Since it is bash the troops day on Canadian Content...no need to leave the Brits out of the fun!
Sent home in shame, the British commandos who stripped naked for crass stunt in a foreign bar
By MATTHEW HICKLEY and ALLAN HALL - More by this author » Last updated at 01:06am on 4th March 2008
Comments (58)
Eight British Commandos have been flown home in disgrace for stripping naked and engaging in appalling behaviour in a Norwegian bar during an Arctic training exercise.
The men disgusted onlookers in the town of Harstad with a drunken game of "naked bar".
After whipping off their clothes, they urinated on each other - splashing other customers and furniture - before slurring insults and abuse.
Furious senior officers ordered the soldiers, from the Army's 59 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers, back home to face disciplinary action.
Naked ambition: The soldiers stripped off in a Norwegian bar and reportedly urinated on locals, each other and all over the furniture
"This is taken extremely seriously," a Ministry of Defence official said.
The shameful case has been widely covered by the Norwegian media.
They highlighted local people complaining that they were fed up with yobbish behaviour by British troops, whom they accused of displaying a "nasty edge" compared with soldiers from other countries.
The incident happened on Wednesday night, after the eight soldiers had been honing their Arctic warfare skills alongside Royal Marines.
They were part of Exercise Octans, an annual exercise involving thousands of personnel from more than a dozen Nato countries. Scroll down for more...
'British participation':The soldiers are among an international brigade in northern Norway training for another expected tour of duty in Afghanistan
The engineers, based at Barnstaple, north Devon, have passed the gruelling all-arms commando course, enabling them to wear the commando green beret and serve with the Marines on operations.
Local media reports said the men had been drinking before they arrived at the Sfinx Bar in Harstad, the nearest town to the exercise area.
They began "bothering" female customers, before shouting "naked bar!" and stripping off.
"Naked Bar" is a popular drinking game in many units across the British armed forces.
The rules are simple - participants immediately remove all clothing - and the game is usually tolerated among high-spirited troops when it is played well away from the public gaze.
In this case, however, the soldiers began urinating on one of their party who had slumped drunkenly to the floor, splashing urine over the bar's furniture and other customers.
Local police were called, and handed spot fines of £500 to each of the men before handing them over to the Royal Military Police.
Harstad police spokesman Gair Pedersen said: "They were drunk and there was a problem in the bar but we are quite used to dealing with British soldiers like this."
Norway's biggest newspaper, Aftenposten, quoted locals as saying the soldiers had been "bothering" female customers.
'Bad behaviour': An unidentified British soldier outside the bar in Harstad
One, Cecilie Kleppe, 29, said: "Some of them even started waving their private parts at the other guests. Two of the Englishmen urinated on a fellow soldier who was lying on the floor. It was disgusting."
Bar manager Petter Holmbakken said he had never seen anything like it.
He added: "I can understand that the women were offended. It's no fun to be plagued by lots of nasty comments.
"To be perfectly honest, I and a lot of other Harstad residents are fed up with the Englishmen."
Lars Torsten, another resident, said: "The Dutch like a drink and get a bit boisterous but they do not have that nasty edge that so many of the British troops display - once they have got some schnapps inside them."
Ms Kleppe took the photographs and gave them to Aftenposten which commented: "The British participation won't be quickly forgotten.
"Even though the presence of so many soldiers provides a boost to the local economy, it also has its disadvantages.
"Some residents say the rowdiness that can accompany the soldiers makes them feel insecure."
But a spokesman for the town council said: "We would not like to see all British troops banned from here because of the actions of a few."
The Ministry of Defence said all UK personnel taking part in Exercise Octans had now been banned from going to Harstad.
A spokesman said the eight men were all privates or junior non-commissioned officers.
They will face disciplinary action from their commanding officer but insiders say they are likely to escape with a hefty fine as there was no dishonesty or violence involved. One source said: "It's the sort of thing you might get away with at a particularly lively party on base. But if you do it in public and end up splashed all over the Norwegian papers, then God help you."
