Smock, Protective, NBC, No. 1, Mk IV, Desert

Desert pattern NBC protective smock contained in original packaging as at point of issue, 2004. Issued to David Hughes for use in his role whilst working for the Iraq Survey Group searching for weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical agents, in Iraq in 2004.

Text from donor: 'I began working for the MOD as a civilian analyst in 1996, based in London. I vividly remember what I was doing when 9/11 unfolded. I was working on a pretty unimportant piece of work, when someone popped his head into my office and said that an aircraft had just flown into a high-rise building in New York. Like many others, I went to one of the few offices that had a TV in those days, arriving just in time to see the second airliner plough into the Twin Towers. It was a common feeling that the world had well and truly changed that day. That evening I attended HMS PRESIDENT, my Royal Naval Reserve unit, and most of my oppos wondered what it might mean for us. My work with the MOD mushroomed and became very interesting, however, it didn't really have an impact on most of us Reservists until 2003. I was pretty disappointed to miss out on the first tranche of OP TELIC mobilisations that were issued in January 2003 - I was on the trained strength and a pretty reasonable communicator (for a Reservist), but we just weren't needed. I did try and push our Permanent Staff to see if there was anything I could do, because I wanted to go and do my bit as well. (I was probably a bit of a pain in the *rse, to be frank). Subsequently, a small number of my branch were mobilised and I finally received my call-up for 24 March 2003. Understandably I was excited, but a bit nervous at the same time. After around a month's training, most of us were sent off to join RFA's. Some of my oppos ended up spending four months in UK waters, whilst one of our number even headed down to the Falklands! I ended up joining RFA ARGUS in Salalah, on its way home from the Gulf. As it was, there was a change of plan which took us all the way up to Bahrain and then off Kuwait to load up military equipment, which we then brought back to the UK in company with several other ships. I'd already spent a reasonable amount of time training on board RN and RFA vessels (I used to go away on board rather than go on holiday), but this was the longest period of time that I'd ever been at sea, and the return via the Red Sea, Suez Canal etc was unforgettable. After nearly a month away from home, we returned to UK waters, and the rest of my mobilisation was largely spent alongside or exercising in UK waters, with a trip to Cherbourg thrown in! It was a great experience and a fantastic training opportunity, which I exploited to the full. However, I was a little disappointed not to have spent much time in-theatre, and had no exciting stories to tell. Not long after returning to the office, I volunteered to go out to Iraq to work for the Iraq Survey Group as a MOD civilian. I was abroad from February - July 2004, predominantly based at Camp Slayer just outside Baghdad, with a secondment to Camp As Sayliyah near Doha, Qatar. The work was full-on and fascinating, predominantly based in a large office in one of Saddam's old palaces, but with occasional trips into Baghdad. We would always travel with military protection, feeling very self-conscious and somewhat vulnerable in our civilian clothes, helmet and body armour. I can't complain, because we lived in relative comfort (it was a US base, after all) and relative safety - we never came under direct fire but the very large base was the occasional target for rockets and mortars. I never saw anything nasty, but will readily admit to having been scared a few times when the camp was attacked. I got used to listening to the bangs, thuds and crackling of various calibre munitions that occurred most evenings. I think I was provided the NBC suit for this trip - thankfully we were never obliged to carry it or use it! I've just noticed that the packaging dates range from January 1990 - March 2003. When I flew home, I transited Basrah, where my brother was based with the TA. He came to see me briefly, and I felt a bit guilty leaving him out in Iraq - thankfully he came home safe and sound by the end of the year. My third, and final time to the region was when I was again mobilised under OP TELIC with the Royal Naval Reserve on 02 October 2008. This time I was employed as part of a Force Protection Team, providing upper-deck security for RFAs in the Gulf, but also involved in anti-piracy duties off the Horn of Africa. I headed out to Bahrain to join RFA CARDIGAN BAY in late-November, and returned from there the following March. During that time we woudl spend up to a week alongside, before heading north into the Northern Arabian Gulf to stooge around off the Iraqi oil platforms. The job itself was (thankfully) pretty dull and largely uneventful. I'd spend my time alone at the bow, learning the lyrics for various swing, blues and easy-listening songs that I'd religiously written down in a note book in our shared cabin. I've still got the notebook and can reel off quiet a few of the songs. On our return, we were due to fly out to join another RFA on anti-piracy duties, but our mother was seriously ill and so I was demobilised a little early on compassionate grounds. And that, was that. Our mother's health deteriorated, and I became involved with a girl who moved in with her two year old daughter in 2009, so I never made it out to Afghanistan. I'm still in, and next month I will have completed 24 years' service with the Royal Naval Reserve. Between me and my brother, we headed out to the region four times in total. I was there three times, twice with the Reserves and once as a civilian. I received the OP TELIC medal twice, first as a civilian in 2004, before qualifying for it with the military in 2009. I don't consider myself to have done anything particularly big or exciting, but at least I got to do my bit. Obviously the big question is, should we have done it and was it worth the human cost - civilian and military alike? And did we actually achieve anything worthwhile as a result? I'll leave that one to the historians and politicians. I did my bit.'