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British Armed Forces

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British Armed Forces
Service branches
Headquarters Ministry of Defence, London
Commander-in-Chief Queen Elizabeth II[1]
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon
Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach
Military age 16
Conscription No
Active personnel 153,770[nb 1]
Reserve personnel 81,850[nb 2]
Budget £48 billion; FY 2017–18[4]
(≈$58.6 billion)[5]
Percent of GDP 2.0%; FY 2015–16[6]
Domestic suppliers BAE Systems
Rolls-Royce Holdings
Related articles
History Military history of the United Kingdom
Conflicts involving the UK

The British Armed Forces[nb 3], also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Crown, are the military services which are tasked with defence of the United Kingdom, its overseas territories, and the Crown dependencies. They also promote Britain's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts, and provide humanitarian aid.[7]

Since the formation of a Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 (later succeeded by the United Kingdom),[8] the armed forces have seen action in a number of major wars involving the world's great powers, including the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Repeatedly emerging victorious from conflicts has allowed Britain to establish itself as one of the world's leading military and economic powers.[9]

Today, the British Armed Forces consist of: the Royal Navy, a blue-water navy with a fleet of 77 commissioned ships; the Royal Marines, a highly specialised amphibious light infantry force; the British Army, the UK's principal land warfare branch; and the Royal Air Force, a technologically sophisticated air force with a diverse operational fleet consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The Commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, to whom members of the forces swear allegiance.[1] The UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the armed forces by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, as required by the Bill of Rights 1689, the armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, headed by the Secretary of State for Defence.

The United Kingdom is one of five recognised nuclear powers, is a permanent member on the United Nations Security Council, is a founding and leading member of the NATO military alliance, and is party to the Five Power Defence Arrangements. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained at Ascension Island, Bahrain, Belize, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, Montserrat, Nepal, Qatar, and Singapore.[10]

Empire and World Wars[edit]

With the Acts of Union 1707, the armed forces of England and Scotland were merged into the armed forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain.[8]

A modern reproduction of an 1805 poster commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar.

During the later half of the seventeenth century, and in particular, throughout the eighteenth century, British foreign policy sought to contain the expansion of rival European powers through military, diplomatic and commercial means – especially of its chief competitors; Spain, the Netherlands and France. This saw Britain engage in a number of intense conflicts over colonial possessions and world trade, including a long string of Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Dutch wars, as well as a series of "world wars" with France, such as; the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). During the Napoleonic wars, the Royal Navy victory at Trafalgar (1805) under the command of Horatio Nelson (aboard HMS Victory) marked the culmination of British maritime supremacy, and left the Navy in a position of uncontested hegemony at sea.[11] By 1815 and the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain had risen to become the world's dominant great power and the British Empire subsequently presided over a period of relative peace, known as Pax Britannica.[9]

With Britain's old rivals no-longer a threat, the nineteenth century saw the emergence of a new rival, the Russian Empire, and a strategic competition in what became known as The Great Game for supremacy in Central Asia.[12] Britain feared that Russian expansionism in the region would eventually threaten the Empire in India;[12] in response, Britain undertook a number of pre-emptive actions against perceived Russian ambitions, including the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880)[13] and the British expedition to Tibet (1903–1904). During this period, Britain also sought to maintain the balance of power in Europe, particularly against Russian expansionism,[14] who at the expense of the waning Ottoman Empire had ambitions to "carve up the European part of Turkey".[15] This ultimately led to British involvement in the Crimean War (1854–1856) against the Russian Empire.[15]

Soldiers from the Royal Irish Rifles in the Battle of the Somme's trenches 1916.

The beginning of the twentieth century served to reduce tensions between Britain and the Russian Empire, partly due to the emergence of a unified German Empire, the era brought about an Anglo-German naval arms race which encouraged significant advancements in maritime technology (e.g. Dreadnoughts, torpedoes and submarines), and in 1906, Britain had determined that its only likely naval enemy was Germany.[16] The accumulated tensions in European relations finally broke out into the hostilities of the First World War (1914–1918), in what is recognised today, as the most devastating war in British military history, with nearly 800,000 men killed and over 2 million wounded.[17] Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Central Powers, the end of the German Empire, the Treaty of Versailles and the establishment of the League of Nations.

Although Germany had been defeated during the First World War, by 1933 fascism had given rise to Nazi Germany, which under the leadership of Adolf Hitler re-militarised in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. Once again tensions accumulated in European relations, and following Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Second World War began (1939–1945).[18] The conflict was the most widespread in British history, with British Empire and Commonwealth troops fighting in campaigns from Europe and North Africa, to the Middle East and the Far East. Approximately 390,000 British Empire and Commonwealth troops lost their lives.[19] Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Axis powers and the establishment of the United Nations (replacing the League of nations).

The Cold War and War on Terror[edit]

The Vulcan Bomber was the mainstay of Britain's airborne nuclear capability for much of the Cold War.

Post–Second World War economic and political decline, as well as changing attitudes in British society and government, were reflected by the armed forces' contracting global role,[20][21] and later epitomised by its political defeat during the Suez Crisis (1956).[22] Reflecting Britain's new role in the world and the escalation of the Cold War (1947–1991), the country became a founding member of the NATO military alliance in 1949. Defence Reviews, such as those in 1957 and 1966, announced significant reductions in conventional forces,[23] the pursuement of a doctrine based on nuclear deterrence,[24][25] and a permanent military withdrawal East of Suez.[26][27] By the mid-1970s, the armed forces had reconfigured to focus on the responsibilities allocated to them by NATO.[21][28][29] The British Army of the Rhine and RAF Germany consequently represented the largest and most important overseas commitments that the armed forces had during this period,[30] while the Royal Navy developed an anti-submarine warfare specialisation, with a particular focus on countering Soviet submarines in the Eastern Atlantic and North Sea.[28]

While NATO obligations took increased prominence, Britain nonetheless found itself engaged in a number of low-intensity conflicts, including a spate of insurgencies against colonial occupation,[31] however the Dhofar Rebellion (1962–1976) and The Troubles (1969–1998) emerged as the primary operational concerns of the armed forces.[31] Perhaps the most important conflict during the Cold War, at least in the context of British defence policy, was the Falklands War (1982).[32]

Since the end of the Cold War, an increasingly international role for the armed forces has been pursued, with re-structuring to deliver a greater focus on expeditionary warfare and power projection.[33] This entailed the armed forces often constituting a major component in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions under the auspices of the United Nations, NATO, and other multinational operations,[34] including: peacekeeping responsibilities in the Balkans and Cyprus, the 2000 intervention in Sierra Leone and participation in the UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya (2011). Post-September 11, the armed forces have been heavily committed to the War on Terror (2001–present), with lengthy campaigns in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and Iraq (2003–2009), and more recently as part of the Military intervention against ISIL (2014–present). Britain's military intervention against Islamic State was expanded following a parliamentary vote to launch a bombing campaign over Syria; an extension of the bombing campaign requested by the Iraqi government against the same group. In addition to the aerial campaign, the British Army has trained and supplied allies on the ground and the Special Air Service (British special forces) has carried out various missions on the ground in both Syria and Iraq.

Figures released by the Ministry of Defence on 31 March 2016 show that 7,185 British Armed Forces personnel have lost their lives in medal earning theatres since the end of the Second World War.[35]

Command organisation[edit]

As Sovereign and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Armed Forces[36] and their Commander-in-Chief.[1] Long-standing constitutional convention, however, has vested de facto executive authority, by the exercise of Royal Prerogative powers, in the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Defence, and the Prime Minister (acting with the support of the Cabinet) makes the key decisions on the use of the armed forces. The Queen, however, remains the ultimate authority of the military, with officers and personnel swearing allegiance to the monarch, it has been claimed that this includes the power to prevent unconstitutional use of the armed forces, including its nuclear weapons.[37]

The Ministry of Defence[nb 4] is the Government department and highest level of military headquarters charged with formulating and executing defence policy for the armed forces; it currently employs 56,860 civilian staff as of 1 October 2015.[38] The department is controlled by the Secretary of State for Defence and contains three deputy appointments: Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Minister for Defence Procurement, and Minister for Veterans' Affairs. Responsibility for the management of the forces is delegated to a number of committees: the Defence Council, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Defence Management Board and three single-service boards, the Defence Council, composed of senior representatives of the services and the Ministry of Defence, provides the "formal legal basis for the conduct of defence". The three constituent single-service committees (Admiralty Board, Army Board and Air Force Board) are chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence.

The Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the armed forces and is an appointment that can be held by an Admiral, Air Chief Marshal or General. Before the practice was discontinued in the 1990s, those who were appointed to the position of CDS had been elevated to the most senior rank in their respective service (a 5-star rank),[39] the CDS, along with the Permanent Under Secretary, are the principal advisers to the departmental minister. The three services have their own respective professional chiefs: the First Sea Lord, the Chief of the General Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff.

