http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2112794.eceI was wandering over to the condiment table in the mess hall in search of a sachet of tomato ketchup when the siren sounded: a long, low wail. In a split second my fellow diners – camouflaged soldiers and civvy-clad contractors – had flung themselves to the floor or crawled under the nearest table, their arms held protectively over their heads.
A day earlier I had been talking to two medics as they relaxed under a camouflage net waiting for their next emergency call. As the siren came, they threw themselves on the ground with military precision while I clumsily fell off my chair and on to a pile of cigarette ash.
The scenes can appear a little comic. But there is nothing funny about them for the soldiers who live day in, day out with rockets and mortar bombs – so-called indirect fire attacks – pounding the British airbase in Basra up to ten times a day.
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The drill is taught to everyone, military or civilian, who comes to the base. Throw yourself to the floor, and if separated from your body armour or helmet, wait three minutes from the last explosion before crawling to them, putting them on and seeking hard cover. Then you must wait it out, in armour, for the siren to sound “all-clear
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