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Contents<br />
Thursday 21st April 2016<br />
Email: sbt@thetommyatkinstrust.com<br />
3 Youngest Afghan Soldier killed<br />
<strong>The</strong> youngest soldier to serve in Afghanistan<br />
was murdered while on leave, court hears<br />
3 SAS Hero Jailed for gun offence<br />
SAS Falklands Veteran jailed for possessing a<br />
weapon he had as battle memento<br />
4 Mixed Race Cadet honoured<br />
A mixed race officer cadet wins Sword of<br />
Honour at Sandhurst Academy<br />
5 Soldier Hailed as new Vera Lynn<br />
A female soldier has been tipped as the new<br />
Vera Lynn for her outstanding voice<br />
PTSD & the FFD Page 7<br />
6 Cover Story: Taphophiles<br />
A look in to the interest in War cemetery's<br />
and war graves by John Terry<br />
7 PTSD and the FFD<br />
<strong>The</strong> way one veteran plugged his mental<br />
wound with his own therapy<br />
Women in Combat: America Leads the Way Page 9<br />
Sponsored by<br />
10 Have Faith<br />
This week: <strong>No</strong>t good enough<br />
12 <strong>The</strong> Historic Tommy Atkins<br />
Gallipoli & Anzac Day 101 Years on<br />
15 VRN <strong>The</strong> Naafi of the airwaves<br />
What’s happening on your favourite<br />
radio station<br />
19 SBT Information<br />
A page dedicated to back issues,<br />
information, book reviews etc<br />
20 Time for a NAAFI Break<br />
Fun & Games on the final pages.<br />
We are always looking for new ideas<br />
and competitions from you
Youngest Afghan Soldier killed<br />
while on leave court hears<br />
SAS Hero Jailed for possessing firearm from Falklands<br />
An SAS hero was yesterday jailed<br />
for the illegal possession of a<br />
souvenir weapon captured in the<br />
Falklands War.<br />
Albert Patterson said he kept the<br />
9mm pistol, taken from an<br />
Argentinean officer, to remind<br />
him of the 22 friends who died in<br />
the conflict.<br />
He served for 22 years, in the<br />
Parachute Regiment and then in<br />
the SAS.<br />
Sentencing him to 15 months in<br />
prison for the possession of the<br />
<strong>The</strong> youngest British soldier to serve<br />
in Afghanistan was killed on leave in<br />
his home town by vodka-swigging<br />
thugs who shook hands after leaving<br />
him to die in the street, a court has<br />
heard.<br />
Serviceman Dave Curnow, 20, died<br />
during an alcohol-fuelled attack that<br />
was totally without provocation, a<br />
jury was told.<br />
Mr Curnow was posted to Helmand<br />
province in March 2013 just days<br />
after turning 18 and survived a sixmonth<br />
tour that included several fire<br />
fights with the Taliban.<br />
<strong>The</strong> victim, who served in the 4th<br />
war trophy, Judge Christopher<br />
Plunkett said that he had been<br />
privileged to see Patterson's<br />
service record.<br />
But he said parliamentary<br />
legislation left him with little<br />
choice over the sentence.<br />
Patterson had admitted<br />
possessing a 9mm self-loading<br />
pistol, five rounds of<br />
expanding ammunition, 177<br />
rounds of 9mm ammunition,<br />
four Enfield pistols and a selfloading<br />
rifle component.<br />
Battalion, <strong>The</strong> Rifles, was found<br />
unconscious on the ground following<br />
the assault at 2.45am on September 20<br />
last year.<br />
He was taken by ambulance to the<br />
Royal Cornwall Hospital before being<br />
transferred to Derriford Hospital in<br />
Plymouth where he died the following<br />
day.<br />
<strong>The</strong> serviceman left behind parents<br />
Michael and June and sister Charley.<br />
An estimated 800 people attended Mr<br />
Curnow's funeral at Truro Cathedral as<br />
he was given full military honours. <strong>The</strong><br />
young soldier's father described Mr<br />
Curnow as 'the best son a father could<br />
ask for'.<br />
Soldier sues MOD over weather injury<br />
An African born soldier<br />
from Warwickshire is suing<br />
the Ministry of Defence for<br />
up to £200,000 for injuries<br />
sustained during a training<br />
exercise in extreme<br />
weather conditions.<br />
Abdoulie Bojang, who was<br />
born in Gambia, says the<br />
MoD 'failed to take his<br />
ethnicity into account'<br />
before exposing him to<br />
cold temperatures during a<br />
training exercise in Canada<br />
in 20<strong>14</strong>.<br />
Mr Bojang says he<br />
sustained career ending<br />
hand injuries after being<br />
exposed to minus 30<br />
degree cold during a ski<br />
training session<br />
codenamed "Exercise<br />
Frozen Fun" with 105<br />
Regiment Royal, Logistical<br />
Corps.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 30-year-old from<br />
Nuneaton had been with<br />
the regiment since 2006.<br />
<strong>The</strong> MoD's defence to the<br />
action was not available<br />
from the court and the<br />
contents of the writ have<br />
yet to be tested in evidence<br />
before a judge.
