A disaster to be proud of

Published: Sun, 10/13/24

With all this news of war and military conflict happening in the world it hard not to be reminded of one’s own military experience. I never saw active service, however I did serve in a TA infantry battalion for nine years between around 1985 and 1994, the period spanning the end of the cold war. Although my main role was as a signaler (radios and suchlike), we all spent a good deal of time training with the small arms which we would expect to use if we ever had to participate and actual combat. Shooting is rather fun, especially when training with a modern military weapon on a well designed range, and not having to pay for the ammunition. Perhaps my favorite firearm was the L96 sniper rifle which was current at the time. This bolt action rifle fired the same 7.62 round as the GPMG (general purpose machine gun) and was equipped with a bi-pod and a powerful telescopic sight. A skilled marksman with an L96 could hit a man size
target up to about 900 metres away.
Although I was not sniper trained I seem to have had quite a lot of opportunities to shoot this fine weapon. As I recall I could consistently hit a figure 12 target (21.5 inches high by 17 inches wide, 546 x 432 mm) which depicted a fearsome looking enemy soldier charging into the attack. When the command to fire came I would put round after round through the target.
I also remember asking myself a question. If I was aiming at a real live human being would I actually be able to pull the trigger and kill them? I am glad that I never had to find out. I am grateful that I never let my comrades down by failing to fully engage in a battle. I am also grateful that I don’t have the deaths of other human beings on my conscience. I know that you are allowed, even encouraged, to shoot at the enemy when there is a war on. However, that ‘enemy’ uniform contains someone’s son (maybe even daughter), someone’s brother, lover, husband, or maybe a father.
I have previously recounted meeting a Russian lady in around 1995 and in our conversation we discovered that we had both been told the exact same story about the ‘other side’ attacking across the East German border. If history had been different I might have had her brother, husband, or father in my sights, or it could have been the other way around.
At the age of 65 I have probably been spared the test of deadly combat, although who knows what life might have in store. And yet, so many people are not being spared either the duty to kill an enemy or being killed, or perhaps worst of all seeing their families and young children in constant fear and danger.
A thought that does give me some hope was prompted by a book I picked up second hand a few weeks ago. ‘Three Little Ships’ by Lilian Harry was published in 2005 and it is set against the retreat from Dunkirk in May and June 1940. The novel turned out to be quite a page turner and I found myself reading it until half past one in the morning on more than one night. The tale interweaves the adventures of three crews of small boats who assist in the rescue of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) from the beaches of Dunkirk. I guess if you can’t write an exiting novel with such a setting then the author can’t really be trying. However, Ms Harry is talented writer and weaves a compelling tale. I picked up the book partly because my father’s older brother took part in the rearguard action to hold the advancing German forces back as long as possible. My uncle was not amongst those who escaped back to ‘Blightly’. He may well have been
safer in a POW camp for the duration of the war than continuing to fight. Either way, the fate of the BEF was certainly part of our family history as I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s.
The whole Dunkirk episode was effectively an ignominious defeat for the British army. The subsequent retreat was pretty chaotic too and command and control broke down almost completely, factors which are well depicted in Ms Harry’s book. And yet Dunkirk is still probably the military event of which the British are most proud. As the Wehrmacht blitzkrieged its way across France the British government was in despair (Churchill thought a maximum of 30,000 troops could possibly be rescued out of about 390,000 troops who comprised the BEF). Army command and control had largely collapsed, and although the Air Force and Navy did their best, the retreat should have been a catastrophe for the UK. And yet ordinary soldiers, in small groups and individually, made their way to the beaches and awaited rescue, and the real heroism was displayed by the crews of small boats which crossed the channel and worked with the Navy to ferry soldiers from
beaches to larger naval craft and brought many home directly. Eventually, around 198,000 British troops and another 140,000 French and Belgian servicemen were saved from death or German POW camps. Of course many like my Uncle didn’t make it back, but the situation could have been much worse.
The achievement of Dunkirk demonstrated what can happen when ordinary people are prepared to risk their lives to work together, rescue those in need, and bring them safely home to their loved ones. When is the human race going to find such a story inspiring enough to renounce violence and killing, and focus on saving lives instead?
regards
Graham
PS Talking of sniper rifles, it is worth reading this recent post by the marvelous Catlin Johnstone, and if you actually care about how close to Armageddon we are you should be reading all her posts https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/10/10/israeli-snipers-routinely-deliberately-shoot-palestinian-kids-in-the-head/
PPS I am getting a lot of interest in the Salisbury course on the 16th of November and you are welcome to join us, full details here and I have added a short video demonstrating the cudgel training we will be looking at http://iceandfire.org.uk/salisbury16112024.html

Graham Butcher
21 Beaver Road
Beverley East Yorkshire HU17 0QN
UNITED KINGDOM

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