Treats for the troops

Treats for the troops

By Peter Gould
BBC News Online correspondent in Colchester

Sharon Gill and Amanda McCaldin say the gifts will raise morale

British troops serving in Iraq are about to get a surprise package from home.

Army wives from the garrison town of Colchester have decided the soldiers need a few little extras.

In an operation called "Treats for Troops", they have encouraged local people to donate sweets, magazines and toiletries.

The goodies are being boxed up and flown out to the Gulf.

The soldiers may not know when they will next enjoy a hot bath, but they will not be short of smelly soap, hair shampoo and shower gel.

After days of enduring hot and sweaty conditions in the desert, it could make them a little nicer to know.

"We just wanted to do something positive for them when all these protests about the war were going on," explained Amanda McCaldin.

"This is not pro-war or anti-war...it is just our way of boosting morale by saying that people at home are thinking of them."

Amanda's husband Calum is a sergeant in 16 Close Support Medical Regiment, and was involved in the first Gulf War in 1991.

Phone call

When she and her friend Sharon Gill appealed for gifts and set up collection points in local shops and supermarkets, they were amazed by the public response.

Ann Garnett says television adds to the strain on families

"My jaw dropped when I saw how much stuff there was," said Amanda.

"We have filled ten large boxes and we have had to call a halt for the time being, because the Army could not ship any more.

"The most important thing is for the lads to have enough ammo."

Amanda spoke to her husband by telephone last week, just before the conflict began. She has heard nothing from him since, and knows it may be some time before they speak again.

"We had a general chit chat, but nothing morbid. We are not into last goodbyes," she told me.

"But he could not speak to our daughter. She is six and a real daddy's girl. She has a calendar and she is crossing the days off, one by one, until she sees him again."

Stress

The pressures on families separated by military life are familiar to members of the Town and Army Club, a social group that puts garrison wives in touch with local women.

Gareth Oughton says students share concern for troops

After a lifetime as an Army wife, Ann Garnett thinks that television coverage of the war in Iraq is an added strain on the present generation of service families.

"It is a lot more stressful, and incidents come up on the screen so quickly," she said.

"If a unit is named, it makes it all the more difficult. Children with lively imaginations could find it quite difficult."

The impact of the war on service families is recognised by students at Essex University, who have held anti-war demonstrations in Colchester.

"The issue of the war has split the country, and the campus reflects that," said Gareth Oughton at the Students' Union.

"The general feeling is anti-war, but at the same time people are fully behind the troops, and want them to come home safely.

"Students feel that young men and women should not have to put their necks on the line for a war that is wrong."

Gareth thinks the war has engaged young people in political debate in a way that has not been seen for many years. He argues that students should continue to make their feelings known.

"You only have to look back to Vietnam to see how public opinion helped to bring that war to a close," he told me.

"I hope the protests now will have the same affect on this war."

Veteran

Joining the campaign for peace is Carl Stratford, who served with the RAF during the last Gulf War, and now lives in Clacton.

Carl Stratford blames health problems on previous Gulf War

Since 1991, he has suffered a series of health problems, both physical and psychological. He is convinced they were caused by his military service.

"I had sixteen injections over a period of two weeks," he recalled.

"They included jabs for anthrax and plague, and I was taking tablets every day as protection against nerve agents.

"We all felt very rough, and some blokes were laid up in bed for days. I used to be happy go lucky, but when I came back from the war I was aggressive and sometimes violent...my personality changed."

A chef by trade, Carl has been unemployed for the past four years because of his health problems. He says it has been a struggle to get proper treatment.

"I do not agree with this war, but I feel for our troops in Iraq," he said.

"The lads who were in the Balkans had a lot of problems, and I think it will be the same after this war.

"I just hope the government looks after them when they come home."