Our Troops - My Thoughts

[steeveg]

sadly i can picture the story of your life at  home geo, i have images of life in the 40s or 50s briton ,somethings never change, i am proud to say i have never given any of my children a hiding, my children have always respected me, and we are close , the thugs who try to beat  respect into there children will loose it forever.

[suzanne]

Yet again Geo you have reduced me to tears.

"Who put the pepper in the porridge"...we all got the shit kicked out of us for that one....every day...till we bribed the baby of the family to say she did it.

It took 30 yrs before my other sister confessed.

[Geo the Sarge]

Yet again Geo you have reduced me to tears.

"Who put the pepper in the porridge"...we all got the shit kicked out of us for that one....every day...till we bribed the baby of the family to say she did it.

It took 30 yrs before my other sister confessed.

Yeah Suz,

There's many of us, however we generally are stronger people for it, I never did find out who took the cheese and TBH never really wanted to find out. All us kids got on well together, hardly a fight between us. I probably didn't want to know for fear I would then have a dislike for one of my siblings.

Geo xx

[RED-DOG]

Geo. I'm totally awestruck and spellbound. Not only by your story, but also by your courage and ability in telling it.


Astonishing.

[RED-DOG]

BTW- When I travel to a two day comp I don't usually book a hotel because if I don't make day 2 I won't need it, and if I do make day 2 I will not get into the room until 6am and they want me out at 10am.

So I sleep in the back of my pickup instead, then, in the morning I pop down to MacDonald's and have a strip wash and a shave in the loos. Failing that, I can manage quite well with half a litre of water from my bottle and a small plastic bowl. 

Even when I'm at home, I like to have to odd night outside under the stars. (I had a great bivvy-bag that I found in an ex-army shop in Manchester, but I stored it in the shed and the mice got into it last year)

[ItsMrAlex2u]

amazingly well written stuff yet again Geo.  Must be hard for you to write, yet it's conjured up such lifelike images.  Brought tears to my eyes reading about your parents' treatment of you all - I've never so much as smacked my daughter, I just couldn't, and find it so hard to fathom how anyone could do that to their children.

Thank you Claire, it hasn't been as difficult to write as I thought, truth be told I'm actually finding it difficult to stop writing when I start. I actually fear that people may stop reading as some of the posts are so long. It has been emotional but I needed to do it for myself. Before blonde all my mates were Army, we didn't discuss these things much, part bravado part not wanting to discuss and raise bad memories I suppose. I've said this in a couple of replies to PM's.

It was always my wife's job to punish, she too never raised a hand. They're big guys now and have done her proud.

Geo.

If I may say so Geo, the Posts are just the right length, not too long, not too short, just right.

What a tale!

And what great storytellers blonde has in it's midst.

The beating for the "stolen" cheese, the younger readers won't understand, but in those days, children never, never ever, "took" food from the pantry, it was stealing.

I "stole" a biscuit, got caught, & ended up running away from home for a week & sleeping rough to avoid the punishment I was due - I was 8.

But, oddly, the tough times at home seemed to produce tough adults, & I'm not sure I'd want it any other way, because I can handle mental bumps & bruises with the best of them. And you seem pretty hardy, too, & can, I imagine, handle a wee bit of wind in your face.

That "fireside set" you refer to - coal tongs, brush, poker, coal "spade", every single home had one in the fifties, they were called "Combination Sets" I think. I bet most homes don't have one now.

Keep it coming man. And save it to a Word Document, or something, in case it ever gets lost - one day it may be the basis of a book.

There are some diaries that I do stop reading due to the length of posts and amount of pages but dont worry with this one. I think its safe to say you have a captivated audience.

Did I mention you should write a book? You could make/raise a lot of money and share your story with a much wider audience.

[LLevan]

The posts just get better and better.................please keep going and god knows what we will read once you run out of tales to tell. Takes some courage & guts to write so openly about the bullying you took from your father and once again thanks for sharing your experiences with us all.

[byronkincaid]

so you guys are walking around public toilets in your pants?

outstanding thread btw

[ItsMrAlex2u]

so you guys are walking around public toilets in your pants?

outstanding thread btw

Whooosh

[Karabiner]

I've been meaning to read this for a few days now but only got around to it this morning and I've read it all.

Once I'd started I just couldn't put it down and can hardly wait for the next installment.

It's great writing Geo, you too have a real talent for expressing yourself in the written word.

Thank you.

