General slams 'un-Nelsonic' sailors

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General Sir Michael Rose, who led the UN force in Bosnia, said they were "distinctly un-Nelsonic" in their behaviour.

In an interview, he criticised the 15 sailors for behaving "as if they were on a Mediterranean cruise."

He also said Prime Minister Tony Blair, who he described as slithering, had undermined the ethos of the military.

Iraq had been a serious setback to Britain's reputation in the world, he said.

He told the Daily Mail: "This Faye Turney. First of all she was smoking, that is what offended me. She's in uniform and she is smoking as the Iranians approach. What is going on?

"It may seem a small thing, but people who are about to go into battle don't look relaxed sitting in a boat as they are on a Mediterranean cruise."

"Nelson said that no captain could ever be criticised for laying his ship along the enemy and engaging him. We didn't quite get that here."

He said the captured personnel had a choice to fight and made derogatory comparisons with those who fought in the Second World War and the Falklands.