It was a day in November 1971, Brigadier Richard Mansfield Bremner, the commandant of the British Army’s Intelligence Corps, took his seat at his desk at Templer Barracks in Ashford situated to the southeast of London.
Exactly one month after Britain’s declaration of war on the German Reich (September 3, 1939) a U-boot skipper’s audacious opportunism sent the first of five of Britain’s battleships and battlecruisers to the bottom of Scapa Flow. Situated on Scotland’s stormy west coast this fortress harbour served as an English lair from which Royal Navy ships ambushed German shipping navigating the North Sea.
In 1917 Senator Hiram Johnson reminded the Senate that the first casualty when war comes is truth. War, as a U.S. general pointed out is ‘nothing personal, it is just business.’
War is a horrendous thing. The worst atrocities often occur in it, but even there there is sometimes a place for humane and honorable treatment of the enemy.
Children of my Gaza refugee camp were rarely afraid of monsters but fearful of nightmarish US-backed Israeli soldiers. This is all that we talked about before going to bed. Unlike imaginary monsters in the closet or under the bed, Israeli soldiers are real, and they could show up any minute – at the door, on the roof or, as was often the case, right in the middle of the house.
On its release, Stevie Spielberg’s Band of Brothers movie came under fire and received numerous direct hits fired by credible critics. Still living British World War Two veterans and military historians supported the objections. Many of the lurid claims made in the movie were denounced as ‘a fantasy, a total travesty from beginning to end, a pack of lies and a vainglorious re-writing of history.’
German Anisimov, a Red Army veteran spent over a year as a captive of Afghan tribesmen and ended up in Switzerland with the aid of the Red Cross. Returning to his motherland two years later, he has finally achieved the status of a combat veteran.
Retired American Colonel Douglas McGregor believes that the Ukrainian army was actually defeated by Russia. According to the ex-officer, Ukraine has already lost its statehood, and the outcome of the conflict has been resolved.
Murmansk was completely destroyed during World War II. In terms of the number of German bombs dropped per square meter, it is second only to Stalingrad. Located on the coast of the cold Barents Sea, Murmansk serves today as the main northern gateway of Russia. One of the country’s largest ports, through which it conducts regular trade with the rest of the world, is located here.
Can you imagine what it must be like to be marched out to face a firing squad, say goodbye to your closest friend who is standing next to you and then have the squad shoulder their rifles and march away having not fired a shot? What are the odds of that happening during a war situation?
Michael Walsh Stories and Books 
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