Monday, July 13, 2009
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who preserves the freedom of the press,
And it is the soldier, not the poet,
Who protects our freedom of speech,
It is the soldier, not the campus organiser,
Who puts his life on the line,
To give others the freedom to demonstrate,
And it is the soldier,
Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who protects the protesters right
To burn the flag.
Freedom is NEVER free!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Five British soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Read this It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that five soldiers from The 2nd Battalion The Rifles have been killed in two separate explosions in Helmand today, Friday 10 July 2009.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Lieutenant Paul Mervis of 2 Rifles killed in Afghanistan
Read this It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Lieutenant Paul Mervis from The 2nd Battalion the Rifles (2 RIFLES) was killed as a result of an explosion during a deliberate operation near Sangin, northern Helmand Province, Afghanistan on the morning of 12 June 2009.
I was that which others did not want to be.
I went where others feared to go.
And did what others failed to do.
I asked nothing from those who gave nothing.
And reluctantly accepted the though of eternal loneliness should I fail.
I have seen the face of terror,
felt the stinging cold of fear.
And enjoyed the sweet taste of a moment's love.
I have cried, pained and hoped;
But most of all I have lived times others would say were best forgotten.
At least someday I will be able to say I was proud of what I was..
A soldier.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher killed in Afghanistan
Read this
You, with your neat picket fence and freshly mown lawn.
Where only the occasional daisy pokes through.
Sedately content you survey your domain.
While I, ignored by the passing thrall, I sit on this dusty plain
My withered limbs say it all, too sick to move I await Kismet.
As far as the eye can see, caught in the dying sun’s rays
The glint and glitter of the death that surrounds me
Thousands of miles away you decide my fate.
‘Tis not gold that’s a lying, but the brass casing’s
Left in pitiful piles from the lead that’s been flying
Too scared to close my eyes should I not wake.
The sky fills with death while the ground trembles
No trace they’ll find of my insignificant bones
Ramadan’s done, ‘Tis the time of Christ.
All this while you reach for your morning coffee.
As I lay dying on the road to Kandahar
James Love
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Soldier from 2nd Battalion The Rifles killed in Afghanistan
Read this It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that a British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Rifles was killed in Helmand province yesterday, Tuesday 2 June 2009
Monday, June 01, 2009
Not that important
Read this An excellent article by one of the best military blogs,Defence of the Realm is one of my favourites and once again excels itself!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Two more British soldiers killed in Afghanistan!
Read this It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that two soldiers, one from the Light Dragoons, one from the Parachute Regiment, were killed in Helmand Province today, Saturday 30 May 2009
Friday, May 01, 2009
Farewell fallen heroes-Britain says goodbye after six years in Iraq!
Read this Six years after fighting an illegal war on a lie told by Toadie BLIAR and his Poliburo of New LIEbour with 179 British service personnel dead and HUNDREDS wounded,7 BILLION pounds of tax payers money wasted,Britain is finally pulling out of the forlorn hope that is Iraq,and what exactly have we accomplished?-Bugger all!!
Iraq is still in the grip of of the worst terrorism the world has ever seen,with hundreds of thousands dead and the death toll still rising,the evil flames of Islamic fundamentalism spreading throughout the entire Middle East and let's not forget our own "Home grown" Muslim nutters who are practically falling over themselves to get their brains blown out for Allah!
Has Britain's commitment in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting the inanely misleading named "war on Terror" made the world and more importantly our streets a safer place or did George Bush and his lapdog Toadie Bliar,not forgetting his UNELECTED successor Gormless Brownose,light the blue touch paper of Islamic lunacy that has resulted in the appalling suicide bombings in our country and the alienating and of so many of Britain's Muslims?
Now Britain is finally getting out of the nightmare that is Iraq are we going to have the public enquiry that common decency demands we have into the sordid circumstances of our deployment by Todie Bliar and the lies his joke of a government told?
