The Sandbag Times Issue No:18
The Veterans Magazine
The Veterans Magazine
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Contents<br />
Thursday 19th May 2016<br />
Email: info@sandbagtimes.com<br />
3 Soldier sacked 72 hrs before pension<br />
A soldier has been sacked just 3 days before<br />
qualifying for his full pension<br />
4 Former Army Captain scoops award<br />
Army Captain from Cowling gets ‘Working<br />
Together’ award<br />
5 Last Sea Harrier takes final bow<br />
India retires its last operational Sea Harrier<br />
prior to introducing the MiG 29k<br />
6 Australia remembers Viet Nam battle<br />
Australia commemorates 50 th anniversary of<br />
the Battle of Long Tan<br />
<strong>The</strong> Invictus Games Review Page 7<br />
13 Forces Online<br />
A look at the ultimate Veterans Directory<br />
prior to Forces Online Radio going live.<br />
14 Canada Calling<br />
Robby McRobb talks about all things<br />
Canadian.<br />
Forces Online – <strong>The</strong> Veterans Directory Page 13<br />
Sponsored by<br />
15 Have Faith<br />
This week: Ever Present<br />
17 <strong>The</strong> Historic Tommy Atkins<br />
<strong>The</strong> occupation of the Channel<br />
Islands during WW2<br />
22 Veterans Radio Stations<br />
What’s happening on your favourite<br />
radio stations<br />
27 SBT Information<br />
A page dedicated to back issues,<br />
information, book reviews etc<br />
28 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
Invictus Games 2016:<br />
A round-up from Orlando after<br />
the iconic Veterans event. P.7<br />
Forces Online:<br />
An introduction to the largest<br />
Veterans Directory online. P.13<br />
Soldier Sacked just 72 hours<br />
before qualifying for pension<br />
AN Iraq war veteran was<br />
made redundant just 72<br />
HOURS before qualifying<br />
for a full Army pension.<br />
Sergeant Lee <strong>No</strong>lan will lose<br />
out on at least £100,000 after<br />
he became one of 20,000<br />
soldiers who are being axed<br />
in savage military cuts. He<br />
was so furious at losing his<br />
job, his Army home and<br />
financial security after<br />
risking his life for his country<br />
that he sent his six military<br />
medals to David Cameron.<br />
Read more on this story here<br />
Portsmouth Veterans given Council Housing priority<br />
Veterans who live in Portsmouth will now be given council housing before other families looking for<br />
accommodation. Finally it has been recognised that these veterans have fought for their country and<br />
placed their lives on the line to protect our future and sovereignty, if they require somewhere to live<br />
they should be high up on the waiting list. <strong>The</strong> decision has been made possible due to the Armed<br />
Forces Act which gives<br />
permission to public bodies<br />
to give veterans special<br />
privileges. Portsmouth City<br />
Council signed the Covenant<br />
back in 2013 but not much<br />
changed so they’ve really<br />
pushed to make a difference.<br />
Portsmouth, a military city, is<br />
trying to ensure veterans get<br />
as much support as they<br />
require not just from<br />
charities but from the<br />
Council too. Portsmouth<br />
City Council was given a<br />
bronze award for the way it treats service families and veterans in the city, lets hope more councils<br />
across the UK follow in their footsteps. Have your say at the <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Forum.<br />
Ex-Army captain accuses government of<br />
'abandoning' <strong>No</strong>rthern Ireland veterans<br />
A highly decorated soldier<br />
has accused the government<br />
of abandoning <strong>No</strong>rthern<br />
Ireland military veterans who<br />
need help for serious<br />
physical and mental injuries.<br />
Captain Doug Beattie was<br />
awarded the Military Cross<br />
for bravery while serving with<br />
the Royal Irish Regiment<br />
in Afghanistan. He said the<br />
government was failing to<br />
implement the Military<br />
Covenant, a promise to look<br />
after members of the armed<br />
forces and their families. <strong>The</strong><br />
MOD has rejected the<br />
claims. It insists veterans in<br />
<strong>No</strong>rthern Ireland are able to<br />
access the aftercare service<br />
they need. For more on this<br />
article click here.<br />
Thief targets sleeping war hero<br />
A Veteran who survived World<br />
War Two naval bombings tells how<br />
he confronted an intruder who<br />
crept into his home. He survived<br />
World War naval bombings as he<br />
risked his life for his country. But<br />
navy hero Tom Scott has now been<br />
targeted by a despicable thief in his<br />
own home. Today a manhunt is on<br />
for the cowardly crook who crept<br />
into the 94-year-old’s bedroom as<br />
he took a nap. Frail Tom, who is<br />
recovering from a broken hip,<br />
awoke on Friday morning to find a<br />
stranger rifling through his<br />
belongings. <strong>The</strong> thief fled after the<br />
veteran confronted him, but he had<br />
already helped himself to all the<br />
cash his victim kept in his<br />
bungalow. <strong>The</strong> burglary came just<br />
six weeks after Tom was separated<br />
from his wife of more than 70<br />
years, Betty, for the first time since<br />
the war, after she was forced to<br />
move into a care home following a<br />
fall. Tom’s carer believes whoever<br />
targeted the vulnerable dad must<br />
have known where he kept his<br />
money and deliberately targeted<br />
him knowing he would be unable to<br />
fight back. But the defiant<br />
pensioner is determined not to let<br />
the burglar win. He said: “I was<br />
totally helpless because I had just<br />
broken my hip. I couldn’t do<br />
anything about it. I have always felt<br />
safe in this house, but now I make<br />
sure I take all the precautions and<br />
keep the door locked. I was angry,<br />
but I’m not scared.” <strong>No</strong>rthumbria<br />
Police are now appealing for<br />
witnesses to the incident, which<br />
happened at around 10.15am.<br />
Anyone with information is asked<br />
to ring <strong>No</strong>rthumbria Police 101<br />
quoting reference number 317<br />
29/04/16. Read more on this story<br />
at this link.
Former Army Captain scoops award.<br />
A former army captain from Cowling who<br />
overcame a life-changing brain injury and<br />
now helps other injured ex-service personnel<br />
has won a coveted national award. Rob<br />
Cromey-Hawke has received the individual<br />
Working Together accolade in the<br />
Soldiering On Awards. <strong>The</strong> presentation<br />
was made during a ceremony in London by<br />
Major General Martin Rutledge. Mr<br />
Cromey-Hawke sustained serious brain and<br />
spinal injuries during a second tour of<br />
Afghanistan in 2012, when the vehicle he<br />
was travelling in drove over an Improvised<br />
Explosive Device. <strong>The</strong> incident left him with<br />
memory and concentration difficulties and<br />
chronic pain. He got involved with Team<br />
True Spirit, which helped to boost his<br />
confidence and self-esteem, before<br />
becoming part of the Invictus Games. He<br />
took part in the Games in 2014. Mr<br />
Cromey-Hawke also competed in last year's<br />
Translator commits suicide after being booted out by UK<br />
<strong>The</strong> Government has been<br />
accused of ‘shameful’ treatment<br />
of Afghan war translators over the<br />
case of an interpreter who<br />
reportedly killed himself while<br />
facing deportation from Britain.<br />
Nangyalai Dawoodzai is<br />
understood to have worked for<br />
the British Army in Afghanistan<br />
for three years before fleeing the<br />
country after receiving death<br />
threats from the Taliban. <strong>The</strong> 29-<br />
year-old, who paid people<br />
smugglers to reach the UK, was<br />
told his request for asylum in<br />
Britain had been rejected when it<br />
was found he had been<br />
fingerprinted in Italy on arrival in<br />
Europe, according to the Daily<br />
Mail. Faced with being sent back<br />
to Italy to claim political asylum<br />
there, he killed himself, a fellow<br />
Warrior Games, scooping six gold medals.<br />
He was part of a 40-strong British Armed<br />
Forces team, supported by Help for Heroes,<br />
which took part in the event in Virginia. His<br />
golden haul featured five medals in<br />
swimming and one in cycling. He also<br />
helped to establish the Headway Forces<br />
Support Group – the first group of its kind<br />
to offer dedicated backing to service<br />
personnel and veterans with brain injuries.<br />
Mr Cromey-Hawke said he was delighted to<br />
receive the award. "I am honoured to be<br />
recognised in the Working Together<br />
category” <strong>The</strong> Working Together category<br />
was sponsored by the Forces in Mind Trust,<br />
established to help ex-service personnel and<br />
their families make a successful transition<br />
back to civilian life. "I hope we can help and<br />
support many more veterans and their<br />
families affected by brain injury.“ Read the<br />
full story here.<br />
translator told the newspaper.<br />
Liberal Democrat peer Lord<br />
Ashdown, who has championed<br />
the cause of Afghan war<br />
interpreters for years, said their<br />
treatment was scandalous. ‘This is<br />
the most tragic example of a<br />
shameful Government policy,’ he<br />
told the Daily Mail. In March,<br />
David Cameron told the House<br />
of Commons a set of conditions<br />
for Afghan interpreters to be<br />
given sanctuary in Britain had<br />
been agreed while in coalition<br />
with the Lib Dems. According to<br />
the Daily Mail, at least three other<br />
interpreters who served UK forces<br />
in war zones currently face<br />
deportation because they were<br />
fingerprinted in mainland Europe<br />
before arriving in the UK.<br />
<strong>The</strong> SBT Says: <strong>The</strong>re are times<br />
when I am ashamed to say I am<br />
part of the UK and this is one of<br />
them. How disgusting of the<br />
government to turn their backs on<br />
these brave people that have<br />
sacrificed so much. I do hope<br />
this is the last time we turn our<br />
back on those who help us. Read<br />
the full story here.<br />
Hero who 'died twice' takes part in Invictus Games<br />
A Devon man who suffered devastating injuries in a bomb blast<br />
in Afghanistan travelled to the sunny city of Orlando, Florida, to<br />
take part in this year's Invictus games. Paul Vice MC, 32, from<br />
Exeter, served as a Royal Marine for 16 years before suffering<br />
life changing injuries in August 2011 whilst in Afghanistan.<br />
Whilst being flown back to safety the father-of-four was<br />
described as "dying twice". Despite the bomb blast, leading to<br />
Paul being eventually forced to have his left leg amputated in<br />
<strong>No</strong>vember 2014, he has taken part in the Invictus Games, a<br />
sporting event for wounded, ill and injured service men and<br />
women, numerous times. He said: "When I first got injured I<br />
did wallow. But in 2013 I took part in the Warrior Games and it<br />
gave me a new lease of life. See how Paul and the rest of the<br />
team did in Orlando here or read our Invictus Games article.
