UK troops reveal their new ordeal in 120F Iraq
Exclusive: MoD attacked as
heat casualties fly home
IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent
BRITISH troops have been flown home from Iraq as casualties of
the heat amid claims they are being forced to live in squalid conditions.
There are 12,000 UK frontline peacekeeping troops in southern Iraq, and
it is said their conditions have not improved markedly since hostilities
ended three months ago.
Personnel from units within 19 Brigade, which took over from the Desert
Rats of the 1st UK Armoured Division in Basra last month, have contacted
The Herald to complain about the lack of basic welfare for the soldiers
patrolling the streets of Iraq's second city.
Concerns include tents with no air-conditioning in 120F, having to
drink "blood-temperature" bottled water because of a shortage of
refrigerators, and fly-infested chemical toilets.
While the cash-strapped Czech Republic has provided its military police
detachment under UK command with cooled sleeping quarters and cold drinks,
British troops are suffering exhaustion from working in temperatures of
more than 110 degrees during the day and then being unable to sleep in
humid night conditions where the thermometer seldom falls below 70
degrees.
One military policeman, recently evacuated by air suffering from heat
prostration, said: "There were 40 others from the brigade in the same
condition on my flight alone. Servicemen and women are being expected to
live in conditions which have not improved since the war.
"The only thing that's changed is the temperature. It's gone up by 30
degrees."
A corporal added: "If you can't sleep because of the heat, your
efficiency and general health decline rapidly. People are in a state of
collapse after three or four days. Most of us are still 'bird-bathing' in
water from bowser trucks poured into metal or plastic basins.
"The chemical Portaloos are unusable between eleven in the morning and
five at night. They become individual ovens, stinking and filled with
flies. We were better off using shovels to create our own individual
toilets out in the desert."
A Scottish private said: "The biggest problem is having to get at least
10 litres of water down your neck every day to avoid dehydration. None of
it is cool. Most of it is blood temperature. Even the EFI, the forces
shop, doesn't have enough refrigeration capacity.
"During the conflict, everyone expected to have to rough it. Three
months down the line, you'd think the Ministry of Defence would at least
get us a few more fridges ... The people in Whitehall should try living
here for a few days."
An infantryman from an armoured battalion said: "None of the vehicles
have any form of air-conditioning. They are mobile pressure-cookers
be-tween the heat from the engines and the heat from the sun. There's just
no way to stay cool.
"Everyone's constantly running with sweat. You'd think the MoD could
speed up small comforts like cold drinking water and cool sleeping
accommodation. Everyone's knackered all the time."
An MoD spokeswoman said: "Given the extreme conditions temperature-wise
in Iraq, we're doing the very best we can. We are constantly trying to
improve living conditions. It all takes time." The ministry had no comment
on the evacuation of heat casualties.
Patrick Mercer, Tory security spokesman, called for "the immediate
funding by the MoD of decent living conditions". Mr Mercer, a former
battalion commander who served in Northern Ireland and Bosnia, said:
"Without wishing to sound soft and overly-PC, it's time our soldiers
received the basic living conditions they deserve to enable them to do
their jobs properly." He said the "MoD should wake up to the fact that
it's now midsummer in an area where the heat can literally be a killer
physically as well as psychologically".
The King's Own Scottish Borderers are among the frontline units in and
around Basra.
Kelly inquiry
move
Cutting edge that
blunts fighting force
- July 29th
