Our Troops - My Thoughts

[Geo the Sarge]

Governments

I’ve watched, as I always do at this time of the year, the Cenotaph Rememberance parade. I’ve taken part in many Rememberance parades over the years and it was always a delight. Whilst the parade itself can be emotional watching the old and bold proudly march in respect of fallen comrades, it usually became a day of mild celebration. Celebration that we had the great country that we did, celebration that their efforts had not been in vain. The many stories of bravery and hardship often bring a mixture of laughter and tears.

During this service we then have the laying of the wreaths by the many associations linked to the forces, with each of the wreath layers having their own individual story of the war. We then have the politicians all stepping up and laying wreaths and I find myself thinking that they actually belittle the service, after all these are the very people who for many years now have been seen to have done as much damage to our forces than most.

The last year has especially highlighted the failings of our governments to really support our troops. Lack of equipment due to lack of funding, lack of proper housing due to lack of funding, lack of proper medical care and psychiatric support due to lack of funding.  Major cost cutting since the 90’s which has reduced the strength of our forces whilst we are involved in more conflicts than ever. These are just some, taken from the BBC website:
IRAQ

By far the most high profile UK commitment overseas is Operation Telic - the name given to the deployment of personnel to Iraq.

In plans announced by the prime minister in October 2007, troop numbers were set to be reduced to 2,500 from the spring of 2008. However, on 1 April 2008 Defence Secretary Des Browne announced delays due to an increase in violence in Basra. He said the situation would be under review.
Since the end of the war in April 2003, troops have been helping to restore essential infrastructure and services and provide security.
UK forces are based near Basra Airport in the south of the country.

Some 1,600 troops were withdrawn in 2007 after the completion of Operation Sinbad, which was designed to put Iraqis in charge of Basra's security.

AFGHANISTAN

The UK has almost 8,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of what Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said is a "long-term commitment" in the country.

Most of them are stationed in the volatile southern province of Helmand, where UK forces have been fighting the Taleban.
Their presence is part of a Nato deployment aimed at helping the Afghanistan government maintain security and rebuild the country's infrastructure, following the US-led invasion of October 2001. Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) mission currently totals about 36,000 troops.

BALKANS

The UK military presence in the Balkans has been significantly scaled back from the peace-keeping and stability roles undertaken in the aftermath of the conflicts of the 1990s.
Now the UK's biggest regional deployment by far is in Kosovo as part of a Nato operation aimed at maintaining public order in the newly independent country, where tensions remain between the majority ethnic Albanians and the Serb minority.

NORTHERN IRELAND

The operational mission of the UK armed forces in Northern Ireland ended in July 2007.
The forces had been actively involved in supporting the police "in the defeat of terrorism and the maintenance of public order".
Some 1,500 troops remain on garrison duty - living and training as they would in any other part of the UK.

GERMANY

Although much smaller than its deployment in Germany at the height of the Cold War, the more than 20,000 UK troops there represent the largest overseas contingent by far.
Germany provides an important base for training, although many of the troops based there have been deployed to Iraq, and others are involved in the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, of which Britain is the lead nation.

CYPRUS

Although Cyprus has been an independent republic since the 1960s, Britain retains two areas of sovereign territory on the island which it uses as bases for more than 3,000 troops.
Covering 98 square miles (158 square km), the bases are used to give the UK a foothold at a strategic point in the Mediterranean.
In particular, the MoD describes RAF Akrotiri as "an important staging post for military aircraft".

FALKLAND ISLANDS

More than 20 years after the end of the Falklands War, but with the status of the British Overseas Territory still disputed by Argentina, a strong military presence remains on the islands, with more than 1,000 troops stationed there.
Their tasks include road building and mine clearance from the 1982 conflict.

GIBRALTAR

Considered an important base in the Mediterranean, Gibraltar is home to more than 500 British troops.
The MoD says the Rock is "well situated to observe shipping channels through the straits and it could dominate the western entrance to the Mediterranean in time of war".

ASCENSION ISLAND

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, far-flung Ascension Island was used as a staging post during the Falklands War - a role it retains.
The 40 or so British troops there are linked to the UK by regular flights to RAF Brize Norton and a six-weekly cargo ship from the MoD.

DIEGO GARCIA

The British territory of Diego Garcia, in the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean, has been a military base since the island was leased to the US in the 1970s.
Fewer than 50 British personnel are stationed at the base at any one time.

