Woman clerk rounds up Iraqi POWs

Woman clerk rounds up Iraqi POWs

Georgina Lord did not expect to be in the frontline

A tiny trooper from West Yorkshire has been rounding up enemy prisoners of war despite signing up as an army clerk.

Georgina Lord was the first British female soldier to cross the border into Iraq.

Her mother Katherine advised her to enrol for the Adjutant-General's Corps because she would never have to be near the frontline.

But Ms Lord, who is less than five feet tall, found herself attached to 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery - one of the first units to cross the border from its base in Kuwait.

I only go on the firing range once a year

Georgina Lord

And less than two days into the conflict she was helping to disarm Iraqi soldiers.

The 22-year-old from Huddersfield said: "I think my mum will be a bit shocked when she finds out what I've been doing.

"I only go on the firing range once a year, as I'm not normally handling a rifle.

"I didn't know if we were going to get fired on and I was thinking about whether or not I would see my family and friends again."

'Felt sorry'

On sentry duty Ms Lord spotted movements near to her vehicle and went to investigate along with sergeant Dean Foster.

"We went towards where the movement was and saw three Iraqis.

"I held my rifle to them. They were scared. I then searched them and made sure that they were disarmed, before we sat them down and gave them some biscuits.

"I felt sorry for them, because they obviously didn't want to be there and didn't want to fight."

Sgt Foster, 34, added: "She's done a great job so far and handled the situation very well."

From pool reporter Martin Dillon of the Manchester Evening News in Iraq.