@AlistairCarns had a distinguished military career. It is damning that Benn, Starmer, Hermer, Reeves and others would not listen to him on lawfare, the Northern Ireland Bill, on defence transformation or on financial resources; and all credit to this RM veteran for stepping into the breach and his resignation on principle. His dynamite resignation, on the back of the Healey exit represents the necessary detonation of a political bomb under UK defence; highlighting how screwed up it all really is, how badly Starmer is lying to the country, and how totally irresponsible is this @UKLabour government. Carns is very right on the big things, the MoD and the “centre” are not facing reality on the changing technologies of war, they are not getting the resources they need and they are not defending veterans from lawfare. On this latter and vital point, this is led and encouraged by the UK’s own Attorney General as chief back-stabber. For this, Hermer should be the next to go. And by the way, don’t expect much from the Starmer-loyalist, ex-Para Jarvis….not every Politician has the guts to do what Carns and Healey have just done…

Many thanks to Country Life for including me amongst the 'best you can buy' (?) in their 'English Issue'.

Spoke with a young guy wanting to serve in @RoyalNavy yesterday. He explained that officer recruitment entirely remote now. Takes years and will not meet a single person, let alone an RN officer, before he gets to join BRNC. How is this getting the best where they need to be?

This @historyinmemes post refers to the events of 19 September 2005, in Basra, Southern Iraq 2 SAS men captured by Iranian-backed insurgents whilst conducting covert surveillance of an Iranian-controlled Iraqi Police Force, were about to be spirited away to Iran for ritual humiliation or worse. The British chain of command, who had ordered the SAS surveillance operation in the first place, became overly worried about the negative presentational impact of an SAS rescue operation on their plans to withdraw British Forces and hand over Southern Iraq to local police and security forces that they knew would be controlled by the Iranians. They feared that such a high profile operation would (correctly) prove to the US-led coalition and the Baghdad government that the UK was withdrawing its forces too soon, and certainly before the area was properly stable; that they were simply enabling a safe logistics base for Iranian insurgents to target Iraqi and US forces in central Iraq. Whilst the many Generals, ambitious staff officers, civil servants and diplomats (in London and Iraq) wrestled with this emerging reality and its potential consequences for their withdrawal plan - hoping that there was a less visible way to recover the men, the SAS prepared an operation to rescue their own men, the moment an opportunity presented itself. The moment it appeared, the SAS pushed past the concerns and fears of a confused, conflicted chain of command that had refused to give permission for a rescue declaring to the SAS CO “that there is more at stake than your men’s lives” and executed successfully the recovery operation, returning the men safe from the clutches of a vicious and merciless enemy. If the SAS Command hadn’t ignored the concerns and constraints of the London HQ staff and their advisors, if their rescue force hadn’t been as skilled and decisive, then the outcome would have been dreadful for their two men and for the country; and for no good reason. As Martin Luther King is reported to have said: “The time is always right to do what is right” and so it was in September 2005. 🇬🇧 🇬🇧

I heard a lovely anecdote today about Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, who has died at the age of 62. Around the time the James Bond film “Spectre” was coming out, there was a private viewing at MI6’s HQ in Vauxhall with some of the production team and actors, including Ralph Fiennes. Alex Younger compared the event, which included an opportunity for members of the audience (who were largely real life spies) to quiz the actors and producers. One person asked Ralph Fiennes: Who was your favourite Bond? He gave an answer about how they were all good, but his favourite was Daniel Craig. The rest of the team said similar. Then Alex threw the question back to the person in the audience who had posed it, asking them who their favourite Bond was. But before this person had time to give an answer, someone else in the audience shouted out: “You, sir!” The individual (a former diplomat) who shared this story with me said it was one of so many examples of how admired, liked and respected Alex was by his colleagues. “He was one of the best chiefs”.

Very well done.