OTHER, INCLUDING UN MISSIONS

More than 300 British military personnel are deployed in smaller numbers to a wide range of other locations around the world.
UN operations include Sierra Leone, Cyprus, Liberia, Ethiopia and Georgia.
Forces are often sent to short term deployments in emergency situations, such as the 2004 Asian tsunami, when British forces were involved in providing relief including delivering supplies and helping with rebuilding work.
Other overseas deployments include training, exchanges and "loans" to armed forces in countries like Belize, Brunei, Canada, Kenya, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

And there are many, many more of our servicemen and women spread all over the world where there are conflicts, some on observational duties, some as advisors/instructors in places like Kenya, the Congo etc.

The last year especially has seen immense growth in the “Help our Heroes” campaign. This is not a campaign started by any government, this is a campaign driven by ex-servicemen and women and most importantly, you the public. I can tell you now, never have our forces felt so supported by the public than in recent years.

Whilst our government has let us down time and again it is Mr & Mrs civvy who have stepped up to the plate to show their support. Even when the conflict is deemed unjust, Joe Bloggs now recognises that this is not the soldiers doing and whilst not supporting the war, say in Iraq, still support the troops that are sent there. For that I thank you all.

It beggars believe that the politicians who cannot find the odd million to assist our troops when required can suddenly produce Billions to bail out their fat cat friends in the city. All this under the pretence that they are doing it for us. Believe me, Joe public can and would survive any recession.

I am in the camp of we are actually far better off than we tend to think and for the majority of us we live day to day way beyond our means and if needs be we could tighten the purse strings and survive any recession.

Geo.

[Geo the Sarge]

Ghurkas

I was very glad to see that the Ghurkas won the right to remain in Britain after they finished service with the Army. They are brilliant soldiers and have been loyal servants for many years. When my unit was stationed in Colchester for 3 years we had a platoon of Ghurkas with us for the period and they were superb. I found it ridiculous that these guys could be treated like this.

There are many stories of Ghurka bravery and loyalty to this country and what I found even more annoying was that for the last ten years or so, the Army has been recruiting from Fiji. This all began when a military band from the Fijian Army performed at the Edinburgh Tattoo. During their stay some of them found that because Fiji was a commonwealth country that they could apply to join the British Army and so a number of them did.

The differences are amazing, the Fijians, by and large are lazy and indisciplined. The only real attribute they have brought is their size and their ability to play Rugby, in fact the year before amalgamtion my Regiment, The Royal Scots had one of the best Rugby teams in the Army and indeed the 7’s side won most of the prestigious 7’s tournament.  A Scottish Regiment, doing well at rugby? Well they were all Fijian’s. Our Regiment had close to 100 Fijian’s in their ranks.

One thing they both have in common however is the fact that both Ghukas and Fijians are from a race that still maintains a caste system and indeed we have seen many disputes within Army Regiments who have Fijians where some have refused to take orders or serve under others from lower castes who have been promoted above them, something that wasn’t considered by the Army bosses whilst being so eager to recruit them to attempt to assist with the shortfall in numbers.

Whilst I was a recruiter in Edinburgh the caste system was brought to my attention whilst speaking to some Indian/Pakistani lads at a careers evening in Leith. Until then I had no idea that this system existed within some races/religions. These lads taught me that depending on their family name/caste they were expected to take up certain occupations. Those deemed of lower caste could be soldiers, bus drivers etc. Others of slightly higher caste could be shopkeeper/owners and the higher castes would be the doctors/lawyers  and Army Officers etc.  As you can see this would have a massive effect when trying to recruit other ethnic origins to the Forces.

[Geo the Sarge]

There was actually a move at one time for the British Army to set up a Sikh regiment which was shelved, it seems, after pressure from the PC brigade. It appears that the community leaders had thought it a good idea, after all there were many Sikh regiments that fought and died with our own during both world wars.
Some interesting reading here:

http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/sikh-warriors/sikhs-in-british-armed-forces.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555507/Sikh-regiment-dumped-over-racism-fears.html

The caste system seems to work well within the Ghurka regiments, they run it themselves, they all seem to accept their place. However, as I’ve said we have had problems with the Fijians as they are in non-caste regiments who do not work on and probably weren’t even aware of the caste system and the problems it would cause.

Fijians only have to serve for, I think, 4 years in the Army before being allowed to remain in the UK so why should the Ghurkas have been any different. Give me a platoon of Ghurkas ahead of the Fijians any day. Ghurkas are disciplined, respectful and loyal and thoroughly deserve the support they are now being given.

