Young Gold Coast Digger Lance Corporal Iain Yarsley reflects on Anzac Day

SITTING with an injured soldier in Afghanistan as his great grandfather’s stories from WWI spun through his head and chopper blades whirred over it, Iain Yarsley realised he too was a veteran.

Captain Wales conducts field exercises with Darwin’s 1st Brigade.

SITTING beside a terribly injured soldier in Afghanistan with stories of his great grandfather in World War I spinning through his head and chopper blades whirring over him, it struck Tallebudgera’s Iain Yarsley that he too was a veteran.

The 24-year-old lance corporal was only 19 when he deployed with Mentoring Task Force Two in 2010 on a six-month mission to help train the Afghan National Army.
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“Some guys had bullet holes in them but I just had them fly around me,” LCpl Yarsley said.

“The thing that drove it home for me was when I had to jump on an AME (aero medical evacuation) with a guy who got blown up.

“I’d never met him before but I went with him to escort him to make sure he got to the right spot to get help.”

LCpl Yarsley moved to the Gold Coast with his parents Kerry and Frank when he was just two-years-old.

The St Andrews Lutheran College student successfully enlisted soon after graduating and was posted to the 5th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment in Darwin where he’s still based.

While most Australian soldiers were based at Camp Russell in Tarin Kowt, LCpl Yarsley and his mates were at the much smaller Forward Operating Base Mirwais in the Chora Valley where they worked shoulder to shoulder with the Afghans, teaching them how to fight the Taliban.

“We patrolled with them, taught them how to deal with situations they’d come across and pretty much did everything they did,” he said.

“It was something that was hard to do because there’s a pretty big cultural difference.

“Because we were on a patrol base we were out in the sticks a bit more. I wouldn’t say it was scary but there were times it could be nerve wracking.

“It was surprising how cold it got, that was a big shock, and the lack of oxygen because we were at altitude.”

While it’s been a while his last deployment, LCpl Yarsley and his mates are always training to make sure they’re ready for anything.

They’ve even got an extra officer floating around Larrakeyah Barracks at the moment, Captain Harry Wales — also known as Prince Harry.

“Yeah I’ve seen him around doing some training,” LCpl Yarsley said.

“But you know, he’s just another officer really.”

This Anzac Day will be considerably quieter for LCpl Yarsley, who also has a grandfather who fought in WWII, however he will be parading through the streets of Darwin with his unit as part of the commemorations.

“I guess it’s got more meaning for me now.

“I’ve always heard their (great grandfather and grandfather’s) stories but it was hard to imagine because we haven’t grown up in a war torn country.

“When you go over yourself you have a lot more respect.”

Originally published as Young Gold Coast Digger Lance Corporal Iain Yarsley reflects on Anzac Day