Letter to MP-remembrance day at Ibrox

[robg58 319]

Written by David Bennett

To:

The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP,The Secretary of State for Defence;

The Rt Hon Andrew Robathan MP, The Minister of State (Minister for the Armed Forces);

The Rt Hon Mark Francois MP, Minister of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans)

Dear Sirs,

It is with grave concern and disappointment that I find myself forced to correspond with you. However, in these modern times of electronic media a certain issue has came to my attention, namely the decision of Major General Nick Eeles, General Officer Commanding Scotland to restrict the Remembrance Day celebrations conducted in the future at Ibrox Stadium, the home of Rangers Football Club. This hasty, unpalatable and surprise decision was announced in bold headlines in a Scottish Sunday newspaper on Sunday 27th January 2013 and is now, via the afore-mentioned electronic media, widely known.

My concerns are numerous and I have listed these below for your perusal and consideration. I would also trust that a speedy retraction of General Eeles decision would be forthcoming.

Let us firstly start with the Remembrance Day events at Ibrox Park on Saturday 10th November prior to and at the interval of the Scottish Football League fixture between Rangers and Peterhead. It has been a long held tradition that Rangers invite members of the Armed Forces to the home fixture nearest in date to the 11th of November, Remembrance Day. Rangers Football Club and the Rangers family have and continue to embrace a multi-cultural policy and as Scotland’s largest football club, and indeed one of Britain’s, the Remembrance Day activities are eagerly anticipated by and engaged in by the club, it’s supporters and, most importantly, our men and women who serve in the Armed Forces. This year there was, as always, the laying of wreaths by a small group of club officials, management and players at the appropriate time at the memorial that the club built for the purpose of serving as a permanent remembrance of those who gave their life for their country and in particular those who also represented the club through its history.

Prior to the match, as in previous years, there was an outstanding card display in 3 of the main stands that was a visual tribute not only to those who have lost their life but also those who are still with us, either on active service or who suffered the physical and mental traumas of war at a loss to their health and well-being.

On this occasion arrangements had been made with our friends in the Armed Forces to have a howitzer positioned in the stadium and for it to fire a round to intimate the commencement of what was, and always is, an impeccably observed minutes silence by both home and away supporters, players and officials. The minute silence was then ended by another round being fired.

I think I can safely say the use of the howitzer and its dramatic impact served well to remind everyone of the horrors and frightening reality of war. This was done as opposed to the traditional referee’s whistle and, I assume done with the officials agreement. Suffice to say there were many tear-filled eyes and lumps in our throats during this minute of respect.

Then, immediately prior to kick off, two paratroopersabseiled from the roof of the Govan Stand to ground level and then onto the park to present the referee with the match ball. I personally, as did many others, found this an ideal opportunity to see our forces in action and a timely reminder of their skills and bravery.

Lest we forget, the near capacity crowd of 48,407patrons are made up of people who will remember the numerous times our troops have been engaged in combat throughout the modern world, be it in the two World Wars of the 20th Century or in recent conflicts in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan. No doubt many will have experienced the traumatic concerns of having a loved one on active duty and the service of our troops past and present should never be forgotten. None of the aforementioned actions or activities can in any way diminish what was a truly a show of ‘appropriate solemnity’ at the appropriate time.

How do I know all of the above? I was privileged and honored to be among those 50,000 patrons and I have yet, in all my years of being in the stadium on such occasions, to hear one dissenting voice.

So I ask myself why this unacceptable situation has arisen. Let us start at source. It appears Major General Nick Eeles, General Officer Commanding Scotland, received correspondence regarding what the writer described as involving ‘Army, Navy and Royal Marines service personnel (who) were participants in a travesty of a ‘Remembrance’ parade at Ibrox Park, Glasgow’.

The correspondent has gone not only to the bother of writing to General Eeles but also making his letter and the General’s subsequent reply widely available on the internet. This leads me to several worrying conclusions and concerns about both the writer’s true motives for writing and publicising this matter using the often abused power of the internet and the subsequent stance and actions taken by General Eeles and his fellow commanding officers.

Let us firstly consider the writer’s remarks. His first is one of a glaring inaccuracy. The match was in fact against Peterhead, not Alloa as he states. To this end I would suggest the writer was not at the game nor, based on his subsequent comments, likely ever to be so (unless perhaps his own ‘team’ was playing).