It's now Crystal clear,even to the lowest intellect,that Saddam Hussein did not have any weapons of mass destruction,the excuse Bliar used to drag us over there in the first place,the fact of the "Dodgy dossier" is common knowledge so are the CRIMINALS who have the gall to call themselves our government going to be made to account for their crimes or are we going to have another Whitehall whitewash?
let us also not forget the deplorable shortages in men and equipment our servicemen had to cope with which had the DIRECT result in killing dozens of our service personnel,Inadequate Body Armour,Faulty Radios,insufficient ammunition and the infamous "Snatch" land rover,because of years of cutbacks,penny pinching and incompetence from a government where NONE of it's senior members have ever worn the uniform of our Armed Forces!
I started my Blog shortly after returning from a tour in Iraq in 2004.I was appalled by the treatment of our Armed Forces by Bliar's ungrateful government and it has been my hope to bring the injustice of this to the public eye.
The equipment our troops are being issued with has finally improved.Better weapons,radios and armoured vehicles have made a difference but the changes were only made possible with the blood of our servicemen.
Unfortunately it looks like our Armed Forces have an even greater challenge in Afghanistan.We know they are more than capable of coping with whatever is thrown at them,I wish I could say the same for Gordon Brown and his government but they've already proved that they are not!
Also-Exit Iraq: British troops honour 179 fallen comrades as they prepare to fly home from Basra
Saturday, November 08, 2008
A Pittance of Time
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann c.1920
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann c.1920
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Soldier from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment killed in Afghanistan on 29 July 2008
Read this It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a soldier from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was killed in Helmand province yesterday, Tuesday 29 July 2008.
Sergeant Jonathan Mathews of The Highlanders killed in Afghanistan
Read this
Can we think
a thousand times before we kill
the other in the name of power
or land or ideology?
And after we have thought a thousand times,
written down the reasons,
met with friends to test our cause,
renewed the guns and missiles,
cleaned off the button;
when we have stored up food and water
for a siege, sent the children
to a safer place,
shored up bunkers in backyards,
built new ones near the mint,
thought of hero as someone
convulsed and martyred in the mud,
committed maps to memory,
studied up on ciphers, invented
a new history of disease
and buried the family jewels
to foil the looters;
once we have tolled the bells
and prayed our guttural prayers
for the spirit to be named for us;
sent factories into overtime to make the braids
and uniforms, the medals
to decorate the ones who can return,
confused shelling peas with houses,
small kingdoms crushed;
after we check procedures
for the treatment of fallout
from that most unnatural cloud,
and persuaded our young
that it is just to fight this way,
an adventure, safe, no hand to hand;
when we have done these things
and more, could we think
a thousand times again?
Jorie Manefield Ryan
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Lance Corporal Kenneth Rowe killed in Afghanistan!
Read this
If my eyes could talk
what would they tell you?
And if they did
how would they say it?
Could they or would they tell you
about places that I have been
of the things that I have seen
of the things I have done
or the ones I didn't do.
Could they tell you so much
or could they tell you so little.
Or, would they tell you just enough
to judge me- and then would you?
If only my eyes could talk
and tell you the stories that I am keeping quiet,
would you call me a coward?
Would you think any less of me,
or shake my hand and buy me a drink?
If my eyes could talk
and told you what I have seen and done
would you be here with me
or would you walk out the door
Michael Pilarte
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Book Review- Enemy Coast Ahead Uncensored by Guy Gibson VC DSO DFC
Read this Heavily censored during the war at the last,what really happened!The true story in his own words of life as a pilot in Bomber Command from the beginning of WW2 in 1939 to leading the elite 617 Squadron in the "Dam busters" raid in 1943!
I couldn't put it down,absolutely riveting,the fact that Guy Gibson himself was shot down and killed in 1944 as a Pathfinder makes his personal observations and thoughts and fears even more poignant!
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Gurkhas lose High Court battle over pensions!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Afghanistan
When you’re lying alone in your Afghan bivvy,
And your life it depends on some MOD civvie
When the body armour’s shared (one set between three),
And the firefight’s not like it is on TV,
Then you’ll look to your oppo, your gun and your God,
As you follow that path all Tommies have trod.
When the gimpy has jammed and you’re down to one round,
And the faith that you’d lost is suddenly found.
When the Taliban horde is close up to the fort,
And you pray that the arty don’t drop a round short.
Stick to your sergeant like a good squaddie should,
And fight them like satan or one of his brood
Your pay it won’t cover your needs or your wants,
So just stand there and take all the Taliban’s taunts
Nor generals nor civvies can do aught to amend it,
Except make sure you’re kept in a place you can’t spend it.