Sent home in shame, the British commandos who stripped naked for crass stunt in a foreign bar
By MATTHEW HICKLEY and ALLAN HALL - More by this author » Last updated at 01:06am on 4th March 2008
Comments (58) Eight British Commandos have been flown home in disgrace for stripping naked and engaging in appalling behaviour in a Norwegian bar during an Arctic training exercise.
The men disgusted onlookers in the town of Harstad with a drunken game of "naked bar".
After whipping off their clothes, they urinated on each other - splashing other customers and furniture - before slurring insults and abuse.
Furious senior officers ordered the soldiers, from the Army's 59 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers, back home to face disciplinary action.
Naked ambition: The soldiers stripped off in a Norwegian bar and reportedly urinated on locals, each other and all over the furniture
"This is taken extremely seriously," a Ministry of Defence official said.
The shameful case has been widely covered by the Norwegian media.
They highlighted local people complaining that they were fed up with yobbish behaviour by British troops, whom they accused of displaying a "nasty edge" compared with soldiers from other countries.
The incident happened on Wednesday night, after the eight soldiers had been honing their Arctic warfare skills alongside Royal Marines.
They were part of Exercise Octans, an annual exercise involving thousands of personnel from more than a dozen Nato countries. Scroll down for more...
The engineers, based at Barnstaple, north Devon, have passed the gruelling all-arms commando course, enabling them to wear the commando green beret and serve with the Marines on operations.
Local media reports said the men had been drinking before they arrived at the Sfinx Bar in Harstad, the nearest town to the exercise area.
They began "bothering" female customers, before shouting "naked bar!" and stripping off.
"Naked Bar" is a popular drinking game in many units across the British armed forces.
The rules are simple - participants immediately remove all clothing - and the game is usually tolerated among high-spirited troops when it is played well away from the public gaze.
In this case, however, the soldiers began urinating on one of their party who had slumped drunkenly to the floor, splashing urine over the bar's furniture and other customers.
Local police were called, and handed spot fines of £500 to each of the men before handing them over to the Royal Military Police.
Harstad police spokesman Gair Pedersen said: "They were drunk and there was a problem in the bar but we are quite used to dealing with British soldiers like this."
Norway's biggest newspaper, Aftenposten, quoted locals as saying the soldiers had been "bothering" female customers.
'Bad behaviour': An unidentified British soldier outside the bar in Harstad
One, Cecilie Kleppe, 29, said: "Some of them even started waving their private parts at the other guests. Two of the Englishmen urinated on a fellow soldier who was lying on the floor. It was disgusting."
Bar manager Petter Holmbakken said he had never seen anything like it.
He added: "I can understand that the women were offended. It's no fun to be plagued by lots of nasty comments.
"To be perfectly honest, I and a lot of other Harstad residents are fed up with the Englishmen."
Lars Torsten, another resident, said: "The Dutch like a drink and get a bit boisterous but they do not have that nasty edge that so many of the British troops display - once they have got some schnapps inside them."
Ms Kleppe took the photographs and gave them to Aftenposten which commented: "The British participation won't be quickly forgotten.
"Even though the presence of so many soldiers provides a boost to the local economy, it also has its disadvantages.
"Some residents say the rowdiness that can accompany the soldiers makes them feel insecure."
But a spokesman for the town council said: "We would not like to see all British troops banned from here because of the actions of a few."
The Ministry of Defence said all UK personnel taking part in Exercise Octans had now been banned from going to Harstad.
A spokesman said the eight men were all privates or junior non-commissioned officers.
They will face disciplinary action from their commanding officer but insiders say they are likely to escape with a hefty fine as there was no dishonesty or violence involved. One source said: "It's the sort of thing you might get away with at a particularly lively party on base. But if you do it in public and end up splashed all over the Norwegian papers, then God help you."
