A Battle of Britain veteran has been the inspiration for a special blend of tea brewed to honour 'The Few', with some of the proceeds going to the RAF Association Wings Appeal.

Terry Clark drinks a cup of the tea blended to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain
[Picture: Newsquest/The Press, York, 2010]

Battle of Britain veteran inspires special blend of charity tea

A History and Honour news article

1 Oct 10

Terry Clark, aged 91, was an air gunner in a Blenheim light bomber aircraft, used as a night fighter, during the Battle of Britain. His initial job was to defend York and the surrounding airfields from German attacks.

He joined the Auxiliary Air Force at the age of 19, training in Surrey and on the Isle of Man. He said:

"The station commander signed my log book but nobody said whether I'd passed the course. I assume I must have done because they sent me off to join 219 Squadron, a Blenheim fighter unit based at Catterick."

Mr Clark and his squadron mates spent much of the Battle of Britain quietly playing pontoon as they waited for a call to arms. But the silence was shattered when the phone rang - it was the signal to scramble. A couple of flicked switches fired up the Blenheims and within minutes crews were airborne:

"Spitfire pilots couldn't see in the dark, but we could," he said. "Blenheims carried an early form of radar which at the time was unknown to the Germans. We also had ground control radar which was used to get us to the main body of the bombers. But while it could see the big picture, it was down to us to identify the individual aircraft with our radar before opening fire."

[...]

Mr Clark becoming the inspiration for a new blend of tea came about when Henrietta Lovell, of the Rare Tea Company, met him last year while shooting a video and was so taken by his presence that she decided to prepare the 'Tea for Heroes'.

On the label for her latest blend Henrietta has written:

"I first created this tea for a wonderful man called Terry Clark. It was a great honour to make tea for him and he thought it was rather good."

'Tea for Heroes' is a traditional British tea, a blend from two plantations, the Makaibari Estate in Darjeeling and the Satemwa Estate in Malawi, and comes in a presentation tin bearing the RAF roundel. Inside, the label features a wartime picture of Mr Clark wearing his uniform. He said:

"When Henrietta asked if she could use my photo, I wasn't too sure. But when she told me that some of the proceeds would go to the Wings Appeal, I thought well why not.

"It's a very good brew and far better than the wartime tea we had in the NAAFI [Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes]."..

Mr Clark has much more to say. I'd go and have a cuppa with him, listen to his stories, any day! This a great article. Go read the rest here.

Holiday Shipping Dates

I know, I KNOW, but you really DO need to know this information waaay before the holidays!.

It’s starting! Holiday shipping dates for APOs/FPOs/DPO/AEs announced

The holiday season will be here before you know it.

Mailing early is the key to ensure delivery of holiday cards and packages by December 25 to APO/FPO/DPO/AE destination addresses.

As a reminder, all mail addressed to overseas military/diplomatic Post Offices is subject to certain conditions or restrictions regarding content, preparation and handling.

1. EMMS is available to selected military and diplomatic Post Offices. Check with your local Post Office to determine if this service is available to an APO/FPO/DPO address.

2. PAL is a service that provides air transportation for parcels on a space-available basis. It is available for Parcel Post items not exceeding 30 pounds in weight and 60 inches in length and girth combined. The applicable PAL fee must be paid in addition to the regular surface price of postage for each addressed piece sent by PAL service.

3. SAM parcels are paid at Parcel Post prices with maximum weight and size limits of 15 pounds and 60 inches in length and girth combined. SAM parcels are first transported domestically by surface and then to overseas destinations by air on a space-available basis.

Holiday shipping dates for domestic and international mail will be provided in a separate DMM Advisory.

H/T Jane

[Bratnote: Had a lot of tech issues trying to make that chart readable. (Must be above my pay-grade! However, after posting this, I discover that BlackFive also has these dates up. Their's you can read, so go HERE to check it out. ]

A Sermon

From Monkey in the Middle:

Friday, October 1, 2010

A Sermon

This is a sermon delivered by Rabbi Schlomo Lewis of Atlanta. It was e-mailed to me by a friend. I am cross-posting it here. Rabbi Lewis does not accuse all Muslims, yet he states that peaceful Muslims must speak out.

Posted at Monkey in the Middle by Gary Fouse of Fousesquawk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

EHR KUMT

First Day of Rosh Hashanah 2010

"I thought long and I thought hard on whether to deliver the sermon I am about to share. We all wish to bounce happily out of shul on the High Holidays, filled with warm fuzzies, ready to gobble up our brisket, our honey cakes and our kugel. We want to be shaken and stirred – but not too much. We want to be guilt-schlepped – but not too much. We want to be provoked but not too much. We want to be transformed but not too much.