Three fifty an hour in your Afghani cage,
Not nearly as much as the minimum wage.
Your missus at home in a foul married quarter
With damp on the walls and a roof leaking water
Your kids miss their mate, their hero, their dad;
They’re missing the childhood that they should have had
One day it will be different, one day by and by,
As you all stand there and watch, to see the pigs fly
Just like your forebears in mud, dust and ditch
You’ll march and you’ll fight, and you’ll drink and you’ll bitch
Whether Froggy or Zulu, or Jerry, or Boer
The Brits will fight on ‘til the battle is over.
You may treat him like dirt, but nowt will unnerve him
But I wonder sometimes, if the country deserves him.
Peej 2008.
Hat Tip Theo Spark
Afghanistan troop deaths outnumber those in Iraq!
Read this Not a surprise!-This is going to get out of hand,more and more of our troops will be killed or wounded needlessly so that an OIL and GAS pipeline can be built for the USA from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan into the Arabian Sea!How much of the proceeds of that grubby little deal do you think the UK will see?-Bugger all!
Iraq opens oilfields to international deals!
Sombre mood as Scottish regiment learns of comrade's death
Read this
You, with your neat picket fence and freshly mown lawn.
Where only the occasional daisy pokes through.
Sedately content you survey your domain.
While I, ignored by the passing thrall, I sit on this dusty plain
My withered limbs say it all, too sick to move I await Kismet.
As far as the eye can see, caught in the dying sun’s rays
The glint and glitter of the death that surrounds me
Thousands of miles away you decide my fate.
‘Tis not gold that’s a lying, but the brass casing’s
Left in pitiful piles from the lead that’s been flying
Too scared to close my eyes should I not wake.
The sky fills with death while the ground trembles
No trace they’ll find of my insignificant bones
Ramadan’s done, ‘Tis the time of Christ.
All this while you reach for your morning coffee.
As I lay dying on the road to Kandahar
James Love
Upsurge in Afghan violence show how the Taliban is a long way from being defeated!
Thieves steal bronze war hero memorials within hours of Veterans' Day service!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Veterans Day events 27 June 2008
Read this An excellent way to show your support of our veterans for their service to this country!
Find out what's happening in your area at Veterans Day
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Two paratroopers killed in Afghanistan are named
Read this
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who preserves the freedom of the press,
And it is the soldier, not the poet,
Who protects our freedom of speech,
It is the soldier, not the campus organiser,
Who puts his life on the line,
To give others the freedom to demonstrate,
And it is the soldier,
Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who protects the protesters right
To burn the flag.
Freedom is NEVER free!
Out goes corned beef, in comes pasta salad as new-style army rations combat 'menu fatigue'!
Read this I still like the old "Cheese Possessed" and "Baby's heads"(Steak and kidney pudding)and who could forget the sausages from the old ten man Rat packs,yum!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
87-year-old Gurkha who won the VC told by hospital he has no right to free care!
Read this An utter disgrace!-Tul Bahadur Pun has EARNED the RIGHT to free medical treatment winning the highest bravery decoration Britain can award fighting for our country!
'Britain's stretched army cannot continue to fight on two fronts', army chief admits as Afghanistan death toll hits 108!
Soldier from 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment killed in Afghanistan on 24 June
Read this It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of a British soldier from 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan yesterday, Tuesday 24 June 2008
Scipio says: This is getting out of hand,eleven British soldiers killed in Afghanistan in two weeks are unacceptable losses for our small professional army to sustain over the coming months!Gormless Brownose needs to seriously reconsider our military options in Afghanistan AND Iraq before Britain once again gets bogged in a long drawn out,pointless war,paid for with the blood of British servicemen,for the sake of American interests in the vast oil and gas reserves in both war zones,reserves I might add,that Britain won't even get a sniff of!
Read also-British soldier killed while trying to clear mine in Afghanistan
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
British soldier from 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment killed in Afghanistan
Read this A bad month for 2 Para!-How many more of our soldiers must be sacrificed in the "Forlorn Hope" that Afghanistan has become before Gormless Brownose pulls our troops out?
