Veterans In Sefton - CIO

01/06/2026

Today we remember Surgeon Captain Rick Jolly OBE RN, the Royal Navy doctor who became one of the most respected medical officers in British military history and the only serviceman from the Falklands War to be decorated by both Britain and Argentina.

Richard Tadeusz “Rick” Jolly was born in Hong Kong in 1946 to Polish parents who had endured Japanese internment during the Second World War.

Educated at Stonyhurst College, he went on to study medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College in London, qualifying as a doctor in 1969. After working as a junior doctor, he joined the Royal Navy in 1972, beginning a career that would eventually place him at the centre of one of Britain’s most famous military campaigns.

During his naval service, Jolly served with the Royal Marines, the Fleet Air Arm and in a variety of operational and training appointments. One of his most important pre-war roles was as Medical Officer to 42 Commando Royal Marines, gaining invaluable experience in field medicine and operational deployments.

By 1982 he was serving as the Senior Medical Officer of 3 Commando Brigade, responsible for the medical support of thousands of Royal Marines and soldiers deployed to the South Atlantic.

During the Falklands War, Jolly established and commanded the field hospital at Ajax Bay, housed inside a disused refrigeration plant overlooking San Carlos Water. The hospital quickly became known as the “Red and Green Life Machine”, named after the colours of the Royal Marines and Army personnel serving there. Working under constant pressure, often with limited supplies and under the threat of Argentine air attack, Jolly and his team treated more than 1,000 casualties, including around 300 Argentine wounded.

Remarkably, of the 580 British battle casualties who reached Ajax Bay alive, only three later died and none died under Jolly’s direct care. Friend and foe alike received the same treatment, earning the respect of everyone who passed through the hospital.

For his actions during the campaign, Rick Jolly was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Years later, the Argentine government learned just how many of their soldiers had survived because of the work carried out at Ajax Bay.

In 1999, they awarded him the Order of May, one of Argentina’s highest honours. This made him the only veteran of the Falklands War to be officially decorated by both sides of the conflict. When he sought permission from Queen Elizabeth II to wear the Argentine medal, she personally approved the request.

Jolly remained in the Royal Navy until 1996, retiring as a Surgeon Captain after 24 years of service. In retirement he became a passionate advocate for veterans, helping to found the South Atlantic Medal Association and campaigning for greater recognition of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among former servicemen and women. He also wrote several books, including The Red and Green Life Machine, which remains one of the most important first-hand accounts of medical operations during the Falklands War.

Surgeon Captain Rick Jolly died on 13 January 2018 at the age of 71. His legacy endures not only through the hundreds of lives he helped save but through the example he set of professionalism, courage and humanity in war.

In a conflict defined by bravery on land, sea and air, Rick Jolly proved that sometimes the greatest act of service is not taking life but preserving it.

Courtesy of FactSlap

Aye Marty Dowling for Veterans in Sefton
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Veterans in Sefton CIO is led and staffed by former Armed Forces Personnel. We provide the emotional scaffolding to raise self-esteem, build confidence and improve mental well-being for those we support through our Psychotheraputic Counsellor and Mentors.
We are located at 104 Marsh Ln, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 4JQ
To contact us.........
Phone .... 0151 933 0800
e-mail .... [email protected]
Facebook .... https://m.facebook.com/VeteransInSefton/

NAAFI BREAKS

1030-1230 Wednesday's at the Brunswick Youth and Community Centre, Marsh Ln, Bootle L20 4JQ

1030 -1230 Fridays at The Allotments, Harris Drive L20 6ED (Opposite St Robert Bellarmine

01/06/2026

Beaudy Marw Trip

Another amazing special trip.

Thought I would start at the end rather than beginning on this write up.

Left hut after cleaning it and respecting the privilege what we have using this stunning place.

Nice chats, great company and where we can all escape and experience true friends, camaraderie and let go of lifes problems and stresses.

Bedgellert was our usual destination on the Thursday.
We only go there because its beautiful, peaceful and again you can find yourself.

We had a lovely Coffee and Cakes,some had Scones and Jam,I had a lovely Caramel Chocolate Brownie 😋.

We don't do much in Bedgellert, but we all appreciate the real wellbeing when there.

