Tears of Old Soldiers

After a beautifully presented and emotional lecture at the Army Flying Museum in May, the Museum is delighted to look at a more recent phase in history for its June lecture.

June sees a first time visit to the Museum by Julian Whippy with a presentation about his new book, Burning Horizon.

Thanks to the pandemic, Julian began writing again and while putting together some research for his day job as a battlefield tour guide, stumbled across the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the British involvement in it.  Referred to by the British military as Operation Telic, Julian discovered that little had been researched or written about the human stories from the front lines, be they soldiers, sailors or aircrew, yet there was a distinct number of works from the political aspect.

Julian thus embarked on his research which involved locating and speaking to more than 50 veterans over the next two years. 

The lecture, which will be in the stunning surroundings of the Hayward Hall at the Museum, will give detailed and compelling accounts and recollections of dozens of British veterans along with an engaging narrative which tells the story of Operation Telic, capturing the chaos of the earliest days of war. 

The lecture will take audiences from the ‘brown envelopes’ of mobilisation, through camps in Kuwait and then to the front line.  The final ‘Thunder Run’ into Basra by the Irish Guards and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards would be worthy of any Hollywood director’s attention and yet Julian found in his research that it has barely gained a line in the history books. However, the veterans who were there describe the part they played with a sense of pride, with many finding the ‘unboxing’ of the traumatic events of twenty years ago in the research for the book, both distressing and cathartic.

Julian Whippy said “With Burning Horizon published, I am just hoping that I have done the lads and lasses of Telic One some justice by telling their stories after they trusted me to do so.”

 

This special event will be presented by George Bacon and will also be live streamed on the Museum’s website, as well as available to a limited audience at the Museum itself.  A live Q&A session will take place following the talk with both Museum and online audience members able to participate.

Tickets to attend the event in the Museum on 13 June at 7pm are just £12, with online pay per view £8.  For further information or to book, visit www.armyflying.com

The talk will also be recorded for catch up viewing after the event through the Museum website.

 

ENDS

More Info:

Interviews – Julian Whippy is available for interview, please contact me at corporate@armyflying.com if you would like to arrange this.

Biog – Julian Whippy

 

Julian is a Military Historian and former London Police Officer with 25 years’ service, primarily on specialist firearms teams and on covert surveillance.

His passion for military history began when he joined the Royal Anglian Regiment as a reservist and has culminated with him owning his own battlefield tour company and working for 22 years across the world as an accredited battlefield guide, on some very special battlefields including Rorke’s Drift, Verdun, Arnhem, and Antietam, USA.

He gives presentations on military history across the UK, including at the Royal United Services Institute in Whitehall.