I get it, but as a rabbi I have a compelling obligation, a responsibility to articulate what is in my heart and what I passionately believe must be said and must be heard. And so, I am guided not by what is easy to say but by what is painful to express. I am guided not by the frivolous but by the serious. I am guided not by delicacy but by urgency.

We are at war. We are at war with an enemy as savage, as voracious, as heartless as the Nazis but one wouldn’t know it from our behavior. During WWII we didn’t refer to storm troopers as freedom fighters. We didn’t call the Gestapo, militants. We didn’t see the attacks on our Merchant Marine as acts by rogue sailors. We did not justify the Nazis rise to power as our fault. We did not grovel before the Nazis, thumping our hearts and confessing to abusing and mistreating and humiliating the German people. We did not apologize for Dresden, nor for The Battle of the Bulge, nor for El Alamein, nor for D-Day.

Evil – ultimate, irreconcilable, evil threatened us and Roosevelt and Churchill had moral clarity and an exquisite understanding of what was at stake. It was not just the Sudetenland, not just Tubruk, not just Vienna, not just Casablanca. It was the entire planet. Read history and be shocked at how frighteningly close Hitler came to creating a Pax Germana on every continent.


Not all Germans were Nazis – most were decent, most were revolted by the Third Reich, most were good citizens hoisting a beer, earning a living and tucking in their children at night. But, too many looked away, too many cried out in lame defense – I didn’t know.” Too many were silent. Guilt absolutely falls upon those who committed the atrocities, but responsibility and guilt falls upon those who did nothing as well. Fault was not just with the goose steppers but with those who pulled the curtains shut, said and did nothing.

In WWII we won because we got it. We understood who the enemy was and we knew that the end had to be unconditional and absolute. We did not stumble around worrying about offending the Nazis. We did not measure every word so as not to upset our foe. We built planes and tanks and battleships and went to war to win….. to rid the world of malevolence....

In my opinion, this is a very important piece that should be read far and wide. Everybody who values our freedom needs to understand the threat we face. Please, go over to Monkey in the Middle here and read the rest.

B*N*S*N1

Iraqi farm children receive soccer balls

Written by Sgt. Mary S. Katzenberger, United States Division-Center
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 08:52


Iraqi children celebrate and play after receiving donated soccer balls from U.S. 1st Advise and Assist Brigade Soldiers outside Baghdad, Sept. 13, 2010. The soccer balls were donated by the Cohansey Soccer Club, based in Upper Deerfield Township, N.J., and delivered by the club president’s son and his unit serving here. U.S.Army photo.



BAGHDAD — When Joe D’Alessandro created the “Winning Hearts and Minds Project” in 2008, the president of the Cohansey Soccer Club, based in Upper Deerfield Township, N.J., had no idea his son would eventually help him spread the spirit of American goodwill overseas.

Since the WHAM Project’s creation, about 5,000 pounds of donated soccer equipment has been shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan to be distributed by U.S. Army Civil Affairs officers. This month D’Alessandro’s son, Pfc. Dominick Skompski, and his fellow Soldiers with Company D, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, distributed more than 30 donated soccer balls to children living on farms on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital.

Skompski, who’s played soccer since he was a child, said it felt good to hand out soccer balls to the children.

“[The children] don’t really have a lot out here,” Skompski said. “You might as well give them [at least] a soccer ball. It’s not much, but it’s something for them.”

After receiving their soccer balls, the Iraqi children practiced their dribbling, kicking and heading skills. One boy celebrated receiving the gift by doing a 5-minute-long handstand to the applause and cheers of all assembled.

Skompski said his father’s mission with the WHAM Project—to build trust and mutual respect with the Iraqi children—has been accomplished.

“He [has always been] one to help others when they’re going through a rough time,” Skompski said of his father. “I’m glad he’s helping me.”

Look at those smiles! To get a better sense of this picture, go here.

B*N*S*N2

From left to right: Lt Col (Medical) Jens Tingleff, Col Timothy J. Hodgetts, Captain Niels Erik Sørensen. (Photo: John Lisemose, FHOSH/DLOG/HOK.)(source)


DANISH MEDAL FOR BRITISH PROFESSOR


London: The British Colonel, Professor Timothy J. Hodgetts, was last Tuesday awarded The Danish Ministry of Defence’s medal for meritorious effort.

