British army in Gulf fights on its stomach

THE British army has lifted a little of the veil over its preparations for a possible war with Iraq and revealed a tented cookhouse in Kuwait.

While US officers have been inviting reporters to their bases in this Gulf state frequently in recent weeks, their British counterparts have kept the wraps on their operations. The official reason for the closed-door policy is that Britain is still getting much of its force into the region, unlike the Americans whose preparations are more advanced. However, officials acknowledge the British Government has also been keen to avoid pictures of war preparations being beamed back home when opposition to military action is strong in Britain. The time was considered right on Saturday, however, to offer a glimpse of what the army is up to in the desert, although the focus was on feeding not fighting, perhaps in an effort to counter reports at home that troops were not being well fed.

Cooks normally cater for soldiers in their individual regiments but, in northern Kuwait, chefs from different units have been pooled together in one big tented kitchen to feed the large number of British troops.

For security reasons, the army will not say how many mouths are being fed from the giant tent with its own freezers, ovens and generator but it is designed to cater for up to 5,000. The food is dispatched to 24 different feeding stations.

Cooks work round the clock to prepare two hot meals a day. They use 1,200kg of beef, 1,200kg of lamb and 2,400kg of chicken every day. In the past two weeks, they have also got through more than 6,700 tins of baked beans.

The British soldier has to be fed on no more than £1.75 (2.68) a day. This allows 26p (40c) for breakfast, 61p (93c) for lunch and 88p (1.35) for an evening meal. The daily rations provide 4,300 calories, well above the standard NATO requirement of 3,500.

There are also dietary requirements which have to be met so 8,500 vegetarians, 3,500 Halal eaters, 3,700 Sikhs and Hindus and 50 Orthodox Jews are well fed.

Meals Ready to Eat aren’t always to the taste of soldiers. The pre-packaged foods which come in vacuum bags are commonly used as target-practice.