Lest we forget: the scars of war
We Will Remember Them!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Speechless with fear: on reconnaissance in Taleban-controlled Helmand
Read this Two Jackal all-terrain fighting vehicles breaking down on their first mission and faulty ammunition causing stoppages with weapons in the middle of a contact is not a good day out in any one's books,that the troops on the ground managed to extract from the contact without taking casualties clearly demonstrates the professionalism and motivation of the elite Pathfinder platoon however it worries me that our boys at the front line are still not getting the equipment they need!-With five Paratroopers killed in action last week and another four British soldiers killed yesterday,three of them special Forces reservists and a female intelligence operative,blown up in the notorious "Snatch" land rover,which I can't believe we are still using as it is useless,makes me wonder how long our Armed Forces can take casualties of this number before the strain on resources and personnel gets too much and our military is damaged beyond repair.The government will not release the figures for soldiers wounded on the front line,I wonder why that is?Perhaps if the Truth was known about the REAL cost our fighting forces are paying with their blood in Iraq and Afghanistan then public opinion would force Gormless Brownose and his Politburo to reconsider our commitment in both those hell holes and pull our troops out once and for all!
Read also-Deaths of up to 60 British servicemen linked to poor equipment
Four British soldiers killed in Afghanistan on 17 June!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
British soldier survives bullet through brain!
Gurkhas honoured by Canada!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Enduring Embrace
Troops pay tribute to soldiers killed in ambushes!
Read this
I was that which others did not want to be.
I went where others feared to go.
And did what others failed to do.
I asked nothing from those who gave nothing.
And reluctantly accepted the though of eternal loneliness should I fail.
I have seen the face of terror,
felt the stinging cold of fear.
And enjoyed the sweet taste of a moment's love.
I have cried, pained and hoped;
But most of all I have lived times others would say were best forgotten.
At least someday I will be able to say I was proud of what I was..
A soldier.
Brown pledges more troops for Afghanistan after final summit with Bush at Downing Street!
Happy Anniversary 23C!
Four years ago today,where did all the time go?
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Compensation boost for severely injured troops"
Read this Too little too late!-Three times the current pittance is STILL an insult to our wounded,it should be at LEAST equal if not MORE than the civilian payments!!
Thousands greet hero troops!
The men in black vanish and Basra comes to life!
Luck of the Irish saved Afghan patrol!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Princes’ salute to heroes!
Basra crisis leaves British withdrawal in ruins!
Read this NOT our problem!!!-We were SUPPOSED to have pulled out once Iraq was given back control of Basra,what happened to THAT promise from Toadie Blair and his UNELECTED lapdog Gormless Brownose?
Read also-Iraqi militia success means Britain must fight – or admit failure
Thursday, March 20, 2008
175 reasons to remember Iraq on the fifth anniversary of the start of the war!
Betrayal of the Gurkhas: Soldiers denied the right to live here hand medal back!
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Fall back, men, Afghanistan is a nasty war we can never win!
RAF forced to borrow planes!
RAF bid farewell to 'Great Escaper'
Thursday, January 31, 2008
'Half-trained' British troops being rushed to fight the Taliban!
Read this What the Buggery Bollocks are those incompetant clowns in Whitehall thinking?-Sending half-trained,unexperienced,ill-equiped troops straight into the most intense combat the British Army has faced in FORTY YEARS is tantamount to MURDER!!-This is a DIRECT RESULT of new LIEbours INCOMPETENCE and INDIFFERENCE to our armed forces over the last ten years.After YEARS of NEGLECT and MISMANAGEMENT,cutback after cutback,proud,historic Regiments being CALLOUSLY BETRAYED and disbanded after HUNDREDS of years honourable service to the crown,the Royal Navy stripped to the bone of its fighting ships,the Royal Air Force shot from the sky by penny pinching MoD beurocrats who have NEVER worn the uniform of our military and NEVER had the GUTS to stand up and fight for our freedom!-What must our troops on the frontline be feeling about this latest travesty and betrayal from Gormless Brownose and his Politburo who have the Audacity to call themselves our Government?
Saturday, December 22, 2007
A poem for our troops!
