Before leaving Cyprus, Alma Company’s final six months in Cyprus were dominated by the island’s operational cycle. This comprised a rotation in RAF Akrotiri on the flight line security task, a period held at very high readiness for short-notice contingencies, and platoon-level deployments to the strategic sites at Troodos and Ayios Nikolaos and the UK’s naval support facility in Bahrain, where member sof 2 Platoon visited HMS Montrose.

HMS Montrose is the eighth of the sixteen-ship Type 23 or Duke class of frigates, of the Royal Navy, named after the Duke of Montrose. She was laid down in November 1989 by Yarrow Shipbuilders on the Clyde, and was launched on 31 July 1992 by Edith Rifkind (later Lady Rifkind), wife of (later Sir) Malcolm Rifkind, Secretary of State for Defence. She was commissioned into service in June 1994.