Desert Rats get 'knitted out' for Iraqi winter
11 Jan 06
The Officers and Warrant Officers of 7 Armoured Brigade, known as 'The Desert Rats' are keeping out the winter chill on their operational tour to Iraq, by wrapping up in specially made 'Guernsey' sweaters.
Brigadier Patrick Marriott and the staff officers of HQ 7 Armoured Brigade wearing their new 'Guernseys'
[Picture: LCpl Pasha, 7 Armoured Brigade]
It was the decision of the Commander of 7 Armoured Brigade, Brigadier Patrick Marriott, to commission a supply of the sweaters. The traditional fisherman's 'Guernsey', knitted with oiled wool, is renowned for its warmth and durability and is therefore ideal for winter conditions in Iraq. The military jumper is also linked back to the original item of clothing favoured by the Desert Rats in World War Two.
7 Armoured Brigade ordered three hundred sweaters from a company in Guernsey and these were sent out to Iraq in October. Each jumper has been hand-finished in a neutral colour and has the Desert Rat insignia sewn onto the left hand sleeve.
Members of 7 Armoured Brigade received the idea of the sweater with great enthusiasm. The Officer Commanding of 207 Signals Squadron, Major Andy Percival, was overwhelmed with the response and attributed this to the quality of the finished product. In addition, he noted:
"The 'Guernsey' fosters the Brigade Commander's philosophy that 'we are all of one Company' and instils our desert heritage into today’s Officers and Warrant Officers."
A tank crew from the Desert Rats sporting snug woolly jumpers on a cold desert morning, by their MK VI Light Tank. North Africa 1940/41
[Picture: 7 Armoured Brigade archive]
Brigadier Patrick Marriott said:
"The Desert Rats earned their reputation in the North African desert during the Second World War. And the old and faded photographs of the Desert Rats in sandy wastes are still perhaps just about remembered. In many of the photographs, long forgotten officers and men can be seen in jerseys with a Red Rat on one sleeve. This tradition continues today some sixty odd years later and is special to the Desert Rats."
7 Armoured Brigade deployed to Iraq in October 2005 for a six month tour of duty as part of the Multi National Division (South East). It currently has 4,000 soldiers serving in the provinces of Al Basra, Maysaan and Al Muthanna.
