BRITISH troops were sent to fight the war in Iraq ill-equipped for the desert, the new commander of Britain’s land forces acknowledged yesterday.

Major-General Peter Wall’s frank admission about the poor supply of desert boots, combat clothing and other basic equipment was the first time that a senior member of the British military has confirmed what is self-evident throughout southern Iraq where the troops are based.

His appraisal of “deficiencies” in the logistics system, which meant that a significant number of soldiers went to war with heavy black boots and combat clothes designed for the “temporate” British climate, was in stark contrast to statements by ministers, including Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary.

Only last week, when he appeared before the Commons Defence Committee, Mr Hoon dismissed suggestions that the troops had endured significant problems with the wrong boots. He acknowledged there had been one or two complaining e-mails from soldiers to their families, but rejected newspaper reports about shortages of basic equipment before the war began. He even told the committee that he was waiting for reporters and newspapers to apologise.

However, General Wall, who took over command in Iraq earlier this month and served as Chief of Staff in Qatar to Air Marshal Brian Burridge, the overall British forces commander during the war, said that the logistics problem was one of the key lessons to be learnt from Operation Telic, the codename for Britain’s military campaign.

There had been no complaints about the fighting equipment, such as the modified SA80 rifle, the Challenger 2 tank and the AS90 self-propelled artillery, all of which performed well. The complaints related to more basic items that should have made life easier for soldiers in a hostile climate.

General Wall said: “It is self-evident that we didn’t have enough equipment for the desert readily available for the size of the force brought here. I don’t condone that at all and I think it’s very disappointing.”

Even now, huge numbers of troops in Iraq are having to wear black parade-ground boots because they have not been issued with desert boots. One soldier from the Black Watch Regiment had to be evacuated as a casualty from Basra for special medical treatment last week because his boots had caused serious injuries to his feet. During an anti-drugs operation involving the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment on the Iraqi/Iranian border this week, which The Times joined, four out of eleven Paras were wearing black boots.

General Wall emphasised that the problem had arisen because a force larger than had been planned originally was sent to Iraq and because of the speed of its deployment. But it was vital “to match the amount of kit needed for the forces sent to theatre”.

He understood how soldiers felt about deficiencies in such basic items as boots. “I hope we can do better in the future. It’s important in practical terms and also in psychological terms,” he said. He added that in some cases “things had been cut a bit fine from savings made over the years”.

General Wall, who will stay in command in Iraq until July, predicted that British troops would remain in the country for between one and two years, but that numbers would be reduced to a brigade of between 5,000 and 7,000 troops.

Next month, 19 Mechanised Brigade from Catterick in North Yorkshire is due to arrive in Kuwait to acclimatise before replacing 7th Armoured Brigade in Iraq.

British responsibility for security, which at present covers two provinces in southern Iraq, would increase to four, but support would come from several European countries now planning to join the proposed multinational stabilisation force, now approved by the United Nations Security Council.

The countries that he named “provisionally” that are expected to come under British command in southern Iraq are Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway and Denmark. Advance units have already arrived.

He envisaged that, in the long term, Britain would help to build up and train a new Iraqi army. He suggested that Iraqi soldiers could come forward and be registered and paid, but be given only public service jobs for the time being.

Until an Iraqi army was formed, the occupying powers — the United States and Britain — had the legal obligation to guard Iraq’s borders from foreign aggression.

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