Confusion over return dates for troops in Iraq has left their families in Colchester "devastated".
All troops from the town were expected back in about three weeks' time
Now hopes have been dashed because of a memo from a unit welfare officer saying all flights home have been cancelled.
The memo, put through the door of some married quarters, said the role of 16 Air Assault Brigade might be "redefined" and that the troops could be in the Gulf for an extra eight weeks.
The Army in Colchester today said troops were still expected home in mid June and urged families to treat the memo "with caution" because nothing has yet been officially decided.
But a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence in London said the mid June date was not concrete, adding: "There seems to have been quite a bit of confusion as some parts of 16 Air Assault believe troops would be home by mid June."
One soldier's wife said: "We want some answers as to how they can tell us this for so long then say: 'Sorry, it's changed'."
She said she had found it "very insensitive" that the wives had been told with a note pushed through their letterboxes.
An Army spokeswoman in Colchester said: "It is all still speculation, we just don't know at the moment."
Published Friday, May 23, 2003
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