Black Sandhurst Cadet receives ‘Sword of Honour’<br />
This is the proud moment a tough<br />
north London boy who didn't even<br />
learn to read until he was 12 received<br />
one of the highest honours in military<br />
service.<br />
Kidane Cousland, 24, was today given<br />
the Sword of Honour at Sandhurst<br />
Royal Military Academy, beating<br />
candidates from Oxford and<br />
Cambridge to finish at the top of his<br />
class.<br />
Dressed in ceremonial uniform, he let<br />
off a beaming smile after being<br />
handed the honour by his Royal<br />
A Second World War hero is selling<br />
his bravery medal to help with his<br />
grandson’s university costs.<br />
Major Bill Pickering, 88, hopes to raise<br />
as much as £30,000 from the sale of the<br />
Military Medal he was awarded after a<br />
dangerous spying mission in Italy in<br />
1945.<br />
<strong>The</strong> family were at first against the idea,<br />
but Major Pickering said it was better<br />
for them to have the money from his<br />
medal now rather than it to be left<br />
gathering dust in a drawer.<br />
Highness Prince Salman bin<br />
Hamd Al-Khalifa one of the<br />
nations that also sends its officers<br />
to train at Sandhurst.<br />
Today he became one of only a<br />
handful of mixed-race officers to<br />
ever be given the prestigious<br />
award, graduating as the best of his<br />
200-strong intake.<br />
His platoon commander said he<br />
was one of the ‘relatively few’<br />
former ordinary soldiers to have<br />
been selected to be an officer and<br />
go on to win the accolade.<br />
Royal Navy banned from complaining over poor food standards<br />
Royal Navy sailors have been banned<br />
from taking photos and using social<br />
media to criticise the canteen food they<br />
are served, a Conservative former<br />
minister has said.<br />
Personnel at HMS Sultan and other<br />
naval sites have been given the<br />
restriction because of the high level of<br />
complaints over the food.<br />
Years worth of gripes about the meals at<br />
the Gosport training base can be found<br />
on social media, with sailors complaining<br />
it is “terrible”, “brutal” and “slop”.<br />
Veteran sells medals to pay for grandsons university fees<br />
<strong>The</strong> grandfather, from Lea Green,<br />
Greater Manchester, was a daring<br />
Special Operations Executive agent in<br />
World War II and was awarded the<br />
gallantry medal for his work behind<br />
enemy lines in Italy in 1945.<br />
Maj Pickering’s gong is said to be<br />
particularly desirable because he<br />
operated in Italy and not in France<br />
like most other SoE agents.<br />
<strong>The</strong> auction takes place on<br />
Wednesday, and will be conducted<br />
by Dix <strong>No</strong>onan Webb in London.<br />
Last months soldiers disgusted by<br />
Army food shared pictures of raw<br />
chicken, maggot-riddled tomatoes<br />
and mouldy eggs they said they had<br />
been served in canteens.<br />
One anonymous soldier wrote an<br />
open letter to commanders saying:<br />
"Would you serve it to a paying<br />
customer in a restaurant?<br />
“I would like to think the answer to<br />
these questions is no, of course not.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Army promised to investigate the<br />
complaints.
Ex-soldier to climb Kilimanjaro to fund life-changing surgery<br />
A Ewell man whose weight soared after<br />
being diagnosed with post-traumatic<br />
stress disorder is now launching a daring<br />
expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro<br />
to raise money for life-changing surgery.<br />
Franco Gasparotti, 50, from Ewell, shed<br />
17 stone in just 18 months and will climb<br />
the Tanzanian volcano with 18<br />
supportive friends and ex-army<br />
colleagues on September 30, to fund the<br />
removal of leftover skin folds.<br />
After saving the lives of two colleagues<br />
during service in the Coldstream Guards<br />
in <strong>No</strong>rthern Ireland in 1988, Mr<br />
Gasparotti suffered serious spinal<br />
injuries, confining him to a wheelchair.<br />
Despite recovering from his injuries and<br />
being medically discharged from the<br />
army in 1990, his battles were far from<br />
over. He was diagnosed with posttraumatic<br />
stress disorder (PTSD) in 2007<br />
and subsequently developed a serious<br />
eating disorder, leaving him morbidly<br />
obese and severely depressed.<br />
A suicide attempt and collapsed marriage<br />
finally gave him the push to make the<br />
decision to turn his life around.<br />
In order to raise funds, he and his friends<br />
are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and<br />
each member of the team is doing<br />
independent fundraising and<br />
sponsorship.<br />
Female soldier hailed as the new ‘Vera Lynn<br />
A female soldier has been hailed the 'new Vera Lynn' after becoming the first person recruited to the army - for her<br />
singing voice. Talented Leila Jones, 24, has the distinction of being the only all-singing squaddie after being head-hunted for her<br />
dulcet tones. Given the rank of Musician Jones she parades with HQ Company, 6 Rifles, at Wyvern Barracks, Exeter, Devon,<br />
which is also the base for the Salamanca Band and Bugles.<br />
Leila, whose mum Louise runs a hotel tea room in Paignton,<br />
Devon, studied classical singing to Grade 8 standard in her<br />
teens between fronting several rock bands<br />
She was head girl at Trinity School, Teignmouth, where she<br />
wore uniform for the first time as a Royal Navy cadet.<br />
This influenced her decision to join Exeter Officer Training<br />
Corps and become the golden voice of the Salamanca Band.<br />
Leila is starting a legal practitioner's course at the University of<br />
Bristol this year and hope to become a regular Army lawyer in<br />
the future<br />
Contact the <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong>: sbt@thetommyatkinstrust.com<br />
Are you outgoing, fun and a team player?<br />
Do you enjoy music and audio production?<br />
<strong>No</strong> experience? <strong>No</strong> problem! We can show you how.<br />
