General Chat

Cos they'll make fun of you (Peterborough).
I take a different view from most on this subject. Twas ever so in garrison towns - jealousy over local girls usually.
We see it now as people attack firemen; spit on the floor when policemen approach.
I served in the armed forces and 30 years in the police. Up till twenty years ago no one would have made fun of us because they wouldn,t do it twice. They could complain as much as they liked and it would have got them no-where.

Now the army would fully investigate; police would refer it to the complaints board, etc.
The balance as in most things, has swung too far.
Until people are afraid of something, the lowest common denominator will hold sway.

Happy days

I agree with you Harry.................we were brought up to respect anyone in uniform and our elders.

xx

Hello Harry so nice to see you....

I totally agree we were brought up to respect uniforms or the ......... cant spell it but you know what I mean...

afternoon Harry,


sadly very little respect for anything these days, makes me very sad, what a world are we giving to our future generations !!!!!


xxLynnxx

I saw this on the news and then there was Gordon Brown telling the chaps to wear their uniforms with pride! What will he say/do when someone who listens to him, gets beaten up or worse by a gang of yobs who wouldn't have the courage to do the job the servicemen and women do?
Until parents encourage their kids into better behaviour and respect for others, teachers, police, clergy, servicefolk, their neighbours and all around them we will always have these problems.
I was proud of the young people in the crowds of all age groups cheering the Royal Anglians when they marched through Norwich after their tour of Afghanistan! If more of them learned from their families to respect others, and their property, life would be much better for everyone.
Lizx

apparently the warning/advice was given by the RAF station commander,
after the threat to ANY servicemans life, by a recently convicted terrorist.
however there HAVE been threats of violence towards servicemen, and thats why the warning was given

Bob

I have put a thread on Chat about this .....


Brown condemns no-uniform advice


Gordon Brown has condemned reports that
RAF personnel at a Cambridgeshire base were advised not to wear uniform in public for fear of verbal abuse.
He said armed forces members should be "encouraged to wear their uniform in public and have the respect and gratitude of the British people".

The decision not to wear uniform was taken by the station commander at RAF Wittering near Peterborough.

Defence minister Derek Twigg blamed "a tiny minority" for the abuse.

It has been claimed that verbal abuse has been directed at service personnel by people opposed to UK involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Air Chief Marshall Sir Glenn Torpy, said: "Whatever people's views are about specific military operations, everyone should be able to recognise the bravery and professionalism of our Armed Forces and respect the difficult job they do."





Having watched the news last week with the insight on how the troops in Afghanistan are coping with life, I think it is a shame (in the strongest sense of that word) that we don't value them enough.....

whatever your opinion on a particular conflict (eg anti-Iraq war) the servicemen and women deserve respect.

xx

Just read the news about this...surely this nothing new in the 70's service men/women were stopped from wearing their uniforms in public because of threats.

I think the war in Iraq was senseless however I would never take it out on the people who served their country.Still as much proud of them as always...

Let them take their rifles out with them !

I used to belong to a model flying club that had access to fly on one of these airfields.......
a comment from an older person once said......its a shame but there is MORE barbed wire around here now, than there was during the war.........
Bob

Absolutely right Hayley... my hubby served in the armed forces for 34 years... he left almost three years ago. Apart from the first two years, his entire service career involved the disguising of his uniform whilst going to and from work.. he certainly wasn't allowed to go to the cashpoint, or stop off and do a bit of shopping etc... in fact, QR's state that not to wear your beret whilst in uniform in public was an offence almost punishable by death by firing squad.lol!.. however, it was altered so that they could drive to and from work with their headgear off. They had to cover their uniform top half up or change when they got to work, and were not allowed to use public transport whilst wearing uniform.

It was to protect them... not to ridicule them.

Love

Daff xxx

Oh... and I wasn't allowed to hang his uniform on the line in some areas of the world, lol!!!

Those Hairy Mary's were a b****r to iron when they'd been dried indoors, I can tell you, lol!

Love

Daff xxx

Hi Harry , nice one, was that your poem in the Mail the other day? If so enjoyed it
Dave

Hi Marion... when he first joined up, we were engaged, we married at the end of his basic training.. Easter leave! He used to be able to wear his uniform home then.. and on transport, in fact his Sgt encouraged the lads (most were lads, then) to wear it, as it was easier to hitch a lift back home so they could save their precious rail passes, lol. I think the QR's on dress regs were altered in 75 or 76... two young trainee soldiers hitch-hiking home were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the IRA. There were other incidents, but I think that was the main one.

Love

Daff xxx

so what happens if there is another world war are all these sados not going to fight for thier country

1974 I was busy being evacuated from Area two in Famagusta, lol!!

I went to an awful lot of those briefings, lol... I still have an almost uncontrollable urge to accidentally on purpose drop my car keys so that I could scrabble around *looking* for them and check under the car for a booby trap (in the days before we got the mirrors that is what we had to do, lol).. that little RAF baby daughter was murdered just around the corner from me in the garage forecourt.. it was where we all had to hand in our petrol coupons!

So it isn't anything new, just the media hyping it up again!

Love

Daff xxx

I too remember having to check under our car when we were out and we were civvies working for the forces. Regular security briefings would put the fear of God into you. First reds under the beds, hissing Sid (the snake). and from about 1982 no open camps. No uniforms worn in public. And I could see why thatw as.

But this latest is disgusting, according to the media, it is white thugs in Peterborough who abuse anyone in uniform and is thought to be connected to troops in Iraq and afghanistan. Why can't they sort these thugs out?

It is not as if the base is new to the rea.

When we were teenagers I lived near a Naval base and there were army bases in the area too. All the personnel used to be out in uniform, Ok there were some skirmishes with civvie youths but most of them had done National service and accepted the existence of the forces.

I wonder iif the series on Afghanistan running on the news at the moment has sparked it off.

In this area we are sad at the moment because our RAF base closed yesterday. I will really miss seeing all the blue uniforms around.

Ann
Glos

We could start our own, lol... my son was treated at Wegberg..... we lived near Wildenrath, do you know it?... I was there in the seventies and again in the eighties. It's all closed down now :0((

Love

Daff xxxx

Ann, was it yesterday.... how very sad!!

I remember how vulnerable I felt when they started to tear down all the fences... even though I had lived in the community in NI, which never bothered me in the slightest, lol!!

Love

Daff xxx

Daff, I didn't go as I would not have been able to stand for very long so we actually went down to Haresfield to a garden centre and missed the small flypast (would have thought it at least deserved the Red Arrows. apparently they had the RAF band which played Dambusters as the flag was lowered when they fly past went over. I bet there were a few tears in eyes and lumps in throats.