The writer then continues ‘Whatever the original intention may have been, the occasion was allowed to degenerate into what I can only describe as a show of sectarian support - by the military personnel involved- for one particular section of Scottish society and one particular football club.’

I can only assume that the writer means the half time parade of our Forces and not the events prior to kick off. From my recollection of the day and the video evidence available, the half time celebrations consisted of a spontaneous and continuous round of applause throughout the interval and the singing, by the crowd, of Rule Britannia, the playing of the David Bowie rock anthem ‘Heroes’ and an enthusiastic ‘Bouncy’ engaged in by troops and fans alike. This can be verified by accessing a wide range of videos captured by fans in the stands that are available on the website ‘YouTube’.

There were no sectarian incidents neither by deed nor word, and yet this type of celebration is to end as a result of one person, who was not present on the day, and his desperate attempts to undermine the entire ethos of the day for reasons that are not entirely clear but seem to refer to another issue and agenda.

I would further point you and the writer to the simple fact that the Rangers family have regularly honored the Armed Forces on match days over the years. In 2009, they welcomed marines from 45 Commando on to the pitch at half-time in a fixture against Heart of Midlothian after the troops finished a tour of Afghanistan. On this occasion, and I speak as someone who was in attendance, one soldier from 45 Commando spent the whole half-time interval in front of his fellow Hearts supporter in a display of mutual affection that all in the ground applauded. Indeed and furthermore, the club had several representatives at the funeral of the late Captain Walter Barrie, observing a minutes silence with players wearing black armbands at the home fixture following his death. Scots Guardsman Gary Jamieson, who lost both legs in Afghanistan, was also the club’s guest of honour during a match in 2010. There can be no doubt that all those who serve or have served in our Armed Forces are treated with respect and kindness by the Rangers family as an expression of gratitude for their service, dedication and devotion to duty often at great personal cost.

The writer further adds It was in no way respectful of the men and women ( among whom I include my own father) who suffered death or injury in the second World War, but was an absolutely undisciplined display of sectarian bias by the army unit(s) involved, who, I believe had balloted to be present because of their personal support for the aims and ideology of The Rangers FC.

I firmly believe the time for respect on the day had already passed and been observed in complete and appropriate solemnityand what occurred at the half time interval was a mutual respect and appreciation of both the services personnel and the fans making.

Those who serve our country are often reminded of the words of the famous war poet, Wilfred Owen, who wrote ‘DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country.

I, and I’m sure the vast majority of the British population, no longer believe this is the sole principle of celebrating and engaging with those who join our military service. Many return from active duty physically and/or mentally scarred, some to the point where there life will never return to ‘normal’. The release valve on the day in question and the Rangers family’s warm welcome and enthusiastic reaction would make it most difficult if not impossible for any individual to refrain from indulging in the celebrations.

The writer closes with what could be best be described as a bigoted, sectarian rant, referring to ‘the officer who authorised the use of tax-payers’ money for such a shameful partisan display, and the senior officer present on the day ( if indeed, any officer was present) should be asked to apologise to the people of Scotland for being so crassly insensitive to the feelings of many like me, who distance themselves from the poisonous ideology behind Orangeism and who do not wish their support for the Armed Forces of this country to be predicated on a false assumption that Orangeism equates to patriotism.

It is essential that I emphasise this was in the writer’s view and he continued in his ‘blog’ by highlighting that ‘as you can see dear reader 95 people liked this post with only one finding objection to it.’ I would suggest that the low number of people raising objections may be as a result of the vast majority of reasonable minded people refusing to dignify this diatribe.

I would, alternatively seek to point out that the writer makes several unanswered and unfounded allegations in his letter, namely regarding a waste of tax payers money, sectarian issues, the lack of a commanding officer’s presence on the day, that the people of Scotland should receive an apology and that those personnel in attendance had been somehow balloted in based on their religious beliefs, sectarianism and following of the largest and most successful football club in Scotland and further.

I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and the individual’s right to this. However I am also a firm believer in democracy and would ask, in your considerations of this matter, the views of the overwhelming majority who found nothing disrespectful or insulting about the Armed Forces personnel conduct on the day and, if anything, appreciated the opportunity to salute those who serve.

I would ask you now to consider the response from General Eeles that the original correspondent felt worthy of ‘posting’ on the internet. His response is, in my view, ill considered at best and I have taken the liberty of breaking this down to confirm my view.

