Al-JazeeraQatar, Friday, March 28, 2003 British soldiers Scavenging Debris for
Iraqi Boots Agence France
Presse NEAR BASRA, 28 March 2003 -
British soldiers have been
scavenging the debris of war for Iraqi
Army boots because the British Army
variety are disintegrating in the hot
desert sun. Guardsman Lee Williams, 18, of
the Desert Rats' Royal Scots Dragoon
Guards battle group, found a new pair of
boots in an abandoned barracks which he
said were "lighter and more comfortable"
than the British footwear. He added that he had been forced to
swap his footwear because no replacements
were available for his own disintegrating
boots. Equipment shortages have affected
British forces since their arrival in the
Gulf. Other soldiers are wearing patched-up
combat trousers, repaired in one instance
by removing a pocket, and in another case
by cutting up a colleague's spare
shirt. Army officers concede there have been
problems with supplies, partly because of
the relatively short time available
between the announcement of British
deployment and the soldiers' arrival in
the Gulf. Guardsman David Richardson, 22,
from Manchester, has cut up his own
trousers in an attempt to repair holes in
the crotch and backside. "I've only got one pair of desert
combats and they were issued second-hand
with tears in them which have got worse
since I got here," he said. "I've had to
cut my pocket out to make patches to cover
up the holes. It's embarrassing. "The Iraqi Army seems to be better
clothed than we are. We are supposed to
look like professional soldiers, but we
don't. I look like a tramp." Source: al-Jazeera
+ agencies. |