The British Armed Forces are a professional force with a strength of 153,470 UK Regulars and Gurkhas, 35,200 Volunteer Reserves and 8,160 "Other Personnel"[nb 5] as of 1 May 2016.[2] This gives a total strength of 196,840 "UK Service Personnel",[2][nb 6] as a percentage breakdown of UK Service Personnel, 78.0% are UK Regulars and Gurkhas, 17.9% are Volunteer Reserves and 4.1% are composed of Other Personnel.[2] In addition, all ex-Regular personnel retain a "statutory liability for service" and are liable to be recalled (under Section 52 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 1996) for duty during wartime, which is known as the Regular Reserve. MoD publications since April 2013 no longer report the entire strength of the Regular Reserve, instead they only give a figure for Regular Reserves who serve under a fixed-term reserve contract, these contracts are similar in nature to those of the Volunteer Reserve.[40] As of 1 April 2015, Regular Reserves serving under a fixed-term contract numbered 44,600 personnel.[3]

As of 1 April 2016, there were a total of 16,040 Regular service personnel stationed outside of the United Kingdom, 5,540 of those were located in Germany. 140,450 Regular service personnel were stationed in the United Kingdom, the majority located in the South East and South West of England with 38,860 and 36,340 Regular service personnel, respectively.[41]

Defence expenditure[edit]

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United Kingdom has the fifth-largest defence budget in the world.[42] For comparisons sake, this sees Britain spending more in absolute terms than France, Germany, India or Japan, a similar amount to that of Russia, but less than China, Saudi Arabia or the United States;[42] in September 2011, according to Professor Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute, current "planned levels of defence spending should be enough for the United Kingdom to maintain its position as one of the world's top military powers, as well as being one of NATO-Europe's top military powers. Its edge – not least its qualitative edge – in relation to rising Asian powers seems set to erode, but will remain significant well into the 2020’s, and possibly beyond."[43] The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 committed to spending 2% of GDP on defence and announced a £178 billion investment over ten years in new equipment and capabilities.[44][45]

Nuclear weapons[edit]

A Trident II SLBM being launched from a Vanguard-class submarine

The United Kingdom is one of five recognised nuclear weapon states under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and maintains an independent nuclear deterrent, currently consisting of four Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines, UGM-133 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and 160 operational thermonuclear warheads. This is known as Trident in both public and political discourse (with nomenclature taken after the UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missile). Trident is operated by the Royal Navy Submarine Service, charged with delivering a 'Continuous At-Sea Deterrent' (CASD) capability, whereby one of the Vanguard-class strategic submarines is always on patrol.[46] According to the British Government, since the introduction of Polaris (Tridents predecessor) in the 1960s, from April 1969 "the Royal Navy’s ballistic missile boats have not missed a single day on patrol",[46] giving what the Defence Council described in 1980 as a deterrent "effectively invulnerable to pre-emptive attack".[47] As of 2015, it has been British Government policy for the Vanguard-class strategic submarines to carry no more than 40 nuclear warheads, delivered by eight UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missiles;[48] in contrast with the other recognised nuclear weapon states, the United Kingdom operates only a submarine-based delivery system, having decommissioned its tactical WE.177 free-fall bombs in 1998.

The House of Commons voted on 18 July 2016 in favour of replacing the Vanguard-class submarines with a new generation of Dreadnought-class submarines.[49] The programme will also contribute to extending the life of the UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missiles and modernise the infrastructure associated with the CASD.[50]

Former weapons of mass destruction possessed by the United Kingdom include both biological and chemical weapons. These were renounced in 1956 and subsequently destroyed.

Overseas military installations[edit]

  Overseas military installations of the United Kingdom, and locally raised units of British Overseas Territories.
  Military interventions since 2000: Palliser; Herrick; Enduring Freedom; Telic; Ellamy; Shader.

The British Armed Forces maintain a number of overseas garrisons and military facilities which enable the country to conduct operations worldwide. All of Britain's permanent military installations are located on British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or former colonies which retain close diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom, and located in areas of strategic importance,[10] the most significant of these are the "Permanent Joint Operating Bases" (PJOBs), located on the four overseas territories of Cyprus (British Forces Cyprus), Gibraltar (British Forces Gibraltar), the Falkland Islands (British Forces South Atlantic Islands) and Diego Garcia (British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories).[51] While not a PJOB, Ascension Island (another BOT) is home to the airbase RAF Ascension Island, notable for use as a staging post during the 1982 Falklands War, the territory is also the site of a joint UK-US signals intelligence facility.[10]

Qatar is home to RAF Al Udeid, a Royal Air Force outpost at Al Udeid Air Base which serves as the operational headquarters for No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group and its operations across the Middle East.[52] A large Royal Navy Naval Support Facility (NSF) is located in Bahrain, established in 2016 it marks the British return East of Suez;[53] in support of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), the United Kingdom retains a naval repair and logistics support facility at Sembawang wharf, Singapore.[10][54] Other overseas military installations include; British Forces Brunei,[55] British Forces Germany,[56] the British Army Training Unit Kenya,[57] British Army Training Unit Suffield in Canada,[58] British Army Training and Support Unit Belize, and British Gurkhas Nepal.[59]

Some British Overseas Territories also maintain locally raised units and regiments; The Royal Bermuda Regiment, the Falkland Islands Defence Force, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and the Royal Montserrat Defence Force. Though their primary mission is "home defence", individuals have volunteered for operational duties, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment mobilised section-sized units for attachment to British regiments deployed during the Iraq War.[60][61] The Isle of Man, a Crown dependency hosts a multi-capability recruiting and training unit of the British Army Reserve.[62]

Expeditionary forces[edit]

The British Armed Forces place significant importance in the ability to conduct expeditionary warfare.[33] While the armed forces are expeditionary in nature, it maintains a core of "high readiness" forces trained and equipped to deploy at very short notice, these include; the Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (Royal Navy), 3 Commando Brigade (Royal Marines), 16 Air Assault Brigade (British Army) and No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group (Royal Air Force). Oftentimes, these will act in conjunction with a larger tri-service effort, such as the UK Joint Rapid Reaction Force, or along with like-minded allies under the UK Joint Expeditionary Force. Similarly, under the auspices of NATO, such expeditionary forces are designed to meet Britain's obligations to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps and other NATO operations.

In 2010, the governments of the United Kingdom and France signed the Lancaster House Treaties which committed both governments to the creation of a Franco-British Combined Joint Expeditionary Force.[63] It is envisaged as a deployable joint force, for use in a wide range of crisis scenarios, up to and including high intensity combat operations, as a joint force it involves all three armed Services: a land component composed of formations at national brigade level, maritime and air components with their associated Headquarters, together with logistics and support functions.[64]

The armed forces[edit]

Royal Navy[edit]

The Royal Navy is a technologically sophisticated naval force,[65] and as of April 2015 consists of 77 commissioned ships. Command of deployable assets is exercised by the Fleet Commander of the Naval Service.[66] Personnel matters are the responsibility of the Second Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, an appointment usually held by a vice-admiral.[67]

The Surface Fleet consists of amphibious warfare ships, destroyers, frigates, patrol vessels, mine-countermeasure vessels, and other miscellaneous vessels. The Surface Fleet has been structured around a single fleet since the abolition of the Eastern and Western fleets in 1971,[68] the recently built Type 45 destroyers are technologically advanced air-defence destroyers. The Royal Navy is building two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, embarking an air-group including the advanced fifth-generation multi-role fighter, the F-35B.[69]

A submarine service has existed within the Royal Navy for more than 100 years, the Submarine Service's four Vanguard-class nuclear-powered submarines carry Lockheed Martin's Trident II ballistic missiles, forming the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. Seven Astute class nuclear-powered attack submarines have been ordered, with three completed and four under construction. The Astute class are the most advanced and largest fleet submarines ever built for the Royal Navy, and will maintain Britain's nuclear-powered submarine fleet capabilities for decades to come.

Royal Marines[edit]

The Royal Marines are the Royal Navy's amphibious troops. Consisting of a single manoeuvre brigade (3 Commando) and various independent units, the Royal Marines specialise in amphibious, arctic, and mountain warfare.[70] Contained within 3 Commando Brigade are three attached army units; 383 Commando Petroleum Troop RLC, 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, a field artillery regiment based in Plymouth, and 24 Commando Regiment Royal Engineers.[71] The Commando Logistic Regiment consists of personnel from the Army, Royal Marines, and Royal Navy.[72]

British Army[edit]

The British Army is made up of the Regular Army and the Army Reserve, the army has a single command structure based at Andover and known as "Army Headquarters".[73][74] Deployable combat formations consist of two divisions (1st Armoured and 3rd Mechanised) and eight brigades.[75][76] Within the United Kingdom, operational and non-deployable units are administered by two divisions, Force Troops Command, and London District.

The Army has 50 battalions (36 regular and 14 reserve) of regular and reserve infantry, organised into 17 regiments,[77] the majority of infantry regiments contains multiple regular and reserve battalions. Modern infantry have diverse capabilities and this is reflected in the varied roles assigned to them. There are four operational roles that infantry battalions can fulfil: air assault, armoured infantry, mechanised infantry, and light role infantry. Regiments and battalions e.g.: the Parachute Regiment, exist within every corps of the Army, functioning as administrative or tactical formations.

Armoured regiments are equivalent to an infantry battalion. There are 14 armoured regiments within the army, ten regular and four yeomanry (armoured reserve), of which four are designated as "Armoured", three as "Armoured Cavalry", and six as "Light Cavalry". Army 2020 Refine has seen developments which will further modify the Royal Armoured Corps. with two existing regiments forming the core of two new STRIKE Brigades. These two regiments, along with the Armoured Cavalry will be equipped with the "Ajax" armoured fighting vehicle, a new £3.5 billion procurement programme. The Ajax will be employed in the task organisation and roles of both Armoured Cavalry and Medium Armour, with a slight exception of the Household Cavalry, which maintains quasi-autonomy within the Household Division, armoured regiments and their yeomanry counterparts collectively form the Royal Armoured Corps.

