The folks who gave us St. Andrews and William Wallace now give us the Desert Rats.

Sergeant Frank Mack, of Leith, Edinburgh, said: "Generally, we are three to five kilometres in front of the battlegroup.

"Our main task is to locate enemy positions and their strength - anything which makes a target for our tanks.

"When we've done that, we find any obstacles which might lie in the path of the battlegroup, such as rivers or anti- tank minefields.

"After we report that to HQ, the engineers can move in to build bridges or clear mines."