FLOGS OF WAR

BRITISH troops are flogging hard-won Desert Storm II medals on eBay for up to pounds 400 each.

The snub has raised concerns among senior officers about "disillusionment" in the ranks over the Iraq war .

Several of the individually- inscribed medals have been auctioned online for between pounds 100 and pounds 400.

Ironically, because of a huge backlog the troops have only just received the awards - two years after winning them for "collective bravery and risking so much to remove Saddam Hussein's oppressive regime".

Last night a spokesman for the Defence Medal Office said the decision to sell the gongs was disappointing.

The Sunday Mirror tracked down two medals which had been sold recently. One from a corporal in the Royal Engineers who was part of Britain's 2003 invasion force was auctioned for pounds 276 on December 18.

The second, also from 2003, was sold by a member of the Army's Royal Logistics Corps for pounds 261, just five days before Christmas.

Last night a senior military source added: "If you have just left the forces and are struggling to get a good job, pounds 400 is a lot of money.

"Much of what a lot of them did has gone unrecognised anyway and perhaps a minority feel bitter and disillusioned about their experiences fighting an unpopular war."

Tory MP and ex-Army Colonel Patrick Mercer said: "This yet again leaves us wondering at the state of morale among those who have fought and suffered in Iraq.

"You also have to ask what it says about the financial circumstances of soldiers if they are forced to sell their medals to make ends meet."

The Iraq Medal has the Queen's head on one side and on the other a Lamussu - an ancient symbol from the region dating from the Assyrian period centuries ago.

Copyright 2006 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.