I’ve been working on a project which has involved going through newspaper and magazine reports written during the Boer War. What always strikes me about them is how honest they are about the reality of war. Soldiers suffer mental breakdowns and shock on the battlefield. Sergeants claw at the veldt scrub in agony as they wait for a death that no medical attention can avert.
This is the kind of coverage not seen in the heavily censored accounts that came out of the First and Second World Wars. The British commanders in the Boer War come in for a scrutiny and criticism that might have been valuable in the First World war – and may even have saved lives. The ordinary soldiers didn’t escape criticism either. As an office boy on the Glasgow Herald I spent two weeks finding out what the paper had to say about events over the preceding 200 years. I remember a leader, or as some people might call it, an opinion piece, along the lines of “We do not mind British soldiers surrendering, but 200 fully armed and fresh troops raising their hands to 20 Boers does stick in the craw more than somewhat”. The Herald’s leader writers were also far from impressed with the treaty which ceded Hong Kong to Britain in 1842 and were convinced the Chinese negotiators had got the better of the British. “Just what use is this miserable little island at the mouth of the Canton?” was the gist of the paper’s leader at the time.

This website has brought me into contact with a lot of interesting people. It’s even resulted in contact with long lost relatives on the other side of the world being resumed.

There’s a website I’d like to direct those of you interested in Scottish soldiers to. It’s a priceless archive of photos being built up by a former soldier in the Cameronians called Ed Boyle. Ed served with the Cameronians in the early 1960s and his website not only includes his own photos from that time but also those of several other members of the regiment that was disbanded in 1968. They provide not only a fascinating snapshot of army life in the 1960s but also document some pretty amazing haircuts.Ed's work on his website is a timely reminder of the regimental tradition and it's strengths. The Cameronians were disbanded more than 40 years ago and yet once a Cameronian, always a Cameronian. Of course a battalion's only as good as the men in it at any given time. A bad Lieutenant Colonel or Regimental Sergeant Major can do damage which can take years to repair or which may never be repaired. But regimental history and tradition can often form a solid base on which to build today's success and reputation. Persuading men to put their own best interests and self-preservation instincts aside is a complex thing and I don't think a load of pencil pushers in Whitehall actually understand all the factors. Yes, the other members of a man's section are an important factor, perhaps the most important. But when they're nearly all lying dead or unconscious, that's when the old "The Royal Scots-KOSB-HLI-Royal Scots Fusiliers-Gordons- Cameronians- Seaforths-Black Watch-Camerons-Argylls-Scots Guards-Greys NEVER surrender/retreat" thing can kick in.A few blogs ago I speculated that the 4th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland might be facing the axe in the latest round of defence cuts. The Highlanders, who inherited the traditions of the Seaforths, Camerons and Gordons, didn't seem to have the friends in high places who protect the 3rd Battalion (Black Watch) and 5th Battalion (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders). But I see that it could well be the Black Watch, suffering from poor recruitment, who may be on the chopping block. In the very very olden days Whitehall took the emotion out of these decisions by opting for a last-in first out approach which disbanded the youngest regiment first, regardless of its fighting record. A team's only as good as the side it puts on the field, and you don't automatically win the Scottish Cup just because your team's called Celtic or Rangers. Perhaps if there are indeed, and it's debatable, too many teams in the Royal Regiment of Scotland League, the fairest way to sort that might be by the numbers rather than by some sort of battalion beauty contest. Ninety-one and Ninety-three are the highest in this case. {Which is what happened, the 5 Scots being reduced to company strength and assigned to ceremonial duties}  Anyway, here's the link to Ed's website. http://www.edwardboyle.com/EB/RAPC/RAPCmisc/Cameronians/Cameronian.htm

Back in 2002 a Canadian sniper set a new record for a long-range kill. I covered the story for the Edmonton Sun but kept it muted in comparison to some of the accounts that appeared around the time. It was indeed a fine piece of shooting but I couldn’t bring myself to celebrate a death. Snipers, and so I’ve just learned, Apache attack helicopter pilots, are amongst the few soldiers these days who get a good look at the faces of the people they kill. That makes it a very intimate type of killing. But even those snipers and pilots don’t know the story that brought that enemy into their sights. Yes, that bad guy had to be put out of action. But no, don’t ask me to join in the celebrations.

 They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch. That’s not always true. Maybe someone who wants to salve their conscience for past misdeeds might treat someone else to a free meal. But one thing I’m fairly sure about is that there are no legitimate free copies of Scottish Military Disasters available for download. SMD was recently launched in e-book format and there are now sites out there offering it as a “free” download. That’s very generous of them if they plan to pay me the royalties I’m entitled to. But somehow I don’t think I’ll hold my breadth waiting to the postie to deliver the cheque. There are some advocates of copyright piracy who will use some twisted logic which claims that I’m secretly delighted by this development. I’m not. And maybe I should take the attitude that hell-mend anyone who downloads the book for “free” from one of these sites and what may happen next serves them right. The sites I’ve come across make an administrative or subscription charge. The charge is impossibly low if royalty payments to the hundreds of thousands of writers and musicians whose work is available for download are to paid. But suppose the token charge is a way to get your credit card number or some other financial details. I for one wouldn’t trust information like that to people who appear to have the technical know-how to disable anti-piracy safeguards. Also, when I looked into this I found out that many of these so called free downloads include a hefty dose of malware, including spyware. That’s providing there is a download available in the first place and you’re not just providing your credit card number and only getting a major financial or computer headache in return. I haven’t been able to find someone daft enough to test that very suspect site out.
If you are interested in a legitimate e-book version -  http://www.nwp.co.uk/9781906476588

I’ve got something to add to my previous blog on book reviewing. In Book Reviewing 101 I cautioned that many reviewers have an agenda which is not obvious to the reader. Well, I want to add a guideline which would bar people mentioned in a book, favourably or otherwise, from reviewing that book. I recently read a book with several glowing reviews on the back cover. I was disgusted to find that the people quoted were actually in the book. Someone should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.