prince out to war

[onlyme]

Originally Posted by jambutty

A nice safe posting well out of harm’s way at what General Dannatt called Forward Operating Base Dwyer. This base was allegedly 500 metres from the Taliban lines. Strange how the Taliban suddenly have clearly defined lines when in the past one of the excuses for not eradicating them was that they had no clearly defined positions. Guerrillas do not have clearly defined positions. That’s the nature of guerrilla warfare. Hit and run.

.

He was at a busy FOP which encountered attacks and injury on a regular basis. Camp Bastian would have been safer. (not any that has been mentioned)

Also, if you think about it, not one british troop serving over there 'let slip' that Harry was there. If they disagreed with it, he wouldnt have lasted 2 minutes. I think that they had the final word as to where our support shoulf go

[grannyclaret]

Originally Posted by onlyme

Exactly. He's gone up in my estimation no end. As said in another post, the fact that good old uncle Edward is in this country serving his country, by, well, erm...opening the new health centre (?!), Harry should hold his head up high.

I agree entirely

I have total respect for him now,,,He is a credit to us, and his mum would be as proud as punch,,,,,
as for Edward,,,,,what a let down..

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

What worries me most about this nonsense is the fact that the press agreed with Ministry of Defence to say nothing about it. If our supposedly free press can be subborned over something so trivial, what else have they agreed not to comment on?

Do they still have a “D” notice for the media?

For those who don’t remember - a “D” notice was a notice to the press, TV and radio not to report on an issue if it would breach national security. To do so was treason and punishable as such. But the government of the day abused it to cover issues that were not really about national security but about party security.

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by onlyme

He was at a busy FOP which encountered attacks and injury on a regular basis. Camp Bastian would have been safer. (not any that has been mentioned)

Also, if you think about it, not one british troop serving over there 'let slip' that Harry was there. If they disagreed with it, he wouldnt have lasted 2 minutes. I think that they had the final word as to where our support shoulf go

I doubt if all the troops out there were aware that Harry was back at base. What you don’t know you can’t tell. In any case soldiers are trained to follow orders and undoubtedly orders would have been to keep shtum. Revealing troop movements to friend or foe is a treasonable offence and but for the EU it would have meant the firing squad after a court martial. In the navy it would have been a hanging from a yardarm.

If you’ve been in the military you would know about such things. If you haven’t then you don’t know what you are talking about.

[onlyme]

lmao

If anyone of them had wanted to, they could have said something. Family and friends know a hell of a lot more than they are meant to. Also, access to email, phone calls etc etc meant that any info leaked out would probably never have been traced, and yet the lads respected him enough not to do it.

Incidentally, , i do try not to give opinions about things I know nothing about, something maybe other people should try.

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by onlyme

lmao

If anyone of them had wanted to, they could have said something. Family and friends know a hell of a lot more than they are meant to. Also, access to email, phone calls etc etc meant that any info leaked out would probably never have been traced, and yet the lads respected him enough not to do it.

Incidentally, , i do try not to give opinions about things I know nothing about, something maybe other people should try.

Of course self-preservation wouldn’t have had anything to do with keeping quiet, would it? The troops would be well aware that if it got out that Harry was serving with them the Taliban could re-double their efforts and they could become extra targets/casualties just to get him.

So you served in the armed forces? I did for 13 years in the Royal Navy as, what would now be described as a radio technician responsible for the maintenance and repair of radio transmitters and receivers, radar, sonar, audio and ancillary equipment associated with them. I am still bound by the Official Secrets Act and will be until my dying day for equipment that is as obsolete as the German Enigma machine.

[onlyme]

And every man and his dog who has anything to do with any sort of government work has to sign the official secrets act. I think I have signed it on at least 3 occasions. Dont believe that makes me special though...

[cashman]

Originally Posted by onlyme

And every man and his dog who has anything to do with any sort of government work has to sign the official secrets act. I think I have signed it on at least 3 occasions. Dont believe that makes me special though...

thats game set n match in my book.

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by onlyme

And every man and his dog who has anything to do with any sort of government work has to sign the official secrets act. I think I have signed it on at least 3 occasions. Dont believe that makes me special though...

