We Need to See Our Servicemen and Women in Uniform, Not Ban Them

It is sadly all too frequent for relatively insignificant events to be blown out of all proportion, particularly once the media gets hold of them. So it was with the case of RAF personnel being told not to wear uniforms when they go out and about in Peterborough. Heaven knows what our American readers think! Go anywhere in uniform in America, and despite the increasing opposition to our misguided presence in Iraq in recent years, you will be slapped on the back and the only abuse you will get is if you try to put your hand in your pocket to buy your own drink.

I have to report that while British servicemen do sometimes come in for abuse, the people giving it out are largely insignificant yobs with no brain and too much time on their hands. The vast bulk of Britons regard their forces with a good deal of pride and soldiers, sailors and airmen remain among the most respected professions in this country.

The incidents involved in this case, which might or might not have anything to do with the victim being in the RAF, were a series of nasty attacks on an RAF nurse who was wearing her uniform to travel from her home in Peterborough to the military wing at the town’s hospital. "Between June and October 2006 she had a window in her house smashed, one window in her car smashed, and there were scratches made on panels of the car," an MoD spokesman said. "She received verbal abuse as well."

The attacks should have been reported to the police immediately and weren't. They were eventually, in October, reported by the nurse to her superior officers at RAF Wittering, where the station commander, Group Captain Ro Atherton, dealt with them. If they had been reported to the police, then something could have been done before it got out of hand.

There appears to have been a period of teeth-sucking during which the RAF police, not the civil police, were consulted. On their recommendation, Atherton made the decision to ban the wearing of uniform in April, which begs the question as to what was happening between October and April in terms of attacks to justify the decision?

It also begs the question as to why, on April 22, at the same time as Atherton was making her decision, personnel from RAF Wittering marched through the neighbouring town of Stamford in uniform with bayonets fixed. Was there a problem with this? Well let me quote from the station magazine.

"Extremely Impressive! Hugely Exciting! Really Evocative! Highly Professional! Very Memorable! These are just some of the favourable expressions which local people have used when telling me how much they enjoyed our Freedom of Stamford Parade in April.”

Who is talking here? Group Captain Ro Atherton, the station commander, who stood alongside the mayor of Stamford to take the salute, adding: “I was proud of everyone and pleased to have the opportunity to “show RAF Wittering off” to the local community." So she should have been.

I don’t want to target her, she no doubt thought she was doing the right thing to try to help someone for whom she had a responsibility, and she was following the advice of the RAF police. But the decision to issue a blanket ban was misguided, as was the decision not to involve the civil police. They, and not the RAF police, should have been brought in immediately when the attacks first started.

A blanket ban on wearing uniforms in public in Peterborough was not the answer, most people there would treat RAF personnel in uniform with the same sort of respect they received in Stamford. A commission set up by the prime minister to examine the role of servicemen and women in society and the way in which the public perceive is about to recommend that they wear uniform in public more openly. (A ban was put in place in the early 1970s amid a serious threat from the IRA and while it has been eased in some places, it has never been publicly rescinded.)

The commission is right, the services need to be seen more not less, and anyone abusing them needs to be dealt with, not bowed down to by imposing a ban that lets them win. We have now had the Defence Secretary Des Browne and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Glenn Torpy both defending a situation that should never have been allowed to happen. A relatively isolated incident has been blown out of all proportion and led to a ban that can only worsen the links between ordinary citizens and the service personnel who lay down their lives in our name.

Comments

[William29]

I grew up in a garrison town -Winchester - where we had the Rifle Depot, and other line Regiments posted in and out. Yes there was problems on pay nights, but nothing that would make news outside the local area. The difference was most of the people of Winchester had served in some way during the war or had family members who had been on national service. I know that time is limited today, let the public see a well rehearsed regiment in full cermonial order band playing. It is impressive and will stick in the memory of all who witness it. I can still recall memories of Rifle Brigade and Kings Royal Rifle Corp at 140 paces marching down to the cathedral. Winchester recently had a service parade, however, Southampton council even restricted the days that poppies were sold last year, and I suspect would not welcome a parade.

[William29]

There is also the matter of civil police involvement, my own father served 22 years as a special constable, and on occasion would come across some rowdy off duty servicemen, he never had a problem (he did have three rows of medal ribbons) and would enjoy the banter with the lads, as an ex regular airman himself. I know he would have been appalled to think that his beloved Royal Air Force was reduced to this.

[Christopher Kern]

I'm living in Hannover, Germany, and we still have several British army bases in the area including Hohne Garrison. The Germans are, quite rightly, known for not caring very much about their own troops but when British service(wo)men come into town, they are always treated with the greatest respect. No motive is more popular with our plane spotters here at Hannover airport than the RAF Tristars and VC10s. The British Forces' public presence is vital for a better understanding between German and British people. Just a few weeks ago I talked to some friends about how it would be, if the British Army withdrew from Germany and all agreed that they would miss the regular sight of British uniforms in the streets. If even here in Germany, maybe one of the most anti-militaristic countries in the world, the people widely welcome the sight of British soldiers, it seems really strange to me that they should be banned from wearing their uniforms in public in the UK.

[William29]

Back in the 1960s, I among others were described as being members of the Hitler youth movement by one Barbara Castle - I was of course a member of the Army Cadet Force ! Now we have members of the National Union of Teachers wishing to ban all reference to the military, stop visits by KAPE teams and obviously give an unbiased view of the world to the young students. I respect their views, if they believe the wars at present are illegal. Who do they think halted facism, a left wing think tank ! Soldiers from all over the free world, let me mention just one, Serjeant Robert, Easton Duthie - 2nd Bn Gordon Highlanders (River Kwai) his ashes are at Kanchanburi war cemetery (aged 24) a regular soldier, (My uncle). A wasted life - Never !