ITS CHRISTMAS DAY ALL IS SECURE
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
HE LIVED ALL ALONE
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE
NO TINSEL NO PRESENTS NOT EVEN A TREE
NO STOCKING BY THE MANTLE JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES AWARDS OF ALL KINDS
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT IT WAS DARK AND DREARY
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING SILENT ALONE
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER
NOT HOW I PICTURED A LONE BRITISH SOLDIER
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO THE FLOOR FOR A BED
I REALISED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT
SOON ROUND THE WORLD THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY
THEY ALL ENJOY FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE
I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY ALONE
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME
THE VERY THOUGH BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE
'SANTA DON'T CRY THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM I DON'T ASK FOR MORE
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY. MY CORPS'
THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT I CONTINUED TO WEEP
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SAT AND SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHTS CHILL
I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD DARK NIGHT
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOUR SO WILLING TO FIGHT
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE
WHISPERED 'CARRY ON SANTA ITS CHRISTMAS DAY ALL IS SECURE'
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT
'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT'
THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN BY A PEACE KEEPING SOLDIER STATIONED OVERSEAS
THE FOLLOWING IS HIS REQUEST I THINK IT IS REASONABLE.
PLEASE WOULD YOU DO ME THE KIND FAVOUR OF SENDING THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN
CHRISTMAS WILL BE COMING SOON AND SOME CREDIT IS DUE TO OUR BRITISH SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN FOR OUR BEING ABLE TO CELEBRATE THESE FESTIVITIES.
LETS TRY IN THIS SMALL WAY TO PAY A TINY BIT BACK OF WHAT WE OWE!
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
HE LIVED ALL ALONE
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE
NO TINSEL NO PRESENTS NOT EVEN A TREE
NO STOCKING BY THE MANTLE JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES AWARDS OF ALL KINDS
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT IT WAS DARK AND DREARY
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING SILENT ALONE
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER
NOT HOW I PICTURED A LONE BRITISH SOLDIER
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO THE FLOOR FOR A BED
I REALISED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT
SOON ROUND THE WORLD THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY
THEY ALL ENJOY FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE
I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY ALONE
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME
THE VERY THOUGH BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE
'SANTA DON'T CRY THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM I DON'T ASK FOR MORE
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY. MY CORPS'
THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT I CONTINUED TO WEEP
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SAT AND SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHTS CHILL
I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD DARK NIGHT
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOUR SO WILLING TO FIGHT
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE
WHISPERED 'CARRY ON SANTA ITS CHRISTMAS DAY ALL IS SECURE'
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT
'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT'
THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN BY A PEACE KEEPING SOLDIER STATIONED OVERSEAS
THE FOLLOWING IS HIS REQUEST I THINK IT IS REASONABLE.
PLEASE WOULD YOU DO ME THE KIND FAVOUR OF SENDING THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN
CHRISTMAS WILL BE COMING SOON AND SOME CREDIT IS DUE TO OUR BRITISH SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN FOR OUR BEING ABLE TO CELEBRATE THESE FESTIVITIES.
LETS TRY IN THIS SMALL WAY TO PAY A TINY BIT BACK OF WHAT WE OWE!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Sergeant Lee Johnson of 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment killed in Afghanistan!
Read this
What passing bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,-
The shrill,demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
Wilfred Owen(1893-1918)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Kids welcome hero dads home!
Ex-army chief says 'funding is insufficient' for military operations!
Friday, November 16, 2007
How Royal Anglians killed 1,000 Taliban!
Read this
One MILLION rounds fired,1,028 Taliban killed,nine men killed in action and 135 wounded in a six-month tour of duty.Those figures say it all,that is real WAR fighting!
Captain John McDermid killed in Afghanistan!
Read this
When you send the boys into battle,
Send them if you must.
But before you make them go there,
Make sure the reasons are just.
If you think there are reasons for going,
And the reasons are worth all the strife,
If you think you can pay for the losses,
Think – it’s not you who will pay with your life.
Think of the wives who become widows.
Think of the Mums who loose sons.
Think of the fatherless children,
Who are left to be raised by their mums.
It’s not you who will sit in you kitchen,
Feeling the loss on your own.