We always visit the shop with the wooden carvings, absolutely unbelievable,you have to see them to believe them.

Always great food, and enjoyed by all, especially Don
Don even asked for my techniques and recipes on the way home on minibus lol.

Best Mince and Onions hes ever had.

Very humbled when get praise for my meals,but its always my pleasure.

Log burner on in the evening and unforgettable situations and genuine laughs with friends.

Llanberis is only 5 mins away and I reckon its our home from home.

Get involved in the Brunny Club and Veterans in Sefton

It will change your life

Ray Matthews

X

01/06/2026

Malham Cove Trip

An enjoyable day out on the minibus with good friends — always meaningful, always genuine.Malham Cove, a 260‑foot limestone cliff in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, was every bit as impressive as expected. It felt like stepping back in time into another world. Formed by glacial meltwater around 12,000 years ago, it’s a breathtaking and unforgettable sight, and even featured in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.We parked the minibus in Malham Village and set off. The Brunny Sefton art group joined us, sketching and drawing the hypnotic beauty of the landscape while the rest of us planned our walking route.After half a mile we reached Janet’s Foss — a secluded, unspoilt waterfall and pool. If I’d had my trunks with me, I’d have been straight in.The walk was fairly strenuous, made tougher by the heat, but the scenery more than made up for it.Thanks to everyone who made it such a wonderful day out.
Here’s to the next one.
Ray Matthews

21/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BwGZ3acM3/

Pride in Place

A well-known local community figure is set to take on an important new role in Bootle.

Dave Smith, Chief Executive of Veterans in Sefton, will become Chair of the Bootle South Pride in Place Board following a recent recruitment process. Sefton CVS will also be confirmed as the organisation helping to deliver the programme.

Bootle South has been chosen to receive up to £20 million of Government funding over the next ten years. This funding will support a long-term programme shaped by local people, giving residents a strong voice in decisions about their area and future improvements.

As Chair, Dave will work with residents, community groups, local businesses, Sefton Council and the local MP. Together, they will create a shared long-term vision for Bootle South as part of the Government’s Pride in Place Programme.

Dave said:
“I am proud to take on the role of Chair for Bootle South’s Pride in Place Board.

“This programme is a real opportunity to put residents in the driving seat and to focus on what matters most to local people.

“I am looking forward to working closely with the community, partners and Sefton CVS to develop a shared vision that delivers lasting, positive change.”

Sefton CVS will support the programme by helping local people take part and have their say. The organisation will work with the Board to make sure residents, community groups and local partners are involved in shaping plans and delivering projects.

Angela White, Chief Executive of Sefton CVS, said:
“Pride in Place represents a significant opportunity to strengthen community power and ensure that residents’ voices genuinely shape the future of Bootle South. As delivery partner, Sefton CVS is committed to supporting inclusive engagement, building community capacity and helping local organisations and residents play a central role in this long term programme.”

Cllr Marion Atkinson, Leader of Sefton Council, added:
“Bootle South has a proud community and a strong sense of place. Pride in Place offers the chance to build on these strengths through long term, resident led investment. I welcome Dave Smith’s appointment as Chair and look forward to working with the Board, Sefton CVS and local partners to support positive, lasting change for the area.”

Bootle MP Peter Dowd said:
“This is an important moment for Bootle South. Pride in Place is about putting power and decision making into the hands of local people, and Dave Smith’s leadership will help ensure that the programme reflects the ambitions, needs and priorities of the community. I fully support the work of the new Board and encourage residents to get involved as the programme develops.”

More information about how residents, community groups and partners can join the Bootle South Pride in Place Board will be shared soon.

Bootle South is one of a number of areas across the country chosen to take part in the Government’s Pride in Place Programme, which provides long-term investment to support projects decided by local communities.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-is-pride-in-place

10/05/2026

2nd April The Falkland Island
The men of NP8901

Twelve rockets against twenty Argentine Amtracs. Sixty-eight Royal Marines against an amphibious task force of 2,800. Three hours of fighting at Government House — for a Governor who, hours before, had read the cable from London, summoned his Marines, and said: "Sounds like the buggers mean it." On 2 April 1982, the Falklands War began. And the men who fought its opening battle have spent forty years being told they did not.

Argentina invaded because its government needed a war.

