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As Dave 'does the talking', war dead are sneaked out of the back gate

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  • As Dave 'does the talking', war dead are sneaked out of the back gate

    As Dave ‘does the talking’, war dead are sneaked out of the back gate The flag-wrapped coffins of dead servicemen are to be driven out of the back gate of RAF Brize Norton when it takes over from Lyneham (a few weeks from now) as the arrival point for the fallen.
    They will then be routed down side roads to avoid nearby Carterton – a town almost exactly the same size as Wootton Bassett – and make their way to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford along A-roads and bypasses. There’ll be a small guard of honour near the hospital entrance (there already is) but somehow or other the cortege won’t go down any High Streets.
    I will tell you in a moment what the official excuses are for this. I should have thought the mere words ‘back gate’ would tell most people all they need to know about this decision.

    And despite the Prime Minister’s oily award of the title ‘Royal’ to Wootton Bassett, you can bet that he’d much rather the public scenes of grief and remembrance in that place had never happened, and that nobody noticed the frequent deaths his weakness and political cowardice are causing.
    In the same way, the Defence Ministry has almost completely succeeded in covering up the appalling numbers of men who have been gravely injured in Afghanistan because the Government hasn’t the guts to quit this meaningless war. We hardly ever see them. Were they all to be assembled in one photograph, the nation would demand instant withdrawal and probably get it.
    The official version is that the families of the dead will be using a new ‘Repatriation Centre’ at Brize Norton, and that it is near the back gate. Routing the hearses through the base might disrupt its normal operations
    And here’s what was said by Andrew Robathan, whose stirring title is ‘Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans’. Speaking to Radio Oxford, he explained: ‘The side gate was seen by the Ministry of Defence and the police as the most appropriate way to take out future corteges.
    I love that word ‘appropriate’, the favourite adjective of those who have quietly forsaken the idea that there are such things as ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.
    Weakness and political cowardice: David Cameron has prolonged conflict
    He continued: ‘I am not sure taking coffins in hearses past schools, past families, past married quarters is necessarily the thing that everybody would wish to see .  .  . the focus must be on the families of the dead service personnel. They are the people who care most. That is where our focus is.’
    This is a curious statement. None of us exactly ‘wishes’ to see a funeral going by. But surely death should not be hidden away. And surely it is right that all of us – especially the young and service families – should be reminded of the price of courage and duty, and given the opportunity to salute these fine things.
    You can believe the various official excuses. Or you might recall that until (in April 2008) this newspaper highlighted the way the hearses were left to fight their way through indifferent traffic, even cut up by impatient motorists at roundabouts, they did not get a police escort for the final few miles to the hospital.
    Mr Cameron says that he will do the talking about war, and the commanders should do the fighting. Well, he may have a point there, or he would if he were not militarily and diplomatically clueless.
    But he might also mention that while he is doing the talking, real men are doing the dying, and their families are doing the weeping.
    Personally, I don’t think he or his Government colleagues are grown-up enough to pay the price of their own vanity and bombast. So they sneak the dead out by the back gate, and hope it doesn’t get on the TV
    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/ar...#ixzz1QxHjIoOy


    An Absolute disgrace.


    Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

  • #2
    Maybe the familys of the deceased dont want the wooton basset scene? These articles all seem to ignore the family entirely...the media want a nice sombre scene to film/photograph...it was the media who propogated the spectacle in wooton basset, if the public want to show their respects so badly there'll be places along the new route for them to do so.
    Everyone who's ever loved you was wrong.

    Comment


    • #3
      Been done to death over on ARRSE. The majority are in favour of it.

      The best post on the thread was this one..


      Personally I am worried about the increasing media attention on WB. Having played a small role in a previous life in the casualty notification process, I am clear in my mind that the one priority during the repatriation is about ensuring that the family get an opportunity to receive their loved one home, ahead of a dignified funeral at an appropriate point.
      My discomfort with the WB process is that it has morphed from being a genuine and highly spontaneous show of respect by a small town, into what is now a highly orchestrated and media driven event which is attracting grief whores.
      If you are the family of the loved one, then you will see them arrive in the UK, and you will say farewell at the funeral and receive support on the way. If you are a friend of the loved one, then you will be able to also attend the funeral and say goodbye properly there. If you are neither then the chances are that you either have a tenuous connection at best, or at worst, no connection at all to the loved one.
      I am incredibly uncomfortable with the scenes of hearses being forced to pull up, while thousands of strangers adopt an ever more forced situation of 'marking respect' while the NOK and friends are forced to parade their grief in front of the media, who are delighted at the chance to get instant photos of grief stricken parents, widows and children without parents to put on their 'news' the next day. This isn't about paying respect, its about an unstoppable media driven juggernaut aimed at selling pictures, newsprint and website hits and not (repeat NOT) the best interests of the NOK and direct friends of the loved ones.
      I understand people travel hundreds of miles to these things - my simple question is - why? Why can't you do what I do and spend 2 minutes when an obituary is published on the MOD website reading it, and giving a private moment to think about these people and their lives, and who they are leaving behind, and say thank you. Why do you need to travel to WB - what do you gain from this? You don't know these people, and they didnt know you. To me WB is becoming a bloody sham, orchestrated to satisfy the needs of grief whores who neither know nor care about the person for who this is having to happen, and everything about them wanting to get their moment of attention or be part of something.
      Its very undignified, and its taking the focus away from the most important people in all of this - the families and NOK of the loved one.

      Personally I welcome the route change as it removes this media frenzy and will hopefully restore an element of dignity to something that should not be about the emotionally needy camp followers, but instead be about the families and individuals going through the most awful time of their lives.
      I'm not going to add to it. It summed it up very well
      'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
      'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
      Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
      He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
      http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Flamingo View Post
        Been done to death over on ARRSE. The majority are in favour of it.

        The best post on the thread was this one..




        I'm not going to add to it. It summed it up very well
        That's what I meant to write!
        Everyone who's ever loved you was wrong.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by The real Jack View Post
          That's what I meant to write!
          Yes, it was an extremely good post, from someone that obviously had experience with the issues. He put it better than I ever could (and to be honest, changed my mind from an initial "outrage" response! )
          'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
          'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
          Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
          He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
          http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Daily Mail
            back gate
            I think they are overplaying this. Go to any hospital and the mortuary is not at the main entrance and will in fact be placed discreetly.
            Last edited by Victor; 5 July 2011, 20:18.
            Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Flamingo View Post
              Been done to death over on ARRSE. The majority are in favour of it.

              The best post on the thread was this one..




              I'm not going to add to it. It summed it up very well
              Excellent post Thanks for putting it up Flamingo
              Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier - Samuel Johnson

              Comment


              • #8
                tend to agree with the post on AARSE, At the end of the day its the family that have to cope with the loss and tehy will eb the ones who will remember .. I have attended a few militray funerals , hate to see the likes of politicians there who dont really give a toss etc.
                Cannot bear the last post, even on TV always find I have to go for a pee to save the embarrassment .

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