Arms and support units are also formed into similar collectives organised around specific purposes, such as the Corps of Royal Engineers, Army Air Corps and Royal Army Medical Corps.[78]

Royal Air Force[edit]

The Royal Air Force has a large operational fleet that fulfils various roles, consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.[79] Frontline aircraft are controlled by Air Command, which is organised into three groups defined by function: 1 Group (Air Combat), 2 Group (Air Support)[80] and 22 Group (training aircraft and ground facilities).[80] In addition 83 Expeditionary Air Group directs formations in the Middle East and the 38 Group combines the expeditionary combat support and combat service support units of the RAF. Deployable formations consist of Expeditionary Air Wings and squadrons—the basic unit of the Air Force.[81][82] Independent flights are deployed to facilities in Afghanistan, the Falkland Islands, Iraq, and the United States.[83]

The Royal Air Forces operates multi-role and single-role fighters, reconnaissance and patrol aircraft, tankers, transports, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and various types of training aircraft.[84] Ground units are also maintained by the Royal Air Force, most prominently the RAF Police and the Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regt), the Royal Air Force Regiment essentially functions as the ground defence force of the RAF, optimised for the specialist role of fighting on and around forward airfields, which are densely packed with operationally vital aircraft, equipment, infrastructure and personnel .[85] The Regiment contains nine regular squadrons, supported by five squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment; in addition, it provides the UK's specialist Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear capability. It also provides half of the UK's Forward Air Controllers and the RAF's contribution to the Special Forces Support Group. By March 2008, the three remaining Ground Based Air Defence squadrons (equipped with Rapier Field Standard C) had disbanded or re-roled and their responsibilities transferred to the British Army's Royal Artillery.[86]

Ministry of Defence[edit]

The Ministry of Defence maintains a number civilian agencies in support of the British Armed Forces, although they are civilian, they play a vital role in supporting Armed Forces operations, and in certain circumstances are under military discipline:

One of the most recognisable recruiting posters of the British Army; from World War I featuring Kitchener.

All three services of the British Armed Forces recruit primarily from within the United Kingdom, although citizens from the Commonwealth of Nations and the Republic of Ireland are equally eligible to join,[87] the minimum recruitment age is 16 years (although personnel may not serve on armed operations below 18 years, and if under 18 must also have parental consent to join); the maximum recruitment age depends whether the application is for a regular or reserve role; there are further variations in age limit for different corps/regiments. The normal term of engagement is 22 years; however, the minimum service required before resignation is 4 years, plus, in the case of the Army, any service person below the age of 18.[88] At present, the yearly intake into the armed forces is 11,880 (per the 12 months to 31 March 2014).[89]

Excluding the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Royal Irish Regiment, as of 1 April 2014 there are approximately 11,200 Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) persons serving as Regulars across the three service branches; of those, 6,610 were recruited from outside the United Kingdom. In total, Black and Minority Ethnic persons represent 7.1% of all service personnel, an increase from 6.6% in 2010.[89]

Since the year 2000, sexual orientation has not been a factor considered in recruitment, and homosexuals can serve openly in the armed forces. All branches of the forces have actively recruited at Gay Pride events,[90][91] the forces keep no formal figures concerning the number of gay and lesbian serving soldiers, saying that the sexual orientation of personnel is considered irrelevant and not monitored.[92]

Role of women[edit]

Women have been integrated into the British Armed Forces since the early 1990s, including flying fast jets and commanding warships or artillery batteries. However, they remain excluded from primarily close combat units in the Army (Royal Armoured Corps and Infantry), Royal Marines, and Royal Air Force Regiment,[93] as of 1 April 2014, there are approximately 15,840 women serving in the armed forces, representing 9.9% of all service personnel.[89] The first female military pilot was Flight Lieutenant Julie Ann Gibson while Flight Lieutenant Jo Salter was the first fast-jet pilot, the former flying a Tornado GR1 on missions patrolling the then Northern Iraqi No-Fly Zone.[94] Flight Lieutenant Juliette Fleming and Squadron Leader Nikki Thomas recently were the first Tornado GR4 crew.[95] While enforcing the Libyan No-Fly Zone, Flight Lieutenant Helen Seymour was identified as the first female Eurofighter Typhoon pilot;[96] in August 2011, it was announced that a female Lieutenant Commander, Sarah West, was to command the frigate HMS Portland.[97] In July 2016, it was announced that women would be allowed to serve in close combat, starting with the Royal Armoured Corps.[98]

See also[edit]

  1. ^ Figure is current as of 1 May 2016. It includes 150,620 Regular and 2,850 Gurkhas, but excludes personnel of the Military Provost Guard Service, Regular Reserves called up for duty and the Sponsored Reserves.[2]
  2. ^ Figure is current as of 1 April 2015. It includes 35,200 Volunteer Reserve personnel,[2] 44,600 Regular Reserve and 2,050 Sponsored Reserves. Does not include 6,590 personnel of the University Service Units.[3]
  3. ^ Also referred to as Her Majesty's Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Crown, and the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.
  4. ^ The current structure of defence management in Britain was set in place in 1964 when the modern day Ministry of Defence (MoD) was created (an earlier form had existed since 1940). The MoD assumed the roles of the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry.
  5. ^ Other Personnel includes personnel of the Military Provost Guard Service, Regular Reserves called up for duty and the Sponsored Reserves.[2]
  6. ^ UK Service Personnel is a term used by the Ministry of Defence, and comprises UK Regulars, the Brigade of Gurkhas, the Volunteer Reserve and Other Personnel (I.e the Military Provost Guard Service, Regular Reserves called up for duty and the Sponsored Reserves).[2]

  1. ^ a b c Parliament Speaker addresses Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 20 March 2012
  2. ^ a b c d e f g MoD – monthly personnel report, table 1 page 4. 1 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b MoD – reserves and cadet strengths, table 1a-page 10. 1 April 2015.
  4. ^ HM Treasury Spring 2017 Budget (8 March 2017) – see Chart 1 on page 4
  5. ^ Exchange rate as of 12 March 2017
  6. ^ "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2015" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  7. ^ The Mission of the Armed Forces,
  8. ^ a b Acts of Union 1707, accessed 31 December 2010; Uniting the kingdom?, accessed 31 December 2010; Making the Act of Union 1707, accessed 31 December 2010
  9. ^ a b Johnston, Douglas M.; Reisman, W. Michael (2008). The Historical Foundations of World Order. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 9047423933. , pp. 508-10.
  10. ^ a b c d "The Status and Location of the Military Installations of the Member States of the European Union" (PDF). Policy Department External Policies: 13–14. February 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  11. ^ Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men, and Organization, 1793-1815Brian Lavery
  12. ^ a b Keay, John (2010). India: A History (revised ed.). New York, NY: Grove Press. pp. 418–9. ISBN 978-0-8021-4558-1.
  13. ^ Schmidt, Karl J. (1995). An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History. M.E. Sharpe. p. 74. ISBN 978-1563243332.
  14. ^ Hew Strachan, Hew (1978). "Soldiers, Strategy and Sebastopol". Historical Journal. 21 (2): 303–325. JSTOR 2638262. doi:10.1017/s0018246x00000558.
  15. ^ a b Lambert, Andrew. "The Crimean War". The BBC - History. The BBC. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  16. ^ Herwig p. 48–50
  17. ^ Willmott, H.P. (2003), World War I, New York: Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 0-7894-9627-5, OCLC 52541937
  18. ^ Mallinson, Allan (2009). The Making of the British Army. Bantam Press. ISBN 978-0-593-05108-5.
  19. ^ "Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2014-2015 p. 38". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  20. ^ Colman (2005), A 'Special Relationship'?: Harold Wilson, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Anglo-American Relations' at the Summit', 1964–68, p77
  21. ^ a b Focus on Europe,
  22. ^ Johnman & Gorst (1997), The Suez Crisis, p166
  23. ^ Lider (1985), British Military Thought After World War II, p525
  24. ^ Lee (1996), Aspects of British Political History 1914–1995, 273
  25. ^ Pierre (1972), Nuclear Politics: the British experience with an independent strategic force: 1939–1970, p100
  26. ^ Hack (2000), Defence and Decolonisation in South-East Asia: Britain, Malaya, Singapore, 1941–1968, p285
  27. ^ Chandler & Beckett (2003), p345
  28. ^ a b Vanguard to Trident 1945–2000,
  29. ^ Kennedy (2004), British Naval Strategy East of Suez, 1900–2000: Influence and Actions, p193
  30. ^ Chandler & Beckett (2003), p421
  31. ^ a b Chandler & Beckett (2003), pp350–351
  32. ^ Gibran, Daniel K. (1998). The Falklands War : Britain versus the past in the South Atlantic. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 161. ISBN 078640406X.
  33. ^ a b Hyde-Price, Adrian (Professor) (9 January 2007). European Security in the Twenty-First Century: The Challenge of Multipolarity. Routledge. p. Chapter - Britain, France and the multipolar challenge. ISBN 1134164408. Retrieved 26 June 2016.  Professor of International Politics, Adrian Hyde-Price, highlights that in the post-Cold War era both Britain and France have re-focused their attention "towards expeditionary warfare and power projection. Power projection has always been an element of British and French military thinking given their residual over seas interests, but it has now moved centre stage."
  34. ^ Frantzen (2005), Nato And Peace Support Operations, 1991–1999: Policies And Doctrines, p104
  35. ^ UK Armed Forces Deaths: Operational deaths post World War II 3 September 1945 to 17 February 2016, Ministry of Defence,, Published 31 March 2016
  36. ^ Forces Queen and Armed Forces,
  37. ^ "Whose hand is on the button?". BBC. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  38. ^ MOD civilian personnel quarterly report: 2015,, 1 October 2015
  39. ^ Hansard (1998), House of Commons Written Answers,
  40. ^ MoD – reserves and cadet strengths, table 4 page 13. See note 2. April 2014.
  41. ^ MoD – Quarterly Location Statistics, 1 April 2016
  42. ^ a b "International Institute for Strategic Studies: The Military Balance 2016". Routledge. 9 February 2016. ISBN 9781857438352. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  43. ^ RUSI Briefing Paper, Is the UK Defence Budget Crisis Really Over?. Malcolm Chalmers. Published September 2011, P. 18
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  50. ^ "The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 4 December 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-05.
  51. ^ Permanent Joint Operating Bases (PJOBs),, 12 December 2012
  52. ^ "UK and Qatar sign pact to combat jihadis and cyber warfare". Financial Times. 2 November 2014. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  53. ^ "Royal Navy's new Bahrain base seriously enhances Britain's ability to defend the Gulf". The Telegraph. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  54. ^ Navy News (Magazine). United Kingdom: Royal Navy. June 2011. p. 11 Eastern Outpost. Retrieved 22 June 2016.  ("The White Ensign is still flying above the operations of Naval Party 1022 (NP1022), based at Sembawang Wharves in Singapore.")
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  57. ^ "The British Army in Africa". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
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  60. ^ The Royal Gibraltar Regiment,
  61. ^ More soldiers from Royal Gibraltar Regiment in overseas duties in regiment's history,
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  66. ^ Fleet Command and Organisation,
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  68. ^ Hampshire (1975), The Royal Navy Since 1945: its transition to the nuclear age, p248
  69. ^ "MoD confirms £3.8bn carrier order". BBC News. 25 July 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
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Contact Us

Justin Timberlake Sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to 8-Year-Old Boy With Autism [VIDEO]

He doesn’t need a ‘Suit & Tie’ to prove he’s a class act!

