Clarkson joins fact-finding tour of Basra

After mortar rounds landed at a British base, the motoring journalist told a British officer "Don't worry, this happens to me quite often wherever I go." Mr Clarkson also described how the aircraft he and Mr Gill were travelling in came under fire in central Iraq.

Undaunted by his experience, Mr Clarkson appear to have craved further excitement. At one point during his visit to Basra he is said to have asked the British military to organise the blowing up of a car. He was told, however, that staging explosions in Iraq of all places was not a good idea.