If you would like to become part of the MVR team then click here
<strong>The</strong> noble art of Taphophilia<br />
<strong>The</strong> definition of Taphophilia is:<br />
“an abnormal love for funerals, graves, and cemeterie”<br />
and I have had a great interest in Military cemeteries for<br />
many years having visited them in India, Israel, Italy,<br />
France, Greece, Crete, Malta, Germany, Belgium, the<br />
Netherlands, the USA and the UK.<br />
Whenever I travel, I always try and spend time with the<br />
boys and girls admiring the care and attention spent on<br />
those little corners of the United Kingdom in faraway<br />
places. Each cemetery tells its own story, some from a<br />
battle nearby, some from the location of a Field<br />
Hospital and some as a national memorial to the fallen.<br />
Look for the Cross of Sacrifice, designed by Sir<br />
Reginald Blomfield, and for some of the 1,700,000<br />
Portland stone memorials and find the Visitors book<br />
and leave a note, it will be appreciated by those whose<br />
relatives lie here.<br />
seven graves can be a Lancaster crew, a group of four can be a<br />
tank crew, and my mother’s first husband is buried in a small<br />
cluster of three with his boss, the driver, and spaced a little<br />
away, the “shotgun” who died the next day.<br />
Recently I discovered the Commonwealth War Graves<br />
Commission App which allows you to find nearby<br />
cemeteries, or to search for them by location so you can<br />
discover ones where you plan to travel. Occasionally I<br />
have passed the distinctive khaki and white signs when<br />
travelling and then had to convince my host that yes, I<br />
really would like to spend some time with the boys,<br />
contemplating and then leaving a small note in the<br />
Visitors book.<br />
Each time I visit I learn something new, a cluster of<br />
Some cemeteries include fallen enemies, one in Haifa, Israel<br />
has one German grave, possibly a British double agent and<br />
Scampton has eight German airman buried there in a small<br />
plot near the front. I have had the privilege of visiting Pearl<br />
Harbour and was on the USS Arizona when a group of<br />
Japanese tourists arrived, and dropped their garlands into the<br />
water, we later found out they were from the squadron that<br />
bombed the ship, very emotional and moving. We also<br />
visited Arlington National Cemetery in 2005 and the near<br />
constant volleys of gun salutes showed the cost of the Gulf and<br />
Afghanistan campaigns. My wife was intrigued as to why a<br />
cowboy was buried there, until it was pointed out that Audie<br />
Murphy was a Medal of Honor recipient, it did raise a smile.<br />
So next time you are out on your travels use the CWGC App<br />
and find a cemetery and go and spend some time with the<br />
boys and girls and share in the atmosphere, it can be an<br />
interesting experience and you too can become a military<br />
taphophile.
PTSD<br />
& the<br />
FFD<br />
A Soldiers Science<br />
I left the army 11 years ago. Of the 22 years I served I<br />
certainly saw my fair share of trouble. I don’t gloat over<br />
where I served or what I saw and that is definitely not<br />
going to happen in this article. However the resulting<br />
condition I ended up with is all too common today.<br />
Again, this is not going to be a sob story but a story of<br />
what I created on the recovery journey.<br />
Almost instantly after leaving I found myself having<br />
problems coping, adjusting, remembering, etc the same<br />
symptoms of PTSD we so often see in so many veterans<br />
these days. To cut a very long story short, after a failed<br />
suicide attempt and a destroyed life I found myself on<br />
Cognitive Behaviour <strong>The</strong>rapy to help cope with my<br />
condition.<br />
During the therapy my therapist suggested I write<br />
everything down and make a record of my journey with<br />
him. I cannot tell you what that has lead to in one article.<br />
In short, I became a writer. Music, poetry, magazines,<br />
stories, you name it, I could write it. <strong>The</strong>re was one piece<br />
of writing I did which turned into a Self-Help guide for<br />
PTSD and Anxiety management. I called this the First<br />
Field Dressing or FFD.<br />
I remembered how effective the FFD was in the army in<br />
helping with injuries sustained in combat. It was almost<br />
always the first item to plug up a wound and save a life. It<br />
occurred to me that there was a gap between somebody<br />
suffering from PTSD/ Anxiety and the help process<br />
beginning. So I decided to write a self-help guide based<br />
on what helped me to plug the gap.<br />
In writing this I came up with quite a cool analogy of how<br />
to describe what happens with PTSD & Anxiety in the<br />
brain in layman's terms. I simply named this <strong>The</strong><br />
Braking Strategy.<br />
N.B. Please remember, although this has helped me and<br />
countless others who suffer from PTSD this is NOT a<br />
cure nor is it in anyway a medical document.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Braking Strategy<br />
Imagine that as you live your normal daily routine you are<br />
driving your mind down the road of life. <strong>No</strong>w these roads<br />
are normal streets with normal everyday obstacles that our<br />
minds are well equipped to deal with. Our speed will be<br />
averaging about 30-40mph. Every now and then we will get<br />
flustered and as we get a little bothered our speed will<br />
increase to, lets say 50-60mph. This is still within our<br />
ability to cope. Once in a while someone or something will<br />
get us angry and our speed will increase to 70mph as we<br />
get stressed. Once we’ve had our rant and vented our<br />
frustration we start to slow down and apply the brakes to<br />
life, we bring ourselves back down to 30-40mph again and<br />
everything is rosy once again. So, with that in mind,<br />
conflict and trauma related illnesses can attack our minds<br />
in many different ways. This can be by speeding us up as<br />
we try to cope with blocking out the images and<br />