According to ABC News, while performing in San Jose, Calif. earlier this week, Justin Timberlake sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to 8-year-old Julian Delan – and he got 25,000 fans to join him!

Delan, who has been diagnosed with high-functioning autism, is a big JT fan and was excited to see the former *NSYNC leader live in concert. But Delan’s mother, Marika Rosenthal Delan, was nervous about taking her son to the show for fear of how the crowd would react to him.

During the show, a group of women around young Julian were able to capture Justin’s attention on stage, and Timberlake sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and encouraged the rest of the arena to join him in singing to Julian.

Peter Delan, the boy’s father, shared the video on Facebook and wrote “Thank you JT for an incredible night!! This is a moment Julian will never forget! Thanks for Gifts you sent down to him. #bestnightever #happybirthdayJulian #the2020experience #JustinTimberlake #yourbiggestfanisan8yearold”

Click on the video above to see the magical moment unfold for Julian!

Next: Justin Timberlake Accepts ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

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Lectio Divina – Step Two: Meditate (Meditatio)

garden pathThe next step in the Divine Reading (Lectio Divina) after savoring the Scriptures is to meditate on the words which you just read. It is about stopping and really thinking about them rather than checking an item off your to-do list and moving on to the next thing.

In mediating about the words of the Scriptures is to allows the words to seep through you. You are not trying to assign meaning to the words – you are letting the words work through you. To mediate is to hold the Scriptures gentle, turning them around and around so you can see them through different angles and view points.

It is about allowing the Holy Spirit to breath life into the words – turning them simple letters on a page to life giving manna from heaven. For without the Holy Spirit, reading the Bible is like than reading the label on a can of soup without actually opening and eating the soup. We HAVE to have the Holy Spirit, and we HAVE to ALLOW the Spirit to move in our lives!

This is also the time in which we can use our imagination to enter into the Scriptures like we mentioned before. Here shortly I will talking more about this step as I have some suggestions based upon the four basic personality temperaments…but for now, know that this step is where you allow the word that you have just read to permeate our lives.

Here’s an example, a few weeks ago I went into a conference room at work to pray. Opening the Bible my fingers led me to Romans 8:15:

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.

I have read that verse many times – shoot, I even preached on it a few years ago!  Yet that day, my heart stopped on the last half of the verse: God adopted me;  He choose me

My eyes started tearing up… My soul couldn’t believe it…No fear again…I was adopted…For the next few days that’s all I could think about…I’m still thinking about..

This is mediating. It is slowing down and letting the words become alive – letting the Holy Spirit speak to us rather than just closing our Bibles and walking off.

Wow… powerful, yet simple stuff… =)

Lectio Divina

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Saturday, 27 November 2010

So Many Roses!

Hi everyone and Happy Saturday!

Just a quick post from me to show you more of the gorgeous flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.  What would my cards be without them? haha!

I used an EK Success Frond punch for the leaves and a Magnolia swirl die for the swirl.  The image is colored with distressed inks and is from Sugar Nellie's Simply Sassy line and the circle sentiment is by Lili of the Valley

Please see the Wild Orchid Crafts Store for the most gorgeous flowers and embellishments!!!

Have a great day!

Thursday, 25 November 2010

Christmas Paper Bag

Happy Thursday again :)
Today I wanted to show you a Christmas Paper Bag I've made, using georgeous Wild Roses, Paper Roses, Stem Flowers and Pearls from the Wild Orchid Crafts Store as embellishments :)

Aren't these flowers just delightful?

Size: 9 x 16 cm
Ink: Archival Ink - Jet Black, Distress Ink - Pumice Stone.
Colouring: Letraset - Promarkers.
Papers: 3ndypapir - "Nicolas", "Felicia" & "Mathilde", Bazzill - red & cream cardstock, Letraset - Cartridge Paper.
Tools: Spellbinders - Nesting Petite Ovals, Polyshrink Plastic, Kort & Godt - magnet, Unik Hobby - white paperbag.
Embellishments: Wild Orchid Crafts - Wild Roses 25 mm, Paper Roses 15 mm, Paper Roses 10 mm, Heather Stem Flowers & Self Adhesive Pearls, Unik Hobby - silver bells & lace, Ranger - Glossy Accents, Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist "Pearl", Martha Stewart - glitter, silver tread.
Thank you for visiting - have a lovely day!

Thursday, 18 November 2010

Happy Thursday everyone :)
Just wanted to show you a card-box I made, using some georgeous WOC items again :)
Hope you like it!

Size: 12 x 12 cm
Ink: Archival Ink - Jet Black, Distress Ink - Pumice Stone.
Colouring: Letraset - Promarkers.
Papers: 3ndypapir - "Tiril" & "Mathilde", Bazzill - green & white cardstock, Letraset - Cartridge Hevyweight Paper.
Tools: Spellbinders - Nesting Classic & Petite Circles, Nellie Snellen - Multi Frame, Martha Stewart - Heart Lace edge punch.
Embellishments: Wild Orchid Crafts - Cherry Blossoms, Poinsettias & Self Adhesive Pearls, Unik Hobby - Methal, Kort & Godt - Ribbon, Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist "Pearl", Ranger - Glossy Accents, Martha Stewart - glitter.

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs, Lena Katrine

Home Decor' and Gift Ideas!

 Hi there my crafty friends! I wanted to share with you a cute idea for your home decor' and great for gifts! I recently bought some 8x8 frames and I stamped an image decorated it with some ribbon. On the outter part of the frame along the wood I used Wild Orchid's gorgeous flowers and pearls. The pearls just stuck right on, I used a hot glue gun for the flowers. It's so easy and looks amazing! I made this for a Christmas/Winter decoration, but it would work with everyday stuff too. Even just adding some flowers to your family photo frames. These would be great for gifts too!

Have a lovely day!

Paper - Dovercraft, su!
Ink - Memento and Copics
Accessories - Wild Orchid Crafts - Classic Blue Rose, White Cherry Blossoms, 10 mm blue roses, 8mm white roses, Blue pearls, Martha stewart branch punch, Tilda lace doohicky die, Lace is from Magnolia DT package, SU dazzling diamonds, frame and hot glue gun (for flowers)

Hugs, Mindy

Wednesday, 17 November 2010

Another Christmas Card

I have another Christmas Card to share with you all today!
This card uses a WOJ cutie from last years Winter Stamp Set. Isn't she a doll?! I absolutely love her and her innocence! Papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather collection, I love how this pad has bold colors as well as subtle soft colors too! Lace is from Wild Orchid Crafts and is the Guipure Lace....absolutely LOVE this one, again it adds to the elegance of the card. I've taken my narrow purple MS ribbon and wove it into the lace, and then used my Bow Easy to create the bow! :) For the background edging I've used my new MS ATP holly punch!
My image was colored with Copics and accented with a white gel pen.
Did you know????  Wild Orchid Crafts is now carrying Hydrangea flowers in an assortment of can find there -->here<--! YAY!!! Finishing off my flower arrangement is 15mm roses, Padded Snowflakes, and 15mm Rose Leaves.

♥ Thanks for stopping by! ♥

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Christmas Time

Hi Friends~ I have two new cards to share with you today using the ultimately fabulous Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts!
This card is using the new Flower Cheer stamp at SCACD.  Papers are from Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Collection. Image was colored with Copics and accented with a white gel pen.
Flower arrangement 1 consists of 35mm large wild rose, 15mm roses, 10mm roses, and Lt. Plum Gypsophila along with Guipure lace to add an beautiful and elegant look to the card!
Flower arrangement 2 consists of the same flowers and I've also added a pink heart pearl pin.
Card #2 features another new stamp from SCACD called First Snowball of Winter.  Papers are from Cosmo Cricket.  Again, the image was colored with Copics and accented with a white gel pen.
This flower arrangement consists of a 35mm large wild rose, 20mm roses, 15mm roses, 10mm roses, 4mm closed rosebuds, stamens, and pearl stars.

I hope you love my flowery creations today!  Enjoy your week and don't forget to hop over to the WOC Challenge Blog and play along with our current Blue Christmas Challenge! :)

♥ Thanks for stopping by! ♥

Sunday, 14 November 2010

A little bit of candy

Whoops I forgot to post this candy this morning.  Paul has given me a little bag of flowers including the new small flat gardenias that went on sale today.

gardenia blogcandy

If you would like to be in the running to win this candy please enter your name in the link below.  If you have a problem with entering, please email me and I will try to help.  I will draw a winner on Wednesday evening.

