Jim Auld, 72, was one of 14 ‘hooded men’ subjected to interrogation methods since ruled as torture
Jim Auld was so tortured by British army interrogators during the Troubles that he tried to kill himself. He survived but has never seen a counsellor or psychologist or psychiatrist, and never will.
“I don’t trust them that it wouldn’t end up in a paper somewhere. I don’t want the torturers learning from me so they can improve their techniques,” he said last week.
Continue reading...MoD concedes to longstanding demands for statutory inquiry into allegations dating back to 2010
Ministers have announced a statutory judge-led inquiry into allegations of more than 50 summary killings by SAS soldiers in Afghanistan, a decision made after years of reports that elite British troops killed civilians in cold blood.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Andrew Murrison, the minister for defence people, said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would concede to longstanding demands for an “independent statutory inquiry” after years of dismissing the idea. The inquiry will cover the period from mid-2010 to mid-2013.
Continue reading...Ioane Koroiveibau’s case gives hopes to hundreds of other Commonwealth nationals who served in UK forces
A Fijian British army veteran who suffered from deafness after serving in Afghanistan has been allowed to return to the UK, in a case that gives hope to hundreds of other Commonwealth former soldiers living abroad.
Ioane Koroiveibau, 36, gave up on Britain in 2015 when his immigration paperwork was lost after his discharge on medical grounds, his hearing loss caused by repeated exposure to gunfire on a dangerous tour in Helmand.
Continue reading...Party also questions whether troops would ‘bail out failing services rather than provide emergency back-up’
Labour has complained that the British army is being used to “bail out failing services” in the UK, at a time when the threat from Russia remains acute and British forces are being withdrawn from Estonia.
John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, has written to the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, to warn that troops “may be diverted from essential defence tasks” to plug staffing gaps caused by strikes in Border Force, the NHS and elsewhere.
Continue reading...Families sent letter admitting to failures amid claims of squalid and even dangerous accommodation
The Ministry of Defence has been forced to apologise after army families were left enduring the “unacceptable” standards of housing contractors given management deals worth £650m six months ago.
The contracts had been lauded by the defence minister Leo Docherty in April but a letter was sent to families last week admitting to multiple failures amid claims of squalid and even dangerous accommodation.
Continue reading...Sgt Gavin Hillier was shot at Castlemartin range by short-sighted soldier not wearing corrective lenses
An army sergeant who led a “distinguished career” was shot and killed after being mistaken for a firing target by a short-sighted soldier during a training exercise, a report has found.
Sgt Gavin Hillier, 35, of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, died at the Castlemartin range in Pembrokeshire on 4 March 2021.
Continue reading...Up to 10,000 new recruits will train for several weeks to help in their country’s fight against Russia
British forces have begun training Ukrainian soldiers in a new programme to help in their fight against Russia.
Up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers will arrive in the UK for specialist military training lasting several weeks. The first cohort met the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed.
Continue reading...Investigation under way after pictures of Elon Musk uploaded to video channel and posts about NFTs seen on Twitter
The British army has confirmed a breach of its Twitter and YouTube accounts and an investigation is under way after both official sites appeared to have been hacked.
The army’s YouTube channel features videos on cryptocurrency and images of billionaire businessman Elon Musk. The official Twitter account has retweeted a number of posts appearing to relate to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These are crypto assets – such as an image, video or text – of which people can be certified as owners.
Continue reading...Forty-two hunger strikers are part of group of 89 Sri Lankans whose boat was intercepted in Indian Ocean by UK military
Dozens of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who have been detained for more than seven months in a military base on an overseas territory claimed by Britain have gone on hunger strike in despair at their plight.
The 42 hunger strikers are part of a group of 89 Sri Lankans, including 20 children, whose boat was intercepted and escorted to Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean by the British military after running into distress while apparently headed to Canada from India in October.
Continue reading...Unresolved safety issues has led to four-year delay of 589 vehicles, leaving army with ageing equipment
The delivery of a fleet of armoured vehicles will be a significant challenge for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) because of failures that have led to delays and unresolved safety problems, according to the public spending watchdog.
The MoD has a £5.5bn contract with General Dynamics Land Systems UK (GDLS-UK) for the design, manufacture and initial in-service support of 589 Ajax armoured vehicles.
Continue reading...Gen Sir Nick Carter says alleged murder of Agnes Wanjiru by British soldier was ‘truly shocking’
The head of the British armed forces has said the military will be working with Kenyan authorities to bring those accused of killing a young woman in the east African country to trial.
The body of Agnes Wanjiru, 21, was found in 2012 after she reportedly went out partying with British soldiers at the Lions Court hotel in the central town of Nanyuki, where the UK army has a permanent garrison.
