Troops flock to help out down on the farm

Published on Tuesday 22 December 2009 21:56

A TEAM of British soldiers helped castrate more than 5,000 sheep on the Falkland Islands after tragedy hit two farm workers.

The Highlanders were called in after one man was killed in a motorcycle crash and another was injured in a separate accident.

Corporal Scot Robertson, 33 from Balloch, Dunbartonshire, led a seven-man patrol team who stepped in to help.

After a quick lesson from the farmers, the soldiers rolled up their sleeves and in the space of a week more than 5,500 sheep were castrated, wormed and tagged.

He said: "We were supposed to be patrolling the west island, but went to help a local farmer when we heard there was a problem.

"We put the sheep into the pen and the farmer showed us what to do.

"One castrated them, one put a tag through their ear and one cut their tail off with an iron. We just kept going, round and round. I'd never even touched a sheep until then."