Homeless US<br />
Female Veterans &<br />
their families to be<br />
homed at new<br />
facility in Augusta<br />
Betsy Ann Ross House of Hope is being<br />
converted into transitional housing for<br />
female veterans and their children.<br />
<strong>The</strong> executive director of the Betsy Ann Ross<br />
House of Hope says she'll have room for nine<br />
women and their children. Martha Everatt St.<br />
Pierre said she was researching ways to help<br />
her homeless veteran brother when she<br />
realized there were no places for homeless<br />
female veterans and their children. She hopes<br />
the organization she founded in 2014 becomes<br />
that place. St. Pierre and the Betsy Ann Ross<br />
House of Hope closed on the purchase of a<br />
large home at 8 Summer St. in Augusta last<br />
month with hopes of turning it into a place for<br />
nine homeless female veterans and their<br />
children. “<strong>The</strong>se women haven’t done<br />
anything wrong, but they cannot get out of the<br />
circumstances they find themselves in,” St.<br />
Pierre said while touring the home last week.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>se are women that served our country,<br />
Worlds Last Operational Sea<br />
Harrier takes it’s final bow<br />
<strong>The</strong> Indian Navy has retired the last<br />
operational Sea Harrier fighter and inducted a<br />
new squadron of MiG 29K planes at a formal<br />
ceremony at its naval station in Goa. <strong>The</strong><br />
British manufactured Sea Harriers, which have<br />
been the mainstay of the Indian Navy's aerial<br />
arm since their induction in 1983 and were<br />
stationed aboard the INS Vikrant, has been<br />
replaced by the Russian MiG 29Ks, which are<br />
all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter<br />
aircraft. "A ceremony for de-induction of the<br />
Sea Harrier and induction of MiG 29K fighter<br />
aircraft took place at INS Hansa, Vasco," on<br />
11 th May according to official sources.<br />
and they need our help.” <strong>The</strong> 178-year-old<br />
house, which is assessed at $224,000<br />
including land, has more than 4,000 square<br />
feet, about 3,200 of which will be used to<br />
house homeless veterans. St. Pierre said the<br />
house also has an attic she hopes to<br />
eventually convert into an efficiency<br />
apartment. <strong>The</strong> house will accommodate<br />
the veterans for up to two years, and St.<br />
Pierre hopes that once they leave the<br />
program, they will have “money in the<br />
bank, a place to go that will be their home<br />
and will be on solid footing.” According to<br />
the Maine State Housing Authority, there<br />
was a 46 percent drop in veteran<br />
homelessness in the state from 2014 to<br />
2015. <strong>The</strong>re were 32 female veterans that<br />
accessed shelters in 2014; last year there<br />
were 16. But St. Pierre said even one<br />
homeless female veteran is too many. Most of<br />
these women, she said, will do whatever they<br />
can so as not to admit they are homeless,<br />
including couch-surfing and staying in bad<br />
relationships. St. Pierre hopes to have the<br />
house open sometime in the next few months<br />
and said if there aren’t enough veterans at the<br />
start, the house will accept women who’ve<br />
suffered domestic violence. Homeless women<br />
are less likely to visit shelters, which are often<br />
multi-gender, because they’ve been the victims<br />
of domestic or sexual abuse. “It takes true<br />
collaboration to meet the needs of some of<br />
our most vulnerable veterans,” said a<br />
spokesman for the VA Maine Healthcare<br />
Systems. “We are thankful for grassroots<br />
efforts to end veteran homelessness.”<br />
USO Celebrates 75 Years with<br />
President and First Lady<br />
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe<br />
Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill<br />
Biden, the vice president’s spouse, joined<br />
the USO in celebrating 75 years of service to<br />
America’s troops and their families during a<br />
special entertainment show. For 75 years, the<br />
USO has served the men and women in the<br />
U.S. military and their families throughout<br />
their service; from the moment they join,<br />
through their deployments and as they<br />
transition back to their communities. Special<br />
guests at the show included former “Late<br />
Show” host David Letterman and comedians<br />
Mike Birbiglia,, John Mulaney and Jeff Ross.
Australia remembers Vietnam Battle Canadian military defends media in Iraq Māori war vets take claim to tribunal<br />
Military officials have defended the<br />
publication of photos and videos that<br />
clearly identify Canadian special forces<br />
soldiers operating in Iraq. CTV and the<br />
Toronto Star shot and published the<br />
photos and video last month, after being<br />
invited to join defence chief Gen. Jonathan<br />
Vance on a tour of the Canadian mission in<br />
Iraq. Several members of the Canadian<br />
Special Operations Regiment from<br />
Petawawa, Ottawa are clearly identifiable in<br />
the footage, with one even sitting down in<br />
an interview to discuss what the unit has<br />
been doing in northern Iraq. A Military<br />
spokeswoman said in an email that<br />
“considerations for the safety of our<br />
deployed personnel and the security of<br />
military operations are at the forefront of<br />
our military planning and decision-making<br />
processes.” She did not say who decided to<br />
let the soldiers be filmed and<br />
photographed. To read the full story<br />
please click on this link<br />
Australia’s Vietnam War veterans will be<br />
honoured with a series of commemorative<br />
events this year to mark the 50th anniversary<br />
of the Battle of Long Tan, Minister for<br />
Veterans’ Affairs Dan Tehan said today.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Battle of Long Tan took place on <strong>18</strong><br />
August 1966. It was the most costly single<br />
battle fought by Australian soldiers in the<br />
Vietnam War, involving 105 Australians and<br />
three New Zealanders from D Company<br />
6RAR and more than 2,000 enemy troops. A<br />
total of 17 Australians were killed in action<br />
and 25 were wounded, one of whom later<br />
died of his wounds. <strong>The</strong> ‘Saluting <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
Service’ program will provide ex-service<br />
organisations with the opportunity to<br />
commemorate the 50th anniversary of the<br />
Vietnam War. A commemorative dinner for<br />
the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long<br />
Tan will be held on Friday, 19 August and<br />
the Vietnam War Commemorative Concert<br />
will held on Sunday, 21 August, both at the<br />
Brisbane Convention Centre. Read more on<br />
this story here.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Waitangi Tribunal is hearing claims from<br />
<strong>No</strong>rthland Māori war veterans and their<br />
families at historic Otiria Marae near<br />
Kaikohe. <strong>The</strong> hearing is the third in the<br />
tribunal's ongoing inquiry into the impact of<br />
war on Māori. <strong>The</strong> veterans have said, while<br />
war took a terrible toll on all who fought, the<br />
consequences for Māori were disastrous.<br />
Evidence to be heard this week was expected<br />
to include the stories of men who went to war<br />
healthy and sober and returned traumatised -<br />
drinking, smoking and violent. <strong>The</strong> veterans<br />
said many returned to find their ancestral land<br />
had been taken by the Crown and given in<br />
resettlement schemes to Pākehā soldiers.<br />
Today, one Māori war veteran made an<br />
emotional plea for the government to<br />
repatriate the remains of soldiers killed<br />
overseas in places like Malaysia. Major Rihari<br />
Shepherd, who served in Malaysia and<br />
Vietnam, said about 60 soldiers were buried<br />
in Asian countries in cemeteries that were in<br />
some cases neglected and full of rubbish.<br />
Read more here.<br />
What this F-22 did frightened the life out of an Iranian Pilot.<br />
<strong>The</strong> F-22 Raptor’s reputation as the King of<br />
the Skies was proven in it’s first confirmed<br />
engagement against enemy warplanes. <strong>The</strong><br />
engagement started when an Iranian F-4<br />
Phantom began closing on an American<br />
MQ-1 Predator drone. Because of the F-22’s<br />
advanced technology, the Iranian had no<br />
idea he was in the area – until it was too late.<br />
Just days earlier, Iranian Su-25’s had<br />
attempted to shoot down another drone and<br />
the military decided to provide fighter escorts<br />
for the ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance,<br />
Reconnaissance) drone missions. It was Lt.<br />
Col. Kevin “Showtime” Sutterfield flying his<br />
F-22 when it was time to test the Raptor<br />
against an enemy plane. Showtime’s F-22<br />
spotted the enemy plane approaching the<br />
drone and vectored to engage. What<br />
happened next is unbelievable. “If a<br />
combatant commander wants airpower there’s<br />
only one number to call. When they dial the<br />
phone, “Showtime may answer.” Showtime is<br />
an Air Force Reservist at Elmendorf.” He<br />
flies the F-22. He flies it really well. Did you<br />
guys see the news clip not long ago about the<br />
Iranian F-4s that intercepted a remotely<br />
piloted aircraft out over the Arabian Gulf?<br />
<strong>The</strong>n they were warned off? This is the guy<br />
who warned them off.” After he rejoined on<br />
them, flew underneath their aircraft to check<br />
out their weapons load without them knowing<br />
he was there, and then pulled up on their left<br />
wing and then called them and said you really<br />
ought to go home. [Laughter].” Show Time is<br />
air superiority. It’s still foundational to<br />
everything we do in the United States<br />
military. Without it, everything else has to<br />
change. We can’t afford to forget that.”<br />
That’s right, the Raptor flew underneath the<br />
enemy plane and inspected it’s loadout<br />
without the pilot having a clue what was<br />
happening. <strong>The</strong> Iranian’s first clue something<br />
was amiss was the hulking shape of the F-22<br />
pulling alongside and a command to leave on<br />
international channels.
