The poppy harvest will be rich in Peterborough this year. Seven months ago,
personnel from a nearby RAF base were banned from wearing their uniforms in
public in the city: its streets had been deemed too dangerous. Servicemen
and women had been threatened and insulted. Cars had been attacked, windows
smashed.
Local people responded with a determination to show support for their Armed
Forces that has been echoed nationwide and is gathering strength as
Remembrance Day approaches.
Whatever the British people might think about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
that their soldiers, sailors and airmen have been asked to fight, as the
bodies of the fallen return home a conviction has taken root that the
military needs and deserves the tangible respect of the civilian public.
Hero, the X Factor charity single, is on its way to the top of the
charts, selling more than 200,000 copies in its first two days alone.
Yesterday HMV announced that it would be donating all proceeds to the
fundraising effort, its first such action since Band Aid’s Feed the World
charity single in 1984. “We’ve been deeply moved by the public’s response,
which demonstrates the gratitude and appreciation they feel towards our
servicemen and women,” a company spokesman said.
The Government has waived VAT on the song, whose proceeds will go to Help for
Heroes, which cares for wounded Service personnel, and the Royal British
Legion’s Poppy Appeal.
Sales of Remembrance poppies are expected to exceed last year’s
record-breaking figures, when £30 million was raised. Teenagers are
increasingly eager to sport what would once have been seen as decidedly
uncool.
Prince Harry’s tour of duty in Afghanistan may have improved the Army’s image
among the young, but the people of Wootton Bassett needed no PR campaign.
During the past 18 months, residents of all ages have lined the streets of
the Wiltshire market town on more than a hundred occasions in silent respect
as a coffin draped in the Union Jack has passed by.
Each cortège, en route from RAF Lyneham to Oxford, where postmortem
examinations are conducted, carries the body of a man or woman killed on
duty. That solidarity is mirrored across Britain: increasing numbers are
turning out for homecoming parades. A recent survey found support for the
Forces to be 81 per cent.
A year ago General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, expressed
concern over the “growing gulf between the Army and the nation”, and pleaded
for understanding of what young soldiers faced in “the blood-stained earth
of Iraq and Afghanistan”. The Government then set up a study, carried out by
the MP Quentin Davies, which in May produced 40 recommendations to improve
relations between the public and the military.
In its formal response to the report, the Ministry of Defence this week
accepted the bulk of its ideas, including a British Armed Forces and
Veterans Day, to be held on June 27 next year.
General Dannatt said yesterday that he had been delighted by the change of
public mood. “Support for our Forces has been amazing, with so many people
taking the time to welcome our soldiers home safely.”
Patrick Mercer, Tory MP for Newark, and a former commanding officer in the
Army, said: “There has definitely been a change of culture. I think people
realise that servicemen and women from their towns have been making
sacrifices on their behalf.”
The MoD also issued regulations to “make clear to all personnel that they have
our support to wear their uniform more widely in public”. Off-duty wearing
of uniform when using public transport or during “visits to amenities like
the bank, shopping or coffee shops” – but not in pubs or at airports – is to
be encouraged.
Local commanders maintain the final say on the issue, taking account of
security assessments. In theory, this means that Peterborough is still a
no-go area for an RAF uniform. Group Captain Paul Higgins, the station
commander at RAF Wittering, has, however, promised an imminent review of the
ban, which was introduced by his predecessor. A decision is expected in the
next few weeks.
Opinion on the streets of Peterborough, a cathedral city since 1541 that today
feels like the “new town” it became in 1967, suggests that the prohibition
cannot end soon enough.
The reports of attacks on uniformed personnel met with dismay and outrage. The Peterborough
Evening Telegraph, which broke the story, began a “Wear it with Pride”
campaign that won huge support. On Friday the city’s Norman cathedral will
host a charity concert to raise funds for those with combat stress. It is an
initiative born from last year’s Remembrance Sunday sermon delivered by the
Dean of Peterborough, the Very Rev Charles Taylor, before the uniform ban
became public.
The congregation gave the Dean a standing ovation when he condemned the
support services provided for injured veterans. “Get out your note-pads,
boot up your e-mail, lobby your MP and bombard Whitehall until the
powers-that-be provide adequate care for our Armed Forces,” he told them.
On a smaller scale, a local businessman, Peter Harper, offers military
personnel and their families a 10 per cent discount – it is 11 per cent in
November – in his shop, which sells fine food and wines. Mr Harper, 71, was
prompted to act by his disgust that a Surrey hotel had turned away a
serviceman, who had to spend the night in his car because it was company
policy not to accept military personnel as guests.
“I was fuming. Our troops don’t get the appreciation they deserve. I wanted to
show my appreciation for the contribution they have made to our country,” he
said. “It was disgraceful that RAF Wittering felt it necessary to introduce
that ban. I hope they realise that the overwhelming majority of us
appreciate the sacrifices they make.”
One local pub is collecting gifts for a Support our Soldiers appeal while
another raises money for a Peterborough Supports Heroes campaign. There has
been a cycle ride through French battle-fields to raise money for the
rehabilitation of wounded military personnel.
Two weeks ago hundreds lined the streets to applaud servicemen and women from
RAF Wittering parading through the city centre. Group Captain Higgins
described the turnout as “outstanding and heartwarming”.
It has been suggested that some of the previous abuse might have come from
Muslims. If so, Waheed Rabbani was not one of them. Mr Rabbani, 37, sees no
contradiction in vehemently opposing the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan
while fully respecting fallen British servicemen. “I’m wearing my poppy with
pride,” he said. “My father served with Allied forces during the Second
World War. I wear the poppy in memory of all the people who gave their lives
so that we can walk around freely today.”
Also wearing her poppy was Jaimie Patel, 23. She said that Britain had gone to
war for the wrong reasons, but the troops deserved support. “Even if I think
the cause was wrong, at the end of the day they died for us.”
