Patch of paradise

By Major Allan Croft

SGT Paul Garfath tends to his lawn in Iraq.

Photo by SGT Craig Sharp

ALTHOUGH many thousands of kilometres from home, Australian servicemen and women on deployment in southern Iraq did not miss out on Melbourne Cup fever.

They watched the race on television, staring with longing at the lush green grass beneath the legendary hooves of Makybe Diva.

Such a ground cover does not exist in the desert province of Al Muthanna, where the 450 personnel of the Al Muthanna Task Group (AMTG) are camped. Instead, there is unremitting grey sand and rock as far as the eye can see.

However, one member – communications specialist Air Force Sergeant Paul Garfath – has created his own little oasis. Sergeant Garfath has grown, from seed, his own 1 sq m patch of flourishing, emerald grass.

Before leaving for Iraq, Sergeant Garfath tasked his wife and two children with mowing the lawn of their Canberra home in his absence. He maintains his own small patch with bottled water and cuts the inevitable result once a week with scissors.

“I have a lovely lawn back home in Canberra,” he said.

“My location in Camp Smitty is nothing but endless sand and rock. I couldn’t stand it without a little bit of grass.

“As soon as I get back home in a week or so, the first thing I am going to do is go and lie on the lawn.”

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