“This has never been<br />
about the medals”<br />
Prince Harry<br />
<strong>The</strong> moment I watched the promo for<br />
the Invictus Games 2016 featuring the<br />
Queen and Prince Harry getting a<br />
message from the President and<br />
Michelle Obama I knew we were in for<br />
something special.<br />
Yet again Prince Harry has completely<br />
outdone himself with an amazing<br />
competition. Well designed, well<br />
planned, stunning presentation and<br />
sporting competition at the very highest<br />
level.<br />
For me, it really began on Sunday<br />
watching the documentary with Nick<br />
Knowles. He did it to me again, his<br />
insight into veterans is so deep you<br />
cannot help but get leaky eyes. But<br />
during the heartbreaking stories came<br />
that fantastic squaddie humour with<br />
Prince Harry getting stuck in and<br />
getting as much as he was giving. It is<br />
truly amazing how he has managed to<br />
cross the line so well from ‘Royal’ to<br />
‘Soldier’ to ‘Veteran’. Never have I<br />
seen anyone connect with a member of<br />
the Royal family so easily. Actually,<br />
that’s not quite true. I do remember<br />
one lady who was as magical with<br />
people. His mother. I had the<br />
pleasure of serving in her Regiment<br />
from the time she took over as Colonel<br />
of the Regiment for 1 st Bn Royal<br />
Hampshire Regiment until the day that<br />
2 nd Bn Princess of Wales’s Royal<br />
Regiment (Queens and Royal<br />
Hampshires) lowered her in to the<br />
ground. His personality and drive is a<br />
mirror image of that wonderful lady<br />
and serves him as a great credit and<br />
inspiration to everyone.<br />
Back to the games. As a supporter of<br />
Team GB I was delighted to hear of<br />
our first major success of the games<br />
with Mickey Yule winning Gold in the<br />
Men’s Lightweight Powerlifting. This<br />
seemed to start an avalanche of medals<br />
for the UK with another 5 medals<br />
being won in the powerlifting for team<br />
GB including a clean sweep in the<br />
Mens Heavyweight class. Other<br />
successes included Indoor rowing,<br />
cycling (handbike and road), Archery,<br />
Swimming and Track & Field events.<br />
All in all, Team UK picked up an<br />
amazing 131 medals.<br />
One of the defining moments of the<br />
games came when Sgt Elizabeth Marks<br />
asked Prince Harry to give her Gold<br />
Medal to Papworth Hospital.<br />
Elizabeth became ill on the eve of the<br />
London Games in 2014 with a lung<br />
condition. Speaking of the<br />
Cambridgeshire hospital she said "<strong>The</strong>y<br />
absolutely saved my life and I can't thank<br />
the UK enough.” Sgt Marks won all<br />
four swimming events she entered at the<br />
Invictus Games in Orlando for injured<br />
military personnel and veterans. She<br />
chose to give her 100m freestyle gold to<br />
the hospital, as it had been touched by<br />
the prince, who came up with the idea<br />
for the games.<br />
Sgt Marks has served in the US army<br />
since she was 17, but in 2010 suffered a<br />
serious hip injury that left her with no<br />
feeling in her left leg. Two years ago,<br />
she became very ill after arriving in the<br />
UK for the games. She woke up from<br />
an induced coma 10 days later in an<br />
army hospital in Germany. "I was in<br />
hospital in London and went into<br />
respiratory distress syndrome, they<br />
shipped a team down from Papworth<br />
who put me on to ECMO<br />
(extracorporeal membrane oxygenation)<br />
life support, and that ultimately saved<br />
my life," she said. "But they absolutely<br />
saved my life and I can't thank the UK<br />
enough for having that kind of medical<br />
support and taking such good care of<br />
me. So I gave Prince Harry one of my<br />
medals and hope it will find its way back<br />
to Papworth.” She also paid tribute to<br />
the NHS and said: "Thank you, I'll never<br />
be able to repay you, but what you're<br />
doing is wonderful.” Papworth's<br />
temporary chief executive said she was<br />
"delighted" by both Sgt Marks'<br />
"extraordinary" achievement and gesture.<br />
Claire Tripp said: "We wish Elizabeth<br />
the very best and would very much like<br />
to meet her so we can thank her<br />
personally.” <strong>The</strong> hospital's medical<br />
director Dr Roger Hall said the team<br />
was “extremely proud” of Sgt Marks and<br />
described her donation as “generous and<br />
unexpected”. Just another testament to<br />
the spirit of this year’s Invictus Games.
Incredibly, not all of the competitors<br />
bear physical injuries. <strong>The</strong> games are<br />
also open to those who have mental<br />
health conditions such as depression<br />
and post traumatic stress disorder.<br />
David 'Scotty' Darroch served for 10<br />
years in the army in Bosnia and<br />
<strong>No</strong>rthern Ireland but, <strong>18</strong> years after<br />
leaving, he was diagnosed with<br />
depression and post-traumatic stress<br />
disorder. He said "Sport is a massive<br />
tool for recovery and gives me that<br />
goal, that mission and that purpose,<br />
and it has played a crucial role for me,<br />
having suffered with a mental illness for<br />
over 20 years. "After leaving the<br />
services and no longer representing<br />
your country, this is a great chance to<br />
stand here with my country's flag on my<br />
chest to represent the country with the<br />
men and women I used to serve with.<br />
I got into sport through Help for<br />
Heroes after suffering with a mental<br />
illness for over 20 years. Using sport as<br />
that recovery mechanism to get me out<br />
of the house every day gives me that<br />
goal, that mission and purpose and it<br />
has played a key role in my recovery.<br />
If I could reach out to anyone back<br />
home, especially someone suffering<br />
from mental illness, I would say you<br />
can do it, I am testament to that. It<br />
took me a long time to ask for help but<br />
I'm so glad I did. <strong>The</strong>re is nothing to<br />
be ashamed of. I was inspired seeing<br />
guys taking part in sport and hopefully<br />
I can inspire others. "Without watching<br />
the Invictus Games I wouldn't be here -<br />
Invictus is powerful.“<br />
Another great inspirational story is that<br />
of Susan Warner. Susan sustained<br />
multiple fractures in an accident during<br />
service in 2009 while she was serving as<br />
a Royal Navy Senior Nursing Officer.<br />
She was in plaster over much of her<br />
body for some time and gradually<br />
moved from a wheelchair to crutches<br />
and has been working hard to build<br />
muscle strength and fitness. At last<br />
year's Warrior Games she showed her<br />
determination and defied her lack of<br />
mobility at the age of 56 by walking the<br />
100m 'dash' on the track to claim a<br />
silver medal. “When I was in the<br />
armed forces, sport wasn't something I<br />
was particularly passionate about. I<br />
chose to be more involved with dance,<br />
especially classical ballet, and I found<br />
that a great help, but it is really only<br />
since my injury that I've turned my<br />
attention to sport and it has been my<br />
lifeline. It helps to get the muscles back<br />
into some kind of conditioning and<br />
also get moving again, but emotionally<br />
it helps to pick you up and get you<br />
back to feeling free and ready to face a<br />
future. For women of my age, in<br />
particular, it’s really important to be<br />
active. I know it is hard, but getting<br />
back into sport or maybe doing it for<br />
the first time is a great opportunity, not<br />
just to get active but to meet people,<br />
develop friendships and improve your<br />
lifestyle. Being involved in the Invictus<br />
Games has been a great honour. It is<br />
something I never thought I would do<br />
and shows that out of tragedy, good<br />
things can come. It is about new<br />
beginnings and I feel privileged and<br />
honoured to be surrounded by so<br />
many athletes and young people who<br />
are using what they have now, to find<br />
purpose, meaning and destiny and<br />
hope for the future.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> second Invictus Games, presented<br />
by Jaguar Land Rover, closed on<br />
Friday after an amazing week that<br />
demonstrated the power of the human<br />
spirit and importance of sport to<br />
wounded, ill and injured servicemen<br />
and women on their recovery journeys.<br />
Almost 500 competitors from 14<br />
nations inspired the world with their<br />
Invictus spirit. Invictus means<br />
“unconquered” and thousands of fans<br />
saw in person, and millions more on<br />
television, men and women who refuse<br />
to be defined by their injuries. Sir<br />
Keith Mills, Chairman of the Invictus<br />
Games Foundation, said: “Orlando,<br />
you are amazing, what a fantastic<br />
Invictus Games it has been. We have<br />
been inspired and moved by our<br />
wounded injured and sick Servicemen<br />
and women and we have seen<br />
extraordinary sport in these amazing<br />
venues. It has been a truly magical<br />
games. I am thrilled that the Invictus<br />
Games legacy will continue in 2017<br />
with the Invictus Games in Toronto.”<br />
So, next year we go to Canada for<br />
more glory. Every competitor was a<br />
winner whether they ended up with a<br />
gong or not. Just to live and compete<br />
shows the winning spirit to the world.