Jacqui’s card using the new small gardenias

Oooh I just spied this on Jacqui’s blog and had to nick it to post on here!!  She’s also used the small flat gardenias – gorgeous!

New flowers at Wild Orchid Crafts

Warning – lots of pics.

Oh my goodness, wait till you see these!!  Wild Orchid Crafts is now stocking small flat gardenias, they go on sale today.  I do love the big ones but I think these smaller ones are just the business lol.  They measure just over an inch in diameter so work really well with the other WOC flowers.

I decided to showcase them in pink – no surprises there then lol.  I had a mooch through the uninked rubber drawer and can’t believe I have not used this little sweetie yet.

I coloured her with Copics and used
Hair:  E79, E74, E40
Skin:  E21, E00, E000, R20
Clothes:  E42, E41, E40, R21, R20, 11, R00, R000

I have used Websters Pages 6 x 6 pad – totally love these papers so much.

A close up of the gorgeous small flat gardenias, 15mm roses and 4mm rose buds.  For the leaves I just folded some green card in half and snipped out some rough leaf shapes.

The charm is from my stash, I went a bit crazy with the Distress Crackle Paint yesterday.  I coated the heart charm with the paint, the edges of the paper and the dragonfly die cut as well.

The Whimsy Shapeology Ticket Die and Ticket Sentiments work a treat together, a perfect cut every time, I’m well impressed.

I’ve a feeling these flowers are going to fly so don’t hang around if you want them.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday (I am going to be sorting out my craftroom after my hubby has put up more rails for my punches, whoopee …. not!)

Thanks for stopping by,

Friday, 12 November 2010

Today I have a card to share with you that I have done for the Just Magnolia Challenge using some yummy peach flowers.peach-tilda3

The flowers I have used are 30mm wild rose, cherry blossoms, 15mm roses, 10mm roses.  The 25mm organza ribbon and pins can also be found on the website

Enjoy your weekend.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sunday, 7 November 2010

A Christmas-bag in green & silver

Happy Sunday, People :)
Here's a Christmas bag I've made, in green & silver, using some pretty beautiful items from Wild Orchid Crafts - of course :)

Size: 13 x 18 cm
Ink: Distress Ink - Pumice Stone
Image: Hobby Himmelen - Vintertid (Die-Cut paper)
Text: Hobby Himmelen - Gledelig Jul (Die-Cut paper)
Papers: Kaiser Craft - 'Tis The Season "Choir", Bazzill - vanilla & green cardstock
Tools: Nellie Snellen - Multi Frames, Martha Stewart - Eyelet Lace edge punch
Embellishments: Wild Orchid Crafts - Wild Roses 25 mm, Aster Daisies, Gypsophilas, Chrystal Stems & Guipure Lace, Unik Hobby - brown paperbag, charm & ribbon, Ranger - Stickles "Silver", rhinestones, magnets

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!
Hugs, Lena Katrine

Saturday, 6 November 2010

Bloomin’ Lovely :)

Hi peeps, Dawny P here and I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend

I just thought I’d share a card with you that I made earlier this week which has some gorgeous Wild Orchid Crafts blooms, including the new Hellebores

Picture 002c copy

The Lili Of The Valley image was coloured with a mixture of Copics and Pro Markers and the sentiment is one that I did on the computer.

But check out these fabulous flowers …..

Picture 009c copy

… The flowers I used are Hellebores20mm open roses15mm roses, 10mm open roses, 8mm semi open roses, 6mm closed rosebuds. green long grass, 15mm rose leaves and 25mm rose leaves.

I added a little touch of Diamond Stickles just to make them sparkle so that they matched the sweet little Diva’s frock :)

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by xxx

Friday, 5 November 2010

More Hellebores

I think Hellebores are becoming my favourite of all the fabulous flowers in store at Wild Orchid Crafts.  I am using them for all cards, not just Christmas cards – can’t help myself lol.

The flowers I used are Hellebores, 25mm tea roses, 15mm roses, 8mm semi open roses and 4mm rose buds.

I coloured the image with copics as usual and have listed the colours at the end of the post.  I have AT LAST found a pink combo that I am reasonably happy with.  The colours are on my blog

Have a great weekend

Thanks for stopping by,

Thursday, 4 November 2010

All wrapped up in red, white & grey

Just wanted to show you a card today, where I've used different sorts of
Wild Orchid Crafts items, for a Christmas in red, white and grey :)
Hope you enjoy it!

Size: 15 x 15 cm
Ink: Archival Ink - Jet Black
Colouring: Distress Ink - Refills
Papers: Maja Design - Fröjdefull Jul "Glada Skratt" & "Broderat Duk", Bazzill - Barkley & Dawn cardstock, Canson - Montval aquarell paper 200g, sketch paper
Tools: Spellbinders - Nesting Classic & Scalloped Squares and Classic & Petite Circles, Stampin'Up! - Word Window punch

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

Wednesday, 3 November 2010

Blog Candy winner

Oops, I forgot to draw the winner of the Hellebores + blog candy, so the lucky lady is

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2010-11-03 21:10:08 UTC

That's you charline . Congratulations, please email me to claim your prize


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Tuesday, 29 September 2009

Homeopaths Take Heed.

'Cruel' parents jailed over baby's death is the headline on the ABC.

Thomas and Manju Sam have been sentenced to 6 and 4 years jail respectively for allowing their 6-month old daughter, Gloria, to die from eczema.

The reason she died? Thomas, being a homeopath, decided that homeopathy would be a better way to help her daughter then proper medicine.

The report that I found from AdelaideNow is more graphic in some details:

On the ninth day, concerned about a lingering eye infection, the Sams took their daughter to the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick.

Doctors described Gloria as "incredibly sick" with a "massive eroded rash" and "grossly malnourished".

They gave her morphine for the pain and began treating her eye infection - her corneas were melting.

The sad thing is that even though these people are going to jail, I still don't think that they understand the gravity of their crime. I'm of the opinion that they honestly thought that they were helping their child.

Although this is a child negligence case the ABC article says something interesting:

Thomas Sam got the longer sentence of at least six years because, as a homeopath, he had a double duty of care.

This I believe is very important. And I suspect that it will have some rather big repercussions in the CAM industry. In NSW at least. If the above is actually true it means that homeopaths have a greater duty of care to their clients, and can be held responsible for whatever happens to them. This probably won't affect the "take this along with regular medicine" crowd, but it will affect the "don't take the regular medicine, take this instead" crowd.

Even if it doesn't I hope that people who are in the "Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Industry" take a good long look at themselves and think about the possible ramifications of what they tell people. This little girl never got a chance at life because her parents didn't seem to trust modern medicine. Would you want to live like they do, with the blood of an innocent on their hands?

Wednesday, 16 September 2009

All the US is like Texas

Just like all Australia is like Queensland.

This is the story in question regarding Tegan Leach who is currently charged with procuring drugs for an abortion.

This article from the Courier Mail states that the laws that she is being charged with are actually over a century old.

Now the issue isn't "Why does Australia have such crappy abortion laws" but it's in fact "Why does Queensland have such crappy abortion laws". The issue of abortion is not a Federal issue, but a state one. In general whatever isn't explicitly stated in the Constitution as something the Federal Government is in charge of is the job of the States to deal with. That is why Marriage law is dealt with on a Federal level, but de facto relationships are dealt with on a State level.

Now to be fair, the state I live in (South Australia) actually has some rather crappy laws regarding abortion compared to other parts of Australia. Wikipedia has a nice picture summing it up here.

Queensland does not even allow abortion in rape cases.

Victoria and the ACT allow abortion on request (there might be limits I don't know about though...) and they are basically the polar opposite of Queensland in this sense.

With time, and also from the reactions that people have against those who firebomb the houses of people charged with violating the abortion laws, the view should change and Queensland should start to come in line with the rest of the country.

Sunday, 13 September 2009

RIP Norman Borlaug

He is, beyond all doubt, the greatest man who ever lived. Through his work in agricultural research he helped to improve the lives of billions by ensuring that enough food could be grown for them.

He died today at age 95.

His life was spent creating strains of plants that were high yield and disease resistant. He helped countries like Mexico, India and Pakistan become self-sufficient in their production of wheat, and did similar work with rice and other cereal crops. In doing so he prevented hundreds of millions of people from starving.

His work helped to make the world a better place, and we should remember him, and also try to make the world a better place as well.

Friday, 4 September 2009

With $4 I'll be a Millionaire

Not even in Zimbabwe would I be a millionaire with A$4.

However that is the amount of money I got back on my tax return.

I don't think I'll ever cash the cheque they gave me though. Probably going to frame it.


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Busted announce Natives as sole support for UK and Ireland tour

Natives have been announced as sole support for pop superstars Busted on their UK & Ireland tour running through from January through to March.

The New Forest tribal-pop quartet will play 24-dates with the pop-rock three-piece, kicking off at the UEA, Norwich on January 28th and finishing at Dublin's Olympia Theatre on March 1st.

Guitarist / synth player Jack Fairbrother said "We're really excited for this tour, it's a chance for us to show people from all over the UK what Natives is all about. We thrive on the challenge of converting audiences who've never heard us before into members of The Tribe and we're extremely grateful to the guys in Busted for giving us the opportunity to do that for so many nights."

Natives have recently completed UK tours with Farro and MOTHXR, and next year’s extensive run of dates with Busted kick-starts what is set to be a very exciting twelve months for the band.

2017 will see the release of Natives forthcoming second album. The ambitious record explores the fictional story of a curious character who embarks on a journey into an unknown world. It’s a record that bursts with pop melodies and world-music influences, as found on their recent string of highly acclaimed singles including ‘Passion’, ‘Stop The Rain’ and ‘Chasing Lions’. The album will be accompanied by a book which delves even further into the narrative.

