OT: Brit soldiers need toilet paper
Jaime Jeske
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
British News
Marines caught short by lack of loo rolls
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
BRITISH troops deploying to Kuwait have discovered that they are to be
more than fighting partners with the Americans. They are also expected
to use their lavatory paper.
After stocks failed to reach Royal Marines now training in the desert,
soldiers are fast running out of essentials. They are even having to eat
American rations.
The American meals-ready-to-eat (MREs) are considered so poor that in
the build-up to the last Gulf War in 1991, US troops begged to swap
their rations for the British ones.
Officials with the Defence Logistics Organisation insisted that hundreds
of thousands of rations and loo rolls have arrived in Kuwait for the
British troops, but some of the stocks appear to have got stuck in
warehouses.
There had been some local distribution problems, officials admitted, and
the British troops have had to turn to their American allies for
support. Military personnel hated being short of the vital commodity and
tended to grab loo rolls when they had a chance to ensure a continuous
supply.
The quartermasters in charge of stores were, therefore, being forced to
ration loo rolls to get a proper sense of proportion among the troops.
"This is one of the reasons why some of the marines have been
complaining about running out of loo paper and turning to the
Americans," one official said.
Defence officials explained that, happily, in order to avoid too much
duplication, there was an agreement that the Americans would share some
of their resources with their British comrades. The Royal Marines are
already sharing the same US Marine Corps camp in Kuwait, and if there is
a war, the US and British marines are expected to advance together into
Iraq.
The food rations issue is expected to be resolved soon, but no British
soldier or marine training in the heat is going to want to rely on MREs
for too long.
After the 1991 Gulf War, discarded MREs were found all over the desert.
The Americans have brought huge stocks with them because one of the
plans is to drop MREs over Iraq to feed hungry Iraqis. Often called
meals-rejected-by-everyone, the MRE diet includes chicken à la king -
known as chicken à la death - and smokey frankfurters.
The British military rations, which include one roll of loo paper, boast
tasty delicacies such as Lancashire hot pot, beef stew, chicken pasta
and sausage and baked beans.
Copyright 2003 Times Newspapers Ltd.
Jaime
Sophie
"Jaime Jeske" <jaim...@cox-internet.com> wrote in message
news:v57rvs8...@corp.supernews.com...
I tell you who has good MREs - Dutch Marines. Especially the Cold Weather
ones. My husband is a US Marine and did some training with Dutch Marines in
California - he brought one of their MREs home. Yum.
American MREs aren't *that* bad. They did discontinue a really good one -
beef stew. And they had weird freeze dried strawberries - we called them
astronaut food. And it's fun to see how old some of the stuff is - a couple
of years ago my husband got an MRE with M&Ms from the Olympics held in LA
(when was that 1980s?).
Lady Taker
> Wednesday, February 19, 2003
> British News
> Marines caught short by lack of loo rolls
> By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
When the Brits find out how lov-er-ly our loo rolls are they will go to war
against us for control of our loo roll fields, I assure you. TP in
Britain is sometimes coated with clay and has all the absorbant qualities of
magazine paper -- your hand does a better job moping up damp nether regions
than some of the stuff they use over there. And if that's the good stuff
they put out in their bigger hotels, the mind boggles as what type of
sandpaper/vinyl they send the troops.
--
Giselle
Big J
news:v57snfd...@corp.supernews.com:
"Oh, well I use a broken milk bottle ..."
Big J
(old George Carlin line)
-----
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com
TA
> the build-up to the last Gulf War in 1991, US troops begged to swap
> their rations for the British ones.
Yes, that was a decade ago. It's not the case any more. They're not
gourmet meals, but they're far superior in taste and variety to what was
available in Desert Storm. But, hey, we can't have a Brit paper getting it
all right, can we.
J Rogow
"Lady Taker" <vol...@ccrtc.com> wrote in message
news:v57snfd...@corp.supernews.com...
I thought it was wax-paper in the hotel bathrooms?
Lady Taker
"J Rogow" <JRo...@SpammenotNewsguy.com> wrote in message
news:b30us...@enews1.newsguy.com...
Wax, clay, vinyl... it was *something* moisture proof, that's for sure.
--
Giselle (always suspected that they rinsed and reused it)
Dennis Lewis
>
>Yes, that was a decade ago. It's not the case any more. They're not
>gourmet meals,
Huh? Oh -- for a moment I thought we were still debating whether
British hotel bathrooms feature wax paper or clay.