Ghurka companies are usually led by a British Army officer (A Queens Ghurka Officer) and any British Officer being appointed a QGO accepts the post with honour and in turn are highly respected by the Ghurkas who serve under them.

One of my favourite Ghurka stories comes from one of the wars. A Company of Ghurkas had came under attack from some Germans holed up in a farmhouse. They duly overran the position and secured the area. The QGO gave the order to remove all German bodies from the farmhouse and bury them in a mass grave.

During the burial a single shot rang out and the officer approached the scene to be informed that whilst dumping the bodies one of the Germans had groaned and was seen to still be alive and that one of the Ghurkas had shot him dead. “Why did you shoot him?” asked the officer...........”Because , sir, you ordered them to be buried and I wasn’t going to bury a man alive” was the answer.

Geo

[Hairydude]

Geo you said the PM expects the Afghanistan deployment to be a long term fixture. How long do you think it'll be before we withdraw??

Do you think the situation has improved greatly since we have put troops in Afghanistan??

From an outside perspective it doesnt seem to have improved at all- I wouldn't be surprised if in 15-20 years down the line we still have soldiers over there fighting the Taleban.

Oh and I agree with the Ghurka thing- how can fighters from another country basically fight our cause with honour and pride and not be given residence! I know our cause is now more seen as a global Cause now but in essence they are still fighting for our country.

[Geo the Sarge]

Geo you said the PM expects the Afghanistan deployment to be a long term fixture. How long do you think it'll be before we withdraw??

This could go as long as N Ireland to be honest, history has shown that "guerilla" or terrorist type conflicts are rarely won, Vietnam, N Ireland, IMO there wher no winners, only losers. I believ it will remain a containment exercise unless there is a complete war in the Far East - I honestly believe and sad to say the latter has more chance of becoming a reality than the end of this one. The Russians threw a lot more at the Afghans than we or the US have done and look where it got them.

Do you think the situation has improved greatly since we have put troops in Afghanistan??

I don't think it has improved whatsover, what was happening there before? drug smuggling, training of terrorists? It's not like there was an actual war happening there that involved us, same with Iraq 2nd time around. I've always said that 1st Gulf war was a no brainer - Iraq invades Kuwait, Kuwait request assistance, no problem. Most training of terrorists is now happening in Pakistan and other countries, can't see US wanting to attack Pakistan.

From an outside perspective it doesnt seem to have improved at all- I wouldn't be surprised if in 15-20 years down the line we still have soldiers over there fighting the Taleban.

As above, I agree mate

Oh and I agree with the Ghurka thing- how can fighters from another country basically fight our cause with honour and pride and not be given residence! I know our cause is now more seen as a global Cause now but in essence they are still fighting for our country.

Appreciate the questions mate.

Geo

[Hairydude]

No worries mate- just intrigues me as to where we'll be in 20+ years and what life will be like on this planet for my kids. Sad to say I dont think there will be an end to war in my lifetime(maybe even anybodys???)

[mondatoo]

This is my thread of year,was great to meet you Geo top man keep the posts coming 

[Geo the Sarge]

Thanks Ray, great to meet you also. I quite fancy the team event at your end, can you confirm ligit?

Geo

[mondatoo]

Don't know the guy mentioned have heard of newcastle poker forum,that's who's doing it yeah, should be good laugh hope you can make it

[kinboshi]

RIP and thank you.

[Colchester Kev]

[Geo the Sarge]

Appreciated guys.

Geo

[Geo the Sarge]

Northern Ireland & the IRA – Part 1
This has actually been one of the hardest pieces I’ve written so far. It’s some of my experiences and thoughts on Northern Ireland. I am well aware that there are blonde members from both sides of the divide and hopefully you will see that my intention is not to take sides, I did mention earlier that there were no winners in conflicts such as this. Northern Ireland, in my opinion ended up only benefitting the money men in the end.

As a soldier you soon learn to respect an enemy that is organised and well prepared, treat them with contempt and your troops will suffer. This is what happened for a while in Northern Ireland, the UK government underestimated the IRA and it’s capabilities at first whilst the IRA grew stronger, more intelligent and ultimately probably the most organised terrorist group in the world.

I spent a total of 7 years serving in Northern Ireland, from my first 6 month stint in Belfast 1979 to my final tour in 1996 at Bessbrook Mill.  I will tell you now it contained some of my best times in the Army and I met so many great people, Catholic & Protestant alike.