nightmares that our subconscious creates from past events.<br />
This will bring our daily driving speed up from 30-40mph<br />
to 70+mph. We now enter the motorway of our minds.<br />
Because of the specific symptoms it is now difficult for us<br />
to control our minds safely at this speed. If we now start<br />
adding the normal stresses of life to this, our speed<br />
suddenly jumps to an uncontrollable 80-90mph and we<br />
risk losing control and crashing. On the other hand we<br />
may also stall our minds as we lose concentration and get<br />
lost in our own nightmares and images. <strong>The</strong> danger here is<br />
that we are still on that motorway and we run the risk of<br />
being hit by the things that are going on around us, leaving<br />
us unable to cope and get back up to speed correctly.<br />
Either way, we need to find a way of getting ourselves back<br />
on to the normal daily street at a speed that we can<br />
manage. <strong>The</strong> “First Field Dressing” is simply a guide to<br />
bring your speed back down to a manageable pace.<br />
Although 30mph may be realistically unachievable 40-<br />
50mph is well within your grasp which would certainly<br />
make life more comfortable. It is also about managing the<br />
speed to reduce the risk of losing control in the future.
PTSD<br />
& the<br />
FFD<br />
A Soldiers Science<br />
<strong>The</strong> document also has 2 very good relaxation techniques,<br />
both of which I use very often. My favourite being what I call<br />
<strong>The</strong> Awareness Relaxation Exercise (ARE). It is a form of<br />
meditation which allows the mind to escape from thoughts<br />
that are intrusive.<br />
Over the past 3 years I have had 2 awful ‘Flashbacks’ which<br />
have both left me in a mess and unable to cope with daily life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ARE gave me the path I needed to escape from the<br />
constant thoughts and memories.<br />
I found it so useful I decided to make an audio recording for<br />
others to use. Excusing my verbal mistakes and mumblings,<br />
you should find this a calming escape just from the stresses of<br />
daily life let alone anxiety, PTSD etc. Go on, give it a try!<br />
<strong>The</strong> entire booklet ‘<strong>The</strong> First Field Dressing’ can be<br />
downloaded for free. Just click on this link.<br />
<strong>The</strong> First Field Dressing – A Self Help Guide to PTSD<br />
Finally, I must state once more that this is NOT a medical<br />
document nor is it a cure. If you feel you are suffering from<br />
any mental health issue then seek medical help as soon as you<br />
possibly can. <strong>The</strong>re are many organisations set up to give the<br />
right care and assistance.<br />
“Take small bites out of elephant sandwiches”<br />
That was the basis on how I wrote the entire document. I<br />
can only try to interpret how I saw my mind working at the<br />
time and assume others have similar experiences and<br />
thoughts. I know it is not the same for everyone but just a<br />
few may see some sense in it and find comfort.<br />
Ok, as the therapy progressed I wrote more and more until I<br />
found myself with a working programme and a way of<br />
plugging the injury until the professionals could do their<br />
thing. <strong>The</strong> FFD turned out to be a very apt name I think.
Women on the<br />
Front Line<br />
America leads the way<br />
Whilst the UK decides whether women can take on front line<br />
roles, our American counterparts are already taking the next<br />
step.<br />
American women for the first time will be able to become<br />
Navy SEALs, another milestone for women in the military,<br />
the Navy’s top officer has announced. Adm. Jon Greenert,<br />
chief of Naval Operations, said that as long as women meet<br />
the requisite standards and pass the rigorous training, they<br />
should be granted the opportunity to join the Navy’s most<br />
elite teams.<br />
Navy SEAL teams, considered the service’s most selective and<br />
physically demanding, conduct special operations and are<br />
prepared for combat on all surfaces — sea, air and land — the<br />
origin for the SEAL acronym. Navy SEALs were crucial to<br />
U.S. military operations against Cuba and the Soviet Union in<br />
the Cold War. <strong>The</strong>y were active in the Vietnam War, and the<br />
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.<br />
By January, all branches of the military must allow women to<br />
serve in front-line combat positions. Last Tuesday, Army,<br />
Navy and Air Force officials all announced that they are<br />
prepared to honour that mandate and officially open all<br />
combat positions to women. <strong>The</strong> Marine Corps, meanwhile,<br />
may seek an exception for ground combat roles, despite the<br />
mandate.<br />
<strong>The</strong> historic enlistment comes roughly four months after<br />
Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s announcement that the<br />
military would open all combat jobs to women.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead<br />
infantry soldiers into combat,” Carter said at the time.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green<br />
Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force<br />
paratroopers, and everything else that was previously open<br />
only to men.”<br />
Barnett has been meeting with recruiters since <strong>No</strong>vember.<br />
She said she hopes her enlistment will inspire other<br />
women, reports KSLA 12.<br />
“I hope that I give them the courage, because I’m a small<br />
female, if I can do it, they can do it too, this could give<br />
them the courage to step out of their comfort zone,”<br />
Barnett told the TV station.<br />
Barnett will report to basic training in Fort Benning,<br />
Georgia,.<br />
In addition to this, for the first time in history, a woman has<br />
enlisted in the infantry of the U.S. Army. Tammy Barnett, a<br />
25-year-old police officer from Robeline, Louisiana, took the<br />
oath of enlistment on Thursday at a processing station in<br />
Shreveport.