“Some Westminster insiders want me to shut up<br />
about veterans' care. Here's why I won't”<br />
JOHNNY MERCER<br />
On Thursday evening I walked into my home. <strong>The</strong> children had gone to bed;<br />
my wife, exhausted, was sitting on the sofa. She usually comes to the door.<br />
This time she remained sat on the sofa, transfixed at the television. <strong>The</strong> final<br />
day of the Invictus Games was on BBC One. I had been watching it all week.<br />
I didn’t want to comment on it too much. I am well aware that a Member of<br />
Parliament whose defined mission is to get veterans' care right in the United<br />
Kingdom can go on about it too much. I never hear but always expect a<br />
collective groan as I rise to my feet in a packed Prime Minister’s Questions to<br />
once again bring the issue of veterans' care. Last month a Government<br />
minister told me to drop the issue; it was ‘unhelpful’. But watching the Invictus<br />
Games reminded me how insignificant any ‘Westminster village’ criticism may<br />
be. Watching the news either frustrates you (EU referendum) or worries you.<br />
In a world where man’s inhumanity to man seems to know no bounds, here<br />
was real humanity. Here was the best of us. And it was on prime time<br />
television.<br />
Take the wheelchair rugby. <strong>The</strong> American captain – US Marine Cpl<br />
Anthony McDaniel – was through on goal. He lost two legs<br />
and a hand in an IED explosion in Kajaki when I was<br />
undertaking my last combat tour there in 2010. Mark<br />
Peters – the Danish Captain – cut him down, viciously,<br />
legally, when he was about to score. McDaniel rolled three<br />
times in his chair. He pushed himself up, laughed, pointed with respect at<br />
Peters, and high-fived him for a good tackle, with a grin as wide as his<br />
face. <strong>The</strong> swimming comes on. David Wiseman is celebrating again.<br />
He’s won three gold medals and two silver. This huge, gregarious,<br />
embracing bear of a man still has a Taliban bullet in his chest. When I<br />
first met him it took me a while to work it out. Two more medal winners<br />
sit on the sofa and talk to Gabby. Both are missing limbs; one has clearly<br />
had a tracheotomy. I involuntarily visualise what he would have looked<br />
like on that stretcher as they loaded him into the back of the Chinook,<br />
with his mates calling for him to fight on. And he has, and now he is here.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se guys and girls are the best of us. We have a warrior generation in<br />
this country now, and for every physically injured person you can see,<br />
there will be three or four mentally scarred you can’t see. <strong>The</strong>y will<br />
not have been able to access the help; they would not have felt they<br />
could speak out; they would not have the Nation’s pride enough to<br />
come and get help. <strong>The</strong>y struggle on daily, wrestling to hold down a<br />
job and feed the family, exhausted through lack of peaceful rest.<br />
And therein I hope lies the message from these Invictus Games.<br />
Britain is proud of you. We know we owe you for the sacrifices<br />
you made in defence of the freedoms that we enjoy. We<br />
have a duty to you. Come forward; don’t suffer in silence.<br />
You gave the best years of your life in Service to this great Nation, in the proud<br />
traditions of your forebears. Vets' care is poor? <strong>No</strong>. <strong>No</strong>t if you can access it, sort the wheat from the chaff, and know where to<br />
look. Some noble souls have dedicated their lives to it. Should we have done more as a Government in this sector to facilitate it<br />
and ‘guarantee it’ over the years? Undoubtedly yes. Are we getting better? Is this PM committed to it? Yes. Has the stigma<br />
gone? Absolutely not.<br />
<strong>The</strong> road is long, and we are only part way along it. But with just a little of the humanity and courage on display in Orlando this<br />
week, there will only be one outcome.
THE INVICTUS GAMES FOR OUR WOUNDED WARRIORS – Miguel Reece<br />
Sacrifice! Sacrifice! Sacrifice! An emotional rollercoaster, of a vivid example on the true meaning of<br />
sacrifices for the world’s freedom, through sportsmanship, has been truly a privilege shared by some.<br />
Being there, witnessing those smiles, many tears, numerous hugs and the cheers, with unconditional<br />
support for the courage of their conviction to represent the world. But what inspired me most were<br />
the thoughts of their sacrifices and journey to make it to the starting line, to take to the field, or to<br />
dive into that pool. Motivated by the goal of giving their all. That is the spirit of those true warriors.<br />
Those 4 days, 10 sports, 13 support dogs, 14 nations, 149 events, 410 medals, 485 competitors, a<br />
couple of thousand friends and family members, hundreds of hours of gruelling competition,<br />
reminds me of those invisible wounds. It exemplified how sport activities have become a stimulus, a<br />
motivator, as well as the best and greatest medication, in fighting those invisible wounds, as life goes<br />
on with the battles of those demons, PTSD or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) along with Post<br />
Traumatic Sleep Disorder. It also aids in the holistic healing throughout the recovery and<br />
rehabilitation process as a “new normal” — mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically and socially.<br />
I, too, am a casualty of the Vietnam Conflict and the author of “<strong>The</strong> Disabled Veteran’s Story” who<br />
had the privilege of being able to appreciate and write about the stories on adjusting, after returning<br />
home, meeting citizens from the countries we fought years after. <strong>The</strong> irony of the conversation<br />
speaks to the fact that 90% or more of the game participants were injured in either Afghanistan or<br />
Iraq — what a true mental adjustment! <strong>The</strong> Afghan team of eight competitors, with eight dreams,<br />
ready and eager to compete; but were without a coach. In the spirit of the games, the Australian team<br />
stepped up and offered their support as brothers and sisters who sacrificed as well for world peace. A<br />
very noble act, that those who have walked that mile understand. Another emotional and electrifying<br />
moment was shared by the entire stadium, with a standing ovation, when the Afghan female bilateral<br />
leg amputee struggled very hard to cross the finish line and everyone cheered her on to the end. <strong>The</strong><br />
standing ovation did not stop there. During the 400 meter finals an American female runner passed<br />
the Italian runner a couple of yards before the finish line but fell face down, inches before the finish<br />
line--the Italian runner came back after she crossed the finish line and helped the American runner<br />
roll across the finish line for the silver medal. One of the competitors said, these games have not only<br />
changed my life, it gave me a purpose to continue living. This is after she had pushed another<br />
competitor across the finish line so the competitor would finish second and win a silver medal for her<br />
country. <strong>The</strong> ambivalence of emotions I experienced watching the conviction of an Indoor Rowing<br />
competitor with one arm, a Power Lifter with both legs amputated, swimmers with their legs<br />
amputated or legally blind competitors with their guide dogs. I only learned after watching two<br />
remarkable star performers (MVP) on both the US Gold Medal winning teams--Wheelchair<br />
Basketball and Sitting Volleyball--had both legs amputated and were missing total usage of one of<br />
their hands.<br />
From competition to competition, teams showed the world that the Invictus Games are not about the<br />
medals or the accolades; rather, the Games are about standing hand-in-hand with service men and<br />
women from around the globe with one shared vision – to show the true meaning of sacrifices, as they<br />
represent their country, and live their Invictus Story. For that reason, the Land Rover “Above and<br />
Beyond” was awarded to the Sitting Volleyball team from Georgia, who won a Bronze medal in the<br />
competition, after learning the game on Skype. <strong>The</strong> team was honoured for their inspiring example<br />
of the Invictus Spirit, as not only competitors but also as teammates. Wow! Wow! What a privilege<br />
to have had the precious opportunity to appreciate the deeper side of true sacrifices. Those four days<br />
at the Invictus Games solidified my belief; the writing about the sacrifices of our veterans and their<br />
families is bigger than me and perhaps a higher power. Deep inside each and every one of us—there<br />
is a story. Don’t miss the privilege of reading about sacrifices by so many.<br />
<strong>The</strong> stories are available for purchase through the website, www.miguelreece.com, as well<br />
as Amazon.com or an e-book from Kindle and Barnesand<strong>No</strong>ble.com. In Europe the book is also<br />
available throughwww.wordery.com. You will understand as well as appreciate why the disabled<br />
veterans, their parents, spouses, family members and caretakers urged me not to allow their stories to<br />
die or those chapters in our history to be forgotten.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong> and all<br />
associated with the SBT would<br />
like to congratulate the UK<br />
competitors and all worldwide<br />
competitors on a brilliant<br />
Invictus Games 2016.<br />
You are an inspiration to your<br />
country and a shining example<br />
to all who find difficulties in<br />
their normal daily lives.<br />
May God bless you all, keep<br />
you safe and bring you future<br />
success in which ever path you<br />
may follow.