Struggling to think of an answer to,
“Mum, when is Dad coming home”.
It’s not you who will say to your princess,
After the planes taxis in,
‘Your daddy won’t walk off to meet you,
He’s lying inside a coffin’.
Think when you have your state dinner,
Talking of war, sipping wine.
Neither you nor the other state leaders,
Are sat in the firing line.
If the cause is a just one we’ll back you.
With great pride for our country we’ll fight.
But make sure you know what you’re doing,
And think ‘Is it right? Is it right?’
Sam Steele
Thursday, November 15, 2007
A bad day out for these insurgents!
Gays should be tortured and hanged, says Iranian minister meeting British MPs!
Growing suicide toll among troops!
Read this It is appalling and a national disgrace how the government has turned its back on our troops suffering with Post Traumatic Stress from the horrors they've witnessed in the service of their country.Regretfully only the tip of the iceberg of this problem has been touched on and in the years to come,more and more of our service personnel will come forward and admit they have a problem once the stigma of combat stress has been removed.At the moment serving soldiers risk an end to their career if diagnosed with PTSD,more needs to be done to ease their burden and help NOT hinder them!
And closer to home for me,the 14,000 reservists and Territorial Army soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and have been abandoned on their return to civilian life,thrown out on the rubbish tip,no longer needed and ignored,the government not even bothering to record how many are suffering with combat stress because in the eyes of Whitehall,they no longer matter!
SAS legend's bravo to hero!
Read this L/Cpl Craig Lundberg has given up his sight in the service of this country.Let's hope his sacrifice was not made in vain.His courage is truly humbling to read.
British soldier killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday 14 November!
Read this
It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a soldier serving with 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment has been killed today, Wednesday 14th November, in southern Afghanistan
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Troops get rough deal, says Chief of Defence!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Government ban wounded British Iraq veteran from the Cenotaph!
Read this
"The Government would not let Jamie join the parade at the Cenotaph because they said it was for veterans only, though I strongly believe they just didn’t want the embarrassment of injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan on show!"
Scipio says: "For veterans only?"-Who do they think this wounded Rifleman is if not a Veteran?-Every service man or woman who has had the GUTS to enlist in the British Armed forces and served in the defence of this country is a veteran!-I'd like to meet the bureaucratic Whitehall cretin who made this lunatic decision and show him just what another able bodied Rifle "Veteran" thinks of him!-How dare they treat this wounded hero in this disgraceful and insulting way!Rifleman Jamie Cooper should have LED the parade,not have been banned from it!Remembrance Sunday is even more relevant now than ever before with British soldiers fighting and dieing in Iraq and Afghanistan and THOUSANDS getting wounded in the service of this country.
I wish the Royal Green Jacket association had been told of this Illegal ban,we would have been PROUD and HONOURED to have him parade with us at the Cenotaph!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Last post to a good mate
It is with great sadness that I announce the death of Colin Cope,ex Corporal in the 2nd Battalion the Royal Green Jackets who I had the privilege to serve with and considered a good friend,who was killed by an IED at 0700 on Saturday 10th November in Iraq whilst working for a private security company.He was due to come home in a couple of weeks.He was an excellent soldier and a good man and it was an honour to know him.Colin leaves behind his wife,Colete and three children.He will be greatly missed.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
A Soldier's Eyes
To look into a soldiers eyes, the window to their soul
Look out from the inside of their mind and see horrors never told
You say we are just killers, its not that plain you see
Take a walk inside my boots, and see what I have seen
Many innocent lives taken, and soldiers there were some
Giving their lives freely to get the job done
The last cold stare of death, we see in our buddies eyes
They fought for all your freedom, this is why we die
Some wonder why we fight to protect the nation, and maybe lose our life
Ask this question to a soldier, the answers in his eyes
Always we will be here waiting, the call we wont deny
We'll always fight for freedom, never asking why
We'll go away to far off lands, leaving our loved ones behind
Many times we are alone, several times inside
Open the windows to our souls, see the tears we hide
Secrets we cannot keep, are in a soldiers eyes
Remembrance
Mine victims to return to the frontline!
The wives who worry and wait for the call they hope will never come!
Read this Our armed forces need our support now more than ever before!