By March 1982, General Leopoldo Galtieri's military junta was facing economic collapse and the gathering pressure of the Dirty War atrocities that would eventually break the regime. He needed a national triumph. Britain's 1981 Defence White Paper had proposed scrapping HMS Endurance, the only Royal Navy ship permanently stationed in the South Atlantic. Whitehall had signalled the islands were a low priority. To Galtieri it looked like permission.

Defending the Falklands was Naval Party 8901 — a small Royal Marines detachment rotated annually from the United Kingdom. Major Mike Norman had arrived only days before to take command. Major Gary Noott, the man he was relieving, was due to fly home. The annual handover meant that for one week in the year, the islands had two NP8901s on station — sixty-eight Marines instead of the usual thirty-four.

At three thirty in the afternoon of 1 April 1982, Governor Rex Hunt opened a cable from London on his desk in Government House. The Foreign Office had reliable intelligence that an Argentine task force was off Cape Pembroke and would invade at dawn. Hunt summoned Norman and Noott and laid the cable on the desk.

"Sounds like the buggers mean it."

Norman had 1,200 kilometres of coastline and sixty-eight men. He could not hold it.

He could only choose where to make the Argentines pay. He concentrated his force around Stanley. The defence was not designed to win — it was designed to bleed the Argentines enough to force a political response from London.

The first Argentine boots ashore belonged to eighty-four Comandos Anfibios under Lieutenant Commander Guillermo Sánchez Sabarots, whose force came ashore south of Stanley near Mullet Creek and marched through the night to Moody Brook. At six oh five, Sabarots's men hit the barracks with phosphorus gr***des and submachine guns.

The buildings were empty. Norman had pulled the Marines out hours before.

A second Argentine group — sixteen commandos under Lieutenant Commander Pedro Giachino — moved on Government House. Giachino was thirty-four years old, second-in-command of the 1st Marine Battalion, and an officer Rear Admiral Carlos Büsser would later remember as one of his finest. At about six thirty, with four men behind him, he vaulted a low garden wall and pushed toward the rear annex with orders to seize the Governor.

Four Royal Marines were waiting on the other side.

They opened fire. Giachino fell wounded and refused medical aid from the Marines who tried to reach him, threatening to detonate the live gr***de in his hand. He died later that morning at King Edward Memorial Hospital — the first serviceman killed in the Falklands War.

On the airport road approaching Stanley from York Bay, twenty LVTP-7 Amtracs were rolling inland from the main Argentine landing. Marines George Brown and Danny Betts shouldered an 84mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifle behind a low peat berm. They hit the front of the lead Amtrac with their 84mm round.

The column halted.

For three hours, the Royal Marines held Government House. They fired six thousand four hundred and fifty rounds and twelve rockets. The Argentines ringed the building with armoured personnel carriers and brought up reinforcements. Tracer fire crossed the lawn. The white-painted upper storey was punched through with bullet holes.

Then Rex Hunt looked out of an upstairs window and saw what was about to happen to Stanley.

Beyond the Amtracs surrounding Government House — a hundred yards down the slope — were the painted houses and corrugated iron roofs of the town. The civilians had been ordered to stay indoors. Many had not. A protracted firefight in the residence would mean rounds going through walls, fires in the wooden buildings, casualties among the families he had been sent to govern.

Hunt gave the order to lay down arms.

The Marines did not want to. Norman had to go room by room and tell them.

They were marched out into the paddocks beside Government House under armed guard, hands behind their heads. As they walked, they sang. Rule Britannia first. Then, because Royal Marines have always known the value of a joke at the end of a bad morning — Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. One of them turned to an Argentine officer and said four words.

"We will be back."

Three days later, the Royal Navy Task Force sailed from Portsmouth. HMS Hermes. HMS Invincible. The men of NP8901 were flown home via Montevideo. Many re-embarked with the recovery force. Some retook the ground they had been driven from. Seventy days after the Task Force sailed, the Falkland Islands were British again.

For forty years the men who fought on 2 April 1982 have lived with a quiet libel — that Britain's first defenders surrendered without firing a shot. They fired six thousand four hundred and fifty rounds. They killed the commando who came over the wall. They stopped the lead vehicle of an armoured column. They held until ordered to stop. And then they came back.

That is how the Falklands War actually began.