The award happened due to the cooperation with the field hospital in Afghanistan 2009. Hodgetts was a central figure from the British in relation to the field hospitals’ selection and training of personnel for the hospital in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan 2009. He was very active in training the personnel, who were due to be deployed.

Whilst the Danish personnel was to learn the English system, Hodgetts also took the time to get to know the Danish conditions including taking courses in the Danish language. He was therefore also very prepared when he together with the Danes was deployed as a Medical Director to Camp Bastion from July to October 2009.

The ceremony of the medal was conducted by the Danish Defence Attaché, Captain Niels Erik Sørensen in relation to the field hospital being represented by the British Conference for Emergency medicine which took place in Birmingham from 13th to 15th September.

Edited September 21, 2010

And more from Defence News, Danish Embassy in London:

Prof Hodgetts was a central figure in the selection and training of personnel for the field hospital in Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2009. As some might recall, that was when the UK for the first time in modern times entrusted an allied nation to be in charge of a British field medical unit. A fantastic sign of just how close Denmark and the UK are working together defence-wise these days: to trust others with the care of your wounded. (here)

H/T One of my favourite Danes - Buzzy! He has this to add:

...we're right fond of British Col. Hodgetts.. He personally picked, trained, & oversaw the joint hospital @ Camp Bastion @ KAF. From the original design of the structure [entire structure is a bunker] itself to how wounded soldiers & local Afghans were treated, the Colonel had a hand in it. Can only say, if any of my children were sick, that would be the hospital I'd want them cared for in.

Here's Col. Tim....barking orders during a major incident. Really nice guy though when the crisis is over but during the event...the correct answer is always yes sir, right away sir. He's one of those guys we'd follow into hell with huge smiles on our faces. He's responsible for saving alot [I mean alot] of Danish, US, Canadian, Afghan et. al. lives. Learned alot from him.

With Buzzy's help, I also found a video of Col. Hodgetts:






Do NOT look for stories like this on msm, but we owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to Col. Hodgetts, and coalition partners like Denmark.

B*N*S*N3

From ISAF:

Coalition Forces Join Afghan Community to Build Classrooms

Education plays a big part in Afghanistan's growth. Army Staff Sgt. Frank Brown explains how Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are working to create a better learning environment for children in northern Afghanistan.

And still in Afghanistan:

August 17, 2010

According to the International Security Assistance Force, Afghan National Police are leading the way on more joint patrols in Afghanistan. Technical Sgt. Danielle Dull reports how US military police officers help the ANP secure their country.

Both of these are front page news on the msm - NOT!!!

B*N*S*N4

Record-breaking counter-IED operator awarded George Medal

A History and Honour news article

28 Sep 10

A soldier credited with dealing with more improvised explosive devices than any other British operator in history has been awarded the George Medal for his bravery.

A soldier tentatively brushes away the dust from a suspect object beneath the surface of a road near Garmsir, Afghanistan (stock image)
[Picture: Petty Officer Airman (Photographer) Dave Husbands, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Acting Warrant Officer Class 2 Karl Ley of the Royal Logistic Corps made safe and recovered 139 IEDs across Helmand province during his tour of duty from 5 September 2009 to 14 March 2010. During this period, A/WO2 Ley was a High Threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Operator who was called on to defuse improvised explosive devices throughout Helmand.

See Related News to read more about A/WO2 Ley and the experiences of the Counter-IED Task Force during Operation MOSHTARAK earlier this year.

The citation for the award states that in supporting the infantry's intensity of operations A/WO2 Ley willingly accepted an incredibly high level of personal risk, often having to deploy on foot with only what he could carry in his rucksack, and that, on a 72-hour operation in November 2009, A/WO2 Ley defused 28 victim-operated improvised explosive devices and tackled 14 bombs:

"This single day typifies the sheer determination, guile and awesome bravery of this man," the citation reads.

Acting Warrant Officer Class 2 Karl Ley
[Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]

At times A/WO2 Ley had to clear bombs with insurgent mortars and gunshots landing as little as 100ft (30m) away from him. He said:

"If you are being shot at, you just get down on the deck, so you may as well get rid of the bomb while you are down there.

"I don't see it as particularly dangerous," he added. "I just see it as a job, something that needs to be done.

"Other soldiers think my job is dangerous while they would quite happily engage the enemy in a firefight. I really dislike it when people shoot at me."...

You know there is more, and you can find that here.