<strong>No</strong>t Good Enough<br />
Why do I write Have Faith, because I<br />
feel that I want to get a message out<br />
there, a message of hope, of love, of<br />
acceptance. Every week I hope to<br />
bring some encouragement to readers<br />
and those listening. I am just one<br />
person. I don’t have all the answers,<br />
but then again who does? I just simply<br />
pray and then write what I believe God<br />
wants me to share with you, because to<br />
me the only one that can truly help is<br />
Him. <strong>No</strong>w I don’t feel that I am<br />
qualified to do what I do. I don’t have<br />
a degree in theology, I haven’t studied<br />
at Bible School, I merely draw on what<br />
I have learned through my relationship<br />
with God over the last 7 years, and<br />
from the Bible studying that I have<br />
done. Do I feel good enough to do<br />
this? <strong>The</strong> short answer is NO. So why<br />
do I do it? Because I see & feel<br />
others’ pain and want to share with<br />
them the hope I have.<br />
Many a time I have heard people talk<br />
about Christians as do-gooders. Yes<br />
we want to do good, just as many non-<br />
Christians also want to do good. ‘Dogooders’<br />
get a lot of stick because it is<br />
felt that they do good to make.<br />
themselves look good. Maybe some of<br />
them do? I do good because I cannot<br />
help myself, it is a part of my nature. I<br />
love people and I just want to make a<br />
difference in their lives. We all struggle.<br />
Some struggles I can relate to or have<br />
experienced, some I have not, but I still<br />
hurt when I see people hurting. Am I<br />
doing it to make myself feel good…NO!<br />
I am doing it because I myself have<br />
mountain top moments where I feel on<br />
top of the world and then find myself in<br />
the deepest darkest valleys. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
peaks and troughs come on an almost<br />
daily basis, so I feel like a yo-yo, up,<br />
then down, then up, then down. I<br />
wouldn’t get through if I didn’t have<br />
God’s support and I guess I just want<br />
people to have that same sense of<br />
security, love, hope and faith that I have.<br />
I see people struggling and in these<br />
times we are our own worst enemy,<br />
because we beat ourselves up for not<br />
getting things done, for not coping, for<br />
not being strong. I know I have said<br />
this repeatedly but we are all trying our<br />
best. Many times I have heard people<br />
say that they are going through a difficult<br />
time because they are being punished<br />
for something that had happened in<br />
their past, this is a lie. Difficult times fall<br />
on us all, life is never going to be<br />
smooth. Do you know what, whether<br />
you believe in God or not, life has its<br />
ups and downs. Just because I believe<br />
in God doesn’t mean that I face any less<br />
difficulties than the next person, the<br />
difference is that my faith is what gives<br />
me the strength to get through.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w God shows mercy and gives grace.<br />
Grace is a difficult one for anyone to<br />
accept, because it’s not earned, it’s a<br />
free gift. When we see offers on TV or<br />
the Internet we automatically think ’this<br />
offer is too good to be true, there has to<br />
be a catch’. Well yes there usually is<br />
something in the fine print that catches<br />
us out because in this world we learn<br />
that we cannot get something for<br />
nothing. This may be why many don’t<br />
understand grace or struggle with<br />
accepting it, because there is no catch,<br />
it’s there for the taking.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w let me explain the difference<br />
between grace and mercy. Mercy is not<br />
getting what you deserve. You do<br />
something but you are shown mercy and<br />
go unpunished. Grace is getting what you<br />
don’t deserve. An unmerited gift. A gift<br />
with no catches, no strings attached.<br />
Basically let me explain it like this. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
was a judge, and a man stood before him,<br />
it was his son. <strong>No</strong>w he loved his son and<br />
would do anything for him, but the fact<br />
remained that he had committed a crime.<br />
<strong>The</strong> judge (his father) knew that in the<br />
justice system he needed to be punished,<br />
he could not show him mercy because he<br />
had to rule with a mind of justice. <strong>The</strong><br />
man’s punishment for his crime was a<br />
hefty fine, which he didn’t have the<br />
means to pay. <strong>No</strong>w the judge passed<br />
sentence and then got up and came down<br />
from his seat, took off his wig & robes<br />
and promptly paid his son’s fine. Grace<br />
works like this. God has to punish us for<br />
the things we have done wrong because<br />
He is ‘just’, but He loves us as we are his<br />
children, and wants to help us. So he<br />
sent Jesus who paid the price once for all.<br />
This means that even though we all make<br />
bad choices at times or do the wrong<br />
thing (sin), Gods punishment and the fine<br />
we must pay, has been paid for by Jesus.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w I struggle with this as I know I am<br />
not worthy enough to be called God’s<br />
daughter. How can I possibly accept this<br />
gift as I am not good enough. I am a<br />
divorcee, my ex-husband didn’t cheat on<br />
me, and is still alive, so even though we<br />
are divorced in the eyes of the law,<br />
because I am in another relationship<br />
according to God’s law I am an adulterer.<br />
Thus I am a sinner, I am not good<br />