Credit to "The Stoic English" page

Further to this post

Ricky Philips historian.

As many people know, I'm the historian who first wrote the story of - and with - the Royal Marines of Naval Party 8901 in the book "The First Casualty".

In this sense, it's an honour to have their story told, although I'd like to make a couple of corrections if I may. The least of these being that it's "York" bay not "Yorke" but the biggest omission is in repeating "20 Amtracks" because there were not ... There were 21.

Argentina had bought all 21 vehicles from the United States, numbered 01-19 plus R1 the Recovery Vehicle and C1 the Command Vehicle: all 21 were sent to the Falklands.

The vehicle hit was Amtrack 17 which received an 84mm Carl Gustav across the nose and two 66mm LAWs; one through the top hatch and one to the rear left quadrant around the light cluster.

Argentina has consistently denied that Amtrack 17 went to the Falklands, but it did: I have two photos of it there. It was taken out and of the three crew and 25 occupants, barely anyone made it out. Amongst the dead occupants, twelve intact men were brought to the hospital from the vehicle, each suffering from severe shrapnel wounds and heat overpressure. Several were dead when they arrived and most of the rest didn't make it either... Yet Argentina claims just one man killed that day: Pedro Giachino - the ideal martyr.

Having taken out Amtrack 17 the Royal Marines had three Amtracks swing across their front to deploy; 07 was closest, then 05 and finally 19, all some 500 yards distant from the smoking hulk of Amtrack 17.

Having run out of anti tank rounds and rockets, they hit 07 with a lot of small arms fire. She had 97 bullet marks and her gunner's scope shot through: Argentina was quick to present this vehicle as "the one the Royal Marines thought they'd hit but didn't" when in fact, the guys who shot it were never in any doubt that it was two entirely different vehicles in two separate locations and engaged entirely differently, 500 yards apart.

The fact that Argentina lied about casualties on that day is well known: veteran historian Martin Middlebrook put the Argentine death toll at 20-30, and the Royal Marines themselves stated five killed which they'd seen and 17 wounded whom they'd hit but couldn't confirm killed... The occupants of the Amtrack were not part of this figure.

The tale of a "token defence" and even "shameful surrender" lingered until I put them all together and worked with all of the participants and witnesses - British, Argentine and Falkland Islander - to tell the full story of the Falklands invasion.

On the whole, a great job as an article, and I hope to have provided some much needed and very useful information to it. Oh, and "Don't get too comfortable, we'll be back" was said by Murray Paterson, an Edinburgh man like myself

10/05/2026

26th April 2026
VETERANS IN SEFTON NAAFI BREAK

We had a decent turnout today for our NAAFI BREAK, and the lads were full of the usual banter and jokes.

Dave’s SitRep

Dave was pleased to report that the bus is starting to be used more regularly.

The recent trip to the National Memorial Arboretum was fully booked and went really well. However, please don’t be put off if a trip is fully booked, as we can always arrange another one.

The trips listed on the notice board are set dates, but there is no problem arranging additional trips should you wish to organise one outside of those dates.

Liam is also setting up a fishing group, so if you would like to join, please see Liam for further details.

Our next NAAFI BREAK will be on Wednesday, 13th May, from 10:30am to 12:30pm.

Aye Marty Dowling for Veterans in Sefton
.............................................................................................

Veterans in Sefton CIO is led and staffed by former Armed Forces Personnel. We provide the emotional scaffolding to raise self-esteem, build confidence and improve mental well-being for those we support through our Psychotheraputic Counsellor and Mentors.
We are located at 104 Marsh Ln, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 4JQ
To contact us.........
Phone .... 0151 933 0800
e-mail .... [email protected]
Facebook .... https://m.facebook.com/VeteransInSefton/

NAAFI BREAKS

1030-1230 Wednesday's at the Brunswick Youth and Community Centre, Marsh Ln, Bootle L20 4JQ

1030 -1230 Fridays at The Allotments, Harris Drive L20 6ED (Opposite St Robert Bellarmine

05/05/2026

How does the Para Regiment's culture and encouragement of SAS selection attempts give its soldiers an edge?
Most military units fiercely hoard their top talent. The British Parachute Regiment deliberately pushes its best soldiers to leave for the SAS.

