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Do you wanna Dance?……..
On Remembrance Sunday I, along with many of you, stood on Parade outside our Church building. It is very difficult for me to show or relate my feelings regarding my service career all those years ago but on this one occasion I wanted to.
From where I stood we could see rows of uniformed individuals both male and female young and old. The left hand side was full of colour and that's where the action took place. On my right hand side were rows of young people showing their regard for those who have given up their health and/or lives to ensure that we enjoy our precious freedom today. They are showing that they do recognise that sacrifice, they are not being critical they are really trying to show in a very public way their thanks and appreciation.
What I also saw was my team whilst in service. Not one of my men was lost in action whilst under my orders. Two did loose their lives however, and two became injured. Both injuries and one of the deaths took place in training but the last death took place in Ulster, a home posting, and it is him I want to talk about.
He was the most vibrant and alive person I have ever known, he had a tremendous sense of humour and was known as the ‘finder'. He could even find alcohol in a dry Arab country. When in the field he would regularly use the Officers latrine and shower area, he also knew every Catering Corps NCO and could obtain hot food for my ‘stick' at any time of night or day wherever we where. Somehow he could wangle transport in any location, once we almost had a helicopter for the weekend to help us complete a tab (forced march), never ‘yomp', across a foreign peninsula.
My lad, only recently married, volunteered to stay behind and no matter what we all did, he followed the Army code (if you cannot take a joke you should never have joined). He stayed to assist a heavy guided missile battery which moved into Crossmaglen. They used huge missiles and did not know one end of a rifle from the other, he promised to assist and not put himself at risk.
On Sunday I thought what percentage of those young people on parade might be killed, injured, or mentally scarred in the next conflict? I do not wish to take anything away from those who have already paid the price in previous conflicts but I do believe that most people who have served become anti-war. Today wars are started by politicians with no oversight; they start the conflicts with no experience of service. For all of our advances we still throw young peoples lives away with little regard. And as for equipment I still remember sitting in a leaking canoe using my rifle to paddle with (no oars), being supplied with food from Land Rovers with ‘HELICOPTOR' stencilled on the side, and our mortar platoon shouting ‘bang' in unison because they had no mortar rounds.
My friend on the Crossmaglen check point died, he was shot across the border. Only one person you might suggest, it doesn't compare to the Somme or Passchendale but it was my experience and it lives with me still. When we got back to Aldershot his wife and child were there waiting for him. Some civil servant at the MOD, which now out-numbers every serving sailor, soldier, and airman by two to one, had gone home for the day and not informed her. These same civil servants have been receiving annual performance bonuses for the last four years, in my day it was new carpets, computers, cars, and desks.
There is remembrance, duty, honour, and respect for the individuals who risked everything and sometimes paid the ultimate price. Today however, it is very hard for me to see any honour in serving in front or behind the colours. We must have reached the point now surely when we must say enough is enough, the lives of our young people must be more important than propping up a foreign policy which could become the model for further military intervention.
Adrian Chase
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