The Sandbag Times Issue No:23

nEws
soldier Killed In RAF Akrotiri Motorbike
Crash named
A British soldier who died from
injuries suffered in a road crash
inside RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus
has been named as Sergeant
Anthony Mark Oxley. Sgt
Oxley was a member of the
Yorkshire Regiment and
believed to be from the West
Yorkshire area, but was attached
to 1 LANCS at the time of his
death. An Army spokesman
said, "We can confirm that there
was a road traffic collision
involving a motorbike and a car
on the Akrotiri base on Tuesday.
The motorcyclist, a soldier
attached to the 1st Battalion The
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment,
later died from his injuries. Sgt
Oxley suffered serious injuries
Army has 'overly-sexualised' heavy drinking culture,
Chief of General staff admits
The Army must rein in its
heavy drinking ethos and
tackle its “overlysexualised
culture”, the
Chief of the General Staff
has admitted to MPs. Gen
Sir Nick Carter said he
would use his time as head
of the service to
"fundamentally change"
Army culture, to ensure
parents felt able to entrust
their sons and daughters to
a career as soldiers. Sir
Nick spoke days after an
inquest into the death of
Pte Cheryl James at
Deepcut barracks
criticised the sexual
and was airlifted to Nicosia
General Hospital but later died.
His next of kin has been
informed. A police investigation
is now underway. It is believed
Sgt Oxley served as a Drum
Major. The Army spokesman
has also said "His family and
colleagues are being supported
at this difficult time.”
widows pay £2,200 to visit Falklands
war graves
Widows of servicemen killed in the Falklands are being asked to pay
more than £2,200 for military flights to visit their husbands’ graves
even though many flights make the 8,000-mile journey half-empty.
Holders of the South Atlantic medal, given to those who fought in
the 1982 conflict, are eligible for subsidised travel on the twiceweekly
Ministry of Defence flights to the Falklands. However,
widows and parents who received the medal on behalf of the 255
British servicemen killed in the Falklands are required to pay the full
rate of £2,222 to take the flights to visit their loved ones’ graves.
atmosphere and binge
drinking at the notorious
Surrey base. He told the
Commons defence
committee: “We recognise
that we have an overly
sexualised culture and
alcohol is a two-edged
tool and I am determined
to do something about
alcohol. It is a very
difficult issue. "On the
one hand it can be very
positive in terms of culture
and bonding people
together and providing the
relaxation that people need
and on the other it is
difficult. One of the
challenges of the young
today is, I suspect unlike
our generation, they drink
to get drunk rather than
drink to enjoy themselves.
That means some of their
behaviour becomes quite
extraordinary." Sir Nick
said, “what I need to do as
head of this institution is
to make people understand
that we are changing the
culture and as we change
that culture so we become
a more inclusive
organisation and one that
mums and dads can send
their children to" he said.
Read more here.
wwII veteran 'delighted' by new scooter
A former Spitfire pilot who
fought in the Second World
War has been surprised with a
brand new mobility scooter
after the Biggin Hill
community rallied together for
the second time. Flight
Lieutenant Rodney Scrase
DFC had been using a second
hand mobility scooter after his
was stolen from outside his
home in Bromley almost a year
ago. And when his
replacement scooter broke last
week the Biggin Hill
community came together once
again to get the 94-year-old
back on the move. Ady Shaw,
from the group Spitfire
Britain’s National Treasure
(SBNT), had planned to raise
the money for the new scooter
by auctioning a Battle of
Britain signed canvas. But
when he contacted Sally
O’Connor, who runs the
Spitfire Café in Biggin Hill
with husband Barry, she put
him in touch with Julia
Stevenson from Ride of
Respect – a group of bikers
which holds events throughout
the year to raise funds for exservicemen.
The group
generously handed over £1,500
to fund Mr Scrase’s new ride,
which was presented to him as
a surprise on Monday
www.sandbagtimes.co.uk 5 |