Belfast 1979 found me as an 18 year old stationed at Moyard barracks on the Whiterock end of the Springfield Road. The locals still called it New Barnsley police station as that is what it was prior to the Army moving in and turning it into the fortress that they called Moyard. One of the interesting things about this place was that there was actually a derelict block of flats contained within the perimeter, at the top of which we had an observation post. I still remember the late night traipse up the stairs to the OP at the top of the flats being the scariest thing ever encountered at that stage.

Once you were above the height of the perimeter fence you were open to the elements and your progress up the many flights could be monitored easily by anyone watching. We used to dash up the stairs and stop at the top for 5-10 minutes to recover before taking over the sentry duties there.

 Sangar duty was so boring, especially in the early hours, after all Mr terrorist liked to sleep also and movement was scarce in the quiet hours as any movement of traffic at that time of day was almost certain to be stopped and searched so it was highly unlikely that any movement of terrorists or equipment would occur during these times. Sangars, for most soldiers, were a place of masturbation and letter writing and whilst soldiers where often searched for reading and writing material prior to going “on stag” there was always a stash to be found.

One morning I was making my way to the OP accompanied by the corporal responsible for the change over and got to the final flight of steps that took me to the hatch from which we entered the OP. At the bottom of the steps you would call out that you were coming up, this was actually usually an early wake up call for the off coming sentry as too often they were caught sleeping and would be severely punished.

I was taking over from a mate of mine Jake Allan. “Jake, it’s Dicky mate” shouts I, “ok mate, up you come” was the reply as the hatch was lifted. As I made my way up the final ladder-like set of steps I placed my hand on the rail for support...........”Fuck sake, some dirty bastards been spitting out the hatch!” shouts I as I remove a wet and sticky palm from the rail.....”ha, ha” is the reply from Jake “sorry mate, that’s not spit” says he. Jake was a notorious masturbator and would quiet openly give himself a thrash in the dark with others attempting to sleep in the same room. More of Jake and his thrashing to come in stories of time with the Royal Guard at Balmoral later.

[Geo the Sarge]

In those early days the equipment was pretty basic, a couple of maps some panoramic photos with the abodes of some local undesirables and places of note marked on it, a pair of Binos and a scrapbook of mug shots of known activists. The camp at Moyard was pretty basic, however whilst we were there completion of Fort Whiterock which became the largest Army base in Belfast was to be completed.

The Tactical Area of Responsibility (TAOR) for our platoon during this period were the notorious schemes of Ballymurphy, Turf Lodge and New Barnsley.  These schemes were the heart of everything IRA in the 70’s and 80’s. Ballymurphy and Turf Lodge along with the Ardoyne (which I would visit later in my time) were by far and away the three strongholds of IRA activists and indeed some parts definitely no-go areas which would not be entered with anything less than a company’s strength.

There was no “getting on” with the locals here, we were despised and more so, no local could be seen to show any act of friendliness towards us for fear of punishment. Kids would spit and throw stones, we would walk into a completely empty street at 5 in the morning and suddenly it would be alive. Firstly the front doors would open and the dogs would be snarling around you, many dogs were actually shot by soldiers in fear of being attacked by one of theses beasts.  During our time there my patrol adopted a stray, a white cross lab/Alsatian type that would come on patrol with us and with him there he would see off any beast that would come near us, making our lives that wee bit easier.

We spent about 3 months at Moyard before we moved into Fort Whiterock or the “candlestick factory” as we called it, can only assume it was a candlestick factory prior to the Army building the base there. This was different class compared to where we had come from, sangars where comfortable and with all the latest gadgets including night vision equipment which was a wonderment to a young lad like me, not only night image but thermal image also. Suddenly sangars weren’t so boring, albeit seeing more of nature’s animals than terrorists in action.

The scrapbooks of mug shots were more like portfolios with some amazing up to date shots of known players which set the mind boggling on how they were taken. These were Army mug shots of these guys in pubs, bookies and even in their own homes, some high powered lenses or some very brave men obviously used to gain a lot of these images. We take it all for granted now what with modern technology and advances in photography but in the 70’s.......wow.
Fort Whiterock brought me my first real taste of fear, sure before we had been hit by stones, attacked by dogs, even got into the odd scuffle with some nut who took unkindly to being stopped and questioned. The players themselves never gave you grief whenever you stopped them. They new what you could ask, answered only these questions, generally politely and went on their way. Some of these guys would easily be stopped upwards of 10-15 times a day and accepted it, got it done and went on their way, it was the days that you didn’t see these guys that would worry you.