Continue reading...Agnes Wanjiru’s family instruct law firm to demand answers over her death
The family of a young Kenyan woman allegedly murdered by a British soldier almost a decade ago plans to sue the Ministry of Defence to demand answers over her death.
The body of Agnes Wanjiru, 21, was found in 2012 after she reportedly went out partying with British soldiers at the Lions Court hotel in the central town of Nanyuki, where the UK army has a permanent garrison.
Continue reading...Reports that British soldier confessed to Kenyan woman’s murder in 2012 have deeply affected relatives in Nanyuki
A vibrant sisal plant in a public cemetery on the outskirts of Nanyuki in Kenya marks the grave of Agnes Wanjiru, the woman allegedly murdered by a British soldier in March 2012.
It is easy to miss the grave due to heavy undergrowth in the unkempt cemetery.
Continue reading...Inquest in Kenya in 2019 concluded that Agnes Wanjiru, 21, ‘was murdered by British soldiers’
The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, is facing calls to launch an investigation into a possible cover-up after no one was held responsible for the alleged killing of a 21-year old Kenyan woman by one or more off-duty British soldiers.
John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, described the 2012 killing of Agnes Wanjiru, a sex worker, as “dreadful” and called for Wallace to “take this more seriously”.
Continue reading...A celebration of the achievements of the Britain’s oldest para veteran, who died last week aged 101
I first met Victor Gregg on a freezing afternoon in 2009 when we were to talk about his experiences in the second world war.
He was 90 and had sent me an email saying he would pick me up at Winchester station. When I arrived there was no sign of him. After 10 minutes a car parked up the road flashed its lights. It was Vic practising a routine he had learned more than 50 years earlier in the Western Desert, when Rifleman Gregg was assigned to Vladimir Peniakoff, the founder of “Popski’s Private Army”, a unit of British special forces. Vic’s job was to drive thousands of miles, alone, through the dunes, carrying stores and intelligence to Popski’s contacts. Vic said Popski had told him: “Before you go in, suss out how you are going to get out.” This was a life lesson for Vic, I had just been “sussed out” by him before going further.
Continue reading...As the fighters advanced on Kabul, it was civilians who mobilised to help with the evacuation. In the absence of a plan, the hardest decisions fell on inexperienced volunteers, and the stress began to tell
In the weeks before Kabul fell, my mind was strangely calm. There is a moment just before the world falls apart, when human beings almost believe they can reverse the sequence of events that has brought them to this point – a flash of magical thinking in which they can will a different reality into existence.
On 2 July, when the Americans left Bagram airbase, I woke up in London with a horrible headache. My phone was inundated with messages of disbelief. “I am so sorry about it,” a few friends wrote, but they couldn’t name “it”. I couldn’t name it either.
Continue reading...James Heappey, armed forces minister, says it is important to let veterans know their service was not in vain
British veterans of the conflict in Afghanistan will be feeling vulnerable and questioning whether their service was worth it as they witness the country fall to the Taliban once again, a UK government minister has said.
James Heappey, the armed forces minister and former British army officer, was forced to backtrack during media interviews on Monday over a claim he made that a soldier who served in Afghanistan had taken his own life in the last few days.
Continue reading...Former soldiers express anger and heartbreak as service in 20-year war rendered ‘pointless’
As chaotic scenes unfolded more than 4,000 miles away in Kabul, veterans of the 20-year conflict and families who lost loved ones on the battlefield have been asking the stark question: “Was it worth it?”
“There is a generation of Afghans who have been given a taste of what freedom is like, so you never know, but it feels pretty bleak at the moment,” said Andrew Fox, a former major in the Parachute Regiment who served on three tours of Afghanistan and who has spoken openly about the impact of PTSD on his own health.
Continue reading...Landmark parliamentary report features evidence of gang rape, sex for career advancement and trophies to ‘bag the woman’
Almost two-thirds of women in the armed forces have experienced bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination during their career, according to a parliamentary report that says the UK military is “failing to protect” female recruits.
Heralding its inquiry into the treatment of women in the armed forces as one of the most vital in its history, the defence subcommittee said 62% of the 4,106 veterans and current female personnel who gave testimony had either witnessed or received “unacceptable behaviour”.
Continue reading...British soldier falls through roof of California house, crashing into the kitchen in a burst of insulation and roofing material
A British paratrooper whose parachute failed to open correctly sustained only “minor injuries” after a 15,000ft fall took him through the roof of a house in California, crashing into the kitchen in a burst of insulation and roofing material.
The soldier, who was not immediately named, jumped out of a plane during a High Altitude Low Opening (Halo) exercise, a technique used by special forces. He lost control as he approached the ground near Camp Roberts, in Atascadero.
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