enough, but
who is good enough? I have a friend<br />
who’s husband served in the army. He<br />
thinks he is not good enough because<br />
he has had to fight and kill people. He<br />
cannot accept the gift of grace because<br />
he see’s his actions as unforgiveable,<br />
even though he was doing his duty and<br />
joined the army to protect people. I<br />
have another friend who recently<br />
turned to me and said God doesn’t<br />
love me because I’m gay. How did I<br />
answer him. God loves us all. Why<br />
do you think he fights so hard and paid<br />
such a high price to save us. He knows<br />
we all struggle, the 10 commandments<br />
were put in the Bible to show us that<br />
none of us can meet that perfection<br />
apart from Jesus, who is God and had<br />
to be the ultimate sacrifice, because we<br />
cannot match up to that ourselves.<br />
Through no amount of effort, of doing<br />
good, of trying to live righteously can<br />
we achieve this. It says in the Bible<br />
Ephesians 2:8<br />
‘For it is by grace that you have been<br />
saved, through faith – and this not<br />
from yourselves, it is the gift of God –<br />
not by works, so that no one can boast.’<br />
And in Titus 3:5 it is written ‘He saved<br />
us. <strong>No</strong>t because of righteous things we<br />
have done, but because of His mercy.’<br />
<strong>No</strong> matter what you’ve done, no matter<br />
what you’ve seen, God knows it all, and<br />
He still loves you. If you were the only<br />
person on earth Jesus would still die to<br />
save you, because each one of us is<br />
important to Him, each one of us is<br />
loved. I realize this is a heavy one this<br />
week and I find it difficult to write about<br />
the crux of the matter, because I know<br />
how hard it is to read it. I don’t want to<br />
come across as some pushy God botherer<br />
and I know that some will see it that way.<br />
All I want is to share the precious gift I<br />
have with you all. In the hope that God<br />
will soften your heart and open your eyes<br />
to the truth, that you may be filled with<br />
peace and hope, in a world that feels so<br />
hopeless and loveless at times.<br />
I want to reassure you that however alone<br />
you are feeling right now, you are NOT<br />
alone in your battle. Please message me<br />
if you have any questions or if you would<br />
like us to pray for you or for someone<br />
you know. Please contact me at<br />
Vickie@thetommyatkinstrust.com.
Gallipoli 101<br />
Remembering one of the<br />
bloodiest campaigns in history<br />
101 years on<br />
25 th April marks the 101 st Anniversary of the battle of<br />
Gallipoli. My Regiment, 1 st Bn Royal Hampshire Regiment<br />
had 2 Regimental days. Minden Day on 1 st August and<br />
Gallipoli Day. So what really happened over a century ago on<br />
this small peninsula to be marked as one of the deadliest<br />
campaigns ever.<br />
In a military disaster 100 years ago, about 58,000 allied<br />
soldiers – including 29,000 British and Irish soldiers and<br />
11,000 Australians and New Zealanders – lost their lives on<br />
the Gallipoli peninsula. A further 87,000 Ottoman Turkish<br />
troops died fighting the allies and at least 300,000 more on<br />
both sides were seriously wounded.<br />
Conceived by Winston Churchill as the First Lord of the<br />
Admiralty, the plan was to knock out Ottoman Turkey,<br />
Germany’s ally, out of the war. <strong>The</strong> goal of the naval and land<br />
operation was to open up the Dardanelles straits, heavily<br />
mined and defended on its western shore by Turkish coastal<br />
forts and gun batteries on the 50-mile Gallipoli peninsula, to<br />
allied ships, capture Constantinople – present-day Istanbul –<br />
and so link up with Russia. Churchill saw the campaign as a<br />
way of breaking the attritional deadlock on the western front.<br />
“Are there not other alternatives?” he said at the time.<br />
<strong>The</strong> repeated British and French bombardments beginning in<br />
mid-February against Turkish positions proved ineffective. A<br />
final attempt to force a passage up the Dardanelles in March<br />
ended in three allied battleships being sunk and three badly<br />
damaged. <strong>The</strong> two landings – one by British troops at Cape<br />
Helles, at the base of the peninsula, and the other on the<br />
western Aegean coast, in the area later known as Anzac Cove,<br />
by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – were met<br />
by fierce and disciplined Turkish opposition. Well dug in and<br />
heavily fortified on higher ground, they had been reinforced<br />
six times over. <strong>The</strong> allies had badly underestimated the<br />
capacity of the Turkish forces.<br />
Most did not advance more than a few hundred metres from<br />
the shore where they were pinned down. <strong>The</strong> allies endured<br />
suffocating heat and were surrounded by rotting corpses that<br />
drew thick swarms of flies. <strong>The</strong>y lacked water and thousands<br />
died from dysentery as disease spread. <strong>The</strong> campaign<br />
did divert large Turkish forces away from the Russians, but<br />
did not produce the desired strategic success.<br />
<strong>The</strong> allied commander, Sir Ian Hamilton, was replaced by Sir<br />
Charles Munro and the allies withdrew in January 1916. In<br />
contrast to the attack the retreat was considered a major<br />
success. Churchill resigned from the government and went to<br />
command an infantry battalion in France. <strong>The</strong> disaster<br />
hastened Asquith’s resignation and his replacement as prime<br />
minister by David Lloyd George.
