Top brass and junior ranks are united in believing that poor conditions, repeated tours of duty and low pay are scant compensation for the servicemen and women who risk their lives for their country.

Last month Brigadier Ed Butler, a former SAS commander, left the Army amid reports of frustration with equipment shortages and budget cuts. He praised his soldiers' “ability to continually deliver operational success, within the well-known constraints and restraints”. Last year Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Tootal, commanding officer of 3 Para, resigned after reportedly complaining of shoddy treatment of injured troops and appalling housing conditions.

Websites such as Army Rumour Service have become important means of articulating their discontent anonymously.

“If a police officer is asked to go on-call for three months in a hostile environment, thousands of miles away from home, where lots of people are mortaring him/her and shooting at him/her day and night for weeks on end ... how much do you think he/she will get in overtime payments and other benefits?” asks one poster.

“We need a union not to strike but to stand up for us. I really do wonder how many civis are aware of how much a serving member of the armed forces doesn't get paid?” asks one soldier.

Accommodation, some of which is notoriously poor, is another source of complaint. “Given up complaining, moss growing on walls. bathroom floor that moves with water underneath it.”

The tone is one of mystified anger, summed up by the comment “how the hell the Army get such a bad deal in comparison is totally beyond me!”.

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