The Natives tour dates with Busted are as follows:

28/01 – Norwich, UEA **Sold Out**

29/01 – Norwich, UEA **Sold Out**

30/01 – Cambridge, Corn Exchange **Sold Out**

01/02 – Leicester, De Montfort Hall

03/02 – London, Eventim Apollo

04/02 – Bournemouth, O2 Academy

06/02 – Southend, Cliffs Pavilion **Sold Out**

07/02 – Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall **Sold Out**

09/02 – Newport, Centre

10/02 – Plymouth, Pavilions

12/02 – Bristol, O2 Academy **Sold Out**

13/02 – Portsmouth, Guildhall **Sold Out**

14/02 – Brighton, Centre

16/02 – Manchester, O2 Apollo

17/02 – Liverpool, University

18/02 – Birmingham, O2 Academy **Sold Out**

20/02 – Nottingham, Rock City **Sold Out**

21/02 – Leeds, O2 Academy

22/02 – Newcastle, O2 Academy

24/02 – Aberdeen, GE Oil & Gas Arena

25/02 – Edinburgh, Usher Hall

26/02 – Glasgow, O2 Academy

28/02 - Belfast, Waterfront

01/03 - Dublin, Olympia Theatre

Natives have always sought out unusual sounds, elements that differ from the norm

A clean slice of euphoric pop

The Independent

More than just your average indie/rock band

Find Natives on Spotify –

Tickets for the Busted and Natives tour are available through Ticketmaster - http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Busted-tickets/artist/26357


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Unlock iPhone 4: Some Suggestions

If you are a user of the iPhone 4, you can choose to have the features and applications beyond what Apple has provided to make the process called the unlock iPhone 4. You might think was not worth the expensive accordance phone bill from AT and T if they are available on the internet without having to pay that much. jailbreak or unlock your iPhone 4 is called. is simple but requires these steps carefully. You should know the specific instructions and carefully follow the release mechanism. This article attempts to open the eyes of some tips that may help unlock their own iPhone 4.
You can choose to buy an unlock iPhone 4 solution or just do it yourself. Purchase an unlock solution for the Internet will help you avoid all the problems or errors can occur if you can do yourself. So first decide then you can go to the procedure to follow to open their own iPhone 4.
Do not forget to consider the risks if this device performs the jailbreak or unlock the mechanism. This process requires sufficient skills and knowledge, if iPhone 4 is broken. Therefore, if you still have doubts about its ability to unlock the iPhone 4, then you should seek guidance and instruction appropriate to do so, not misleading.
Finally, you should get a trusted software or tools to unlock the iPhone 4 you are safe. You might consider the cheapest AT and T phone bill, so you can decide to purchase the software open many differences in the amount of money to spend. For your information, you can get a lot of software is offered free of charge, but it is safe to say that might be useful. Therefore, do not think twice to buy the program softeare rely upon to unlock the iPhone 4, without worrying too much about some problems that may occur during the process.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Window on Eurasia: Was There a Russian Intelligence Failure in Georgia?

Paul Goble

Vienna, August 13 – Russia’s intelligence services failed to detect and warn Moscow’s top leaders about Georgian plans to send forces into South Ossetia, a shortcoming that cannot be covered up by Vladimir Putin’s decision to hand out awards to more than 50 FSB, SVR, and GRU officers, according to a Russian analyst who tracks that country’s security community.
Indeed, Vladimir Yermolin writes in an article posted on the portal today, these awards are the height of hypocrisy because they have being given “for the timely and precise supply by the intelligence services of various levels of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and consequently of the country’s leadership” (
The course of events suggests that no such information was provided, at least in a timely fashion. “The introduction of Georgian units into the unrecognized republic [of South Ossetia] was, judging by Moscow’s reaction political and military, sudden.” In fact, he notes, Moscow dredged up the term “from distant 1941” – “perfidious attack” – to describe it.
Georgia’s quick moves clearly caught Russian peacekeeping forces there off guard. They were soon trapped, without a chance for “a timely withdrawal or assistance” for almost a day. They had to burn secret documents lest they fall into Georgian hands. And the only person who did flee in a timely manner was republic President Eduard Kokoita.
Clearly, tactical intelligence broke down, Yermolin argues, but so too did strategic intelligence at the level of Russia’s national command center. On August 8th, President Dmitry Medvedev was at a recreation facility in Samara oblast, while Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev were at the Beijing Olympics.
They clearly had not been given a head’s up about what the Georgians were about to do, Yermolin suggests, or at least one of them – perhaps Patrushev – would have been in Moscow or at a military facility in the North Caucasus Military District.
Thus, Yermolin continues, it turns out that “it is easier to spy in Senegal than in Georgia.” Or “in a word, neither from Tbilisi, nor from the observation posts, nor from the raids of special forces, nor from the air, nor from the cosmos, nor from our remarkable ‘spies,’ nor from anywhere else came to Moscow the signal about the invasion being planned.”
Indeed, as far as one can tell, Yermolin suggests, those who were watching television or listening to the radio may have known about Georgian plans at nearly the same instant that Medvedev, Putin the other senior leaders in Moscow did, a serious intelligence failure given Russian involvement in the region.
The only place where the security agencies demonstrated their “skills” during the start of this crisis was in seizing “Georgian spies in Moscow.” With regard to providing the kind of warning intelligence services are supposed to provide, they did “not a thing if one judges by the results.”
What might have happened in the Russian intelligence services had worked more effectively? Moscow could have raised an alarm diplomatically and reinforced its position on the ground in Ossetia militarily. Tbilisi would certainly have denied that it planned to do anything and complained yet again about what Moscow was doing.
But – and in Yermolin’s view, this is the important thing – with good intelligence, Moscow would not have yielded the initiative to the Georgians and would thus have been in a position to defend Russia’s interests in the region with much less loss of life and much less loss of its political position.
There is of course one possible justification for Putin to hand out these awards to his colleagues in the intelligence business: Some of them may have been involved in “convincing the Georgian leader and his generals that Moscow would not risk introducing forces on the territory of Georgia.” For such an effort, Yermolin says, it is of course “possible to give awards.”

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Holiday in Russia: Cosmonautics Day!

Laika the Dog!

Windows to Russia!
Easter in the West is Cosmonautics Day in the East!

RIA has a good set of pictures on this day. (Link to Pictures!)

One of my favorites is the dog Laika that in Nov. 1957 rode in outer space as a passenger aboard Sputnik II.

This was an interesting time in the world. The Soviet Union and the United States of America were in a race for the stars. The USSR won first in space but America won first on the moon.

Have a nice Easter…

Windows to Russia!
Kyle and Svet

comments always welcome.

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Medvedev Makes a Strong Statement About the Olympics During a Meeting!

March 1, 2010,
Gorki, Moscow Region

Beginning of Meeting with Leaders of United Russia Political Party

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Colleagues, the time has come to examine the latest round of new appointments. This week, as I understand it, we are starting with the candidates for the post of governor of Kemerovo Region. Later, we will have the candidates for governor in a few other regions to consider too.

Mr Gryzlov, you have the floor.

CHAIRMAN OF THE UNITED RUSSIA SUPREME COUNCIL AND SPEAKER OF THE STATE DUMA BORIS GRYZLOV: Thank you, Mr President. We have examined candidates for the post of governor of Kemerovo Region and we want to present three nominees to you: Valentin Mazikin, currently first deputy governor of Kemerovo Region, Sergei Neverov, a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly, and the incumbent governor, Aman Tuleyev. All three candidates are connected to United Russia. Neverov and Tuleyev are members of the party, and Mazikin is a supporter of United Russia. All three candidates are equal in merit, and so the choice is yours to make.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Good, thank you for this presentation. In accordance with the law I will make my proposal in line with the established procedure.

Is there anything else?

BORIS GRYZLOV: There is one other matter. The Olympic Games in Vancouver have just ended. Over these last two weeks we have followed out team’s performance very closely. I think, talking about Russians’ national idea, you could say that one of the things that unites us is a desire to always be first. It is all the more sad therefore to see that our country only reached eleventh place in the overall medal count. This is a worse result than Russia achieved in the first Olympic Games it took part in back in 1912. In other words, this is our worst result ever. I think this is a systemic failure. Of course, the sports officials should take responsibility for this. We have the Sochi Olympics ahead and I think that every day is valuable now and we need to decide how we are going to go about preparing for these Olympics.

We would like to hear your opinion on this situation, because United Russia is ready to get involved in the efforts to get our athletes ready for the Games.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Yes, and you should get involved. This is a national affair, something we all need to get involved in. I think it is still too early to make a final analysis, but I will make three points nonetheless.

First, without question we need to thank our athletes who did produce results, who came through a tough competition to take victory. Sadly, they are fewer than we hoped. The team’s performance was uneven, but no matter what the overall result those who achieved victory deserve the highest praise. Whatever the case, I will therefore meet with our Olympic team and congratulate them, and I also hope to receive the information I need to go ahead with awarding state decorations to those who particularly distinguished themselves.

Second, it is essential that we now proceed smoothly with the preparations for Sochi Olympics. Work is already underway, but it has to continue in two areas. First, and most important, we need to complete the infrastructure for the Games. We have already made considerable progress in all different areas in this respect, and I will soon receive an update report on the situation when the Council for Sport meets in March.

Second, taking into account what happened in Vancouver, we need to radically change the way we train our athletes. Unfortunately, as is clear even to non-specialists now, we were able to keep riding along on the basis of what was developed and achieved during the Soviet period, but this is no longer possible today. We have lost the old Soviet school now. There is no need to idealise it. Quite simply, it no longer exists, but we have not yet built a new school to replace it, even though we have been investing unprecedented levels of funding in sport, and this is also an indisputable fact. This shows that money alone cannot solve all the problems. Money is certainly important and is an essential condition, but it does not solve everything. The results of these Olympics highlight the real problems that we face.

