SNATCH INTERNALS
An interior view of the Snatch Land Rover (below) vs a Foxhound (above)ABOVE: The interior was home to sensitive electronic countermeasure equipment
BELOW: Seats and gear in the back of the vehicle
widely available, and a quick online search
revealed that a IIA with a 300Tdi engine could be
picked up for around £10,000.
“I’ve had mine for nearly two years now after
buying it from a friend,” explained Mark. “He had
it for about four or five years and had been the
second owner after it was sold by Withams in- I’ve got all the Merlin reports detailing its
time in Northern Ireland and its later use in Iraq,
which makes for interesting reading.”
Mark said that during its service in Northern
Ireland it suffered considerable damage during
an attack while parked at a football match.
“Someone threw a blast bomb over a wall,”
he said. “There were two Land Rovers over
the other side, one of which was mine, and it
suffered fire damage around the lower half of
the vehicle. The armour was still intact, but the
soft-skin all around had melted away.”
The vehicle was sent away for repairs and
ended up being completely rebuilt before
returning to Northern Ireland.
“Records show it was initially used by 1
Parachute Regiment in 1993,” said Mark. “It
then went over to the Royal Logistics Corps and
the Royal Irish had it in ’95. I’m not sure when
it suffered the fire damage, but it was sent to
Iraq in 2004 as part of a fleet of light armoured
vehicles.
“It was only there for a month or two at max
before they realised the heat of the desert made
them unsuitable to use.”
Having been developed for colder European
climates, the heat build-up in the armoured
Snatch Land Rovers from the blisteringly hot
desert sun was severe.
“There were stories of soldiers passing out
in the back because the heat inside exceeded
55 °C,” said Mark. “They realised they could
not operate the vehicles in the extreme
temperatures, so they shipped the whole lot
back to the UK where they were fitted with
thermal barriers to stop the heat from the sun
getting through. They were also fitted with air-
conditioning. The lockers on each side of the
vehicle which normally carry Jerrycans were
used for the air-conditioning systems.”
After undergoing refitment, Mark’s Snatch
Land Rover returned to Basra in Iraq in August
of 2004. It remained in the country until at least
2006 before returning to the UK.
“Considering all it has been through, it is in
excellent condition and one of the very few
complete examples there is on the circuit,”
said Mark. “Everything is in there, even the
curtain used to protect and keep the electronic
countermeasure(ECM) stuff cool in the back.”
When pulled down, the curtain kept the air-
conditioned air in the vehicle to protect and keep
sensitive electronics cool.
“In a patrol of four or five Land Rovers, two
would normally supply the ECM ‘bubble’, which
was used to block signals from mobile phones
or other sources that could trigger an IED,” said
Mark. “They normally had two vehicles with full
ECM gear, which this one had.”
Since taking ownership, Mark has discovered
an interesting story related to its time in Iraq.
“When the first owner got it from Withams
he found a map under the seat. It is said to be
related to the capture of two SAS soldiers in
2004 by Iraqi forces.
“There was some toing and froing between