This culture explains why a disproportionately large percentage of the Special Air Service traces its roots to this single infantry unit. The foundation of a British Paratrooper is built on Pegasus Company, commonly known as P Company. This notoriously brutal screening process weeds out anyone lacking extreme physical endurance and mental resilience. Because the baseline is already so high, the regiment operates with a mindset that embraces constant physical and tactical hardship. However, the true edge comes from how the regiment handles its top performers.

To cultivate this pipeline to the SAS, non-commissioned officers routinely facilitate extra physical training, advanced land navigation exercises in the Brecon Beacons, and heavy load-bearing marches for soldiers preparing for United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) selection.

This institutional encouragement creates a powerful “rising tide” effect across the entire regiment. At any given time, a Para battalion is packed with soldiers who are either actively training for SAS selection, have attempted it and returned with advanced tactical knowledge, or are fiercely competing to earn a spot on the next course. The standard of the average soldier is consequently dragged upward. Even a Paratrooper who has no intention of ever joining the SAS must keep pace daily with peers who are aggressively training for the most demanding military selection in the world.

Furthermore, soldiers who attempt SAS selection but are "returned to unit" (RTU) bring back invaluable experience. They return to the Paras having been exposed to elite tactical planning, advanced weapons handling, and extreme survival scenarios. They pass this knowledge down to junior soldiers, enriching the regiment's overall capability.

By fostering a culture where attempting SAS selection is a badge of honor rather than an act of abandonment, the Parachute Regiment ensures its ranks are continuously injected with cutting-edge fitness standards and an unbreakable competitive drive. The result is a conventional airborne infantry force that operates with a special operations mindset.

Aye Marty Dowling for Veterans in Sefton

Credit to original poster

21/04/2026

Every time a German Messerschmitt pilot wanted to escape a Spitfire on his tail, he did the same thing.
He pushed the nose down.
In a dive, the German engine kept running — it used fuel injection. The British Spitfire's engine cut out. For one and a half seconds the Merlin went dead, the aircraft shuddered, and by the time it caught again the German was gone. Worse: if a German was behind a British pilot and the British pilot dove to escape, the German could follow and keep shooting while the British engine was silent.
Pilots were dying because of a carburetor.
The engineers at Farnborough knew about the problem. They were working on a long-term solution — a redesigned carburetor that would take years to perfect and manufacture.
A woman named Beatrice Shilling fixed it with a washer.

She was born in Hampshire in 1909 and was the kind of child who spent her pocket money on Meccano sets and tools. At fourteen she bought her first motorbike. Her mother, with the inspired instinct of someone who understood what her daughter actually was, found the Women's Engineering Society and arranged an apprenticeship at an electrical firm.
She went to Manchester University — one of the first two women ever to study engineering there — graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, stayed another year for a master's in mechanical engineering, and in 1936 joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough as a scientific officer.
By the late 1930s she was one of the best carburetor engineers in Britain. She was also one of only three women to hold the British Motorcycle Racing Club's Gold Star — awarded for lapping the Brooklands racing circuit at over 100 miles per hour on a motorcycle.
She had reportedly told her future husband, an engineer named George Naylor, that she wouldn't marry him until he earned his own Brooklands Gold Star first.
He earned it. They married in 1938.

The problem with the Merlin was specific and lethal. The SU carburetor used a float chamber to regulate fuel flow. Under negative g-forces — the forces experienced in a sudden dive — the fuel flooded to the top of the float chamber and starved the engine for 1.5 seconds. Just enough time for a German pilot to turn the tables entirely.
The RAF had known about this since the Battle of France. The formal solution — a redesigned pressure carburetor — was in development but wouldn't be ready for years.
Shilling was thirty-one years old, working in carburetor research, and she designed a fix in weeks.
A brass thimble with a precisely calibrated hole in the center — later simplified to a flat washer — fitted inline in the fuel line just before the carburetor. It restricted maximum fuel flow to just enough to prevent flooding without cutting off power. The key breakthrough: it could be fitted without taking the aircraft out of service. No downtime. No factory return.
The old guard at the RAE looked at it and called it a plumbing fix. They called her a plumber. The first batch of 5,000 units was made by a Birmingham firm that normally manufactured plumbing fixtures, which they found embarrassing.
The RAF pilots who flew Spitfires with Messerschmitts on their tails called it something else.
They called it Miss Shilling's Or***ce. With deep affection.