This week in the Clubs<br />
Salford Veterans Breakfast Club<br />
Salford Veterans Breakfast Club has been chosen as one of<br />
the good causes for April's Recycle and Reward in East<br />
Salford. We have asked for funds to cover the cost of a<br />
coach trip down to the NMA for the <strong>No</strong>rthern Ireland<br />
Veterans Association service and parade on Saturday, 10<br />
September, where we will lay wreathes for the 6<br />
servicemen laid to rest in cemeteries across Salford who<br />
died whilst serving on Operation Banner in the province. To<br />
vote, simply click on the link to the Salford City Council<br />
page below, click on the breakfast club in the box of<br />
nominees, enter your email address and then confirm your<br />
vote when you receive an email from polldaddy on behalf<br />
of the organisers. Please vote and share far and wide -<br />
voting ends on Saturday, 30 April! Glenn Croston<br />
Shrewsbury Veterans Breakfast Clubs<br />
A healthy 37 at Shrewsbury VBC today, with 17<br />
being new faces. Some really positive feedback<br />
being posted on the SVBC page too<br />
Aylesford Veterans Breakfast Club<br />
Well done today for the Aylesford BC on their<br />
first meeting ... 10 attended with support from the<br />
Medway & West Kent BC<br />
Kev Rourke<br />
Retford Veterans Breakfast Club<br />
Our breakfast club meeting on Saturday 30th April will be a<br />
little bit different as we will be meeting at the GFG plot at<br />
Tyldesley allotments where we will have a home cooked<br />
brekkie followed by a tour of the site and a look at the area we<br />
want to use for outdoor / bushcraft activities. <strong>The</strong>n we can all<br />
go to the pelican centre to see what's happening there. Might<br />
have a bit of a full stomach to do the induction. Paul and<br />
Linda, be good if you could attend for your input.<br />
Ian Parkinson
Veterans Radio Net<br />
Our Time| Our Place | Our Voice<br />
Veterans Radio Net<br />
Welcome to Veterans Radio Net (VRN)<br />
<strong>The</strong> NAAFI of the Air Waves<br />
Sapper Ken is away on sick leave at the moment so I (Pablo) am reporting for Ken this week.<br />
In short, Ken, come back, all is forgiven!!! It has been a crazy time over the past week or so with the<br />
station being run almost single handed by Remy. He has been starting at 7:00am and most time not<br />
coming off until midday. Alongside that he has been doing allsorts of other things to get him through his<br />
normal day. He has a big help in the guise of Carol faithfully alongside him, helping him to steer the<br />
ship safely through the murky waters of internet radio.<br />
A big welcome to Hammie who takes up the second afternoon slot four days a week. After only a week,<br />
he is firmly placed and sounding like he has been part of VRN for ages. Also a huge welcome to the<br />
return of VIP’s master presenter Poor Bob and his Rock ‘n’ Roll Jamboree. Bob takes up the early<br />
evening slot on Wednesdays.<br />
We have a brand new presenter starting on Monday, welcome Kevin Hartley from Hospital Radio.<br />
Looking forward to hearing the show and getting you aboard the good ship VRN.<br />
Keep listening folks and have a great week<br />
See you all soon.<br />
Pablo for Sapper Ken<br />
Mon – Fri 0700 – 1000hrs Sapper Ken Breakfast Show<br />
Mon – Fri 1000 – 1200hrs Remy in the Mid Morning<br />
Mon – Fri 1200 – <strong>14</strong>00hrs Sapper Daz does Lunch<br />
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri <strong>14</strong>00 – 1600hrs Hammie’s Pick ‘n’ Mix Show<br />
Monday 1800 – 2000hrs Kevin Hartley on Monday<br />
Monday 2000 – 2200hrs Vince’s Veterans Blues Show<br />
Tuesday 1800 – 2000hrs GWF <strong>No</strong>rthern Soul<br />
Wednesday <strong>14</strong>00 – 1600hrs Bev B’s Bits & Bobs Show<br />
Wednesday 1800 – 2000hrs Poor Bob’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Jamboree<br />
Thursday 1800 – 2000hrs Ricky’s 80’s Show<br />
Friday 1800 – 2000hrs <strong>The</strong> <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Radio Show<br />
Saturday 0800 – 1000hrs <strong>The</strong> Bangers & Beanz Show
Veterans Help<br />
Other Helpful Links<br />
Our Links
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We at Wizz Properties are very professional and friendly and know<br />
how frustrating it can be to get the right contractors.<br />
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Alternatively, you can find us on FACEBOOK<br />
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Please feel free to contact us<br />
regarding any of our services using<br />
the following details:<br />
Address:<br />
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Telephone. 0790 990 8056<br />
Email.<br />
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A word from the Ed<br />
In short, I’m knackered!!<br />
Trying to move SBT and the<br />
rest of the operation into our<br />
new office along with coming<br />
