Cold War

Starting my BAOR 20mm for the upcoming coldwar gone hot supplement ,first up are 3 chieftans one of which is sporting the natty Berlin Regiment Urban Camo .Just seen some pics of the real thing and the effect against buildings was amazing. http://baor-locations.co.uk/AVeh.aspx
All are Latayo  Diecasts

Xmas Poem

A poem forwarded to me by John Grayson.




T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,




HE LIVED ALL ALONE,



IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE,



MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.





I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY,



WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,



AND TO SEE JUST WHO,



IN THIS HOME, DID LIVE.





I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,



A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,



NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,



NOT EVEN A TREE.





NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,



JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,



ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES,



OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.





WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,



AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,



A SOBER THOUGHT,



CAME THROUGH MY MIND.





FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,



IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,



I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,



ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.





THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,



SILENT, ALONE,



CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR,



IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.





THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,



THE ROOM IN DISORDER,



NOT HOW I PICTURED,



A TRUE BRITISH SOLDIER.





WAS THIS THE HERO,

OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?



CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,

THE FLOOR FOR A BED?





I REALISED THE FAMILIES,



THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,



OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS,



WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.





SOON ROUND THE WORLD,



THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,



AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE,



A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.





THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM,



EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,



BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,



LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.





I COULDN'T HELP WONDER,



HOW MANY LAY ALONE,



ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE,



IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.





THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT,



A TEAR TO MY EYE,



I DROPPED TO MY KNEES,



AND STARTED TO CRY.





THE SOLDIER AWAKENED,



AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,



"SANTA DON'T CRY,



THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;





I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,



I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,



MY LIFE IS MY GOD,



MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS...."





THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,



AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,



I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,



I CONTINUED TO WEEP.





I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,



SO SILENT AND STILL,



AND WE BOTH SHIVERED,



FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.





I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE,



ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,



THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR,



SO WILLING TO FIGHT.





THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,



WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,



WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,



IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."





ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,

AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.



"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."





This poem was written by a Peacekeeping soldier stationed overseas. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable



PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to all of the service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

Motörhead - 1916

16 years old when I went to the war,


To fight for a land fit for heroes,

God on my side, and a gun in my hand,

Chasing my days down to zero,

And I marched and I fought and I bled and I died,

And I never did get any older,

But I knew at the time that a year in the line,

Is a long enough life for a soldier,

We all volunteered, and we wrote down our names,

And we added two years to our ages,

Eager for life and ahead of the game,

Ready for history's pages,

And we brawled and we fought and we whored 'til we stood,

Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,

A thirst for the Hun, we were food for the gun,

And that's what you are when you're soldiers,



I heard my friend cry, and he sank to his knees,

Coughing blood as he screamed for his mother,

And I fell by his side, and that's how we died,

Clinging like kids to each other,

And I lay in the mud and the guts and the blood,

And I wept as his body grew colder,

And I called for my mother and she never came,

Though it wasn't my fault and I wasn't to blame,

The day not half over and ten thousand slain,

And now there's nobody remembers our names,

And that's how it is for a soldier.

Thanks

Recieved this from the Royal British Legion , and would like to thank everyone that has made a donation  or has sponsored me in anyway or just given moral support ,Thank you.



Dear Mr Holden,



Over the past few weeks the nation has united in respect to remember the fallen. Poppies have bloomed and our volunteer army has been out in force on a high street near you.



On Sunday 14th November, as the time neared 11.00am, the Poppy-wearing crowds, gathered in London around the Cenotaph, waited expectantly. On the stroke of 11.00am Big Ben chimed and a hush fell over the usual clamour of the city. For two minutes people of all ages remembered the courage of those men and women who lost their lives during conflict. Many thought of family, friends and comrades, while others simply bowed their heads in respect for all who made the ultimate sacrifice.



Then, the band struck up and the 10,000 strong column of veterans began the annual march past the Cenotaph, applauded all the way.



This year we are hoping to raise a record-breaking £36 million from the Poppy Appeal. So far the figures are promising and I hope that we will meet this target. Of course the more we raise the more we can do to support our veterans young and old.



Once again, thank you for all your support of the 2010 Poppy Appeal, let's hope that together we can raise the money we need to help those that need it most.



With best wishes,





Russell Thompson OBE

Director of National Events and Fundraising

Raffle and Remembrance

This past weekend saw the Drawing of the raffle to raise funds for the British legion , All the prizes have been claimed and collected and a lot of happy wargamers left with some lovely prizes. I would like to thank the following people and traders , John Grayson for helping out at this years events , John Skotulanski and his staff at Wargames Emporium for their support ,loan of shop ,allowing the internet sale of tickets and for their sponsership. Shaun ,Peggy and Robbie at Ambush Alley games for their amazing support  and sponsership and to all the other traders ,Warlord Games , Baccus , S&S ,Caliver Books, Irregular Miniatures ,Osprey Publishing , Two Fat lardies , Gripping Beast, West wind Games  and North Star miniatures ,and of course evry  single person who bought a ticket ,thank you.

Yesterday I was proud to attend the remembrance Sunday service at IWM Duxford ,which is an amazing place place on a normal day but Yesterday was a moving tribute to our fallen personnel from past conflicts. Thank you all for helping raise funds , but please remember our dead and injured Service Men and Women and their families need support everyday ,keep donating.

Raffle Draw

Just a final reminder that the draw for our raffle in support of the Royal British Legion is this coming Saturday the 13th of November at 1PM in the Wargames Emporium ,Orchard square Sheffield, Tickets are still on sale in the Shop and on line untill the time of the draw .£1.00 for 5 tickets ,fantastic prizes and most importantly every penny raised goes to the Legion whose support to our  service men and women and thier family's from all conflicts is never ending.

Thank you.

Requiem for a Soldier

Participation Game

Hi thanks to everyone who came down yesterday to play the game or buy Raffle tickets and help the Royal British Legion . Thanks to John Grayson for helping out as usual John for letting us use the Wargames Emporium it was nice to chat to all the gamers I hadn,t seen for a while Tim ,Ian and John (another one) especially thanks for your support.I did take some photos but seem to have deleted them ? .

WIP Malaya

Hi nearly finished my Royal Hampshires for the Malayan Emergency .Just the basing to finish off and then onto the Ghurkas . I have always liked the Britannia range but Daves new 28mm Inkerman range is fantastic.