By March 1941 she had organized a small team and was personally touring RAF fighter stations across England — traveling between bases on her old racing motorcycle — fitting the device to every Merlin engine they could reach. Squadron leaders all over the country were demanding installations. The word spread faster than the official channels could keep up with.
The Germans noticed. They couldn't explain why British fighter pilots had suddenly started following them into dives. They were baffled by the new aggression. They didn't know about the washer.
The restrictor remained in use until 1943, when the full pressure carburetor finally arrived. It had kept British pilots alive for two years in the middle of the war they couldn't afford to lose.

After the war she worked on the Blue Streak missile. She studied what wet runways do to braking distances. She helped design a bobsled for the RAF Olympic team. In 1967 she solved overheating problems on an Eagle Mk1 Formula 1 car.
She never received a top promotion at the RAE. Such positions, she was told, were for men.
She received an OBE in 1949. The citation said "services to aviation." It did not mention the washer.
She retired from the RAE in 1969. She kept racing motorcycles and sports cars. She modified and tuned both in her home workshop until she couldn't anymore.
She died on November 18, 1990. She was 81.
The Battle of Britain is one of the most documented events in British military history. Hundreds of books. Dozens of films. Memoirs by the pilots who flew in it. Almost none of them mention the carburetor problem. Almost none of them mention her.
The pilots who benefited most never knew her name. They just knew that when they pushed the nose down, the engine kept running.,./

Credit to the original poster

Aye Marty Dowling for Veterans in Sefton

21/04/2026

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29/03/2026

Britain created them to fight Napoleon's skirmishers. By the end, Napoleon's marshals were running from men in green jackets.

The 95th Rifles were formed in 1800 as the Experimental Corps of Riflemen — an admission that the British Army had a problem. Its redcoat infantry stood in tight formation, fired in massed volleys, and obeyed orders without question. Against the fluid, aggressive tactics of Napoleon's skirmishers, it wasn't enough.

The solution was a different kind of soldier.

Where the redcoat wore scarlet and white, the Rifleman wore dark green and black — the first camouflage uniform in British Army history. Where the redcoat carried a Brown Bess musket accurate to seventy-five yards, the Rifleman carried the Baker Rifle — accurate to two hundred yards or more. Where the redcoat stood in line and fired on command, the Rifleman moved in pairs ahead of the main force, using ground, using cover, choosing his moment, choosing his target.

They were trained to aim — specifically at French officers, NCOs, drummers and artillery gunners. Remove the men who give the orders and the men who relay them, and an army begins to unravel. The French understood this quickly. They nicknamed the men in green "grasshoppers."

They carried no Colours. They marched to no drums. In a British Army that communicated by drum and ceremony, the 95th used only bugles — fast, light, mobile. Every man, from the colonel to the newest recruit, called himself one thing: Rifleman.

They fired the first shots of the Peninsular War at Obidos on 15th August 1808. The first British officer killed in that war was Lieutenant Ralph Bunbury — of the 95th Rifles.

On 3rd January 1809, during Moore's retreat to Corunna, an Irish rifleman named Thomas Plunket ran forward from the British line, lay down in the snow, and shot the French General Colbert at extraordinary range with his Baker Rifle. Then he reloaded — and shot Colbert's aide-de-camp, who had ridden to the fallen general's aid. Two shots. Two kills. The French attack collapsed.

After Corunna the 95th came home depleted. They needed men. The regiment was so famous that over a thousand volunteers came forward beyond the numbers required. A third battalion was raised.

All three fought through the length of the Peninsular War. At the Battle of Tarbes, Wellington watched the 95th sweep Marshal Soult's forces from the field independently — something rifle regiments were never supposed to do alone. Afterwards he told their commander: "I require no novel proof of the destructive fire of your rifles."

In 1816 they were renamed the Rifle Brigade in honour of what they had done. They became the Royal Green Jackets in 1966. In 2007 they became The Rifles — still serving today, still marching to bugles, still carrying the identity that began on a clifftop in Kent two hundred years ago.

Credit to the original author

Aye Marty Dowling for Veterans in Sefton