Very intersting. Reading something slow time is so much better than seeing the banal 2 minutes that the BBC sometime allocates it. Its not so much the quality (beautifully observed that it is, it reminds me of The National Geographic from its 50s - in my opinion - heyday), more the detail and pace of the work.. it just sits better and consequently, it registers better. I'm glad we are remembering the art of 'proper' war reporting and not the banal, dumbed down 'giago' TV approach.
This made me pause for thought. Its just basic Op Banner stuff that we used to do all the time.. so why aren't we equipping the troops now with the basics when and where they need them? We're not talking helicopters, sophisticated anti- IED equipment, armoured wagons or 21st century encrypted radios that work.. but the basics.. just bloody ladders for Christ's sake.
Joseph Etchells had been killed nearby almost exactly a month ago, on 19 July. Several times, the events of Joseph’s loss were recounted to me, in clear hopes that important details would be told. I said not to worry, it will be told. The missing details were that soldiers had complained about not having enough ladders to scale walls to avoid dangerous compound entrances. During a mission the soldiers needed to get over a wall but were without a ladder, and so Joseph Etchells volunteered to go through the entrance, where he stepped on a pressure plate.