We therefore need to rethink the way we train our athletes. The cornerstone of the system should be the athletes themselves, not the federations, which in some cases are like big fat cats, and not their heads, or even the coaches, for all our immense respect for their work, but ultimately, it is the athletes who produce the results and they must therefore be the centre of attention.

Finally, I cannot but agree with you that those in charge of preparing for these Olympics need to take their share of responsibility for the results. This is obvious. I think that those responsible, some of them at least, should take the brave decision to submit their resignations and step down. If they do not find within themselves the resolve to do so we will help them.

But this is not the most important thing. Most important is to prepare for the 2014 Olympics, and we need to pour all our effort into this work. This is not the time to sink into despair. Of course we were all upset, all had our share of negative emotions, but we need to put this behind us now and move on, get ready for the 2014 Olympics. Look at Canada’s brilliant performance. Who would have guessed that Canada (even though it is a good sporting nation and so on) would win so many gold medals, take first place in the gold medal count? No one expected this. I think the Canadians themselves probably did not expect it. Now we also have just as much chance of putting on a good performance at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. So, let’s get to work on this.

Here is a BBC article on this meeting!

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April 13, 2009

Vintage and Classic Cars Rally at Nariman Point

In the distance Gopilal Sharma appeared nondescript among the others, featureless in the bright white uniforms of chauffeurs waiting their turn by the vintage cars to the back of the line along the sweep of Marine Drive in South Bombay last week.

Gopilal Sharma had ridden Ajaypat Singhania’s 1956 Mercedes 300 to the rally and reveled in the attention it was drawing from curious onlookers.

Across the street the Trident rose steady in the sky. Resurrected from the Islamist terrorist strikes of November last it overlooked the Arabian Sea along the sweep that turns into a necklace of twinkling lights in the night. Stretching from Nariman Point all the way to Malabar Hill, the Queen’s Necklace is three kilometers long, and constructed from land ‘reclaimed’ from the sea it makes for a natural bay.

The Arabian Sea is mostly calm at this time of the year, a marked change from the monsoons when it rages against the terrapods heaped seaside along the wall enclosing the parapet and the spacious promenade along the road that runs six-lane for much of its length to the north of the city. Among other sights the road passes by the Taraporewala Aquarium, Islam Gymkhaha, Wilson College, and Chowpatty where lakhs of devotees descend on the beach to immerse the deity Ganpati on Anantchaturdashi, the last day of the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi when Bombay comes to a standstill. Heading north the sweep along the sea is to the left.

To the right, set back from the road, Art Deco buildings from the 1920s and the 1930s squat in easy comfort facing the sea. Built by Parsis most of the buildings still retain their original names, offering a peep into the past and the classy touch of a small community that lent the city architecture and the Arts scene its unique flavour and style, cementing the cosmopolitanism of the city with a culture that most still define as Bombay long after Shiv Sena, a local right-wing party feared for its street muscle and violence forced a change in the name to Mumbai, vandalizing establishments that did not.

The setting was apt. Watching the fleet of shiny vintage cars entered for the rally awaiting their turn to be flagged off in a district known for its mix of architectural styles evolving from the early 1900s, one could be pardoned for rewinding time to a gentler era when road rage was unheard of, and language refined to a fault, when dressing confirmed to styles, and rebel was someone you would associate with a guerilla, when people had time to stand and stare, and talk, and ruminate over the day’s events, when smiles were unaffected and came easy and there was nowhere to hurry to, and when it still mattered how others were doing with their lives and small talk cemented the local into a wider worldview.

We landed at Nariman Point opposite the Trident Hotel at half past eight just in time to see the flagging off of the annual Vintage and Classic Car Rally organized by the Vintage and Classic Car Club of India (VCCCI), marking its 90th year of existence. VCCCI teamed up with Western India Automobile Association for the event earlier this month. Last year the Vintage and Classic Car Rally rolled out from Kala Ghoda in February, this year from Nariman Point in early April. The rally is not restricted to Vintage and Classic cars alone, vintage motorcycles make their presence felt in the event as well. Unlike last year I noticed fewer vintage motorcycles this year.

I looked for Sudarshan Chemburkar among the participants gathered around their preening bikes, scanning heads for a floppy hat shielding a ruddy complexion from the heat of an Indian summer, or striding purposefully among the gathered bikers. No one answered to the description. Sudarshan wasn’t around this year. It was while I was admiring a shiny 1956 BSA Goldstar last year at the VCCCI event in Kala Ghoda that I met Sudarshan Chemburkar from Pune.

“She’s from Calcutta,” he said, looking at me from under the hat, his hand rolling over the handle. If he was pleased with the attention ‘she’ was getting he didn’t show it. “Somebody in the 1980s must have raced her lots. I bought her through a friend of mine and restored her from the brink of collapse.”

Sudarshan was getting on in years but as he spoke of the Goldstar his fondness for the bike stripped away the years quickly. We were standing in front of Stylo Tailors and Clothiers, Film Costumers from years ago, best known for the costumes they created for the 1973 Bollywood hit Bobby.

“BSA Goldstars were known for their racing prowess. In the top ten finishers in a race you could count on 5-6 to be Goldstars,” he explained. Standing among Triumphs and Nortons in the row of bikes warming in the early morning Sun I could imagine the generational shift in loyalties from the Triumphs and Nortons to the Goldstars once they began to beat the former at the races.

“They were known as the Immortal Goldies in the racing arena,” Sudarshan said.

He had started out by restoring a 1956 Suprema scooter. Soon the hobby turned into a passion after he acquired a Diploma in Automobile Engineering from St. Joseph’s in Kurla. Patting the 1956 BSA Goldstar, he said, “You feel young at all times when riding these machines. This is my fourth trip to Bombay from Pune on this bike.”

“Want to hear how she sounds?” he had thrown the question at me knowing well I was up for it.

I nodded and held my breath. The crowd behind us went silent as he bent forward on the handle and placed his foot on the kick, and BAM.

The Goldstar reverberated to life, inducing passing people into pausing in their stride to turn to look at us, and the bike. That was last year at Kala Ghoda.

And I wonder why Sudarshan Chemburkar did not ride his Immortal Goldie to the rally this year around!

Maybe he will be back the next year like A. R. Dadachanji, the elderly Parsi priest at the Vatcha Gandhi Fire Temple on Hughes Road, Bombay - 7, returned to the lineup this year with his 1948 Morris 8 after skipping the last edition in 2008.

It was at the 2007 edition of the VCCCI rally two years ago that I first saw A. R. Dadachanji. The vintage cars had returned to the finish line at Flora Fountain when I saw him by his Morris 8 warmly greeting visitors who stopped by to admire his shiny green vintage car. He stood out in the crowd in his traditional Parsi attire that set off his twinkling eyes against the flowing white beard. Watching him from the distance I was struck by his unfailingly polite demeanour in acknowledging visitors curious of his car, and the warmth with which he greeted acquaintances who stopped by the Morris 8 for a quick chat, possibly fellow Parsis regular at the Fire Temple. It was lunch time and the Sun beat down hard, rarely denting his smile in the time I was there.

Two years on little seems to have changed except the Morris 8’s colour, from deep green in 2007 to black this year. And the elderly Parsi priest has barely aged in the time.

“This car is a family member of our family,” he told me. “We went to Sri Lanka in this car in 1981.” At 70 Dadachanji is only ten years older than his 1948 Morris 8.

Two visitors passing by step up to him and wish him well with the rally. He steps forward and bows gently, clasping their hands in his before thanking them, smiling. A light breeze blowing in from the sea stirs his beard.

On the promenade behind us a passing madari (monkey handler) leading two monkeys on a leash pauses to watch the spectacle of vintage beauties. The sky and sea merge in a featureless shade of dull grey. There’re no clouds on the horizon.

Among the vintage cars on display there’ll have been few if any among them that haven’t played their part on Bombay roads, riding the breeze along the Marine Drive, gracing narrow lanes that criss-cross Fort and the heritage precinct of Kala Ghoda in the decades the city came to acquire a character distinct from the one it has been forced to acquiesce to now.

Dadachanji’s 1948 Morris 8 had the Morris family for company – Mahendra Bhagat’s 1935 Morris, Aslam Makandar’s 1937 Morris 8, Fali Patel’s 1938 Morris 12, and Kirti Anand’s 1951 Morris Minor.

However, missing from the lineup this year were several Morris Minors that had participated last year, year of make in brackets – Ajay Khakhar (1932), Sanjay Mistry (1935), Shamun A. Karachiwala (1948), Shree Kishan Joshi (1951), Kishore Shah (1952), and Umesh Rele (1955). Hopefully they’ll make it next year.

Like Dadachanji, the Pandit family is a regular at the Vintage and Classic Car Club of India’s annual event. Initially I failed to recognize them in the royal outfit the family had turned out in, riding their open-top 1930 Ford A into town.

The Pandits are Brahmins. It took me a few moments to place them at the rally for, last year, Dr. Manohar Pandit, had turned out in a Forest Ranger’s uniform though the fake mustache that later shifted in the heat by a bit reminded one more of the dreaded bandit Veerappan than a Forest officer. Dr. Manohar Pandit had espoused protecting wildlife at the rally, a placard reading ‘Save Wildlife’ prominently displayed behind them. A fake gun and an empty cartridge belt left no one in doubt about the message. He had handed out wildlife conservation pamphlets to the effect.

