The new Rolex

Churcher has depicted one of the soldiers as proud owner of a new Rolex watch. The artist recalled, "This was painted in the last couple of days that 3 Squadron was spending in Kuwait prior to their return home. Pictured here is one of the young soldiers who has just returned from a shopping trip in Kuwait city and is proudly wearing his new purchase. Whilst deployed in Afghanistan the soldiers were receiving a bonus loading to their regular pay, tax-free. This meant that the previous gruelling six months of deployment was finishing with a tidy lump of money in their accounts. Most of the soldiers, with family commitments back home, were obviously keeping the money for the family. But young single men such as this one in the picture felt able to treat himself to a little extravagance, in this case, a new Rolex watch costing $7,500, which at that price was evidently a bargain only available in this part of the Middle East".