J Rogow
Well - yeah, you mean you didn't *know* that?
At least, at the better hotels, they iron it before reuse.
Lady Taker
"Dennis Lewis" <d...@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:3e541193...@nntp.sprynet.com...
To tell the truth, all those stewed tomatoes could probably be used for
either. (And do a much better job at one.)
--
Giselle (stewed tomatoes are a disturbing sight on a breakfast table, imo)
Tina
sounds like a new kind of sushi - loo rolls.
Tina
either. (And do a much better job at one.)
--
Giselle (stewed tomatoes are a disturbing sight on a breakfast table, imo) >>
They eat stewed tomatoes for BREAKFAST? Ewwww! That's one food I can't stomach
looking at much less eat for breakfast. Like big red eyeballs. I love tomatoes
(fresh) but when I cook with stewed ones, they go into the food processor.
maryanne kehoe
Moscow!!
Maryanne-------I bring my own TP when I go back over there
Lady Taker
"Ms Mothball" <mil...@home-sweet-home.co.uk > wrote in message
news:ihv95v04f6t90bd5h...@4ax.com...
> having been to America on many occasions, I can assure you our toilet
> paper is as good as yours. I've been away from this ng for quite a few
> months and I'm surprised at the snide comments about Brits which seem to
> be quite regular now. Especially from Lady Taker, whose posts I always
> enjoyed.
Honey, we brought home pieces of that toilet paper from various places
because we knew no one would believe us what it was like. Several types are
coated with *clay* which makes it equal to magazine paper which is also
coated with clay to give it its shine. I don't know what you have in your
own home but next time I'm there perhaps I can stop by and use your loo and
take a sample for comparison. When's the last time you checked out the
paper assortment in the hotels and tourist-stops? Perhaps you should.
Maybe someone is cutting $ corners in the WC.
My London-born Grandmother assured us that those were indeed STEWED
tomatoes. I know that the UK is trying hard to improve their cuisine after
having been the butt of so many jokes o'er the years and, trust me,
everything else was more than lovely. I even spent a lovely night in one
pub bribing the chef for his recipe for a mustard/pepper glazed pork roast.
And, just for the record, I didn't say they weren't GOOD stewed tomatoes, I
said the sight of them on the breakfast table was disturbing. It *was*.
Oh, yeah, and while I'm here: WHERE THE HELL IS ALL THE DAMN TEA??? You're
still not holding that little tea party in Boston against us, are you? I
had to beg for a pot of tea every morning. The Aussie tourists and I used
to fight over the pot they finally brought because the only other thing on
the table was pot after pot of coffee. <- also a disturbing sight
--
Giselle
Terryo
Well, that does it! I'm starting a drive to send our used toilet
paper to Britain! Anything to help out our ally......
TerryO~Just doing my part.....
RIF
If you want to live long and not get prostate cancer then for gods sake eat
stewed tomatos, I love em with sausages, bacon, kidneys fried in butter,
toast, heinz beans and mushrooms.
Yes time for breakfast methinks!!
EX Brit squaddie
RIF
Prof. Wagstaff
"RIF" <ka...@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:b35str$p8s$1...@knossos.btinternet.com...
Well, that explains a lot then. You would be goose stepping to Wagner now if
we hadn't helped you in WW2. Don't forget that. The sun set on the British
Empire a long long time ago, old boy. Remember when you guys couldn't even
defeat a bunch of renegade Dutch settlers in South Africa?
Aozotorp
Prof. Wagstaff
> Japanese for getting you off your asses and getting involved in WW2 in the
> first place.
>
> (My apologies to all the normal Americans out there, but I'm seriously
> getting fed up with the Brit bashing... especially since we're taking so
> much criticism for siding with America in the current war crisis.)
>
Ma'am, I am thankful your PM Tony Blair is on board with us, but my comments
are in direct response to your fellow countryman RIP's peacenik pleas from
the perspective of an ex-soldier.
RIP, a non-citizen of America, sees fit to criticize *my* country? Then he
gets what he deserves. I'm sorry if that doesn't fit your genteel Marquis de
Queensbury-type rules of engagement
To your attempt at a sharp riposte, I would say that without Lend-Lease in
1940, your materiel stockpile at the onset of WW2 would have been
negligible. Your country was fortunate that Germany's blossoming rocket
program was stifled by our bombing of Pennemunde and other launch bases in
Scandinavia. Let's be honest, you would have lost that war if not for our
massive forces at your disposal. That's a fact that you should never forget.