Read also-Troops need our support, say clerics
Lance Corporal Jake Alderton of 36 Engineer Regiment killed in Afghanistan!
Read this
You, with your neat picket fence and freshly mown lawn.
Where only the occasional daisy pokes through.
Sedately content you survey your domain.
While I, ignored by the passing thrall, I sit on this dusty plain
My withered limbs say it all, too sick to move I await Kismet.
As far as the eye can see, caught in the dying sun’s rays
The glint and glitter of the death that surrounds me
Thousands of miles away you decide my fate.
‘Tis not gold that’s a lying, but the brass casing’s
Left in pitiful piles from the lead that’s been flying
Too scared to close my eyes should I not wake.
The sky fills with death while the ground trembles
No trace they’ll find of my insignificant bones
Ramadan’s done, ‘Tis the time of Christ.
All this while you reach for your morning coffee.
As I lay dying on the road to Kandahar
James Love
Friday, November 09, 2007
War veterans' fury after Remembrance Day services scrapped by health and safety killjoys!
Mod spies on crippled soldiers!
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Wounded Royal Green Jacket gets 'insulting' £57,000!
Read this An absolute disgrace and an insult to a brave wounded Rifleman!-We are hearing about the shabby treatment our wounded soldiers are getting from our ungrateful government more and more.It is appalling and sickening to see a BRITISH HERO treated in this offhand way!This clearly demonstrates the contempt and indifference that Gormless Brownose and his Left wing,tree hugging Politburo have for our armed forces!
The New LIEbour government are not worthy of the loyalty or respect of our servicemen who are daily fighting in the most extreme and difficult circumstances,understrength,under-equipped and underpaid!-The very least the country can do for our troops is to guarantee they will be properly looked after and cared for if they are wounded on OUR behalf.How must the soldiers on the front line be feeling when they hear of the appalling treatment of our wounded?-Verbally abused and insulted in overcrowded civilian hospital wards,denied proper treatment and respect because the government scrapped ALL our military hospitals to save money!-Thrown out onto the rubbish tip with a pittance of compensation and a meagre pension(if you are lucky) as soon as the MoD no longer needs you.Having to struggle to make ends meet because the paltry pension you received is not enough to live on and in far too many cases ending up homeless,sleeping in doorways and on park benches because you don't qualify for benefits or council housing because you were too busy fighting for your country to get on the housing lists while ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS,who have NEVER given anything to this country let alone an ARM or a LEG or their SIGHT are given free housing at the drop of a hat by our politically correct,European Union Lapdog,Insult of a government!
Equipment that could have saved life of 19-year-old soldier arrived too late!
Not a surprise!-In 2004 on my Iraq tour we never had enough "ECM" to go around and what we did have kept breaking down!We used to go out on a regular basis with minimal or no ECM cover at all,luckily no-one was killed but it was down to luck and nothing else,no thanks to the penny pincher's in Whitehall who couldn't be arsed to give us the kit we needed!I won't even start on about our lack of weapons,radios or armoured vehicles,enough has been said about that disgraceful fact already,however the situation has improved gradually since then with better wagons,like the "Bulldog" and the "Cougar",the new improved "Bowman" radio system and better body armour but there's still a long way to go until our troops have all the kit they need.The Government is still writing cheques it can't cash by committing our armed forces to fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without sufficient equipment to do the job and is putting our troops lives at risk needlessly all to save a few pounds!
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Feted as Heroes, Hated as Zeroes -Americans get heroes welcomes, Brits get abuse!
Read this The ungrateful Scumbags who do this should be forced to attend every British military funeral and taken to Hedley Court to meet the HUNDREDS of wounded British service personnel who have lost limbs and been mutilated serving THEIR country!It makes me so angry for spineless,gutless,worms who have never had the BALLS to stand up and be counted and pick up a rifle in the defence of their country when we are at WAR to slag down and BETRAY the very same British servicemen who are DAILY risking their lives and are DIEING and getting hideously wounded in great big bloody batches so that these COWARDS can exercise their right to free speech without censure or fear!
Monday, November 05, 2007
Soldier wounded in Iraq is told to leave his Army home within 30 days!