General Eeles replied ‘The General Officer Commanding Scotland has now had the opportunity to review the events that took place at Ibrox Park with the other Service heads in Scotland. They share your view that the format of the half time event and the conduct of those taking part in it was inappropriate for Remembrance Weekend, and will take steps to ensure that such events are conducted with appropriate solemnity in the future. They believe that the minute’s silence before the match was the correct way to mark the occasion and Army commanders will be directed to restrict future Remembrance events to this type of activity in the future. The focus of Remembrance activities must be on the fallen, not on those who are serving in the Armed Forces today

I would be interested to hear if this was the complete response from General Eeles as the internet scribes and our media seem to avoid letting the whole truth get in the way of a good story and are not unknown for printing matters out of context. I would also like to know if such a decision is in the remit of the General Officer Commanding Scotland and who would be in a position to overturn this. However, I can only comment on the extracts of his response that have been ‘conveniently’ made public.

On that basis, it is extremely distressing to note that the General Officer Commanding Scotland seems to have acceded to the wishes of the minority. Heaven help this great nation of ours if this is the strength of character of our senior military officers. He has failed, miserably in my view, to separate the pre-match Remembrance observance and what occurred during the half time interval although he does admit that the minute’s slience was appropriate and correct. He has also declared his view that ‘the focus of Remembrance activities must be on the fallen…’. I would remind General Eeles and indeed you, as politically elected representatives, that this is solely an opinion and not one shared by me or many of my acquaintances. It is time the ‘modern’ army joined the 21st Century if this is the kind of response they make to ill-willed allegations.

Remembrance events and significant historical dates are held throughout the world, not only by our allies but by nations that were formerly our enemies. These are often a mixture of solemnity and celebration for example ‘Bastille Day’ in France.

Indeed, in our modern world , the funeral of the departed is often celebrated in an up-beat and positive manner. We need look no further than the Catholic mass which aims to honour and pray for the person who has died and to care for and support those who are grieving. This care is focused on remembering and celebrating the death and subsequent resurrection of Christ and how this mystery offers Catholics hope.

The New Orleans jazz funeral is a unique funeral tradition in New Orleans, Louisiana. The tradition arose from a combination of African spiritual practices, French musical traditions, and African-American cultural influences. A typical funeral begins with a march by the family, friends, and a jazz band, starting from the home, funeral home, or church, and proceeding to the cemetery. Throughout the march, the band plays very somber dirges. Once the final ceremony has taken place, the march proceeds from the cemetery to a gathering place, and the solemn music is replaced by loud, upbeat, raucous music and dancing where onlookers join in to celebrate the life of the deceased.

I would re-iterate my comments of the Rangers family being a multi-cultured one that respects all regardless of beliefs, creed or colour and take this opportunity to state that for many, service personnel and fans alike, at Ibrox on the day in question, celebration is the ‘letting go’ of the loss, pain and angst they suffer.

I am concerned that General Eeles has also not availed himself of the opportunity to answer any of the allegations made by the original correspondent. Has there been a waste of tax payer’s money? Were there sectarian issues on the day? Was there a commanding officer present on the day? Are the people of Scotland due an apology and had those personnel in attendance been somehow balloted in based on their religious beliefs, sectarianism and their following of the largest and most successful football club in Scotland and further.

I am confident that there was no waste of tax-payers money even if the personnel involved were on duty as our forces are effectively on duty 24/7 and rest and recreation must surely form part of their duties. I have, I feel, totally dispelled any notion that there were sectarian issues on the day. There were a number of officers present on the day and, as noted in the clubs statement regarding this matter, ‘All activities on the day were arranged in full co-operation with the Royal Navy, RAF and Army.’ With regards to an apology, I believe the original correspondent should apologise for using Remembrance Day as a mechanism to promote an entirely different agenda and cause. Perhaps those responsible for the website that allowed this vitriol should apologise too and the Sunday Mail and it’s daily version, the Daily Record are well known for promoting anything that sells papers often at the expense of showing the Rangers family inaccurately in a bad light. Indeed this has happened to such an extent that these papers are the subject of boycotts by large numbers of people who share this opinion.

However, I am not so sure General Eeles has investigated how those in attendance were selected nor am I convinced that he has made himself fully aware of the background and history of the Remembrance Day activities, and indeed any opportunities when the Rangers family are afforded the chance to salute British forces, at Ibrox throughout the years and this year in particular. He has failed to comment on the number of people who complained regarding this year’s event and to use the ‘like’ button (as the correspondent did) as a measure only serves to highlight how few people were offended and could be bothered to do anything other than click on a computer icon.

