In a particularly idiotic Novara Media adventure on Monday (which is saying something), three far-left Britons discussed everything that they believe is wrong with the British Army.
And boy, do they believe there’s a lot wrong. Their entire discussion was full of faux-intellectual tropes about how the British armed forces serve imperial aggression, incubate far-right hatreds, and destroy individual freedom. But the most telling moment (and that which explains why the far-Left’s vision of national identity has such little support from most Britons) came when guest and former soldier Joe Glenton tried to explain why the British Army is immoral. I’ve time-linked to the relevant segment below.
Now aside from Glenton’s absurd trope that the British armed forces are dedicated to “killing brown people” (Britain’s recent operational history in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sierra Leone would suggest its armed forces are actually dedicated to protecting “brown” people from terrorists), it’s worth paying attention to Glenton’s particular dislike of regimental battle flags. Referencing some of the various conflicts that adorn the various regimental flags of the British Army, Glenton disdainfully remarked that soldiers are “very proud of these things.”
It is hard to overstate Glenton’s moral and historical stupidity.
First off, it’s worth considering that the battles that Glenton (who abandoned his unit while in service) refers to are not the racist aggressions he pretends. The Peninsula War, for example, was the liberation of the Iberian peninsula from Napoleon’s domination and feudal destitution. The British victory at Rorke’s Drift is one of the greatest against-the-odds victories in world history (and against Zulu tribes with a penchant for genocide). The Somme* and Yypres, though truly awful in their conduct and cost, testify to the courage of national service in face of likely death. Even the Indian rebellion was far from the overt disgrace that Glenton presents: Many Indians freely fought alongside the British in that conflict.
But history isn’t the key factor here. Because what makes the battle colors of the British Army special and moral is not their political foundations, but the legacy of dutiful courage and patriotism they represent. Proving as much, British Army regiments will lower the honored battle colors to the ground during parades in honor of the Queen. They do so to show that their ultimate service and their innate honor is bound intimately to service of country. As such, I see great honor in moments like that below.
This is not to say that the British Army is perfect. Incidents such as the Bloody Sunday massacre attest to the contrary. Yet judged by history and an objective appraisal of moral conduct, the British Army is manifestly a force for good in the world.
* As a case in point, consider one lieutenant’s recording of his experience at the Somme: “[We saw some] gruesome sights as we struggled up to the front line. [I saw] Hands, feet and shin bones [which] were protruding from the raw earth, stinking of high explosive. [I also saw] a smallish soldier, sitting in a shell hole, elbows on knees, a sandbag over his shoulders. I lifted it to see whether he [was] alive, and he had no head. Further on, [I came across] a corporal, lying doubled up [on the ground]. Just in case anything could be done for him, I bent down to raise him a little, [only to find] his head was… [only] attached [to the rest of his body] by a bit of a skin.’’ (From Hugh Sebag-Montefiore’s “Somme: Into the Breach.”)