Read this This is a DISGRACE!How dare our UNGRATEFUL and UNWORTHY joke of a government treat this WOUNDED BRITISH HERO in this CALLOUS and DISGUSTING way!!It makes me want to puke!-Gormless Brownose and his Lap dog Politburo don't deserve to even lick this brave man's boots!How our UNELECTED Spineless Scottish traitor "Prime Minister" can even look at himself in the mirror every day without feeling shame and guilt at the way his left wing,politically correct,incompetent,sleazy,corrupt insult of a government has treated our armed forces and our wounded heroes is beyond me!Wounded service personnel and their families are thrown out onto the street without a second thought while ILLEGAL immigrants are given council houses and FULL benefits not five minutes after getting off the Banana boat-Is that justice?
Soldiers face increase in cost of personal injury insurance!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Brigade chief's son believed to be among four firefighters killed in warehouse inferno!
Read this We sometimes forget the Fire Fighter heroes who live amongst us who daily risk their lives to save ours and ocasionaly pay the ultimate sacrifice!
Basra Two Zero: An SAS veteran views the Iraq war from the soldiers' point of view!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
General rules out any more Iraq troop withdrawals before 2009!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
All British troops may leave Iraq next year!
Read this Bugger MAY leave why isn't it WILL leave!!!
Prime Minister strikes a very British compromise
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Major Alexis Roberts of RGR killed in Afghanistan!
Read this
It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Major Alexis Roberts, serving with 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles in Southern Afghanistan on Thursday 4 October 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
Rooftop firefight,3 Para Battlegroup,Sangin,Afghanistan!
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Honour the Covenant!
Read this A new campaign by the Royal British Legion to force the Government to honour the military covenant.Please visit the site to show your support and see how YOU can help!
Hat tip St Crispins Day
Afghanistan British Army Tribute
U.S Senate approves £14billion for army as British troops struggle with equipment!
If we no longer respect our fighting men and women, the future of Britain itself is in peril!
Read this Good point well brought out by a man who knows what he's talking about and was treatment in the most appalling manner by the MoD!
'Incredible Hulk' Royal Marine lifts two-ton truck off drowning comrade during gun battle in Afghanistan!
Iran 'arming Taliban with roadside bombs'!
Brown's Iraq pull-out is 'spin'!
Blackwater denies rogue mercenary charge!
£252m Chinooks remain grounded!
Read this The INCOMPETENCE at the MoD beggars belief!-If it was a company in the public sector heads would roll for this latest example of GROSS NEGLIGENCE wasting £252 MILLION pounds of taxpayers money on a helicopter that isn't safe and can't fly while back in Iraq and Afghanistan our troops are suffering and their lives are being put at risk needlessly because of the lack of the very same helicopters!
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Iraq and Afghanistan veteran survives 147 mortar attacks - then gets mugged on his doorstep!
Iraq soldiers forced to go cap in hand!
Read this This is a disgrace!-Our wounded troops are being betrayed by an uncaring and unworthy government!-If Gormless Brownose had an ounce of DECENCY or HONOUR he would pull ALL our troops out of Iraq immediately before any more are killed or wounded for nothing!-And words fail me over the appalling treatment of our wounded and the lack of care and support that they are receiving from both the MoD and the Left Wing,politically correct,tree hugging,Politburo in the Cabinet!
Read also:
Gordon Brown accused over Iraq troop pullout
Brown announces extra cut of 500 British troops on trip to Baghdad!
Monday, October 01, 2007
2 Royal Anglians
Army 'is running out of sergeants'!
Read this Not a surprise!-This is what happens after DECADES of defense penny pinching leading to the over stretching of our armed forces and the increased in operational tours in Iraq and Afghanistan!
Navy may have to scrap five vessels as carriers leave budget under fire!
Brain-damaged soldier receives 'insulting' compensation of one quarter the government maximum!
Read this Another insult from a "Grateful" government to a brave soldier!-How many more of our wounded servicemen are going to be treated in this appalling way before something is done?
Read also:
Worst injured soldier ever to survive is awarded less than RAF typist with a sore thumb
Daily Mail readers donate astonishing £210,000 to help paratrooper Ben fight for fairer compensation
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Gurkha support unit praised for work in Iraq!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
3 Para Battlegroup Op Herrick 4