Furthermore, General Eeles has appeared to undermine the decisions made by those members of the Armed Forces who co-ordinated this years’ celebration with the club. Instead, he, and the other Service heads seem to believe a minority view not only regarding what occurred on the day but also the tenets behind it. In my opinion a true leader of ‘men’ knows the strengths of his command and trusts the judgement of those within it. I cannot say I consider General Eeles to qualify in this regard. He appears to have been used a political and sectarian football and further seems not to have recognized this, a genuine cause for concern regards the General Officer Commanding Scotland.

My last area of concern is, of course, with the reporting newspaper. According to their headlines, ‘Military chiefs have criticised Remembrance Day events organised by Rangers.’ I would respectfully submit that I see no criticism of the Rangers family, be it the club, the fans or, most significantly the Charity Foundation, in either the General’s remarks or the comments of the spokewoman for the Army. The concept of ‘top brass’ branding anyone, let alone Rangers, surely ended in the early part of the 20th Century.

The press article then refers to ‘complaints’ but Ihave yet to see or hear of more than one. The article then uses words such as ‘Instead’ and ‘just’and ‘more’ to describe General Eeles response. These words are subjective but appear to portray some attempt at condemnation of ‘the Ibrox parade (which) was organised by the Rangers Charity Foundation to raise cash for ex-servicemen and their families.’ The Rangers Charity Foundation do indeed raise significant sums for the military charities and, indeed, the Army Benevolent Fund – The Soldiers charity is the Foundation’s current national partner. An extremely worthy cause in the view of reasonable minded people.

Sadly, as a result of the article, the club has felt obliged to make a statement in order to present the true facts and endeavour to repair some of the deliberate damage done by those who have, apparently, alternative motives. The club stated:

‘

Rangers have always had a close and respectful relationship with this country’s services personnel and associated charities. That will continue.

No one from any of the Forces has been in contact with us other than to thank us for our support and help. Indeed, it was pointed out that our Remembrance event proved to be the single largest memorial event in Scotland in the year in question.

The Remembrance part of the afternoon was observed impeccably and carried precisely the correct degree of solemnity. This was, as should always be the case, entirely separate from anything that some might have deemed frivolous during half time an hour or so later.That was when service people about to be deployed abroad wanted to celebrate in normal football style.

All activities on the day were arranged in full co-operation with the Royal Navy, RAF and Army. They have always been extremely appreciative of the club’s efforts and acknowledge we are massive supporters of the country’s serving men and women, as well as veterans.’

I trust that, having read this you will see that the Rangers family will continue to support our services personnel including serving, retired and bereaved parties. That has never been in doubt.

The Charity Foundation, the club and the Royal Navy, RAF and Army arranged the day’s event in conjunction and received numerous expressions of appreciation of the enormity of the boost to coffers that this day, and others conducted by the Rangers family, make to such a needy and worthwhile cause.

Rangers official statement continued stating ‘The Remembrance part of the afternoon was observed impeccably and carried precisely the correct degree of solemnity’ and further remarked that the half time celebrations were ‘entirely separate from anything that some might have deemed frivolous during half time an hour or so later. That was when service people about to be deployed abroad wanted to celebrate in normal football style.’

The article does correctly state that ‘Rangers players wore special poppy strips during the match and fans displayed a poppy mosaic before kick-off. However the report states that ‘Servicemen were given footballs by subs from both sides and took part in a half-time kick-about.’ I think it only fair to say that some of the forces personnel took over the subs half time drill and did indeed engage in a kick about and penalty shoot-out but it is also fair to add that this was done while the subs from both sides warmly applauded, shook hands and posed for photographs with those personnel on the park. If this was not a heart-warming sight then I have truly lost all perspective of what is good and kind.

The comments of the spokeswoman for the Army again seem to confirm the Armed Forces ill-informed decision and toe the ‘politically correct’ line of apologising. I find this distasteful and weak on the part of the Armed Forces command. Her comments also seem to refute the original correspondents allegation that those troops present were in some way hand-picked if they‘were invited as a thank you from the club as they wanted to show support for the job they do and raise money for Poppy Scotland.’

