“She sat at the back and they said she was shy, She led from the front and they hated her pride, They asked her advice and then questioned her guidance, They branded her loud, then were shocked by her silence, When she shared no ambition they said it was sad, So she told them her

Tributes have been paid to Lt Lily-Mae Fisher, the 31-year-old Royal Navy commando from Virginia Water, who was one of three personnel killed in a helicopter training crash on Wednesday. More here: bbc.in/3PGtupK

Lily-Mae Fisher. I never met her, but I had been following her for some time. As a CCF officer working with young people considering a military career, she was an extraordinary role model, not just for what she achieved, but for how generously she shared her journey.

Lieutenant Lily-Mae Fisher, 31, from Virginia Water, Surrey. Britain’s only serving female Royal Navy Commando. Killed in training on 3 June 2026 when a Merlin Mk4 from 846 Naval Air Squadron crashed at Sourton Down, Devon. The career arc was extraordinary. An MSc in Geology from Imperial College London in 2016. Junior international representative for England in lacrosse and pole vault. Two years as a geologist with British Petroleum before commissioning in 2019 into the Royal Navy. During a break in flying training she completed the 16 week All Arms Commando Course, earning the green beret as one of only seven women in British military history to do so, and becoming the UK’s only serving female Royal Navy Commando. She was killed on her final assessment of flying training. Her Pilot’s Wings were to be awarded in June 2026. She died alongside Lieutenant Commander Chris Gayson, 42, and Petty Officer Owen Green, 24.

The Ukrainian people and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Professor Dag Øistein Endsjø of the University of Oslo officially nominated the Ukrainian people and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. As a university professor, he holds the formal right to submit nominations. His argument: by defending their democracy against Russian aggression, the Ukrainian people have helped preserve peace across Europe. The nomination is not just about Zelensky as an individual. It recognizes an entire nation that has been resisting occupation, violence, and repression since 2014, and especially since the full-scale invasion of 2022.

Goodbye March! At times you were bitingly cold and relentlessly dark … but I kept watching and there were plenty of moments of beauty to catch. Thanks for everything. x

JUST IN: Ukraine just deployed anti-drone soldiers to Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The country Russia has been bombing with Iranian Shahed drones for three years is now defending Gulf states from the same Iranian Shahed drones. Read that sentence until the full geometry of this war becomes visible. Zelensky announced on 10th March that Ukrainian military teams equipped with low-cost interceptor drones and electronic warfare systems have arrived in all three Gulf states this week, with a separate team deployed to Jordan for US base protection. The deployment follows direct requests from Washington and calls from Gulf leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince MBS. The interceptors cost between $1,000 and $2,000 each. A Patriot missile costs $3 to $4 million. An Iron Dome Tamir interceptor costs $50,000 to $100,000. A Shahed drone costs $20,000 to $50,000. Ukraine’s battle-tested ramming drones, some 3D-printed and produced at rates of up to 950 per day, achieve over 60 to 70% kill rates against Shahed swarms at a thousandth of the cost of a Patriot. They are disposable. They are scalable. And they have been tested against the exact weapon system they are now deployed to counter, because Iran designed the Shahed and Russia has been launching them at Ukraine since 2022. No other country on Earth has more operational experience killing Shaheds than Ukraine. No other country can offer that expertise at this price. And no other country needs something from the United States as desperately as Ukraine needs Patriot batteries for its own survival. This is the quid pro quo nobody saw coming. Zelensky is not donating expertise. He is trading it. Ukrainian drone killers for American air defence missiles. Shahed interception capability for Patriot deliveries. The country that cannot defend its own power grid without Western systems is now defending Gulf oil infrastructure with indigenous technology cheaper than anything in the American arsenal. The leverage is extraordinary: Ukraine offers the one capability the Gulf urgently needs, at a cost the Pentagon cannot match, in exchange for the one capability Ukraine urgently needs and only Washington can provide. While the US strips THAAD and Patriot batteries from South Korea and ships them to the Gulf at enormous logistical cost, Ukraine arrives with $1,000 drones in cargo containers. While Ghalibaf mocks American escorts as PlayStation, Ukrainian teams set up electronic warfare jammers on Gulf airfields. While the White House blames a staffer for a deleted post about an escort that never happened, Ukraine delivers the capability the post falsely claimed existed. The Iran war just merged with the Russia war through the one weapon system they share: the Shahed drone. Designed in Iran. Manufactured for Russia. Launched against Ukraine for three years. Now launched against the Gulf. And intercepted in both theatres by the same Ukrainian operators using the same $1,000 technology. Iran built the drone. Russia scaled it. Ukraine learned to kill it. And now Ukraine is selling that knowledge to the countries Iran is attacking, funded by the country Russia is fighting. The circle is complete. The wars are one. Full analysis below. open.substack.com/pub/shanak…

11th March, 2020 Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon, aged 26 from Ayr, a reservist and Combat Medical Technician with the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry, was killed in an insurgent rocket attack on Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, Iraq Lest we Forget this very brave young lady 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇬🇧

It's International Women's Day. I am reminded of the 1,426 Polish Women who served in the PAF and RAF. One of my favourite items on display @BofBBunker is a lighter belonging to Alicja Kallinjecka 300 Squadron. There are also some exhibits at The Polish Bomber Squadrons Centre.

I hope the courage and selfless sacrifice of the Belgian agents and parachutists will become known more widely outside Belgium. They played an enormous part in the defeat of the occupying German forces and in the restoration of democracy to Europe!

:-(

Each #IWD makes me think of women whom I find inspiring. Each year I am continuously drawn to Sophie Scholl. If you are hearing Sophie's name for the first time, please do read on for a short insight into an incredibly brave young woman: tinyurl.com/529eraw5

Please take a moment to pray for our fallen soldiers, their families, and our veterans who have sacrificed so much for this nation. Please also keep all of our brave men and women who continue to serve in your prayers, standing watch and protecting the freedoms we enjoy today. 🇺🇸🙏

#LestWeForget #RoyalNavy #WW2 #SecondWorldWar

Remembering Acting Matron Margaret Fraser, Canadian Army Medical Corps, died as a result of enemy action on the 8th March 1915 aged 33. Read more via this link: rememberthefallen.co.uk/nurs… #WW1 #nurses

Today is International Women’s Day. Thank you to all of the women in our lives making the world a better place. #InternationalWomensDay2026

Thanks for your service ma'am 🙏🙌💪

Lori Piestewa served her country with honor, courage, and dedication. She answered the call to protect others, even knowing the risks. Her sacrifice represents strength beyond words. As the first Native American woman to die in combat, her story reflects both bravery and the

Remembering Them On #InternationalWomensDay2026 Their Name Liveth Forevermore Sergeant Viola Wells Auxiliary Territorial Service (Royal Artillery) Age 23 11 May 1943 Killed alongside 25 other ATS soldiers, even their billet was bombed, Great Yarmouth, Cared for & commemorated by @CWGC Caister Old Cemetery

In 1979, a young Jewish woman from South Africa, named Alice Miller, moved to Israel. She joined the IDF and was accepted into the Israeli Air Force. At the time, women were not allowed to be pilots. In 1994, while she was an aeronautics student at the Technion in Haifa, she appealed to Israel's Supreme Court and asked that women be allowed to serve in combat roles in the Israeli Air Force. She won. Today, 30 of the Israeli fighter pilots striking the regime in Iran are women, 50% of Israel's air-defense fighters are women, about 20% of the reservists mobilized for Operation “Roar of the Lion” are women, and in the navy, 25 women serving as naval officers on ships are women. May the women of Iran see freedom soon and get to defend their homeland from the Ayatollahs very soon.