Army barracks set alight during after-dinner ‘duel’

Two Royal Armoured Corps officers accidentally set their mess on fire at Bovington Camp last week after firing flares at each other to settle a dispute that arose over dinner.

Following a “lively” dinner in the officers’ mess last Friday after completing a course for new troop commanders, two young lieutenants reportedly decided to settle a dispute (the nature of which was not revealed) by firing flares at each other from kayaks on the pool outside.

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As reported by Forces TV, one of the missiles, veering off course perhaps due to a less than sober aim, went through the seventh floor window of Allenby Barracks and started a fire.

Ten fire engines from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service were called and as fire hoses at the base had been turned off due an outbreak of Legionaires disease in January, the crews had to use water from the swimming pool instead – which was drained in the process. A room and the corridor were badly damaged and the ground floor is now “underwater” according to reports.

The army is now investigating the incident and has not commented further. Sources have told various national newspapers that the two officers are not under arrest and unlikely to be charged with criminal damage but both can likely expect the “telling-off of their careers” at the very least.

Although their superiors may take a dim view of the incident, others are not so concerned. Military housing and accommodation is notoriously poor and at least one officer told Forces TV that the man who started the fire, “is a legend and deserves some kind of award”.

After-dinner games and hijinks, often conducted after much wine has been consumed, are common in all military messes, with attendant damage to property and people a very real possibility.