Fiction
The Cuds, Part II
The Pink Mist There wasn’t much left of the pick-up. The missile had impacted just behind the cab, which had broken the vehicle in half. Blackened steel reinforcing hoops from the tyres hung from the [more…]
Blown Periphery
Fiction
The Cuds, Part I
A World of one-thousand-four-hundred years ago, Separated from us by four-and-a-half hours Three hours and fifteen minutes into their shift, the pilot and weapons systems operator of the Reaper drone were on top of their [more…]
20th Century
The Violent End of Mussolini – Operation Oak, Part Two
The gliders wallowed behind their Heinkel 111 tug aircraft in the thin, turbulent air above the mountains. The lead aircraft sighted the long mountain ridge and the Gran Sasso Mountain behind it, gave the order [more…]
20th Century
The Fall of Mussolini – Operation Oak, Part One
In the summer of 1943, the terrible reality of total war was the closest wolf to the Italian population’s sledge. Mussolini’s grandiose plans for a new Roman Empire that would stretch across Southern Europe and [more…]
Arts
Painting with Acrylic on Canvas
In the final part of this series before I move onto etchings, I’m doing a piece on painting with acrylic paint onto a stretched frame canvas. The principles apply just as well for oil painting, [more…]
Arts
Painting with Watercolours
To give everyone a rest from the military stuff, I thought I’d share one of my ways of retreating from the stresses of life, politics, the media and people. Watercolour painting is a good starting [more…]
Fiction
The Diary of a REMF – Part Five
The slug of super-heated copper hit the Land Cruiser at Mach 6, punching through the light metal and Kevlar liner as if it wasn’t there. It entered just behind the driver compartment, some fifty centimetres [more…]
Fiction
The Diary of a REMF – Part Four
Wednesday 19th February It seemed as though Colonel Nguyen was getting frustrated with National Caveats as well. His Environmental Health Officer, Major Stavros Balaskas was due to go up to the Czech military hospital on [more…]
Fiction
The Diary of a REMF – Part Three
Monday 16th February Margin was constantly amazed at just how little work was completed in the ISAF Headquarters. Most of the day-to-day running of operations in Afghanistan were carried out by the ISAF Regional Commands [more…]