<strong>The</strong> Veterans Directory<br />
• Forces Online is the largest Veterans Directory on the web.<br />
• Supporting Veterans & their families and raising awareness<br />
• Packed with great information and useful links.<br />
• Keeping you up to date with the latest Veterans & Armed<br />
Forces news with our own interactive news page and our<br />
sister publication ‘<strong>The</strong> <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong>’.<br />
• Forces Online Radio: a brand new Radio Station bringing<br />
you the best in music, gossip and banter.<br />
Check us out at<br />
www.forcesonline.org.uk
Canada<br />
Calling<br />
<strong>The</strong> Canuck Connection<br />
Greetings Veterans of all Nations, well the Invictus Games have been<br />
completed for 2016.<br />
Next year in Toronto. I have spent hours Googling for a final tally<br />
with absolutely no Luck: IF anyone can come up with a link advising<br />
the final Medal Distribution I thank you in advance.<br />
Brewski – Beer, Blue Job – AIRMAN, Shack Rat/Hut Slut – Duty<br />
Cleaner and general dogsbody, Pen or Pencil pusher –<br />
Administrative Clerk, Wobble Wing Driver – Helicopter Pilot,<br />
Grunt – Infantryman, Digger Piss Can Crow Bar Hotel – Military<br />
Detention, Meat Head – Military Policeman, Bug Out – Move out<br />
Immediately, Eagle Sh*ts today – PAYDAY, Jock Strapper – PTI,<br />
Regimental Shower – A dirty member of a unit is scrubbed down<br />
with Sgt Major Soap and scouring brushes, Part 3 Order –<br />
Rumours, Hairy Bag – Sailor, SNAFU – Situation <strong>No</strong>rmal all<br />
F**ked up, Iron Rations – Canned Goods, WYGISWYS – What<br />
you see is what you get.<br />
This past weekend our Deeside Breakfast Club in association with<br />
Banchory Legion and Aberdeenshire Salutes, opened a drop in<br />
area for Veterans with Egg Banjo’s (Fried Egg Sandwiches) and<br />
coffee. It was a great day and so fantastic to see such young piping<br />
and drumming competitors. <strong>The</strong>y were mixed in with the adult<br />
bands to which they belonged. Kids enjoying life and not sitting<br />
indoors on a Video game.<br />
In 1998 Canada purchased some used submarines from the MOD.<br />
What a fiasco they have been. Starting with their initial trip across<br />
the Atlantic when a fire broke out and a young Submariner Officer<br />
died. <strong>The</strong>se unlucky subs are once again in for repair and<br />
inspection. In the 20 years that they have been with Canada they<br />
may have accumulated a grand total of a year to <strong>18</strong> months sea<br />
time.<br />
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/submarine-welding-repairs-hmcschicoutimi-victoria-1.3584592<br />
Meanwhile I placed a pledge on our Deeside Veterans Breakfast<br />
Club, challenging others to match donations for Gold Medals. I<br />
pledged a fiver for each Canuck Gold. On Sunday at the piping<br />
competition I gave the Legion President £50 to add to the pot for<br />
Legion Charities. A HEARTY BRAVO ZULU one and all who<br />
took part in the Games, and to the Volunteers without whom the<br />
Games could never be staged.<br />
A very costly purchase for the Government of the day. Will our<br />
Government never learn, that buying used subs, is like buying a<br />
banger from Del Boy.<br />
On that note we sign out from this issue of the SBT. <strong>The</strong> question<br />
of the week is…….Where did the idea for the Nursery Rhyme<br />
‘Humpty Dumpty’ come from? (Hint: think Army)<br />
Have a great week.<br />
As promised the answers to the last posted quiz. <strong>The</strong> first one was<br />
easy as I am sure it is interchangeable. UK, Aus, Usa etc.<br />
Nil Sine Labore<br />
Robby
Ever Present<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are days when I feel really alone. One such day, a few years<br />
ago now, I was walking. <strong>The</strong> sky was cloudy and I was feeling sad and<br />
lonely, grey like the weather. ‘Lord I feel so alone’ I thought. As<br />
soon as my cry had gone out to God, the sun started emerging from<br />
the clouds. I felt the warmth on my skin and the whole scene was<br />
illuminated. It felt like God was giving<br />
me a warm hug. In that moment.<br />
He reminded me, ‘I am always here,<br />
shining on you. Even when you can’t<br />
see me or feel my presence I’m still<br />
shining, I’m still here.’ This really<br />
spoke to me because I know that the<br />
sun is a permanent fixture. Spring,<br />
summer, autumn, winter, it continues<br />
to shine; whether day or night, here or<br />
the other side of the world, it never stops shining. God wanted me to<br />
truly understand the permanence of His presence and His love.<br />
People often ask me ‘what do you mean God speaks to you?’ Having<br />
spoken to others about this, I know that God speaks to us all<br />
differently, in a way that we can understand, can relate to. For me He<br />
often speaks through nature, through creation.<br />
I have been living back in Worcester for 2 years now. I still miss the<br />
sea. I lived in South West Wales for 14 years and loved the<br />
countryside there, especially the coast. I often took myself off for<br />
quiet time by the sea, whether on the beach or walking along the<br />
coastal path. It gave me time to chill out, space to breathe and think.<br />
This was my time with God. I relished this time, because like all of<br />
us, my life was so busy with work, kids, household duties etc. I didn’t<br />
realize how much I needed this time of quiet reflection until I moved<br />
back to Worcester. It’s so busy here. Trying to find time to be quiet<br />
now is so difficult. It doesn’t matter where I go there are always<br />
people everywhere. Life is so rushed here, so busy and I feel burnt<br />
out, my head gets chaotic. In fact I need it more since moving here<br />
because of the busyness, and yet get it less!<br />
A few weeks ago I went away for the weekend to the countryside.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were fewer people around, the pace was slower, there was less<br />
noise and I could find<br />
places to be quiet, to<br />
simply be. I guess what<br />
I am trying to say is that<br />
I treasure these moments<br />
of quiet more now than I<br />
ever did. Really seek those<br />
times of quiet reflection<br />
because with all of that<br />
noise around you, it’s difficult to hear God’s quiet voice whispering to<br />
you. He speaks to us but unless we stop and listen we don’t hear and<br />
we need to hear. Why? Because He speaks peace, encouragement,<br />
hope and love into our lives and who doesn’t need these things.<br />
I also wanted to share this with you because I know how lonely you<br />
can feel even when you’re constantly surrounded by people. You can<br />
have many friends and family offering company, love and support,<br />
and yet you feel alone. You feel<br />
that no-one truly gets it, truly<br />
understands. This is where God<br />
comes in. He knows you inside<br />
out. He created you and knows<br />
you better than even your parents,<br />
your partner, your best friend. He<br />
knows every thought you have,<br />
every emotion you feel. He’s<br />
there cheering you on, He’s there<br />
wiping your tears away, and He’s<br />
there when you sit on the edge<br />
feeling unable to cope anymore.<br />
He’s there, whispering ‘I love<br />
you my child’, holding His arms<br />
out and waiting, always waiting, for you to respond. He will never<br />
leave you. He will wait as long as it takes. He loves you with perfect<br />
unconditional love, not human love that wavers in tough times, but a<br />
love that we find hard to understand.<br />
‘May you have the power to<br />
understand, as all God’s<br />
people should, how wide, how<br />
long, how high, and how deep<br />
his love is. May you<br />
experience the love of Christ,<br />
though it is too great to<br />
understand fully.’ (Ephesians<br />
3:<strong>18</strong>-19)<br />
I want to encourage you today. His love is not dependent on what<br />
you do, what you have done, or what you can give, it’s there and all<br />
you have to do is stop and listen, and accept it.<br />
I’m not saying that the clouds won’t still descend on you, on your life,<br />
but what I am saying is<br />
that you can wake each<br />
morning safe in the<br />
knowledge that God is<br />
walking alongside you,<br />
loving, accepting,<br />
forgiving and guiding<br />
you. God is bigger than<br />
you and I, bigger than<br />
any problem we face.<br />
So let Him hold your<br />
hand and walk with you. You don’t have to walk this life alone and<br />
you weren’t meant to.<br />
I want to reassure you that however alone you are feeling right now,<br />
you are NOT alone in your battle. Please message me if you have<br />
any questions or if you would like us to pray for you or for someone<br />
you know. Please contact me at havefaith@sandbagtimes.com
…self-discovery<br />
Word Race…<br />
and veterans (including spouses/partners where<br />
appropriate) to take control of their lives and<br />
achieve their full potential.<br />
Future for Heroes<br />
Enhancing their Prospects<br />
‘What I do today determines my tomorrow’<br />
WHY: For the transition to civilian life:<br />
Thousands leave the Services each year; some will<br />
need help in making the move to civilian life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> military offers a resettlement package that<br />
addresses the practical side of change. <strong>The</strong> effects of<br />
loss, loneliness and a shift in cultures are not always<br />
recognised.<br />
<strong>The</strong> majority leaving receive little help in dealing with<br />
emotional and mental changes that transition brings.<br />
We help leavers<br />
Tranquillity and serenity, an<br />
opportunity to reflect and think -<br />
Brathay<br />
WHAT: F4H provides help for:<br />
Service leavers from all 3 services.<br />
Veterans from all 3 Services.<br />
Spouses or partners of above, where appropriate.<br />
HOW: Free residential personal change courses<br />
held over 4 days held at Brathay in the Lake District<br />
that help individuals to:<br />
Assess the psychological and emotional impact of<br />
change.<br />
Prepare for the physical challenge and emotional<br />
support to:<br />
Build on personal qualities and abilities to:<br />