PattymacI
This is not an intelligent rebuttal to Americans who make those idiotic
statements about the British and WWII but I want to tell you that my son called
me from Kuwait Thursday night. He told me that the British military women are
"so hot." LOL I instantly thought of all those old WWII movies where the
American seviceman brings home an English bride!
Of course, now it could be the English servicewoman who brings home an American
groom!
Pattymac
Pattymac
Prof. Wagstaff
This is not an intelligent rebuttal to Americans who make those idiotic
> statements about the British and WWII
Thank goodness for that, because it sounds as if you were sleeping during
those particular lectures. Learn and understand history before lending an
opinion. I am right on what I said about the US and Britain in WW2. Of
course Brits are going to disagree. Remember they were once, a long time
ago, one of the Western world's superpowers, along with France and Spain.
When the sun set on the British Empire at the end of the Victorian era,
they've been reduced to second tier power status that some of its citizens
fail to acknowledge. This all stems from the lingering resentment that one
of their colonies has grown to become more powerful than they.
Annie RUtahkn2Me
remarks.
I wasn't alive during WWII, but I'm a history buff. I've always admired the
Brits for bravely fighting the Nazis by themselves until we Americans joined in
after Pearl Harbor.
If it weren't for the Brits, we Americans, whose ancestors hadn't been killed
in concentration and death camps once the Nazi's stormed the USA after
defeating the Brits, would certainly be speaking German, not English, now.
I've always admired the courage of the British soldiers and the British people
during WWII.
It still seems impossible to me that a relatively small island nation like
Britain was able to hold off the Nazis who seemed to easily steamroll their way
through all of the rest of Europe.
Thank God that the Brits are still on our side these days.
I'm just dreading the loss of life for both the Americans and the British if we
go to war against Iraq.
Annie RU
Just Click and Help Protect the World's Oceans
Please go to: http://oceans.care2.com/
Prof. Wagstaff
"Annie RUtahkn2Me" <rutah...@aol.comezdzyz> wrote in message
news:20030224133418...@mb-bk.aol.com...
It's amazing that a person would claim to be a history buff yet display
absolutely no plausible grasp on interpreting history accurately. It has
nothing to do with being anti-British, it's about analyzing history in a
factual and objective manner. Some Brits can't do that, because they've
fallen as a world power over the last century, and they can't handle it.
> If it weren't for the Brits, we Americans, whose ancestors hadn't been
killed
> in concentration and death camps once the Nazi's stormed the USA after
> defeating the Brits, would certainly be speaking German, not English, now.
This has got to be the most moronic statement I've read today yet.
Prof. Wagstaff
"Annie RUtahkn2Me" <rutah...@aol.comezdzyz> wrote in message
> Ms Mothball, just ignore the "w**kers" with their snide, anti-British WWII
> remarks.
>
> I wasn't alive during WWII, but I'm a history buff. I've always admired
the
> Brits for bravely fighting the Nazis by themselves until we Americans
joined in
> after Pearl Harbor.
>
> If it weren't for the Brits, we Americans, whose ancestors hadn't been
killed
> in concentration and death camps once the Nazi's stormed the USA after
> defeating the Brits, would certainly be speaking German, not English, now.
>
> I've always admired the courage of the British soldiers and the British
people
> during WWII.
>
> It still seems impossible to me that a relatively small island nation like
> Britain was able to hold off the Nazis who seemed to easily steamroll
their way
> through all of the rest of Europe.
>
> Thank God that the Brits are still on our side these days.
>
> I'm just dreading the loss of life for both the Americans and the British
if we
> go to war against Iraq.
>
>
>
Well, duh, of course they fought the Nazis before America, they were
attacked nearly two years before us.
Aozotorp
>fallen as a world power over the last century, and they can't handle it.
Blair beleives that by being on a puppet string for the US - He will make
Britian more powerful!
Alan Williams
"Aozotorp" <aozo...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030225085816...@mb-fa.aol.com...
No Blair believes that it will make _Blair_ more powerful.
Alan
Prof. Wagstaff
That's a fair assumption, but what impresses me is that he cares not what
the UN thinks, as if the UN serves any real purpose to begin with.