Actually that is not true. At Park Brothers in Blackburn I wound the coils for and assembled magslips and servos for the navy and didn’t have to sign anything. It was the same story at Dynamo & Electric Services in Blackburn where we did numerous government contracts.

I never suggested that being subject to the Official Secrets Act makes a person special. Just pointing out that servicemen and women are subject to the act.

However you have conveniently forgotten to state whether you have been in the armed forces or not.

Do enlighten me.

[onlyme]

sorry, not served myself, but was born into it. My father did 22 years, I have a brother, cousin and friends currently serving, so feel I have at least a slight knowledge of what goes on.

Ultimately I think that every member of the armed forces (including yourself of course) should be highly commended- even if people do not serve in war zones or fire a weapon in a hostile environment, they are split from their families for months at a time, all for the sake of 'Queen and Country'. I have a fairly dim view of the armed forces in its entirety, but it doesnt stop me respecting the individuals in there, doing the job they do

[MargaretR]

I signed it too - not allowed to reveal personal data about benefit claimants

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by onlyme

sorry, not served myself, but was born into it. My father did 22 years, I have a brother, cousin and friends currently serving, so feel I have at least a slight knowledge of what goes on.

Ultimately I think that every member of the armed forces (including yourself of course) should be highly commended- even if people do not serve in war zones or fire a weapon in a hostile environment, they are split from their families for months at a time, all for the sake of 'Queen and Country'. I have a fairly dim view of the armed forces in its entirety, but it doesnt stop me respecting the individuals in there, doing the job they do

All service personnel are bound by rules and regulations named, as far as the navy is concerned, “Queens Regulations and Admiralty Instructions” lovingly known as QR’s & AI’s. The RAF and Army are also bound by the QR’s but I don’t know what their equivalent to AI’s is but you can rest assured that there is one. Even families living in married quarters are bound by the same rules.

One rule is that the armed forces must not divulge obvious secrets and operational details be they actual or practice. Thus your slight knowledge could only have been what your relations were able to tell you.

However, this is all getting away from the topic in question – Harry in Afghanistan.

Letters on Ceefax and Teletext plus some newspapers all say the same thing – the video footage was staged. And there is a precedence.

Back during WWI some battle scenes were staged for the cameras and passed off as the real thing. The reasoning being that it was not possible to film an actual battle. You may have seen at least one of them in various documentaries where it shows the soldiers going over the top and one dropping ‘dead’ at the top.

To his credit Harry is doing his best to play down the “he’s a hero” thing that others are trying to promote.

The bottom line for me is that no service person should have preferential treatment because of who s/he is.

[onlyme]

My 'slight' knowledge comes from living within the armed forces regime for the majority of my 32 years.

No-one is denying that the pictures taken were 'set up' or done so for the media. However I believe that this has done no end of good, by bringing to the forefront of the publics mind exactly where our troops are and what they are doing

As far as I am concerned, every single soldier, sailor, pilot or armed forces personnel, especially those that have served in war zones, are heros, no matter who they are, or what rank they hold.

[grannyclaret]

Originally Posted by onlyme

As far as I am concerned, every single soldier, sailor, pilot or armed forces personnel, especially those that have served in war zones, are heros, no matter who they are, or what rank they hold.

Well Said...I certainly agree with that

[Eric]

Originally Posted by onlyme

My 'slight' knowledge comes from living within the armed forces regime for the majority of my 32 years.

No-one is denying that the pictures taken were 'set up' or done so for the media. However I believe that this has done no end of good, by bringing to the forefront of the publics mind exactly where our troops are and what they are doing

As far as I am concerned, every single soldier, sailor, pilot or armed forces personnel, especially those that have served in war zones, are heros, no matter who they are, or what rank they hold.

Agree 100% .... they are all heroes ... men like Trooper Michael Yuki Hayakaze, 25 yrs old, killed in action on March 2 serving with Lord Strathcona's Horse (Edmonton, Alta.) attached to 12e Regiment Blinde du Canada (Valcartier, PQ.)