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!
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!!
