Sir Roger Bannister and the Affect of Heat and Humidity
I didn’t realise that one of the first papers that Sir Roger produced was about the affect of heat and humidity on people. He did his research in Aden in 1957.
I couldn’t find the paper, but I did find him quoted in a Powerpoint presentation on the subject, written Col. John Gardner, MD for the United States Army or Marines.
The notion that courage and esprit de corps can somehow defeat the principles of physiology is not only wrong but dangerously wrong.
I don’t know what the temperatures and humidity are like in Afghanistan are like, but do the British and American forces take note of the doctor.
King’s Troop Say Good-Bye to St. John’s Wood
Today was in some ways a sad day, but also a proud one, as the King’s Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery marched through St. John’s Wood for the last time, as reported here in the Westminster Chronicle. They were on their way to fire a salute in Hyde Park to mark the start of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
In the next day or so, they will ride to their new purpose-built barracks at Woolwich.
Tomorrow, they will probably be on most front pages.
Gordon Brown and the Gurkhas
During the Second World War, the husband of one of my father’s employees, had been fighting the Germans in the Western Desert. One of his duties at one time, was to liaise with the Gurkhas and he had many tales of their bravery, which I heard in the 1950s.
So I have a lot of respect for those from other countries, like Fijians and Zimbabweans who have taken the King’s or Queen’s shilling.
I don’t know who put the thought in my mind, but I’ve generally felt that to recruit soldiers from abroad has been one way to get the costs down.
So when the campaign started to give former Gurkha soldiers the right to settle here, I was generally in favour, although I had a few reservations about how it would be implemented fairly. Gordon Brown had no choice but to give in to the demands, as this report from the Guardian shows.
I don’t blame him for doing it, but he didn’t fund the consequences of his decision. He was very weak and didn’t think things through properly. In other words, he showed his true colours and probably hastened the end of his tenure at Number 10.
So now we have reports from Aldershot, about hardship and resentment from the local inhabitants. It led to a very heated debate on Radio 5 this morning.
All of this could have been avoided by Gordon Brown calculating what the cost of his actions would be. But then we all know to our cost that arithmetic wasn’t his strong suit.
James Blunt and His Part in Stopping World War 3
The story isn’t quite as dramatic as that, but it shows the different in attitude between US and UK forces, when it comes to dealing with a little local difficulty over Pristina airfield in Kosovo with the Russians.
In the end the view of General Mike Jackson prevailed over that of his commander, the US general, Wesley Clark. So Blunt and his troops, encircled the Russians and when the Russians food and water ran out, the Russians felt it prudent to co-operate and share the airfield.
But even so, Blunt admitted that he wouldn’t have fought the Russians, as he didn’t want to be the man who started World War 3, even if he had been court-martialed later.
Colonel Tim Collins Shoots From The Hip
Colonel Tim Collins, was the army officer who gave the inspirational speech to his troops before the last Iraq War.
He’s just been on Kate Silverton’s program on Radio 5, being as forthright as anybody I’ve heard in the last few months.
A few points.
- He said that Tony Blair had surrounded himself with obsequious advisers who weren’t up to the job.
- He wished that the second Iraq war had been more like the first, with a coalition of sixty countries.
- On Northern Ireland he said that Yesterday’s men are still trying to get the war going. But the real problem is lack of jobs and especially for young people in the province.
- He was very scathing about Defence Procurement, saying that they squandered all the money.
- Asked about the defence cuts, he said something like if Virgin could do the long-range troop deployments, the Navy the strike and the battlefield helicopters were under the Army, then what is there for the Air Force to do.
- As Colonel Tim is a proud Irishman, I was surprised he would want to have dinner with Oliver Cromwell. But then he said he wanted to get to know the man.
It was an amazing interview full of common sense and humanity.
Gay Soldiers
I was heartened by this article in The Times about a soldier who is openly gay. Surely the only qualification for a job like that is to be good at it. And brave! I couldn’t have done it!
From the article, I get the impression that no-one is bothered at all. Let’s hope it stays that way!
Good! Very good!
The Anonymous Widower 