By Lord Ashcroft
Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC has had a new-look “hero of the month” article published in Britain at War, the country’s best-selling military history monthly magazine.
The December issue of the magazine has a new design for the four-page write-up on the life and bravery of Major Sir Tasker Watkins, VC, GBE, PC, QC, DL. (more…)
By Lord Ashcroft
First published in the Sunday Express on Sunday, 11 November 2018.
By any standards, this is a momentous day: Armistice Day, Remembrance Sunday and the centenary of the end of the First World War.
Momentous days in history deserve to be marked in a significant way and this is why I hope that November 11 2018 will, for many decades to come, be recalled for the “r” word: reconciliation. (more…)
By Lord Ashcroft
First published in the Daily Express on Tuesday, 06 November 2018.
All is tranquil and peaceful on the River Sambre in northern France. Trout swim in the water, wild ducks fly overhead and the only noise, other than birdsong and church bells, comes from the occasional vehicle that rumbles over Quartes Bridge. It could hardly be a greater contrast to the events of exactly a century ago today when, amidst an atmosphere of apprehension and danger, Major Brett Cloutman risked his life under heavy fire to take part in what was to become the last Victoria Cross action of the Great War. (more…)
By Lord Ashcroft
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 November issue of the magazine has a three-page write-up on the life and bravery of Air Commodore Ferdinand Maurice Felix West VC, CBE, MC, who was born in Bayswater, central London, in January 1896. (more…)
By Lord Ashcroft
First published in the Daily Telegraph on Thursday, 01 November 2018.
Let relatives of soldiers from the former Rhodesia honour their Great War fallen at the Cenotaph
On Remembrance Sunday, which this year marks the centenary of the end of the Great War, more than 100 people, including war veterans and their supporters, are due to gather on the north side of Westminster Abbey for a military parade. With the former servicemen standing ramrod straight and their Rhodesian regimental colours hoisted proudly into the air, they will hold a discreet service to commemorate their country’s war dead. (more…)
By Lord Ashcroft
First published in the Daily Express on 30 October 2018.
FOR THE FALLEN
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
For me, the above extract is the most enduring passage of any war poem and on Remembrance Sunday it will be heard at memorial services up and down the country. (more…)
By lordashcroft.com
To mark the centenary of the battle of Le Quesnoy by New Zealand forces in WWI, Lord Ashcroft has written an article for the New Zealand Herald, published on Saturday, October 27 2018.
Lord Ashcroft has also presented a short film on the action, shot and edited during a recent visit to France by Julian Simmonds, an award-winning photographer. (more…)
By Lord Ashcroft
First published in the NZ Herald on Saturday, 27 October 2018.
On a towering red-brick wall on the outskirts of the medieval, fortified town of Le Quesnoy, there is a white stone plaque that depicts soldiers, clutching rifles and bayonets, using a ladder to scale ramparts. (more…)
By Lord Ashcroft
First published in The Sunday Times Magazine on 16 September 2018.
During their childhoods, they were typically adventurous and boisterous boys: they loved making model aircraft, sailing toy boats, hunting for crabs in seaside pools and swimming off remote beaches. (more…)
By lordashcroft.com
Lord Ashcroft’s new book – White Flag? An Examination of the UK’s Defence Capability – will be published on October 2 and can be pre-ordered now.
The book, co-written with political journalist Isabel Oakeshott and published by Biteback Publishing, will examine the state of the UK’s armed forces after years of cuts. It will assess whether they are ready to deal with coming threats and the possibility that this country may be drawn into military conflict which is not at a time and place of our choosing. It will also explore the politics of defence. (more…)