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.