View Full Version : A Special Dispatch for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
I know I've posted links to his reports before, but he really is a terrific reporter - and only financed by individuals. I am now sponsoring him to a lot more than I have ever spent here (sorry Danny :\ )
Death or Glory - Part I of IV (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/death-or-glory.htm) - A Special Dispatch for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II :ok::ok:
I'd love it if AARSE could pick him up as a link and sponsor him. he's a damn sight more value than the British press or MOD...
angels
5th Jun 2007, 08:58
Many thanks for the link matey.
Engrossing stuff.
TheSmiter
5th Jun 2007, 10:22
Brilliant piece of reportage - shame it takes a cousin to accurately portray the life of a British combat soldier in Iraq. Why have I not read anything like this from our own home grown journos?
No wonder they didn't want Harry to go out there!
cliver029
5th Jun 2007, 11:47
You might like to try "Dusty Warriors" by Richard Holmes.
brickhistory
5th Jun 2007, 13:14
Wow, good, accurate journalism without an editorial slant.
No wonder he's not affliated with any formal media.
A good, businesslike article describing the sights, sounds, and reactions.
:ok:
TheSmiter
5th Jun 2007, 13:31
You might like to try "Dusty Warriors" by Richard Holmes
Thanks cliver I'll put it on my next sandpit library list.
Last time read My War: Killing Time in Iraq - Colby Buzzel
One grunt's amusing, cynical view of Iraq with little political depth. Whiled away the PAR in my pit :uhoh: though.
Death or Glory, Part 2 of 4 (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/death-or-glory-part-ii-of-iv.htm)
.......Despite the British press reports that make their own soldiers out to be cowering on bases in Basra, truck after truck of them here were in high spirits. News flash: Those reports are false. Derelict media coverage is another aspect of this war British and American soldiers share, and it rankles here in the southern part of Iraq as deeply as it does everywhere else. Practically no one writes about the Brits down here. Important pages in history remain unwritten, while policy decisions are based on the public perception that all is lost here. That this public perception is based on what I have called “The Green Gator Phenomenon” (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/the-green-gator-phenomena.htm) is an irony that is noted, but not appreciated...........
Grimweasel
8th Jun 2007, 22:35
Very good and interesting journo.
Good to see that the C130 boys get a mention and the old habit of burning the 'dufalite' EDM has migrated from Keevil to Iraq!!
Shame one MALDROPed . Do the 'chutes get recovered or are they using first drop ADUX?
Robert Cooper
9th Jun 2007, 03:55
Some of us over here have been reading this guy for a while. It's interesting that the British journos aren't this factual. At least, not that I've seen.
Bob C
Dan Reno
9th Jun 2007, 09:09
Perhaps HM best see to old heroes with VCs first so that our new ones know she's behind them.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=277365&page=14
Reds Groupy
9th Jun 2007, 16:56
Just read parts 1 and 2. What an absolute eye opener. It's good to have an insight into what really goes on and to read all the comments from the US about their appreciation of the efforts of the Brits.
polyglory
9th Jun 2007, 22:49
I thoroughly agree, enjoyed reading it, a style sadly missing in our own bunch of reporters and puts you there with them.
Two's in
10th Jun 2007, 03:17
Quality dispatches from someone with real cajones, instead of the usual tosh from the slickly coiffured Anchor wankers. Anyone who has served in the Military will recognise this as an authentic slice of life from professional soldiers. They do the job they have been trained to do, always to consistently high standards, while delivering the military capability that has been asked of them. This story is about the Lancers, but it could apply equally as well to any branch of HM Forces wherever they serve.
One of the reasons they remain so professional during operations is the understanding that whatever the equipment shortcomings, political myopia, or the varying levels of public and media support that go on behind the scenes, they must remain decoupled from those distractions in order to perform the military mission.
The unfortunate comments and mud-slinging on the end of these reports are indicative of the level of polarization within society that has been achieved in the execution of these conflicts. The average civilian fails to realize that being publicly for or against a political agenda is not often a luxury afforded to the military professional, especially during operations.
Death or Glory Part III of IV (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/death-or-glory-part-iii-of-iv.htm)
.............“Death or Glory” is the motto of the Queen’s Royal Lancers. An adventurous soul could buy a camel from one of the Bedouins for two or three thousand dollars (that’s the going price, they say) and wander around deserts like Lawrence, maybe conquer and unite some querulous tribes, assemble thousands of camels and a thousand men with knives, take a harem, then attack the Persians. But the British soldiers apparently do not care to conquer the region, and most seem satisfied with confronting only those who shoot at them first....
Death or Glory - Part IV (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/death-or-glory-part-iv.htm)
.....The geo-political irony of an American writer standing with a British officer haggling with an Iraqi shepherd just near the Iranian border which borders Afghanistan—where Brits and Americans are fighting, and opium is involved and there is a border with China—which borders Pakistan which borders India which borders Burma…that’s enough…and that British people see this as an American war they got sucked into, was nearly traumatically humorous. Our tracks just keep overlapping and following us......
Be Not Afraid (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/be-not-afraid.htm)
Thoughts flow on the eve of a great battle. By the time these words are released, we will be in combat. Few ears have heard even rumors of this battle, and fewer still are the eyes that will see its full scope. Even now—the battle has already begun for some—practically no news about it is flowing home. I’ve known of the secret plans for about a month, but have remained silent.
This campaign is actually a series of carefully orchestrated battalion and brigade sized battles. Collectively, it is probably the largest battle since “major hostilities” ended more than four years ago. Even the media here on the ground do not seem to have sensed its scale.