This year the Pandit family was turned out in traditional attire. I cannot be sure if it was royal attire or that of the brahmins from an earlier era. They were parked by the road divider across the road from the Trident Hotel, in the backdrop of flowering bougainvillea and palm trees. Their dress attracted as much attention as their car, both resplendent in the setting. Television cameras came rushing to the 1930 Ford A. First up was a Marathi language television channel. Dr. Manohar Pandit spoke in a Marathi unique to Maharashtrian Brahmins. Like the elderly Parsi priest, Dadachanji, Dr. Pandit stressed how the Ford A is a member of his family having been in their possession since the year of manufacture, 1930.

“There’s more fun to be had riding the old cars than the new,” he told the camera crew.

A cardboard cutout featuring two elephants holding up a logo Jin Ghar Jin Takt hung from the front of the car. Large letters below the two elephants read BARODA. I couldn’t quite make the connection between the two. I wondered if the cutout was the insignia of a royal family from Baroda in Gujarat, and if the attire the Pandit family had turned out in mirrored that of the royal family. I cannot be sure of either.

Elsewhere, Jackie Shroff, sporting dark shades, had joined a few others on the platform to flag off the rally, and the first off the marks was Vijay Mallya’s 1903 Humber Humberette.

The Humber is British, tracing its beginnings to the bicycle company that Thomas Humber founded in 1868, not producing the first car until 1898, a three-wheeled tricar. Though the Humberette has a single-cylinder-engine the first four-wheeled cars to roll out of Humber in 1901 were powered by 2- or 4-cylinder engines. The Humberette is powered by a 611 CC, 5 HP single-cylinder engine that helps the 650 pounds four-wheeler along at a healthy 25 mph.

The 1903 Humberette drew a large number of onlookers as it readied to lead the way out. For a car this light the two-seater took off the blocks fairly briskly, egged on by a cheering crowd. In no time it had disappeared from view.

Jackie Shroff had entered his 1930 Jaguar SS in the rally. At the flag-off he drew curious looks from the gathered crowd, many of whom had grown up on hindi films starring him in lead roles.

We walk to the back of the line of backed up cars awaiting their turn at the flag-off. Some of the cars are parked with their backs to the promenade, drawing surprised looks from joggers on their early morning run past the stretch. A middle-aged man sat in a yoga pose on the platform, facing the sea, his trainers by his side and seemingly oblivious to the rally behind him.

The promenade is popular with visitors on an evening out in the city. To the calls of vendors vending everything from peanuts, lollipops, balloons, mineral water, and potato chips to toys, books, and ice-cream, visitors loll along the promenade while joggers and brisk-walkers dodge them.

It is not uncommon to see maids or family members walk the sick and the elderly from the NCPA high-rise apartments opposite the promenade for a fill of seaside air. Every once in a while cars come to a halt by the promenade and the elderly in wheelchairs or otherwise are chaperoned by family, helped along by a firm grip under the elbow before being commandeered gently to the platform for a bit of rest and activity. Boisterous friends and courting couples from nearby colleges and beyond frequent the promenade in large numbers. Those looking for peace and quiet turn their backs to the world and face the sea, legs dangling from the platform.

With little or no regular traffic early that Sunday morning, and punctuated by a smattering of colourful holiday attires, hats and all, one might as well have been strolling around in a 1950s or 1960s Bombay. Running the names off the list heightened the feeling further – Humberette (1903), Fiat 501 (1919), Steyr II (1922), Rover (1923), Rolls Royce 20 HP (1925), Cadillac (1928), Austin Harley (1933), Packard (1934), Dodge Bros (1935), Buick (1937), Daimler (1939), and Chevrolet (1940) among others, totaling 43 cars in the Vintage Car (1900 – 1940) category.

The Classic Car category (1941 – 1960) had 49 entries, including Buicks, Packards, Bentleys, Austins, Desotos, Daimlers, Wolseleys, Lincolns, Hillmans, Fiats, Volkswagens, Rovers, and the Mercedes among others.

However the Recent Classic Car category spanning the years between 1961 and 2008 had only 14 cars making up the list.

It was a remarkable scene no less, a temporary museum by the sea.

Gopilal Sharma was busy chatting with fellow chauffeurs who had ridden their employers’ cars to the venue. While some waited for the owners to make an appearance and get behind the wheels for the rally others would be doing the honours themselves, accompanied by the owners’ relatives or friends or both. Seeing us approach the 1956 Mercedes 300 I noticed Gopilal Sharma turn his face towards us and smile under his bushy mustache before walking up to us. It was easy to see that Gopilal loved a good chat in the long tradition of genteel souls who’d seen the city’s metamorphoses from a quiet port to the hurly burly of India’s financial center. The Sharmas are Brahmins, largely from North India. Gopilal Sharma told us he’s been in the employ of the Singhanias for a long time now.

Gopilal took immense pride in his bushy mustache, twirling them to good effect when visitors stopping by the 1956 Mercedes 300 shaped up to photograph it. In the gentle light of the morning by the sea it was raining rainbows in the street.

“I drove this car down from the Maharaja of Kutch forty-five years ago,” he said. “It belongs to Ajaypat Singhania but he won’t be coming down to participate in the rally. His brother, Vijaypatji, will.” Vijaypat Singhania, Chairman Emeritus, Raymond Group, is a former Sheriff of Mumbai and a Padma Bhushan awardee.

“Take a picture while I’m twirling my mustache,” Gopilal said with a smile, readily posing in front of the Mercedes 300 and twirling his bushy mustache in the time honoured way of mustache-preening as I prepared to photograph him. I thought it interesting hearing him refer to the Mercedes 300 as his car, more for the bonding between man and machine that inspires such devotion that the issue of ownership blurs with time. In some ways I feel it is in the nature of his generation where loyalty stems in part from attachment that in turn strengthens a sense of responsibility towards one’s charges.

About then Jackie Shroff came into view, trailed by curious hangers-on. Gopilal’s eyes lit up and he walked up to Jackie Shroff with open arms suggesting he knew Jackie well. It didn’t matter in the least if Gopilal Sharma knew Jackie Shroff or not, he could make anyone feel at home anytime of the day. There was no guile about him. Jackie Shroff smiled and let Gopilal put his arms around him, playing along while Gopilal struck a pose for cameras that were following Jackie Shroff.

Sensing Shroff’s unease with the attention the impromptu photo session was beginning to draw, Gopilal was quick to seize the moment, telling the former film star, “Come this way, you must see our car.” Placing his hand around Shroff’s back Gopilal Sharma gently but firmly led Jackie Shroff to where the 1956 Mercedes 300 basked in the morning light. And the procession paused by Gopilal’s car.

From the distance I couldn’t help smiling watching the unlikely scene unfold.

It was a nice day to be out in the Sun and among aficionados who reveled in the atmosphere the vintage and classic cars had turned the day into. No one was in a hurry to get anywhere.

Gopilal’s words describing the Mercedes 300 follow me on the light breeze blowing in from the sea.

“Kings used to go out in the evenings (in these cars).” And turning his hands palm-up he continued, “Yeh bhagnewali gaadi nahin. Aram se chalao. Thandi hawa khao. No radio. No A/C.” (This is not a racing car, more for a leisurely drive, to enjoy cool breeze. No radio (to divert attention). No A/C.)

I turn around to have another look at the cars I've little or no chance of seeing until it's show time again a year from now.

Fleeting moments linger longer, always. It is the way of the world.


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Bully Hill's Love My Goat Red Wine

As with the aromas, the flavors of Bully Hill's Love My Goat are mostly cherry with a bit of plum. This medium-bodied red wine is quite sweet though there is also a lively acidity and soft tannins. It's not at all complex and it feels almost as thick as it looks despite the relatively low alcohol content. Overall the elements of this wine don't hang together or mesh as well as I've found in other inexpensive red wines. Bully Hill's Love My Goat will probably be an acceptable red table wine or cookout wine for most people, but it's strong sweetness combined with its lack of complexity doesn't put it at the top of my list of choices.

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Wing Creek offers an enjoyable, moderate climate year round, paralleling the temperatures in Kelowna almost every day of the year. The overall climate is moderated by its close proximity to the vast body of water known as Kootenay Lake. As a result, Wing Creek does not suffer from extreme shifts in the temperature from day to day at any time of year.

Mountain Influence

The surrounding peaks of the Selkirk Mountains to the west and the Purcell Mountains to the east also have an impact on the climate, ensuring that even the warmest summer days are relieved by relatively cooler evening temperatures, as is often the case in mountainous areas. Air conditioning is a very rare exception here.

Prairie visitors are sure to notice and comment on the lack of wind. In general, we enjoy calm days with gentle breezes on the water and often no wind at all just a little higher up in elevation. Often times even the lake is as smooth as glass — all the more perfect to dip your kayak paddle in and enjoy a serene exploration of the fjord-like shoreline.

Coastal visitors always comment on the warm summer temperatures — significantly warmer than those experienced in Vancouver or on Vancouver Island, for example. Average summer temperatures range from lows of 11°C/51°F to highs of 27°C/79°F respectively. In very hot years, summer days can reach as high as 38°C/100°F which is a perfect time to spend some time cooling off in the lake. There are very few mosquitoes or black flies and most years it is rare to come across any at all, in sharp contrast to the buggy summers endured in many other areas of BC and North America. Often locals don’t bother to install screens in their homes at all.

In winter, Wing Creek receives less snow than many of the surrounding mountainous areas and, although snowfall levels are unpredictable from year to year, accumulation is typically non-existent at lake level. Winter temperatures are moderated by the close proximity of Kootenay Lake, which never even thinks of freezing. The creek — Wing Creek — running through the property flows all year long as well. In general, winters are both brief and mild with lows of approximately -5°C/23°F and highs averaging 0.6°C/33°F with this entire cold spell lasting approximately one month.

Year Round Outdoor Recreation Paradise

Overall the area is known as a year-round outdoor recreationist’s dream, with world-class hiking and water sports available all summer long and in the winter world-renowned back-country, CAT and heli-skiing within easy reach nearby.