HEAT FELLING THE BRITS

While CPT Patti says her company will all be air-conditioned this week, the Brits seem to have a problem further south.

They are a lot closer to the gulf, and it would seem suffer higher humidity rates than those found in Baghdad.

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."

Oops! Wonder if that last comment will invite punishment much as did the candid remarks to reporters by US troops...