Enable individuals to take control of their lives.<br />
Mentoring support provided during and post-course.<br />
Trust building!<br />
COBSEO registered.<br />
Preferred Supplier with the Career Transition<br />
Partnership. Course recognised by the ILM.<br />
FIND OUT MORE:<br />
WWW<br />
www.f4h.org.uk<br />
www.twitter.com/FutureForHeroes<br />
www.facebook.com/groups/262504950507377<br />
An F4H Maxim<br />
www.mydonate.bt.com/charities/f4h
<strong>The</strong> Occupation of the<br />
Channel Islands (1940 - 1945)<br />
May 9 th 2016 marks the 71 st anniversary<br />
of Jersey’s liberation from German<br />
occupation. This story is of particular<br />
interest to me because my Gran and<br />
her family were born and bred in<br />
Jersey. My Gran was 31 when the<br />
German’s invaded Jersey and was 36 on<br />
liberation day. Soon after this she met<br />
my Grandfather and was married, moving to England where she<br />
lived out her remaining years. When I was younger she used to tell<br />
us tales of when her & her younger sister used to sneak around<br />
cutting the German telephone wires. She is fortunate that she wasn’t<br />
caught by the Germans, as she would have been in a vast amount of<br />
trouble with the possibility of death, in which case I would not be<br />
here today to write this story. I was very young when my Gran died,<br />
and so unfortunately I didn’t get to ask her much about life during<br />
the occupation.<br />
In May 1940, the Nazi war machine swept across Western Europe,<br />
pushing the British army back to the beaches of Dunkirk. When the<br />
British troops retreated to England, the Channel Islands were left<br />
undefended. German high command was planning to invade the<br />
Islands. <strong>The</strong>y hadn’t realised that all British troops had retreated to<br />
England, so the Germans carried out an armed reconnaissance. On<br />
28 th June 1940, 3 Luftwaffe bombers flew low over the harbour of St<br />
Peters Port, Guernsey, and attacked. <strong>The</strong> raid killed dozens of<br />
innocent people.<br />
<strong>The</strong> actual invasion started at Guernsey Airport 2 days later. On<br />
30 th June 1940 a platoon of<br />
German troops landed here<br />
and to their relief met no<br />
opposition. <strong>The</strong> tiny British<br />
garrison had left realising that<br />
defending the island would<br />
lead to a pointless blood<br />
bath. <strong>The</strong> Germans headed out from the airport across the island.<br />
Meanwhile the German Air Force bombed and<br />
machine gunned Jersey killing 9 and wounding<br />
many more. A few days later the German Air<br />
Force Commander dropped an ultimatum from<br />
the air demanding the immediate surrender of<br />
the island. White flags and crosses were placed<br />
in prominent positions, as stipulated by the<br />
Germans, and the following day, July 2 nd 1940,<br />
Jersey was occupied by air-borne troops under<br />
the command of Hauptmann Gussek.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Nazis had wanted a model occupation, and German<br />
propaganda footage demonstrates this. <strong>The</strong> local papers however<br />
revealed a few telling details. <strong>The</strong> clocks went forward to Berlin<br />
time and the currency changed to the Reich mark. A curfew of<br />
11pm – 6am was imposed. In addition, islanders were not allowed<br />
to go out fishing. <strong>The</strong>y were, however, allowed to do other things<br />
they were permitted to go to church meetings and offer prayers up<br />
to the Royal Family and the British Empire. Why did they allow<br />
this? Because they were on a high and they believed they were going<br />
to invade England and win the war.<br />
Surrender of the Channel Islands was a humiliating blow to British<br />
prestige and Churchill insisted that the Empire must strike back. He<br />
decided that Guernsey would be the perfect place to try out a new<br />
elite unit of the British Army. He said that their job was to develop<br />
a reign of terror down the enemy coast. <strong>The</strong>y were called <strong>The</strong><br />
Commandos. London planned a daring raid. Special forces would<br />
cease the coastal path and head inland to attack the airport. But first<br />
they sent in a young lieutenant Hubert Nicolle to gather intelligence.<br />
He had grown up in Guernsey and knew the<br />
island like the back of his hand. He<br />
discovered that only a handful of Germans<br />
had captured over 25,000 islanders.<br />
managed to find out that there were exactly<br />
469 Germans on the island. Nicolle had<br />
exposed just how weak the enemy was. 140<br />
commandos now crossed the channel to capture and kill as many<br />
Germans as possible. It would be one of the first Commando raids<br />
in history, but it ended in complete failure. One boat ended up on<br />
the island of Sark, two capsized, one crashed into a rock, only 40<br />
men from number 3 Commando finally made it to Guernsey,<br />
exhausted and soaked, and when they got there they couldn’t find a<br />
single German soldier. <strong>The</strong> Commandos survived but for Britain<br />
the war was going from bad to worse. Germany was getting ready to<br />
invade England. At Clarence Battery, machine gunners watched as<br />
German planes crossed the Channel.<br />
Just a few weeks after the invasion of the Channel Islands the Battle<br />
of Britain began in the skies of Southern England. To many living in<br />
the Channel Islands under Nazi<br />
rule the result must’ve been a<br />
forgone conclusion. That’s<br />
certainly what the Germans told<br />
the people as more and more<br />
troops appeared on the streets of<br />
St Peter’s Port in August 1940.<br />
Many islanders were frightened<br />
at the prospect of any contact<br />
with the enemy troops. A total<br />
of 27,000 German Troops<br />
descended on the islands.<br />
Almost half of these in Jersey.<br />
He
1940 had been a traumatic Summer, but the focus of the war was<br />
about to shift because that September the RAF won the Battle of<br />
Britain, and the Germans were<br />
forced to put their invasion of<br />
Britain on hold. By the end of<br />
1940 it was clear that the Channel<br />
Islands were the only bit of<br />
British soil that Hitler was going<br />
to get his hands on. At least for<br />
the moment. Hitler feared that<br />
Churchill might try to reclaim the Channel Islands and so the<br />
German war machine was ordered to transform these Islands, even<br />
tiny little Herm and Sark, into island fortresses with the islanders<br />
trapped behind a curtain of guns, bunkers and barbed wire.<br />
Hitler was obsessed with holding onto the Channel Islands. <strong>The</strong><br />
image of Jack boots striding up and<br />
down British streets was a fantastic<br />
propaganda victory for him. So he<br />
decided to turn the whole place into<br />
an impregnable fortress. <strong>The</strong> islands<br />
became part of the Atlantic Wall. A<br />
network of fortified bunkers<br />
stretching from <strong>No</strong>rway to Southern<br />
France.<br />
Building the wall took an estimated<br />
17,000,000 cubic metres of concrete.<br />
Well over a million of this was used in<br />
the Channel Islands. At the far end of<br />
St Aubin’s Bay in Jersey, Germans modified an old railway line to<br />
carry ammunition and materials. <strong>The</strong> railway line terminated at<br />
Corbiere headland (one of the Islands best known landmarks).<br />
<strong>The</strong>y constructed concrete bunkers here with walls almost 2 metres<br />
thick, choosing the headland because from there they could see<br />
almost the entire coast. <strong>The</strong>y also built a MP2 tower, where range<br />
finders were used to be able to direct fire onto enemy ships.<br />
<strong>The</strong> construction of these bunkers and towers presented the<br />
inhabitants of Jersey with an enormous dilemma. <strong>The</strong> Germans<br />
wanted men to help build them, but the local island authorities<br />
refused. Under <strong>The</strong> Hague Convention an occupier is not allowed<br />
to force people to work against their own country, so the Jersey<br />
authorities made it very clear to the Germans that there was certain<br />
types of work they wouldn’t oblige. <strong>The</strong>y said that they could get<br />
people to work on building airports, bridges or infrastructure, work<br />
that’s not immediately war-related, but that they were not going to<br />
help build the gunning placements. <strong>The</strong> civilian authorities walked a<br />
dangerous tightrope between protecting their own people and<br />
helping the enemy. It was important to the Germans to show the<br />
rest of Britain how great it would be if they took over and so they<br />
used the Channel Islands as a ‘charm offensive’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> invaders spent a lot of time and money building up defences in<br />
St Ouen’s Bay, because it was this west coast that they felt the British<br />
would attack. But the allies never had any intention of taking Jersey<br />
back by force. St Ouen’s anti-tank barrier was nothing but a huge<br />
drain on German resources, as was the fortification built at Les<br />
Landes (Jersey’s largest maritime heath land). Granite cliffs<br />
dominated this part of the island and it was here that they built<br />
Battery Moltke, which kept watch across the Atlantic. <strong>The</strong> battery<br />
housed a 15.5cm 4<strong>18</strong>F<br />
French Field Gun, and was<br />
the first heavy battery to<br />
come to Jersey in March<br />
1941. <strong>The</strong> gun had a<br />
range of 12 miles and<br />
was one of four captured<br />
from the French. It was<br />
garrisoned by 100 German<br />
soldiers. At the exterior of the battery they would have had barracks<br />
huts, but during attacks they also had subterranean corridors and<br />
personnel shelters to hide in. Hitler had even grander ideas for this<br />
place but the bigger guns never arrived. <strong>The</strong> men inside trained and<br />
waited for an invasion which never came.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Germans brought about 16,000 workers to the Channel Islands,<br />
and there were 12 labour camps in Jersey alone. In amongst the<br />