It took us a while to realise also that whilst they were patiently answering your questions, they were taking everything in, what our movements were, what equipment we carried, anything new? What is it? What positions did we take up. Often they would ask us as many questions......lol.

Every time these guys were stopped it was an information gathering exercise for them. We had one of our lads came back from a patrol one day as white as a sheet. He had stopped and questioned a known activist in Ballymurphy, asked the normal questions..........Name, D.O.B, address, where you been, where you going that sort of thing. At the end of the questioning, he released the guy and thanked him for his patience. The reply stunned him.............”thank you, and I hope you get home to Moira ok”...................Moira was the soldiers wife’s name and this guy knew it. It really put the shitters up him and it would more than probably have been an innocent conversation he had with a mate whilst on patrol that let this piece of info slip.

[Geo the Sarge]

It was a sunny morning as we left Fort Whiterock that day, out of one of the many entry/exit gates around the camp perimeter and we headed out, down Whiterock Road and into Turf Lodge patrolled through there and into Ballymurphy. A few cars stopped and searched, a few people questioned. Nothing out of the ordinary, a bit of abuse and stone throwing, just a normal days patrolling.

After about an hour and a half we headed back to camp. You never, ever used the same entry point into the camp as you had used to exit and so we made our way to the rear gates of Whiterock, patrolled through an empty school playground, it was either weekend or holidays, can’t remember which and started to cross a large playing field. We had 3 teams, 1 up (forward) 2 behind.

I was in the forward team and we had radioed for the gate to be opened and where about to take to ground prior to “skirmishing” into camp. You never walked in or out of camp, it was always a dash out, take up covering positions until all the patrol had left base then you would patrol on, always with “a foot on the ground “ in other words one team at any time would be static, giving cover to the other teams as they progressed, then one of them would go firm and in effect patrolling was very much a leapfrogging exercise.

As we approached the rear gates and before making our way off the playing field, the ground in front of us began to rip open, as you see at times in films, bullets were strafing the ground in front of us. We could hear the distant rumble of the breach explosions from the gun being fired. We were under attack from the then notorious Ballymurphy gun team. At the time there was reckoned to be at least 2 if not 3 gun teams operating from the area. Armed with an M60 machine gun and various other side weapons, Armalite and Garand for example.

We immediately sprung into defence mode, finding the little cover there was and then trying to locate where the shooting had come from. This was made all the more harder as luckily for us, the rounds had fallen short. Soldiers are taught to locate gunfire locations through a simple method we called crack and thump. If you are shot at, (and as long as the bullet goes passed you) you will hear a loud cracking noise as the bullet passes, this noise is produced by the bullet passing aside the air at high speed, the air then meets again with a loud cracking noise, almost like a clap.

The thump is the noise from the breech explosion when the firing pin of the weapon detonates the cartridge and explodes the gunpowder to fire the round. The thump will give you an idea of the area and the crack can be used to give an approximate distance. By listening to the crack and then counting the gap between the crack and thump it is estimated that every second between them equates to approx. 100 yards. So if there was a five second gap between crack and thump the approx distance to the weapon would be 500 metres.

All we had was the thump to go on and it was leading us to the area of Turf Lodge, just past the junction of Whiterock & Springfield Roads. We made our way there at speed, inevitably knowing they would already be long gone. As we approached it was fairly easy to identify the area quickly as all the locals were out shouting and cheering and dancing about. A lot of this was to delay us ensuring a safer getaway for the activists.

We soon Identified the house that the shooting had taken place from and then proceeded to search all houses either side and questioning everyone around as to what they had seen. As usual, lots of people around but no-one knew anything. As was procedure we would never enter the actually building where the event had taken place for fear of booby traps and also to preserve for the forensics people.

The quick follow up carried on for an hour or so and then we were withdrawn to cordon positions to allow the various agencies to come in and do their stuff. I learnt very quickly that when you were taking positions in cordons and such like, always to ensure there were people around, in effect using them as a safety net. If the locals are hanging around that area then you’re almost guaranteed it is safe from secondary devices.

We then went about our business, checking for casualties (thankfully none that day) checking we had not dropped or lost any our equipment and then individually being taken to give statements to the RUC as to the events and our own subsequent actions. It may seem strange to some, however our actions were looked over just as strenuously as the acts of any terrorist during these incidents.