EL INGLES CONDECORADO POR ARGENTINA El Cirujano Capitán Rick Jolly, médico de la Royal Navy, se convirtió en uno de los oficiales médicos más respetados en la historia militar británica y el único militar de la Guerra de las Malvinas en ser condecorado tanto por Gran Bretaña como Argentina. En 1982 estaba sirviendo como Oficial Médico Superior de la Brigada de Comando, responsable del apoyo médico de miles de Marines Reales y soldados desplegados en el Atlántico Sur. Durante la Guerra de las Malvinas, Jolly estableció y comandó el hospital de campaña en la bahía de Ajax, alojado dentro de una planta de refrigeración en desuso en San Carlos. Trabajando bajo presión constante, a menudo con suministros limitados y bajo la amenaza de un ataque aéreo argentino, Jolly y su equipo atendieron a más de 1.000 heridos, incluyendo alrededor de 300 heridos argentinos. Notablemente, de las 580 bajas en batalla británicas que llegaron vivas a la bahía de Ajax, sólo tres murieron después y ninguna murió bajo el cuidado directo de Jolly. Amigos y enemigos recibieron el mismo trato, ganándose el respeto de todos los que pasaron por el hospital. Por sus acciones durante la campaña, Rick Jolly fue nombrado Oficial de la Orden del Imperio Británico (OBE). Años después, el gobierno argentino se enteró de cuántos de sus soldados habían sobrevivido a causa del trabajo realizado en la bahía de Ajax. En 1999, le otorgaron la Orden de Mayo, uno de los más altos honores de Argentina. Esto lo convirtió en el único veterano de la Guerra de las Malvinas en ser condecorado oficialmente por ambas partes del conflicto. Cuando pidió permiso a la reina Isabel II para llevar la medalla argentina, ella personalmente aprobó la solicitud. Jolly permaneció en la Royal Navy hasta 1996, retirándose como capitán cirujano después de 24 años de servicio. Al jubilarse se convirtió en un apasionado defensor de los veteranos, ayudando a fundar la Asociación de la Medalla del Atlántico Sur y haciendo campaña por un mayor reconocimiento del trastorno de estrés postraumático entre ex militares y mujeres. También escribió varios libros, incluyendo The Red and Green Life Machine, que sigue siendo uno de los relatos de primera mano más importantes de las operaciones médicas durante la Guerra de las Malvinas. El cirujano capitán Rick Jolly murió el 13 de enero de 2018 a la edad de 71 años. Su legado perdura no sólo a través de los cientos de vidas que ayudó a salvar sino a través del ejemplo que dio de profesionalismo, coraje y humanidad en la guerra. En un conflicto definido por la valentía en tierra, mar y aire, Rick Jolly demostró que a veces el mayor acto de servicio no es quitar vida sino preservarla

19th May, 2008 Trooper James Thompson, aged 27 from Whitley Bay, of 5th Scottish Regiment Battle Group and 23 SAS, was killed by an IED blast whilst on operations in Musa Qaleh, Helmand Province Lest we Forget this brave man, the 1st SAS man killed in Afghanistan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧

80 combat sorties. 'I'm no ruddy hero' he said. 104 years old with no surviving relatives to attend his funeral, which is at Bodmin Crematorium tomorrow at 11.30. Please spread the word it's the least we can do 🙏🇬🇧 gbnews.com/news/ww2-veteran-…

People don't realise Rhodesia built a horse cavalry unit in 1975. yeah, horses, in the helicopter era. the army mocked them as "donkey wallopers". ironically that joke unit was one of the most effective and only lost 9 men in the entire war. insane to think about.

Today we are proud to recognise David Bird on his 70th birthday. David served for over 22 years in the Armed Forces, including serving with the SAS in Northern Ireland and during the First Gulf War. Following his military career, he continued to dedicate his life to keeping others safe through his work in complex and high-risk environments around the world. David’s commitment, courage and professionalism have left a lasting impact on many people and communities throughout his life and career. David is currently facing one of the greatest battles of his life as he lives with acute dementia. His family wanted to mark this special birthday by recognising the remarkable man, veteran, husband, father and grandfather that so many people know and respect. With warm wishes from everyone at the Veterans' Foundation, we thank David for his service and wish him a very happy 70th birthday.