16,000 were forced labourers (paid workers) from Western Europe<br />
many were Spaniards trying to escape the Franco regime. However<br />
at least 3,000 of these workers were prisoners of war from Russia<br />
and the Ukraine. <strong>The</strong>y were used as (unpaid) slave labour being<br />
forced to build bunkers and the military railway. <strong>The</strong> prisoners of<br />
war were given very little food to eat, they were kicked & beaten and<br />
very badly treated. Some channel islanders tried to stop these<br />
people being mistreated but to no avail. Some labourers were<br />
marched eastward, miles away from their camp, where they were<br />
used to build the Jersey war tunnels. <strong>The</strong> entrance was carved out of<br />
rock by the labourers. <strong>The</strong> tunnels were intended to be an<br />
underground invasion shelter. <strong>The</strong> conditions were awful and many<br />
prisoners died whilst digging the tunnels. Many remain, buried<br />
under rubble<br />
Many Islanders were so apalled at the treatment of the prisoners that<br />
they risked their lives trying to help them. Louisa Gould ran a local<br />
Shop at St Ouen’s and in 1942 she offered refuge to a prisoner who
. had escaped from nearby Lager<br />
Immelmann camp. He was <strong>The</strong>odore<br />
Polycarpovic Bullic a Russian pilot shot<br />
down in 1941. Louisa had lost her eldest<br />
son at sea months before and had said<br />
she wanted to help protect ‘another<br />
mother’s son’, where she couldn’t protect<br />
hers. <strong>The</strong> pilot known as Russian Bill hid<br />
at her house for <strong>18</strong> months, but in 1942 Louisa was betrayed.<br />
Russian Bill escaped but Louisa was arrested and sentenced to 2<br />
years in a German prison. Bob Le Seur knew Russian Bill and so<br />
hid him in the filing room at his office, then a shed, then a friends<br />
flat, then another home. Russian Bill survived in Jersey until the<br />
liberation. Bob explained that ‘It was common humanity, that’s why<br />
I helped.’ During the occupation, 250 Jersey inhabitants broke<br />
German rules and were sent to prison on the continent. One of<br />
those could have been my Gran, but thankfully her actions went<br />
undetected. 29 never returned. Louisa Gould died in Ravensbrook<br />
concentration camp just a few months before the end of the war.<br />
In the early days of the<br />
occupation many islanders had<br />
their vehicles requisitioned.<br />
But by 1944 fuel shortages<br />
meant even the Germans had<br />
to get around by horse & cart,<br />
known as the ‘Jersey van’.<br />
In 1941 Islanders fought a daily battle against hunger. <strong>The</strong> basic<br />
rations provided each person with only 1000 calories a day.<br />
Everyday items became luxury. Substitutes were tried, they used<br />
dried ground parsnips as an alternative to coffee. Bread was<br />
something very special. One loaf had to feed a family of four for a<br />
week. By the end of the war channel island children were on<br />
average 1 inch shorter than they should’ve been and this was<br />
attributed to the lack of food and poor diet.<br />
By 1944 Germany was losing the war on all points. <strong>The</strong> allies next<br />
target was Jersey’s neighbour, <strong>No</strong>rmandy, only 19 miles away. <strong>The</strong><br />
allied forces were gaining ground. On 6 th June 1944 came D-day,<br />
the liberation of occupied France. However liberation for the<br />
Channel Islands didn’t come until the following year May 1945.<br />
<strong>The</strong> fighting in France put the Germans in Jersey on high alert, and<br />
their commander, a proud professional soldier, ordered the men to<br />
dig in, in places like Victoria Tower. <strong>The</strong>y placed an anti-aircraft<br />
gun on top of it. However, they realised to their horror that despite<br />
their mighty Atlantic wall their defences on this side of the Island<br />
were inadequate. <strong>The</strong> Islanders had mixed emotions, they could see<br />
& hear the fighting going on. Churchill would have immediately<br />
taken the Islands back but leveller heads thought it was a wrong<br />
move. So they decided to isolate the Germans so as to let them<br />
‘wither on the vine’. In August all the supplies stopped. Churchill<br />
tried to persuade the occupiers to surrender, but in reply the<br />
Germans asked the allies to send the islanders food aid, to make<br />
their own rations go further. Everyone on the island was competing<br />
for the same dwindling supplies and all faced starvation in the<br />
coming winter.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Royal Bay of Grouville in 1944 was heavily mined, so hungry<br />
islanders couldn’t even exploit traditional sources of food. After D-<br />
day several islanders risked strong currents and German patrols<br />
trying to escape to France. A 21 year old Jersey man, John Floyd,<br />
took part in a daring attempt to sail away & join the allies in France.<br />
John and 2 others smuggled a dinghy onto the beach planning to slip<br />
away at the dead of night. This was extremely risky, as a few weeks<br />
before a man had been shot dead whilst trying to escape. John<br />
explained that at a mile out from the beach they had come across<br />
another boat filled with men trying to escape but that they’d<br />
experienced engine failure, so John & his 2 friends stopped to give<br />
them a tow. Unfortunately a wave then went over the back of John’s<br />
boat soaking the outboard motor. After trying & failing to restart the<br />
engine, John ended up drifting to France, and there found the<br />
British army. Escapees like<br />
John confirmed to the British<br />
authorities just how bad<br />
conditions were on the<br />
Islands. <strong>The</strong> allies finally<br />
agreed to let the Red Cross<br />
in. So on New Year’s Eve 1944<br />
the SS Vega docked carrying<br />
120,000 food parcels.<br />
Liberation still took another 4 months, but the food kept the<br />
islanders alive through the winter and people took heart as the allies<br />
advanced into Germany. By early May 1945 Hitler was dead and<br />
the war was over.<br />
On 9 th May 1945 2 British<br />
destroyers HMS Bulldog & Beagle<br />
sailed into the Channel Islands<br />
and took the surrender of the<br />
German garrison. Jubilant crowds<br />
gathered in what is now Liberation<br />
Square.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is now a memorial at the centre of the square dedicated to all<br />
those who made liberation possible. Many Germans were held at<br />
Elizabeth Castle after the liberation<br />
as prisoners of war. Since the war<br />
the islanders have rebuilt their lives<br />
but have kept an assortment of<br />
bunkers and reminders of the<br />
occupation and 71 years on they<br />
serve as a reminder of what went<br />
on in the war years.
Deeside Veterans Breakfast Club<br />
Deeside Breakfast Club had its 1st<br />
outing for our Brew n Banjo Stand at<br />
Banchory Pipe Band Competition.<br />
Didn’t get any new victims but lots of<br />
exposure more events booked over<br />
the summer
MP JOINS FORCES WITH<br />
GEORDIE BREAKFAST CLUB<br />
Catherine McKinnell MP has given her backing<br />
to the work of the Geordie Breakfast Club,<br />
following a recent visit to the veterans’ group<br />
which meets every weekend at Kingston Park’s<br />
Toby Carvery.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Geordie Breakfast Club was established to<br />
provide friendship, networking opportunities<br />
and support for veterans to adjust to civilian life<br />
– dealing with issues such as Post-Traumatic<br />
Stress Disorder (PTSD), isolation, housing<br />
problems and employment and re-training<br />
needs.<br />
Catherine was invited to meet with club<br />
members by its founder, Andy Wilson, to hear<br />
more about the services they provide to local<br />
veterans of any age, and their families.<br />
Catherine said “It was such a privilege to meet<br />
up with Andy and his colleagues, and hear<br />
more about the vital work they do in supporting<br />
veterans. <strong>The</strong>y are a great bunch of comrades,<br />
who clearly enjoy the social side of the Geordie<br />
Breakfast Club – but they’re also willing to go<br />
the extra mile to help those in need of any<br />
support. I would strongly urge any local<br />
veterans, or those shortly due to leave the<br />
Armed Forces, to get in touch with the club to<br />
find out what’s on offer.”<br />
Veterans club together for breakfast catch up in show of solidarity<br />
Ex-servicemen and women are invited to join in the get together at Cafe Eden in<br />
Peterlee each Saturday morning, giving them the chance to meet mates, make<br />
new ones and be part of a group with a shared experience. Those who need help<br />
and advice over housing and health have also been able to find support through<br />
each other. People still serving are also welcome. Former Royal Corp of Signals<br />
radio operator Rob Moore, 52, from Peterlee, helps organise the East Durham<br />
Veterans’ Breakfast Club, which starts at 9.30am.<br />
Rob said “I’d been thinking about it for quite a while because I was aware there<br />
had been veterans’ breakfast clubs springing up around the country, so I started<br />
asking people if it was a good idea. It’s a group set up for a bit of craic and<br />
banter, to support each other and a chance to meet other veterans. It’s all very<br />
informal, we go to the cafe, all sit around the table together, have a good laugh<br />
and have a catch up about what we’ve been up to that week.<br />
Andy Wilson, Geordie Breakfast Club founder<br />
and ex-Royal Engineers, said “It’s thanks to our<br />
loyal members that we can help veterans in<br />
need. If there’s anyone out there that might<br />
need our support, they shouldn’t hesitate to<br />
give us a call, or just turn up, as we will all be<br />
there for them.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Geordie Breakfast Club is one of over 120<br />
breakfast clubs around the world, and is open<br />
to anyone who has served in any branch of the<br />
Armed Forces. It meets from 9.30am on one<br />
Sunday and three Saturdays a month, and those<br />
wanting to find out more should contact Andy<br />
Wilson on 07756 685149.