The newspaper article also quotes a Rangers spokesperson as saying “No one from any of the Forces has been in contact with us other than to thank us for our support and help.Our Remembrance event proved to be the single largest memorial event in Scotland last year.’ This only goes to re-enforce my previous views regarding the true merits and meaning of the day in question.

It may well, at this stage, be appropriate to remind you of your own Service Complaint’s Commissioners statement that

“The men and women who serve with our Armed Forces are trained to act with professionalism, integrity and respect for others and ultimately to lay down their lives for our country. They deserve to be treated well and, where they feel they are not, to have their complaints handled properly.

You have my assurance that those of our Armed Forces have acted as trained at the appropriate time and deserve to be treated, not only well, but fairly.

In closing I would remind you of the ulterior motives of many who use the power of electronic media to promote and bolster inappropriate causes and agendas and also your duty to do the will of the British public at large. I make no apologies in informing you that I intend to put the content of this e-mail out to as many forums and media outlets that I can as well as side-copying it to the Rangers Charity Foundation. I eagerly anticipate your response and hopefully a full retraction of this decision now the facts have been fully presented. I would lastly recommend that you should make the time to visit Ibrox at your earliest opportunity and perhaps more appropriately on the day of Remembrance. Only then can you fully understand the bond between our Armed Forces and the Rangers family.

[gogzy 31,195]

ill give this a read when i have more time lol

Good stuff man, keep fighting the good fight.

[tango 341]

Good letter, will be interesting to see if you get a reply

[OceanRain 2,845]

And to think you'll mostly likely get a single paragraph-long template-style response

Top marks for effort, OP.

Fantastic letter.

[ritchieshearercaldow 22,240]

Boy that's some letter.

Well done m8 but a bit long winded, the reader could lose the will to live by the end.

Some execellent points, had a lump in my throat just reading but I'd try and shorten it a bit

[CottonRunt 978]

[Blue and True 311]

well that took me a while

Worth it though great letter.

I look forward to the reply

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

Excellent letter well done the author.

[eastcoastbear 122]

Outstanding OP. Hope you receive a reply worthy of your efforts.

[devref 201]

cracking letter hope you get a worthwhile reply.but by fuck am knackered after reading through it

[harlands plater 17,007]

Admirable sentiments, but I've read shorter novels. Hope the recipients take the time to read it through.

[Jonnyjardine 20]

Sorry, but,

The most effective communications are concise, easy to read and make the relevant points without prevarication.

This is a good and well written read, however we occupy a world where such lengthy prose lose the interest of people very quickly.

Keep it concise and simple and people will read it.

Write War and Peace and people quickly lose interest.

Thee vast majority of people opening this post will not read it. Which is unfortunate, given the length of time you must have taken over this.

[Brian The Bear 3]

To quote c*nt.....err runt ;-)

Yeah fantastic letter, well done and although a long read a worthy one for politicians who can spend days going through 4 sheets of A4.

[cushynumber 25,178]

you deserve nothing but praise for going to the trouble to put that together , so well done.

[royalbluebell 38]

An excellent letter, glad I took the time to read it.

[coop troop 106]

Well done that man, and well said.

I back the sentiment and the intent. I hope the people who should know better, correct this unbelievable wrong. Then we can forget this debacle, created by a bigot, and continue the honourable work we do to financially help as some small recompense to the real honourable people. Our forces.

WATP

[nachothelegend 1,932]

Im not a great Reader but read your letter mate.

Your Letter deserves a positive response but sadly I dont know if it will.

Hope something positive transpires.

Well done mate.

[gmcf 34,457]

Excellent letter. You've covered every base.

[Blumhoilann 6,712]

Please send a copy to Gregory Campbell MP care of Westminster

[sergio 1,199]

Great read, will be interesting to see if you get a reply well done

[downviewbear 149]

Who or what was the asshole that sent that shit to the general officer in the first place ?

[gogzy 31,195]

An excellent letter, glad I took the time to read it.

me 2, i had put it off because it was huge, but it was very very well written, I just hope the recipient reads it.

[james1690 29]

Yip pretty much covers everything that needs to be said. Will be watching this thread closely for the reply. well done

[robg58 319]

I did not write this it was from another site.

[jack1690 793]

I did not write this it was from another site.

Someone on the scotsman site has put the letter up demanding something be done as its racist!

The link was from here. Must be annoying to the many lurkers.

TG88 (scotsman sig) get it right up ye ya brainless fenian prick