First published in the Daily Express on 16 May 2018
LIKE so many schoolboys of my generation I was captivated when I watched The Dam Busters shortly after the film came out in 1955. There was so much to enjoy. Not least the charismatic Richard Todd playing Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the commanding officer of 617 Squadron, and the distinguished Michael Redgrave’s brilliant portrayal of Barnes Wallis, the aeronautical engineer who devised the “bouncing bomb”. (more…)
First published on 15 May 2018 on ConservativeHome.com
I have announced today that, after nearly six years in the role, I am stepping down as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Veterans’ Transition.
It has been a privilege to serve under the last two Conservative Party leaders as I worked with all stakeholders to ensure military personnel receive the support they need when making the transition to civilian life. (more…)
Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC has had his latest “hero of the month” article published in Britain at War, the country’s best-selling military history monthly magazine.
The May issue of the magazine has a two-page write-up on the life and bravery of Acting Lieutenant Colonel William Herbert Anderson, who was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for outstanding bravery during the Great War. (more…)
First published on 25 April 2018 on ConservativeHome.com
AS the reverberations of the Skripal affair continue, I have been to eastern Ukraine to see the effect of Russia’s territorial ambitions on states the Kremlin considers to be part of its sphere of influence.
This is Europe’s forgotten war, between Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass and the Ukrainian government, which is determined to preserve sovereignty over the region. (more…)
First published on 21 April 2018 in India’s Sunday Guardian
It’s been a bumpy few years for the pollsters. Surveys overestimated support for Angela Merkel’s party in last September’s German elections, having correctly identified Emmanuel Macron as the front runner in a competitive field in France earlier in the year. In the last two national contests in the UK, most pollsters expected a knife-edge result in 2015 and a comfortable Conservative victory in 2017, but got precisely the reverse. Before our 2016 referendum most surveys suggested the country would vote to remain in the European Union, and a few months later many received a second shock with the election of President Donald Trump.
First published in the Telegraph Magazine on 21 April 2018.
One hundred years ago today, Germany’s flying ace the ‘Red Baron’ was shot from the skies – but not before he had achieved a record 80 ‘kills’.
First published on 17 April 2018 in The Times Of Malta
Britain’s friendship with Malta is so long and so rich that it would be easy to take for granted. The award of the George Cross in 1942 by King George VI to bear witness to the nation’s “heroism and devotion” following the second siege of Malta is only the best-known episode in a story that spans the centuries: the joint enterprise of ridding Malta of the French garrison in 1800, the islands’ part in the British Empire, their crucial role as a supply station in the First World War, their valiant endurance against the Axis powers in the Second, their long service as the home of the British Mediterranean Fleet, and accession to the Commonwealth on gaining independence in 1964 are testament to a true partnership. (more…)
Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC has had his latest “hero of the month” article published in Britain at War, the country’s best-selling military history monthly magazine.
The April issue of the magazine has a two-page write-up on the life and bravery of Honorary Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Frederick Hayward, who was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for outstanding bravery during the Great War. (more…)
First published in the Daily Express on 31 March 2018.
It should never be forgotten that when the Royal Air Force was formed on April 1 1918, powered flight, in general, and aerial combat, in particular, were in their infancy. (more…)
This piece was initially published at TIME.com
If in November 2020 we are looking back on how Donald J. Trump came to be re-elected as President of the United States, those undergoing a second round of horror and dismay will find themselves reflecting on how seriously, and how often, they underestimated their foe.
The left has history when it comes to looking down on, and therefore underrating, its opponents. Ronald Reagan was derided as a genial but bumbling movie actor but was elected twice to govern both his state and his country. As was George W. Bush, who seemed to inspire a kind of hysterical contempt in his adversaries: Haha, he’s so stupid. He says words like “misunderestimate.” Oh, he’s beaten us. Again.