A British soldier carries a 84 mm Carl Gustav rocket launcher and his self-loading rifle (SLR) on exercise in West Germany during the 1980s

Photograph, West Germany, 1980 (c).

The Carl Gustav, nicknamed the 'Charlie G' by the soldiers, was a vital piece of kit, used as an anti-tank weapon.

Training was a major part of life in the British Army of the Rhine. There were months of primary 'special to arm' training, with soldiers working on their marksmanship with rifles, or firing their tank guns, or their artillery pieces. Temporary bridges were laid by engineers. Signallers worked on communications. All this built up to a major exercise in the Autumn, the Field Training Exercise, or FTX.

Training in Germany was unique for the British, in that they were able to practise their warfighting skills at scale over the exact ground they expected to fight over should the Cold War turn hot.