Armed Forces ~ Armed Forces Day
TODAY IS Armed Forces Day.
Whilst we have, as a nation, and as a group of nations around the world and within the Commonwealth, acknowledged our gratitude in commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion on June 6 1944, and its counterpart, VE Day May 8 1945 (Victory in Europe) it is imperative that we remember our present armed forces - the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Marines, and our Special Forces, and the Royal Air Force.
The R.A.F. is now in its 102nd year.
Our Special Forces are a vital part of our overall military commitment, their forbears from which they take their very proud title, being the wartime Special Operations Executive (SOE) and formed at the personal instigation of Winston Churchill during the Second World War. Let us also not forget that SOE comprised both men and women and many, of both sexes, when caught were tortured and then executed.
Although we are currently "at peace", our armed forces are serving in many parts of the world, often in very dangerous combat zones, and also undertaking combat operations. Many duties are through the auspices of the United Nations Charter (UN); others are through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Today's Armed Forces remind us that we owe our freedom to those who served before them. We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude in this century alone for the hundreds who were killed in action during the Second Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan.
If anyone wonders about today's forces, and whether they measure up to their forebears, read these two outstanding books:
"Danger Close" by Colonel Stuart Tootal, Commanding 3 Para in Afghanistan
"No Way Out" by Major Adam Jowett
27 June 2020
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© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2023
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
