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MoD hit with more "Army" kit claims
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voodoo sprout
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MoD hit with more "Army" kit claims
The BBC are reporting that eighty Royal Marines in Norway have had to be taken home due to cold injuries blamed on poor sleeping bags, ref; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3510639.stm .
Sounds like Ro55 is having fun then.
Sounds like Ro55 is having fun then
.Fluffy bunnies - Grrrrr!
I find this a bit weird. I mean, don't the lads get issued artic scratchers anymore? even the general issue hollow fibre bags issued to all and sundrey should still be OK for Norway. I expect there's more than a few on this forum who did Norway in the 58 patten bags and canvas A frame tents with seperate groundsheets 
Not trying to dismiss any of the claims but I really don't understand how this can happen, although it does say that the new MOD policy on cold weather injuries is to fly people home - at what cost!!!! - perhaps its just a visability thing.
Not trying to dismiss any of the claims but I really don't understand how this can happen, although it does say that the new MOD policy on cold weather injuries is to fly people home - at what cost!!!! - perhaps its just a visability thing.
Nuisance
Winter games !
Thought you might be interested in seeing a translation of an article that appeared in my local newspaper ( The Harstad Times).
Sleeping bag that caused a media circus
The sleeping bag the British use under winter training in Norway created many headlines in Great Britain.
This story has appeared in most of the leading media in great Britain today, like the BBC, The Sun, The Telegraph and more says a stressed Press Liaison Officer for the Royal Marines at Åsegarden, Sgt Stan Bloomer.
Old sleeping bags.
The telephone rang continually for Bloomer and the head of the Allied Training Centre (ATC) Lt. Col. Lars Sundnes yesterday, after it was known that over 154 British soldiers had been sent home from Winter training with injuries. According to many of the reports in the British Media were poor sleeping bags the cause of many of the injuries. The sleeping bags had been so bad that many had bought new ones in Norway.
The sleeping bags are between 10 and 12 years old, but we have been here many times before with the same sleeping bags. No one has complained before, says Bloomer.
Never the less we can’t stop our soldiers buying their own equipment. It happens all the time also elsewhere in the world, he adds.
Misquote.
The reason that sleeping bags had become such an important news item was that the Mail on Sunday quoted Lars Sundnes as saying that the sleeping bags the British used were inadequate. He had apparently said this at a press conference for British Press who visited Åsegarden last week. I told the Press that some thought it was cold to lie in a sleeping bag when the temperature is minus 35 Degrees Centigrade. But it is of course cold for most of us, says Sundnes. Never the less I have never said the British sleeping bags were inadequate meant Sundnes.
Sgt Bloomer tells us how this misunderstanding had happened.
The newspaper The Western Morning printed an article about the winter training. In this article Sundnes was quoted as saying he had spoken to some of the soldiers who had told him that they thought the sleeping bags were poor. The Mail on Sunday snapped this up, which again unleashed the media storm.
No serious injuries
This newspaper ( The Harstad Times) understands that this isn’t the first time the English Press has caused extra work for the Royal Marines press office.
In all have 154 Britains so far been sent home from training in Norway, and of these have 60 been caused by frost bite, mainly on the hands. The rest of the injuries have been caused by skiing accidents.
The figures are a bit above average for these exercises, but none of the injuries are of a type which will cause any long term problems, meant Bloomer.
He explains the high numbers of injuries by saying that this is the first time many have been on Winter training, and the whole point of the training is to discover one’s limitations.
That only 60 out of a total of 2.500 men have been frost-bitten is after all very few, claims Bloomer.
What the British press has written :-
The Sun : 80 Royal Marines have been frost-bitten and 46 others have had orthopaedic problems after spending three weeks in ice-cold Harstad.
A Norwegian Commanding Officer ( Lars Sundnes) said the following : Their sleeping bags are bad.
The Telegraph : More than 130 Marines have been sent home from Winter training in Norway because of frost bite. The reason being that their sleeping bags are over twenty years old. Lt.Col Lars Sundnes with the Allied training centre in Harstad says that the British sleeping bags are no good.
BBC: 80 Royal Marines have been sent home from Norway with frost bite. The injuries are caused by poor sleeping bags. The Norwegian Officer Lars Sundnes told the Mail on Sunday that the sleeping bags were no good.............. The end.
The article was accompanied by a picture of Sgt Bloomer holding up a sleeping bag and another of Lars Sundnes claiming that he was misquoted by the British press.