[ItsMrAlex2u]

so you guys are walking around public toilets in your pants?

outstanding thread btw

Whooosh

Unwoosh. I am with you now

[nirvana]

Again, like my mate Budgie in the ops room earlier, it was fear of saying the wrong thing, or not really knowing what to say. I hurried into the Naafi, there were quite a few there. I slammed the door shut and this made them all look up. “look lads” I said, “please don’t feel afraid to talk to me, I need you to talk to me.” Within seconds I was surrounded by a few sobbing mates, being crushed halve to death with hugs of sorrow. I felt secure once more.

This actually moved me to a few tears.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Geo

[Geo the Sarge]

Geo. I'm totally awestruck and spellbound. Not only by your story, but also by your courage and ability in telling it.


Astonishing.

BTW- When I travel to a two day comp I don't usually book a hotel because if I don't make day 2 I won't need it, and if I do make day 2 I will not get into the room until 6am and they want me out at 10am.

So I sleep in the back of my pickup instead, then, in the morning I pop down to MacDonald's and have a strip wash and a shave in the loos. Failing that, I can manage quite well with half a litre of water from my bottle and a small plastic bowl. 

Even when I'm at home, I like to have to odd night outside under the stars. (I had a great bivvy-bag that I found in an ex-army shop in Manchester, but I stored it in the shed and the mice got into it last year)

From you sir, I consider it a blessing.

PM me your adress and I'l make sure you get a workable bivvy bag.

Apologies to all, I've just spent the day with a good friend of mine. I'm pisshed................... A friend has travelled up from the Brighton area (no, he's not a flushy) he is probably the best civvy I know. He was one of my first managers in civvy life, he understood, he knew what I was all about, he understood, he argued my case, he understood . When I went wrong he put me right, he understood, when I used the wrong words he explained to others, he understood.

He helped others understand and I was accepted. He is a great man.....................he's blootered and now lying on my couch, he knows that I appreciate everyhting he done for me, I tell him often and he is embarrased by it all. He left our team and went to teaching college a couple of years ago. He now teaches in a place called Lansing? (near Brighton) In a school that is, I believe, in the top 10 of worst in Britain, he loves his job, it's hard but he understands the kids much like he understands me. he will succeed. His name is John Ferguson and as I said earlier he is blootered and sleeping on my couch.........I, like many others reward loyalty. The only way I knew..... I made sure he had a good night

Geo

[suzanne]

I am the forum member that Geo has mentioned in his bullying post.

I decided early on not to post as I did not want to put any negativity into his thread as it would be disrepectful to all the soldiers who have fought and died for our country.

As he has brought up the subject of bullying I feel I can post.

I am the oldest of 4 kids (3 girls + 1 boy) and we all made our escape from home at an early age, I headed for the city lights and when my brother was old enough he joined the army.

Being in a family of girls he spent a lot of time with his male cousin and his single parent uncle who had spent a lifetime in the army so it was inevitable he would eventually join.

To cut a long story short my brother was posted in Germany and on a night out with the lads. They were in a bar and my brother was chatting up a girl when her "boyfriend" walked in. The boyfriend happened to be one of his superior officers, the girl claimed that they had only chatted the night before but that was enough reason for this officer and his mates to give him a kicking.

It didnt stop there, the officer made my brothers life a living hell for months to the extent that after a severe beating my brother went AWOL. It took him 6 days to hitch hike from Germany to Spain (where we were living at that time) with no money and he arrived at our house still covered in bruises and half starved.

He lived in fear of the army turning up at the door to take him away. He built up his strength doing weight training etc as he knew the punishment would be harsh when he went back.

He was ready to go back and decided to have a few blow out nights with his mates before returning.

I dont know the exact details but a fight broke out in the bar he was in, he was being chased and ran across the dual carriageway between Barcelona and Gerona thinking he could outrun a car...he was wrong.

He died 13 days later at the age of 22.

Do I blame the army YES YES AND YES

He didnt die a heroes death, he was hounded and beaten till he couldnt take it anymore. He knew he couldnt go home to UK or he would be arrested, he was strong enough to know this and couragous enough to face going back.

His death was an accident I know but if he hadnt been treated so badly he would have been in Germany when that car was heading home on the Costa Brava.

[ItsMrAlex2u]

This is exactly the sort of situation that gives the army a bad name for its bullying nature. Things happen in all walks of life for blokes to either fallout or take a dislike to each other. Being in the army seems to give people the excuse and the power to completely abuse their position as they did in this case, to make someones life a complete misery.

Its another very sad story and one that makes me very angry that this kind of behaviour is tollerated. Sincere condolonces Suzanne.

I know they are soldiers and a bit of harsh treatment will toughen up some people but there are boundaries which are crossed all too often.

I know very little about the armed forces I have to admit. Is bullying just as bad in the Navy or RAF?