Hope their mothers are very proud of them...

[red hander]

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.

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.

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.

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."

[stpauls]

one of the guys in the office here was saying to me that they actually use this type of thing as an initiation ritual, as kind of a welcome to the fraternity sort of thing!!
still not something to be proud of though!!

[lurganblue]

thats taking the piss!

[thejuice]

Sounds like the college rugby team,

[EC Unique]

All a bit gay is it not?

[pintsofguinness]

All a bit gay is it not?

That was my first thought!

[Square Ball]

What I can figure out is how you you introduce this into the concersation?

I know lads, lets take all our cloths off and urinate all over eachother, that will be spiffing good fun.

[stew]

All a bit gay is it not?

That was my first thought!

I would have thought that an insult to the gay community.

Scumbags acting like scumbags, the queen must be proud.

[pintsofguinness]

I would have thought that an insult to the gay community.

How so?

[stew]

I would have thought that an insult to the gay community.

How so?

Well I highly doubt that a bunch of gay guys get together, take their clothes off and pish all over each other.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

What about that lovely US Marine who was videotaped throwing a puppy off the edge of a cliff?

[pintsofguinness]

I would have thought that an insult to the gay community.

How so?

Well I highly doubt that a bunch of gay guys get together, take their clothes off and pish all over each other.

Well Id say it's unusual in the Gay community too but maybe a little more likely than among straight men.

[imtommygunn]

I'd have said uncivilised gay people would be no more or no less likely to be at it than uncivilised straight people!

[stew]

What about that lovely US Marine who was videotaped throwing a puppy off the edge of a cliff?

I never heard about that!

Thats disgusting. I hope they jailed the hoor for a few years.

[pintsofguinness]

I'd have said uncivilised gay people would be no more or no less likely to be at it than uncivilised straight people!

I was talking about the men getting naked together part, not the rest.