Shivering squaddies have been handed sleeping bags to get through Britain’s big freeze – while others survive without hot water and heating.
Troops who cannot afford to turn on the radiators during Christmas leave with their families have been handed extra bedding meant for use on military operations.
And at another major base more than 100 soldiers are sharing two electric showers at one barracks after going without hot water for three weeks.
Tonight one said: “This is worse than being on the front line.”
Details of the sleeping bags – known in forces slang as doss bags– emerged on a social media page for soldiers as temperatures plunged to bone-chilling lows of -12C this weekend.
The message, said to have come from a storeman at Catterick Garrison, North Yorks, said: “I’ve arranged for guys to sign out doss bags to use at home over Xmas leave. It’s not a fix, but can you post this in case anyone else is in a similar situation?”
Another post said: “The fact that people are in a position to sign out doss bags should show how poor a state the troops are in. Pay is consistently cut year on year (in real terms), the housing situation is poor at best, and the food provided is worse than rations.”
At Keogh Barracks in Aldershot, Hants, troops have endured no regular hot water or heating this month. Instead they have had to rely on emergency generators drafted in by the Ministry of Defence.
One Aldershot soldier told the Sunday People : “There are guys who have been on the front line in Afghanistan who say this is worse.
“It’s been minus 8 here and there’s been no heating. You would never think Aldershot would be worse than Afghanistan but here we are.
“No one seems to be in a hurry to fix the problem. They brought in a generator for the hot water but it works for a few hours and then shuts off and it takes days to fix again.
“Nothing has been done to fix radiators. None of the normal showers work so we’re sharing two electric ones.
“Everyone is desperate for Christmas leave to get a good night’s sleep in the warmth. Unfortunately, not all of us will get that.”
Former Army staff sergeant Trevor Coult, 46, an Afghanistan and Iraq veteran, said: “Soldiers being issued with sleeping bags so they can keep their families warm over Christmas is a disgrace.
“How has it come to this? How can a government treat soldiers who are prepared to risk all for king and country with such contempt?”
Defence chiefs have written to every family in a military home to apologise to those without heat and hot water.
The Sunday People last week exposed the squalid state of MoD housing run by private firms. The Ministry of Defence gave a £1.1bn contract to Vinci Facilities for barracks including Keogh.
The MoD said: “The Defence Infrastructure Organisation has been working hard with contractors to fix intermittent heating failures affecting some areas of Keogh barracks. We apologise for inconvenience.
“Any heating failure is rapidly addressed through immediate repairs or temporary heaters.”
An Army spokesman said: “We have introduced a range of measures to support personnel.
“This includes the biggest pay increase in 20 years, freezing daily food costs, generous accommodation subsidies and £3,000-a-year child care.”
Annual pay for a newly-qualified infantryman or woman is £21,424.
