It’s a Dog’s Life

Get fell in for a logical job search campaign….. “People from the Services have been very carefully selected and are very well trained. They are accustomed to learning new skills the whole time and, of course, they have a sense of duty, responsibility and a work ethic which is a byword.  Anybody who does not look at…

Of late I have taken the view that far too much time and energy is generally devoted to the topic of leadership but that was not always the case; indeed, reading the Obituary of Lord Chalfont (DT 15th January 2020) which quotes his thoughts on Field Marshal Montgomery as being “brutally inconsiderate, unimaginative and monumentally…

THOUGHTS ON RESTRUCTURING Disclaimer: Notwithstanding that much of this article talks in the Present Tense, having been out of the Army for more years that I can count on the combination of my hands and feet, it is accepted that things have changed since ‘my day’. I certainly hope that is the case. Background It is my…

Update The Coronavirus survival campaign has been developing day-by-day and enough changes have been made to offer a meaningful update to the original non-template; indeed there have been some encouraging moves very few of which have made a jot of difference to my self-isolation routine. Against a background of daily Text messages offering axiomatic and oft…

As an untutored non-Graduate, it is likely that my views on the collective outburst of Oxford Dons will attract the criticism that “he is too stupid to understand the issues”. However, allow me to express dismay at the public vilification of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson; such vituperation is not only unjust but also…

Born in 1943, this author was part of the war effort; unfortunately his arrival meant another mouth to feed while Britain was digging for victory, so his arrival offered more support to Hitler’s cause than to Churchill’s. His middle class status at birth came under threat when the Ex Forces head of the family took…

INTRODUCTION It may be just my generation that has a gut feeling that all is not well in UK PLC since there is a natural inclination to view the past through rose-tinted spectacles. Of course the fact that, ‘back then’ we had no need of spectacles in the first place and certainly had yet to feel…

An upside down world……… “Why does everybody have to be happy all the time?” Doc Martin Professional musician, and WWII RAF pilot, Peter Gibbs, stood up at a rehearsal of the London Symphony Orchestra and said to Herbert von Karajan: “I did not spend four years of my life fighting bastards like you to be insulted…

Recent discussions on Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer’s role in Amritsar (April 1919) spawned this piece. It may seem unfair that someone who committed an arguably dastardly deed remains better known than other more worthy folk. In giving the thoughts below no opinion is offered on the rights or wrongs of their causes, rather such meanderings are intended to…

   “The sardonic and sinister figure of Lord Kitchener bestrides India. We dislike his brutal and domineering methods” Times of India 22nd August 1905 Peter King’s book The Viceroy’s Fall rather confirmed my pre-disposition to look unfavourably on the alleged achievements of Kitchener although some may feel that I lacked objectivity in choosing to read…