports of Sunni murders,? he said.