General Talk

General Sir Michael Rose shares his recollections of commanding the SAS during the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege and his thoughts on the Army’s twenty years in Afghanistan in a new episode of our General Talk podcast series.

War artist and one of England’s leading portrait painters, Nick Bashall, reflects on his time working with the British Army in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan in a new episode of General Talk. 

This wide-ranging interview covers Clare Balding's experiences during her presenting career; the strong link between the Armed Forces and sport; how animals can bring strong mental health benefits; and women and their beliefs on ambition. 

Clare Balding’s interview was originally recorded for ABF The Soldiers’ Charity’s virtual event, Friday Night In, on Friday 5th March 2021. Clare appeared alongside guest speakers such as John Simpson, Simon McCoy and General Lord Dannatt for an evening of entertainment, which raised more than £23,500 for the charity.

Podcast host Harry Bucknall talks to Johnny Mercer, minister for defence people and veterans. The wide-ranging interview covers the rights of Commonwealth veterans to residency after they’ve served; the ‘egregious’ experiences of servicemen and women at the hands of the Historic Investigations Unit; and the ‘huge resistance’ to talking about suicide, Mercer admits he finds politics a challenge and resolves “I’ll keep going until we do our duty by our people or someone comes along and does it better.”

The BBC’s world affairs editor, John Simpson, speaks to Simon McCoy about his wide-ranging experiences at key events in history in a new episode of General Talk. 

General Sir James Everard has taken over the presidency of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity from General Sir Mike Jackson, having recently retired from an impressive full career in the British Army. General James carried out operational service in Cyprus, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Iraq and Belgium; and his final appointment was as the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe in Allied Command Operations NATO. 
Hear more about General James’ career in the British Army in this episode.

Women have had active roles in the British Army since 1902 when the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps was founded. However, it wasn’t until 1992 that women were given opportunities and careers in the wider Army; and it was 2016 before the ban on women serving on the front line was lifted. With this has come some major positive changes for how women are treated equally in the Army - you can hear all about it on this podcast.

General Sir Barney White-Spunner is this month’s guest on our monthly podcast: General Talk. General White-Spunner talks freely to podcast host, Harry Bucknall, about his time as Britain’s commanding officer in southern Iraq; and the difficulties faced by the Army being engaged in two major operations, Iraq and Afghanistan, at the same time.  General White-Spunner goes on to talk about his newly-released book, Berlin: The Story of a City. If you’d like to take part in your own codebreaking adventure this festive period, sign up to our family-friendly virtual event Operation Bletchley: Christmas in Berlin here: Operation Bletchley (soldierscharity.org)