Clothing shortage hits Army passing-out parades

ARMY recruits will be forced to wear their combat fatigues on some passing out parades later this year owing to delays in obtaining dress uniforms.

A shortage of wool is thought to be behind the problem, which will mean many new recruits will be denied the opportunity to march in front of proud relatives in smart dress uniform to mark the end of their training.

Hundreds of recruits will pass out at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire in the next few weeks with many other similar ceremonies set to take place around the country,

Armed forces serving in Afghanistan however will face no clothing shortages.

An MoD spokesman told the Yorkshire Post: “One of the companies that provides uniforms for recruit pass-out parades has had problems delivering our required orders.

“We are working with the company to address this as soon as possible but in the meantime, some recruits will pass out in alternative uniforms. There is no impact on the supply of clothing to personnel deploying to Afghanistan. We hope for this to be resolved later in the autumn.”