Another thing for sure Lt Col Sundnes will be more careful with what he says to British reporters in the future.
As far as I have noticed,the temperature in 'Ice cold' Harstad hasn't dropped below minus 10 C since training commenced. Of course, it can be colder in the mountains further inland and it has been fairly windy, so the Wind Chill factor can have been quite high.
Sleeping bag that caused a media circus
The sleeping bag the British use under winter training in Norway created many headlines in Great Britain.
This story has appeared in most of the leading media in great Britain today, like the BBC, The Sun, The Telegraph and more says a stressed Press Liaison Officer for the Royal Marines at Åsegarden, Sgt Stan Bloomer.
Old sleeping bags.
The telephone rang continually for Bloomer and the head of the Allied Training Centre (ATC) Lt. Col. Lars Sundnes yesterday, after it was known that over 154 British soldiers had been sent home from Winter training with injuries. According to many of the reports in the British Media were poor sleeping bags the cause of many of the injuries. The sleeping bags had been so bad that many had bought new ones in Norway.
The sleeping bags are between 10 and 12 years old, but we have been here many times before with the same sleeping bags. No one has complained before, says Bloomer.
Never the less we can’t stop our soldiers buying their own equipment. It happens all the time also elsewhere in the world, he adds.
Misquote.
The reason that sleeping bags had become such an important news item was that the Mail on Sunday quoted Lars Sundnes as saying that the sleeping bags the British used were inadequate. He had apparently said this at a press conference for British Press who visited Åsegarden last week. I told the Press that some thought it was cold to lie in a sleeping bag when the temperature is minus 35 Degrees Centigrade. But it is of course cold for most of us, says Sundnes. Never the less I have never said the British sleeping bags were inadequate meant Sundnes.
Sgt Bloomer tells us how this misunderstanding had happened.
The newspaper The Western Morning printed an article about the winter training. In this article Sundnes was quoted as saying he had spoken to some of the soldiers who had told him that they thought the sleeping bags were poor. The Mail on Sunday snapped this up, which again unleashed the media storm.
No serious injuries
This newspaper ( The Harstad Times) understands that this isn’t the first time the English Press has caused extra work for the Royal Marines press office.
In all have 154 Britains so far been sent home from training in Norway, and of these have 60 been caused by frost bite, mainly on the hands. The rest of the injuries have been caused by skiing accidents.
The figures are a bit above average for these exercises, but none of the injuries are of a type which will cause any long term problems, meant Bloomer.
He explains the high numbers of injuries by saying that this is the first time many have been on Winter training, and the whole point of the training is to discover one’s limitations.
That only 60 out of a total of 2.500 men have been frost-bitten is after all very few, claims Bloomer.
What the British press has written :-
The Sun : 80 Royal Marines have been frost-bitten and 46 others have had orthopaedic problems after spending three weeks in ice-cold Harstad.
A Norwegian Commanding Officer ( Lars Sundnes) said the following : Their sleeping bags are bad.
The Telegraph : More than 130 Marines have been sent home from Winter training in Norway because of frost bite. The reason being that their sleeping bags are over twenty years old. Lt.Col Lars Sundnes with the Allied training centre in Harstad says that the British sleeping bags are no good.
BBC: 80 Royal Marines have been sent home from Norway with frost bite. The injuries are caused by poor sleeping bags. The Norwegian Officer Lars Sundnes told the Mail on Sunday that the sleeping bags were no good.............. The end.
The article was accompanied by a picture of Sgt Bloomer holding up a sleeping bag and another of Lars Sundnes claiming that he was misquoted by the British press.
Another thing for sure Lt Col Sundnes will be more careful with what he says to British reporters in the future.
As far as I have noticed,the temperature in 'Ice cold' Harstad hasn't dropped below minus 10 C since training commenced. Of course, it can be colder in the mountains further inland and it has been fairly windy, so the Wind Chill factor can have been quite high.
Thokenda.......
Experience is the abilty to recognise a mistake when you make it again...........
Experience is the abilty to recognise a mistake when you make it again...........
I think one of the problems is, that so many of todays soldiers are buying there own, so there is not the feed back on what is good and what is bad.
Also if you are buying your own kit then replacement kit will not be ordered or held stores. Long have gone the days if you wore any thing but regulation kit you would be marched straight into the guard room.
Also if you are buying your own kit then replacement kit will not be ordered or held stores. Long have gone the days if you wore any thing but regulation kit you would be marched straight into the guard room.