Veterans Radio Net<br />
<strong>The</strong> NAAFI of the Air Waves<br />
Military Veterans Radio<br />
MVR Events<br />
“Keeping Veterans Stronger Together Since 2012“<br />
“Hands Across <strong>The</strong> Pond”<br />
VRN is known as the "NAAFI of <strong>The</strong> Airwaves" and<br />
with a mix of good music, fast banter on the live chat<br />
board and useful information it's easy to see why.<br />
Add to this special programming where we talk about<br />
PTSD, and we interview those who know what they<br />
are talking about, VRN is the place to be.<br />
Come on in and join us. Make our station your<br />
station, where else will you get the micky taken out of<br />
you live on air?<br />
http://veteransradionet.co.uk/chat.html<br />
See you all soon<br />
Sapper Ken<br />
21 st May 2016 1pm (EST)<br />
Interview with the band Region 5<br />
1 st July 2016<br />
Berdoo 100% Biker rock/Metal Band Tour<br />
across USA (24 States)<br />
All Donations go to our Veterans<br />
10 th & 11 th July 2016<br />
Our second year Anniversary<br />
Big Events to be announced soon.<br />
MVR is growing by leaps and bounds every day<br />
and we thank all our Listeners tuning in to us.<br />
Remember our Veterans and their Families.<br />
We are ‘Hands Across <strong>The</strong> Pond’ and work<br />
closely with our veterans around the globe.<br />
www.militaryveteransradio.com<br />
Kat<br />
Coming Soon
Welcome to Wizz Properties<br />
Ltd...<br />
We at Wizz Properties are very professional and friendly and know<br />
how frustrating it can be to get the right contractors.<br />
We have many years experience in Home Improvements and promise<br />
you will not be disappointed with our work.<br />
We are also a member of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).<br />
What We Offer:<br />
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feel free to call us today on<br />
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Alternatively, you can find us on FACEBOOK<br />
Contact Us<br />
Please feel free to contact us<br />
regarding any of our services using<br />
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Address:<br />
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Email.<br />
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Veterans Help<br />
Other Helpful Links<br />
Our Links
A word from the Ed<br />
<strong>The</strong> SBT is slowly getting<br />
bigger and bigger. More pages,<br />
many more readers, more<br />
content, more news stories and<br />
lots more work for me. It’s a<br />
good job I love writing this.<br />
Got to say thank you to Vickie<br />
who is now taking on more<br />
articles and a bigger role in<br />
getting this mag up to the best<br />
we can. She is now (quite<br />
eagerly) taking on the Historical<br />
Tommy Atkins. In fact, this<br />
weeks story has a personal<br />
connection. It’s a great read if<br />
you haven’t read it already.<br />
<strong>The</strong> big story this week is the<br />
Invictus Games. What a week<br />
it has been, the games have<br />
shown the real spirit of<br />
humanity in so many ways.<br />
<strong>The</strong> build up to the games<br />
seemed a little much to begin<br />
with but I have to admit, I was<br />
very wrong. Team GB<br />
managed 131 medals in total<br />
including a clean sweep in the<br />
Men’s Heavyweight<br />
Powerlifting.<br />
It’s difficult to watch the games<br />
and not take in the many<br />
stories that surround the<br />
competitors. I hate that Nick<br />
Knowles always makes my<br />
eyes leak!! (Only joking Nick,<br />
you’re a star).<br />
What a touching moment<br />
when Sgt Elizabeth Marks<br />
asked Prince Harry to give her<br />
Gold medal to the hospital<br />
that saved her life over here in<br />
the UK. More waterworks!!!<br />
New website will be making an<br />
appearance very soon<br />
complete with a newsletter,<br />
mailing list etc. Can’t wait.<br />
Ways to find us<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Sandbag</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
www.sandbagtimes.com<br />
thesandbagtimes<br />
@thesandbagtimes<br />
info@sandbagtimes.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
Aftershock Blog – Matthew Green<br />
Last week I visited the Tower of London for the launch of the ‘Veterans'<br />
Survival Guide’ – written by a former Corporal called Jimmy Johnson who<br />
suffered post-traumatic stress disorder while serving in <strong>No</strong>rthern Ireland in the<br />
early 1970s. (If you want a free copy of this excellent book, published by<br />
Elliott & Thompson, please write to one of the addresses below).<br />
Johnson wanted to help ex-forces and their families understand PTSD from a<br />
soldier’s perspective. <strong>The</strong>re have been a number of memoirs in this vein, but<br />
his story is different. For 30 years, Johnson has been incarcerated at HMP<br />
Frankland, the maximum security facility outside Durham. In the words of the<br />
taxi driver who dropped me at the gate: “That’s where the bad boys go.”<br />
I had arranged to meet Johnson in early 2015 after corresponding with him<br />
while researching Aftershock. A warder with an earpiece showed me into a<br />
tiny room used for lawyers’ visits, bare apart from a functional-looking wall<br />
clock. <strong>The</strong> table and chairs were bolted to the floor. “Any problems, just<br />
shout,” the guard said, though he need not have worried.<br />
At 69, Jimmy cut an avuncular, gentlemanly figure – so much so that it was<br />
difficult to fathom that he had spent decades living in a cell. Time had not<br />
dulled his memory of his tours, and he recalled incidents with the clarity of a<br />
curator explaining the significance of a museum’s most significant artefacts. He<br />
wrote the guide, he said, because he had seen so many ex-forces pass through<br />
the prison system since he was first convicted in the 1970s and wanted others<br />
to avoid his fate.<br />
Johnson, who won a Mention in Dispatches for bravery, committed his first<br />
murder several months after leaving the army in December, 1973. <strong>The</strong> victim<br />
was a security guard who had given him a lift outside Middlesbrough. Some<br />
kids had thrown something against the side of their van – a football perhaps,<br />
or a piece of brick. <strong>The</strong> crash triggered something in Johnson. Convinced he<br />
was fighting for his life in Belfast, he fatally beat the man with a scaffold pole.<br />
He served nine years then, <strong>18</strong> months after being released on parole, killed<br />
again. This time the trigger was children screaming in the street and the<br />
murder weapon was a lump hammer. It was only when Johnson befriended a<br />
doctor, who was serving time for killing his wife, that he heard about the then<br />
new diagnosis of PTSD – which had not existed at the time of his first<br />
conviction.<br />
Johnson spent years writing letters to anyone who might listen, until one day<br />
he received a reply from General <strong>The</strong> Lord Richard Dannatt, the former<br />
Chief of the General Staff, who had also served in <strong>No</strong>rthern Ireland at about<br />
the same time. Dannatt visited Johnson and arranged for him to be seen by a<br />
Information Page<br />
forensic psychiatrist, who concluded he was suffering from PTSD. Dannatt<br />
persuaded several charities to fund the publication of Johnson's Guide, wrote<br />
the foreword and hosted a launch at his official residence at the Tower on<br />
May 4.<br />
King's research shows that veterans who saw combat in Afghanistan and Iraq<br />
are at a disproportionate risk of committing a violent offence, particularly if<br />
they suffer from trauma. Though a government analysis put the percentage of<br />
veterans in the prison population of England and Wales at 3.5, virtually all the<br />
warders and probation officers I’ve spoken to are convinced the true figure is<br />
7-10 percent –making ex-forces the single biggest group in prison by<br />
profession.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are people trying to change this. At the Tower, I bumped into Colin<br />
Back, national manager of Project <strong>No</strong>va, launched in July, 2014 to support exforces<br />
from the moment they are arrested. <strong>The</strong> scheme is working: Back told<br />
me that only five percent of the 489 veterans reached so far have reoffended.<br />
Courts have formally recognised that Project <strong>No</strong>va interventions have stopped<br />
a custodial sentence being handed down in 11 cases. It’s a start, but for<br />
Johnson – and perhaps many others like him – Project <strong>No</strong>va has come several<br />
decades too late.<br />
To obtain a free copy of the Veterans' Survival Guide, please write to either:<br />
Combat Stress<br />
CEO – Sue Freeth<br />
Tyrwhitt House,<br />
Oaklawn Road,<br />
Leatherhead,<br />
Surrey<br />
KT22 0BX<br />
Tel: 01372 587000<br />
SSAFA<br />
CEO – David Murray<br />
4 St Dunstan’s Hill,<br />
London<br />
EC3R 8AD<br />
Tel: 020 7403 8783<br />
AFTERSHOCK EVENTS:<br />
<strong>The</strong> National Army Museum has organised a panel discussion on how we can<br />
best support veterans with myself, Afghan veteran Jake Wood, and Dr Fiona<br />
Reid<br />
Date: Thursday, 19 th May 2016 at 7pm<br />
Venue: Army & Navy Club, 36-39 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JN<br />
I am presenting Aftershock at the <strong>No</strong>rfolk and <strong>No</strong>rwich Festival<br />
Date: Saturday 21 st May at 4pm<br />
Venue: Writers' Centre <strong>No</strong>rwich, Dragon Hall<br />
For more information on events or to purchase my book Aftershock please<br />
visit my website:<br />
www.matthewgreenjournalism.com<br />
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