With the night sky on fire The barrage in full flow The shells they land around us Only one place to go To the bottom our trenches...

You’ll get strange looks when you ask for your civvy work mates for a brew NATO standard, or wet and warm. Then you’ll find yourself...

That famous line from the movie is quoted by a veteran every day somewhere on the planet. Not a lot of people know this, but Michael...

Being ex infantry, I spent most of my army career on the back of these. The thing that resonated most of all was that famous catch phase,...

I think it was called ‘Exercise Lion Heart,’ the name for a massive exercise that took place in Germany, which involved lots of...

Following a BBC documentary, British Army instructors are being told to tone down their swearing. There are far too many F C and B words...

It’s p*ssing down with rain on exercise and a bunch of squaddies are sat shivering in their trench when a Chieftain pulls up. The...

The punishments handed out back when I was in the Army, and indeed nowadays, are nothing to what those Roman soldiers had to put up with....

I have a dog called Pull Through, he’s a Staffordshire bull terrier. I was convinced he was a Civvy until one afternoon when I was...

There was one last thing I had to do, that was visit my brother Matt. Matt didn’t mind me visiting him whatever time of day it was. I...

The smells reminded me of being on tour. Going weeks without a proper wash, I knew all about that, but this guy’s smell reminded me of...

Is it really possessed? I heard a story about two old soldiers who were standing in a trench in Soltau, Germany, when they noticed that...

Call of Duty You must complete at least two Call of duty games. It will be tough, and it will mean some late nights, but stick with it....

On one occasion in 1977, the whole company was on the ground. We were doing a sweep of a set area, looking for hidden weapons, bomb...

Is there anything worse than being dragged to the shops for hours? Going shopping for a veteran means ‘GET IN, BUY WHAT YOU NEED AND GET...

It seemed like we’d been tabbing for hours. The Platoon Commander was still having problems navigating. ‘Do you want me to have a look at...

Following their retreat from the woods, those who had made it safely back to the trench saw a figure emerging out of the darkness...

What would I give for another night on that rubber mattress right now? I sat down on a nearby bench and watched the people head home to...

I sat on the train with my head tilted against the window so I could see through the reflection of the lit carriage. The only other...

One word, indestructible! There was always a rumour going around that they were used in early body-armour testing for ballistic...