St Crispin’s Day

Today is the last day of a Worcester & Sherwood Foresters Regiment.  The taliban did not wipe them out, the politicians did.

They’ve done incredible work out here in LASHKAR GAH, GARMSIR ADIN ZAI, and many other little villages engaged in hard and relentless fighting.  They have sadly lost Sandy Sandford, Tom Wright, Sean Dolan and Darryl Hickey.  High prices to pay.  The’ve killed a taliban leader as well as many hundreds of taliban fighters.

At least they still have Private Derby (thier Regimental mascot, a Ram from the Duke of Devonshires flock)

Thier TRF

Some awefully clever people have come out to Afghanistan recently from the thier offices deep in the bowls of the MOD.  They asked many questions & poured over acres of post operational reports going back 3 years.  They were looking for an answer to the question “How many troops are needed in Helmand Province?”.  It seems that the politicians have realised that all is  not well in this neck of the woods.  Nearly one dead per day for a couple fo weeks was clearly not enough of an indication for them, but remember, they are mostly over promoted people who could’nt make a decent salary in thier original professions, so decied that tax payers were a softer option.

Well the report is written, and although you the public will probably never get to see the results, St Crispin has.

Please remember, when the spin-miesters tell you that we’ve already got a Brigade out here, that they are not quite giving the whole story.  A brigade is usually 4 battlegoups in todays world.  In poorer countries three can pass as a brigade, but you’ve a lot less elbow room.  Well, whilst we have a whole brigade HQ here, we’ve only really got 2 real battlegroups plus recce.  So lets call it half or 3/4 of a brigade.

What do we need to do the job properly?  3 Brigades (which is actually 1 division, but the spinners will have to work hard on this, as we’ve not got two deployable divisions, and there is already a deployed Div HQ in Basrah).

As the US military chap on BFPS yesterday said “The western world has got to realise that our ground forces are not large enough by a long way to deal with the current issues”. 

What will happen when the Suddan kicks off in the next couple of years?

In 2004 I could not hide my delight in being constantly asked by US Marines from Gunnery Sergeant to Brigadier “How do you guys manage to keep your losses so low”  This was at a time when hundreds of their “boys” were being thrown into the cauldrons of Najaf & Faluja.  Smugley I would reply “well, you know, we just sort of know how to do this stuff, Northern Ireland was a great classroom for us”.  Now the same people are looking down thier noses at us.

Talk amongst the staff officers was that “if only the yanks would stop worrying about force protection, and get out on the streets with foot patrols, then they’d start to win over the locals”.  Well look what the British have gone & done.  We blew it.  All those killed, what for?  Welly, Les & Jane, sorry guys!  We withdrew from our bases, and are now hunkered down in only two (shortly to be only one).  How’s that for keeping the enemy off thier guard?

Someone has messed up right royally, and I’m not sure who.  But I can take a guess that it’s something to do with the Blair Brown handover.

Sorry people of southern Afghanistan, your lives are going to be pretty harsh for the forseable future.  Maybe even worse than under Saddam?

When you’re wounded and left on Afghan’s plains

and the women come out to cut up what remains just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains

and go to your God like a soldier.

Kipling

Nothing changes.  My first couple of days here have been a hugh eye opener.

The fighting is bitter, and incessant.  The casualties on both sides are horrendous.  The papers & media only announce the deaths.  They miss out little statistics like one battle group has suffers losses equating to one whole company.  Another has sent back over 40 severity 1 casualties (that’s amputations & the like!).

Every time the medical helicopter lands here there is an air of gloominess as we all realise that another very seriously injured person is in the back possibly fighting thier final fight, for life.

I happend to walk past the ambulance that had just picked up on such person as it got to the triage door of the field hospital (just by my accomodation), and was happy to see it was an Afghani (probably taliban), and not “one of ours”.

In the next couple of days we’ll have a “Ramp Ceremony”.  This is where the whole camp gathers in a single row to mark the departure home of our dead as they are taken to the plane.  I’m proud to have been asked to attend.

Not as bad as it sounds.  It’s 09:30, and I’ve got an afternoon flight out of Brize Norton to Kandahar.

Next post will be from Afghanistan.

Please keep looking into the site for more updates from the “front line”

BBC NEWS | UK | Warning on ex-services homeless

I think the statistics have been well known for many years.  Sadly there seems t be little we can do for some ex-service men (mostly Army).

We need to think seriously about veterans only hospitals & mental health institutes so these people can be amongst those they trust the most, rather than the society they clearly don’t believe in.

BBC NEWS | England | Surrey | Service families’ home approved

At last, the dept of honour we owe them is slowley be paid.   Well done the councilors of Mole Valley (is that where Toad lives?), who ignored the NIMBYs and “did the right thing”.  Shame the servicemen had to put up with the tension & stress that these sad & inward looking people subjected them to.

I was saddened to hear the idiot on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show who said that the families could stay in B&B ‘cos the war was an illegal occupation!  So, no one loses limbs in training accidents do they?  Don’t use the forces as ploitical footballs.

Regardless of what they are doing at the time of the injury, our servicemen deserve the very best.  They should have thier own hospital, and they should not have to come into contact with the sorts of people who make comments like that above.

The current view of politicians regarding our soldiers.  (this gives us a clue as to why the armed forces are to small)

No, my fair cousin:If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.

My view of soldiering.  Old fashioned, yes, but I’m no apologist.

By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.

Current Army view of the Royal Navy & most of the RAF

Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.

Enjoy!

I’m getting ready to depart for Camp Bastion in Afghanistan (due to administrative errors, I’m already 10 days late!).

I’ve just got word from the best sources (over there) that there is a big operation in progress. The dead are coming in at a rate of 1 per day, and the injured…. well lets just say that the military hospital is now officially full.  It will be a while before this becomes news (if ever), and some idiot politician will gloss over it anyway, but you can take it from me, that war is happening in our name, and our boys & girls are doing the best the can in the best traditions of the British Army.

I can’t wait to get out there now, as the service I’ll be helping to provide WILL save British lives.