up with this week’s magazine<br />
has been a real task.<br />
We are now in place and now<br />
form the new ‘Veterans<br />
Trident’. This is now the<br />
official company that controls<br />
the <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong>, <strong>The</strong><br />
Tommy Atkins Trust and A<br />
Song For A Hero.<br />
We have the Worcester office<br />
for Veterans Radio Net set up<br />
nicely with a whole new sound<br />
system thanks to Vince at Big<br />
Hare Productions. This<br />
includes an interview area in a<br />
nice comfy setting.<br />
Yes we have all gone upmarket<br />
and are now very posh. Haha<br />
As I write this, we are only 2<br />
days away from the brand new<br />
‘A Song For A Hero’ for the<br />
Worcester Veterans B’fast<br />
Club. I must admit I haven’t<br />
even had time to even think<br />
about Saturday night. I know<br />
it will be good because my<br />
brother Vince is in control.<br />
I must say a huge thanks to<br />
John Terry from the Veterans<br />
Breakfast Club Admin who<br />
popped down to Worcester<br />
last weekend to say hello to us<br />
and discuss a few business bits<br />
with me. What a lovely man!!<br />
We also had an extra<br />
Breakfast club for him so he<br />
could meet a few of the rabble<br />
here. He was made very<br />
welcome I’m glad to say.<br />
Keep in touch folks and keep<br />
reading your favourite mag!!<br />
Ways to find us<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
thesandbagtimes<br />
@thesandbagtimes<br />
sbt@thetommyatkinstrust.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> Tommy Atkins Trust<br />
www.thetommyatkinstrust.com<br />
<strong>The</strong>TommyAtkinsTrust<br />
@<strong>The</strong>TATrust<br />
info@thetommyatkinstrust.com<br />
"<strong>The</strong> Brand New Rock Opera which tells the<br />
truth of what happens to our heroes when the<br />
killing ends. Packed with incredible songs,<br />
breathtaking graphics and an emotional<br />
rollercoaster of a story that will leave you<br />
asking questions for a long time to come.“<br />
Where Do <strong>The</strong>y Go...<br />
...When <strong>The</strong> Killing Ends
Information Page<br />
Gallipoli – A Soldiers Story – Andrew Roberts<br />
At the start of the First World War, Arthur Beecroft was a recently qualified<br />
barrister in his twenties. Determined to enlist despite a medical condition,<br />
he volunteered for military service, first as a regular soldier, then as a<br />
despatch rider. Offered a commission in the Royal Engineers, in 1915 he<br />
saw action at Gallipoli. <strong>No</strong>w a byword for catastrophic military disaster, the<br />
Gallipoli Campaign was the ill-conceived Allied invasion of the Dardanelles.<br />
<strong>The</strong> campaign stalled almost immediately, resulting in over half a million<br />
casualties on both sides. Lucky to survive, several years later Beecroft wrote<br />
a detailed memoir of his experiences. Discovered by his granddaughter and<br />
now reproduced here almost exactly as it was written nearly a century ago,<br />
Beecroft's vivid narrative takes us through those heady days of the<br />
declaration of war, enlistment, initial training, the bungled landing at Suvla<br />
Bay, and the exceptionally difficult conditions of the Gallipoli terrain. This is<br />
no mere jingoistic account. With a keen eye, Beecroft brings to life the men<br />
dogged by disease and exhaustion ordinary soldiers who, even as they<br />
suffered the betrayal of incompetent leadership, displayed extraordinary<br />
reserves of heroism and bravery. Throughout this rare insight into what it<br />
was like for an ordinary 'civilian soldier' swept up in the fog of war,<br />
Beecroft's authentic voice still speaks honestly to us today - of comradeship<br />
and devotion to duty, of fear and facing death. <strong>No</strong>w published for the first<br />
time in the centenary year of the Gallipoli Campaign, this is a soldier's story<br />
in his own words.<br />
Back <strong>Issue</strong>s of the <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong> are available to download here
This conversation was overheard on the VHF Guard<br />
(emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz<br />
Argentine Air Defence Site: 'Unknown aircraft you are in<br />
Argentine airspace. Identify yourself.‘<br />
Aircraft: 'This is a British aircraft. I am in Falklands airspace.'<br />
...<br />
Argentine Air Defence Site: 'You are in Argentine airspace. If<br />
you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor<br />
aircraft!'<br />
Aircraft: 'This is a Royal Air Force Tornado fighter. Send them<br />
up, I'll wait!'<br />
Argentine Air Defence Site: ( .... total silence)<br />
Don't you just love the RAF?<br />
Just love this!!<br />
If you don’t have enough<br />
time to read the SBT?<br />
Get up an hour earlier!!!<br />
Come up with a caption for Sgt <strong>Sandbag</strong><br />
and win a prize<br />
Easy Medium Hard V. Hard