*WARNING* NEW RULES FOR BRITISH SOLDIERS IN COMBAT ZONES.

I'm not Joking.

BRITISH SOLDIERS SHOT A DAWN IN WORLD WAR ONE.

Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?

World War One soldiers knew their king and country expected them to fight to the death. Such was the expectation of their military commanders, their political leaders and even their loved ones that there was no question that if mortal danger came, they should face it like men. It was the only way for good to triumph over evil.

But this conflict quickly became the most brutal war in history and not even the most seasoned serviceman was prepared for the scale of carnage that unfolded before him. For many the horror proved too much. Hundreds were unable to cope, many were driven insane and several simply ran away.

But the army could no more afford to carry cowards than it could traitors, and many of those who did flee faced instant retribution with a court martial and death by firing squad.British and Commonwealth military command executed 306 of its own men during the Great War. Those shot brought such shame on their country that nearly a century on, their names still do not appear on official war memorials.

Relatives and supporters of the executed men are fighting to win them a posthumous pardon. Their Shot at Dawn campaign claims the soldiers were blameless because it was severe psychological trauma, not cowardice, that rendered them physically unable to cope with the shocking scenes they had witnessed.

But others believe it is impossible to condemn the events of a century ago from a modern-day perspective. Whatever the rights and wrongs, they say, a pardon is inappropriate and impossible. Read more HERE


I personally say that the majority of those shot are victims , a small percentage may have been deserters but a large majority will have been suffering from Shell Shock or as we call it today PTSD. For instance if you were in the vicinity of an explosion and as a result you lost your rifle, you were considered a deserter. WE WILL REMEMBER THEM......ALL OF THEM.

Bloodbath in the Korean war

As with so many missions facing British soldiers in the godforsaken war they were fighting, the odds were stacked against them
Few of us have anything but a hazy notion of the vicious conflict that split the Korean peninsula in the Fifties
Korean War was a bloodbath in which 40,000 American troops, 500,000 North Korean and Chinese soldiers and at least 2.5 million civilians all died.Corporal Jim Lucock was, in his own words, ‘just an ordinary national serviceman who didn’t want to die’.
But warfare doesn’t pay much attention to how desperately a man wants to stay alive, and one day Jim and his mates were ordered to enter and destroy a maze of tunnels dug by enemy troops.
As with so many missions facing British soldiers in the godforsaken war they were fighting, the odds were stacked against them. Jim recalled how, as the unit moved gingerly forward in the dark, ‘this lad in front said, “Hey Corp, I think I’ve stood on a mine”, but somebody called out, “It’s not a bloody mine, stop acting the goat”. So he took his foot off and it went up.
‘He was killed instantly. So was the lad behind me. I was hit and lay unconscious for a couple of hours with 36 pieces of shrapnel in me. I still have some in my left leg.’
Here is a general knowledge quiz: a) During the Cold War, where did British soldiers battle the enemy head on for three years? b) Where did more of our troops die than in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan put together? c) Where were our prisoners-of-war tortured and brainwashed? d) Where did World War III nearly break out? e) Where, more than 60 years on, is there, astonishingly, still no peace agreement between the warring sides?
Read more  HERE  

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

THE FACTS OF LIFE

WAITING LIST WAR

Tommy Lucas is lucky, this land is at peace,

No snipers in windows, no guerrillas in trees,
There's no war in Worcestershire, Wiltshire or Hants,
But Tommy's a victim of pay-cuts and grants -
The unit he needs was closed down last year,
If he can't get his treatment, the end will be near.
Poor Tommy Lucas - there is nowt he can do,
Pushed once again to the back of the queue.
The children of far distant battle-torn lands,
Peer from our TV screen, we wring our hands,
So we send jet planes and say "come to the UK -
We'll se you get treatment, we'll make you okay."
So poor Tommy Lucas, his future looks bleak,
While yet more foreign children were treated this week.
Poor Tommy Lucas - there is nowt he can do,
Pushed once again to the back of the queue.
Tommy Lucas is lucky, this land's not at war,
But he still can't get treatment he's waited long for,
The children from far lands get treatment instead,
While Britons like Tommy still wait for a bed -
The injured of Britain has waiting list places,
While imported injuries take all the bed-spaces.
People of Britain - there seems nowt we can do,
Pushed once again to the back of the queue.

HT/ Ron Brain

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The engine roars on the C17
Bringing home another soldier
He was just 18
Liveth on for evermore
He died a Hero in a far away War
Family sob with anguish and grief
Forever in their hearts a place they keep
A son and brother who joined the ranks
Swapped action men for real bullets and tanks
Please don’t cry for me today
For I died a soldier my chosen way


© Tony McNally

A British soldier died on this hill today

A British soldier died on this hill today
Teenage in years but a soldier no less
He took the Queens shilling
His call to arms
A Mother now weeps
Warrior now rest


He died a soldier
The job he adored
His Granddad so proud
Sister in shock
Oh why at nineteen?
Why wasn’t he spared?


A British soldier died on this hill today


RIP.


©  Tony McNally

A SOLDIERS WAR

Time to enter the green zone boys
I will not let you down
Not fighting here for Queen & Country
Or the folks from my home town
My soldier brothers are my family now
We fight for our Battalion
Patrolling into the enemy ground
With hearts as strong as stallions
`Crack Thump`
A round goes overhead
The Taliban know we are here
My corporals shouts and quick commands
Dispels my any fears
Section attack with bayonets fixed
We advance towards the enemy
Our rifles fire a wall of lead
As does my trusty Minimi
`Cease Fire` is called
We wait and watch
Then carry on once more
Towards the enemy
We will not stop
This is a soldiers War.

©  Tony McNally