 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. 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 Williams, accepted that his footwear problems would not prevent him fighting effectively, but said that he was disappointed that he was having to wear Iraqi boots. "The English boots I had on were not desert boots, and the sole on them was coming off because of the heat. "So I picked up a pair of the Iraqi boots for myself. There were lots of them, and they are more comfortable and lighter than the ones I was wearing. "I would not have believed it if you'd have said that I would be wearing Iraqi boots before I came out here." "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." (Agenceis) | 伊拉克戰場上的英國士兵們不得不在廢墟中搜尋伊拉克士兵的靴子，因為他們自己腳上的本國軍靴在沙漠烈日的烘烤下，全部都開裂了。 18歲的李·威廉是英國"沙漠之鼠"蘇格蘭皇家近衛團衛兵。他在一個廢棄的兵營里撿了雙嶄新的靴子，跟自己的英國戰靴比起來，他覺得新鞋"又輕巧又舒適。" 他還說，換上伊拉克靴子也是迫不得已，因為腳上的鞋早就開裂了，可補 給物資卻遲遲沒有到來。 事實上，在英國士兵到達海灣地區之后，裝備短缺就一直困擾著他們。 部隊軍官承認供給確實有問題，他們說部分原因是英國下令派遣軍隊和英軍開赴海灣戰場的時間間隔太短，根本無暇準備軍備物資。 威廉說這些困難并不影響他英勇作戰，唯一使他感到遺憾的是他不得不換上伊拉克士兵的靴子。 他說："我穿來的英國靴子不適應沙漠氣候，這里溫度太高，鞋底全脫幫了。" "所以我找了雙伊拉克靴子。這里到處都是，而且穿起來更舒服輕巧。" "來這兒以前，我決不相信自己有一天會穿上伊拉克人的靴子。" "看上去伊拉克士兵穿得比我們好。我們應該更像職業軍人一些，可現在我們就像是流浪漢。" （中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2003-03-31 01:00