Bardzo dobre zdjęcie poszło w świat: "Polska Straż Graniczna patroluje granicę konno". Choć to na zdjęciach ma być WOT. Jest moc!

If you’re at a loose end on Wed 20 May then I’m in conversation with the gallant Tyneside flyer @JohnNicholRAF about his excellent new book ‘Blitz: When WW2 Came Home’ at @theexchange1856 in North Shields. Ticket details here via @ForumBooks theexchange1856.com/event-de…

What was a 1930s traditional six-bedroom mansion opposite the Roehampton Gate of Richmond Park is now, well, whatever the hell that thing is.

This and another disappeared from our village churchyard on Salisbury Plain a few years ago. Hitherto thought to be no photo record, until this discovered recently. Please repost. It’s just possible that…

@RepPatHarrigan is 100% right. The retrospective application of the 1998 UK Human Rights Act to historical NI “cases” is an ideologically-driven witch hunt by @UKLabour

The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) was formed by an amalgamation of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) and the Queen's Royal Lancers on 2 May 2015. The weather was appalling but it was a memorable event.

Grateful to Times columnist Giles Coren for putting to the sword a local council pipsqueak for trying to put out of business a restaurant in the middle of nowhere where owner Ruth Hanson does all the kitchen prep herself, the washing up, the bookings, the till, payroll and then cooks it. The restaurant is called Hansom in Bedale, North Yorkshire. To give you an idea of its remoteness it’s 7 miles from Northallerton and 31 miles from York. So, on occasions, her husband Mark, who had a job of his own, gives up his evenings to chauffeur some guests to and from their homes. Coren points out when he reviewed the place last year ( he gave it a glowing recommendation) he had to hitchhike from Northallerton station. No Bedale train, no metro, no Uber hanging around at the corner. Enter Chris Doyle, licensing enforcement officer for N Yorkshire council, who has written to Ruth saying in his view Mark was operating a taxi service and that would require a raft of expensive and time consuming licences. Ruth responded that Mark was her husband, he was unpaid and there was no separate charge for the journey. Doyle said he didn’t care as there was deemed to be a commercial benefit and warned without a licence the council may take legal action. Coren has a great last paragraph; “ Yeah, you sue her, you absolute local heroes. “ You teach Ruth and Mark a lesson for being great at their jobs, for treasuring their customers, for trying to create a little joy and make ends meet in a collapsing world.” PS Thought you’d like to see what a Ruth menus looks like. This is called the Sunday Sharing Feast. Starters. Smoked Leek and Pickled Croque Monsieur Whitby Crab Crumpet Pickled cucumber, Garden herbs. Heritage beetroot, whipped goat’s Curd, Wild Garlic emulsion. Main Course Wensleydale chicken, Apricot and sage Wellington. Honey and mustard mash, buttered spring , cider sauce. Dessert Yorkshire rhubarb and ginger trifle. Cost; £55. With publicity thanks to Coren’s column and this tweet I suspect the queue will be out the door and Mark can have his evenings off again.

“Many of our policy makers and much of civil society, inspired by the success in Northern Ireland, believe that all wars and terrorism can be stopped by clever conflict-resolution discussion and compromise, forgetting that violent actors such as the IRA only come to the talking table when their paramilitary capability is rendered ineffective by the actions of a military that is trained to fight and die for its citizens.” “So much of the current criticism of the SAS’s actions of the past stems from this mistaken belief that peace and security can be achieved and maintained without fighting and sacrifice, and that those, like the SAS, that do the fighting, killing and dying on behalf of society are somehow out-of-date, illegal dinosaurs. And this is the most dangerous fiction of all.” telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04…

Any Labour MP who votes with the government on the carryover motion will be defying the explicit pleas of the SAS Association.