Bagpipes and wigs for Iraq troops

12 April 2012

British forces in Iraq celebrated Christmas far from home on Tuesday - with the help of bagpipes and blonde wigs.

For most at Britain's sprawling Basra Airport base, the usual pre-6am start was suspended for the day with a lie-in and even a cup of tea in bed.

Officers and senior NCOs took their turns to serve the rank and file soldiers as part of a longstanding military tradition.

For those serving with the 1st Battalion, the Scots Guards, there was also a distinctly Scottish wake-up call, with a piper blasting out We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

Christmas Day temperatures in the desert of southern Iraq were pleasant in the low 20Cs.

The battalion's commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Willie Swinton and other senior officers toured the tents dishing out a "brew" and presents to around 400 soldiers under his command.

A full Christmas dinner of turkey, cranberry sauce and all the trimmings was later laid on in cookhouses at the "Cob" (Contingency Operating Base), Britain's last base in Iraq. Officers were again serving the troops.

After lunch a 5km "Turkey Trot" to raise money for injured servicemen and women was planned to burn off any festive excess.

From early morning some soldiers were spotted around camp dressed as elves or even donning blonde wigs and short skirts.

Following the handover of Basra Province earlier this month, UK forces in the south of the country are now on an "overwatch" mission, providing back-up if needed for Iraqi security forces rather than actively intervening.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in