Listen Now

“They…took my husband through our house at gunpoint searching for 'the enemy', as they called them.” Falkland Islander, Carol Phillips, had 3 small children in 1982, “My first thought was…'Are they going to…machine gun us all down?’” The task force had 8,000 miles to sail, “Perhaps we would all be dead by the time they got here?…My Dad…kept saying, 'Don't let them see you're scared…The British Bulldogs are on their way.'”  Fighting started, “…to lose all those young men…it really was a nightmare.” But locals were courageous, “…we made a list of places around us…named them after…places in Britain like Cardiff, Liverpool…put our little antenna onto my broomstick and set up the CB…we were threatened we'd be imprisoned if we used radios…if we saw Argentine helicopters…we’d poke the broom out the window and say, 'Visitors at Liverpool.’”  Liberation was bitter-sweet, “We were relieved…lost too many people for celebrations” and danger remained, “…ammunition…no water, electricity…On the radio, ‘…Argentines left upturned cups on top of saucers…call the EOD some have hand grenades under, some human excrement…'”  255 British Servicemen and 3 female Falkland Islanders died, “That's what I can't forgive. Never will…I feel so guilty for all the people who died for us…We'll be forever grateful for what they’ve done…I just cannot thank them enough.”  Don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest updates about our podcasts, talks & workshops, direct to your inbox.Supported by SAMA (82) in collaboration with TheVeteran.UK

“'I'm not going to lose my life…here'…I could just see a picture of my wife and my two boys in my mind thinking, 'No, I'm gonna get out.' That was my motivation.”  Chris Howe was deep down inside HMS Coventry, D118, “…a dull thud…followed by extreme heat…a flash and a fireball whipping around the Operations Room…we'd been hit…next thing I knew…I'm coming round…my right arm was on fire…water was coming in…fires all around…thick black smoke…I…managed to get up…very badly burned…in a lot of pain…”  Eventually struggling to the upper deck, “…I remember looking out and seeing this…flotilla of orange life rafts…I slid down the ship's side and into the cold, salty South Atlantic water…picked a life raft and swam…”  Chris was finally rescued, “…the winch was coming down…finally managed to pull me in to the Sea King…I still hadn't had any pain relief…I remember laying there in this stretcher…thinking, 'What are they going to do with me now?'”  Chris suffered 27% burns, “…nothing compared to others that sadly lost their lives...there's not a day goes by I don't think about what happened 40 years ago, on 25th of May…about 19 shipmates, that didn't make it. Why didn't they make it? Why did I make it?…that's a sad thing…very sad thing.”Don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest updates about our podcasts, talks & workshops, direct to your inbox.Supported by SAMA (82) in collaboration with TheVeteran.UK

“I would happily go to sea with them all over again, cracking bunch of guys, led by a cracking man.” We hear from Mick Dilucia, of HMS Coventry Flight, Coventry’s helicopter team. “The mood was fairly relaxed heading south… none of us believed it was ever going to happen…then Sandy Woodward briefed us… 'Look around amongst us because we might not all go home together…'”  Mick was on the flightdeck on that fateful day, 25 May 1982, “…the order was given to turn to starboard...and that's when it happened, the bombs came in…they exploded, it was just like we'd been hit by a big wave...but after that…smoke billowing out of the side…the ship started to list almost immediately…I had to climb up the deck and over the guard rails and just slide down the side of the ship into the water and swim to a life raft…that ship was almost turned turtle in 15 minutes…some of the guys, down from the bowels of the ship, got people out that would have gone down with the ship.”  “From that day onwards, I thought to myself, if I wake up tomorrow morning and I've got another day ahead of me, then it's a bonus because it could so easily have been taken away.”  Don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest updates about our podcasts, talks & workshops, direct to your inbox.Supported by SAMA (82) in collaboration with TheVeteran.UK

What was a submarine doing in a war to retake The Falkland Islands? “...the ability to land and recover Special Forces…SAS and SBS, was key.” We hear the fascinating and poignant story of HMS Onyx, the only diesel-electric boat that Served during the war. Submariner, Steve Hussey, was there and shares his unique insight, from beneath the waves, “None of this is done in daylight…surveillance takes place beforehand…if all the conditions are right…getting…as close as you can get these guys and surface them, then it's very quick…open up the submarine and get these guys off…then dive again.” So, discreet and covert operations. How were they recovered? “…getting in contact is the first positive thing because then you know they're actually there…”   In stark contrast, towards the end of the war, “…we had the unenviable task of having to sink The Sir Galahad…she had been hit by Argentinian aircraft bombs…and was extremely damaged…with quite a lot of loss of life…and the decision…was to…leave it in The Falklands as a War Grave... Normally, there's…noise in the control room as you're setting-up for an attack…this was nothing like that. This was extremely sombre, very quiet as the orders were given…the CO was on the periscope, so he was the only person who could actually witness it…When the torpedoes were fired, there was just complete silence…”  Don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest updates about our podcasts, talks & workshops, direct to your inbox.Supported by SAMA (82) in collaboration with TheVeteran.UK

“I was in a pub in Aldershot…a couple of the guys came in with the paper…and the general feeling was that we needed to get over there…and start kicking some arse.” This is the story of 2 Para, told through the eyes of Gary Steele, who Served in the battalion during The Falklands War.   “We needed to do something, and Goose Green was the something that we did. We set off at night, we left rucksacks behind, everyone was just loaded-up with as much ammunition as they could take…”  Amidst the danger, British humour and stoicism played its part, “It’s a funny thing, being mortared…initially it’s just sheer terror…you’re lying face-down…you can hear shrapnel flying over you, you can hear the explosion; but after a minute or two, it gets a bit boring ‘cos there’s not really a lot you can do…so I got my little stove out, brewed-up some hot water, had a coffee, while we were being mortared.”  The battle was brutal, “…The CO was dead, The Adjutant was dead…some of the best soldiers in the battalion had been killed. There were loads of people wounded. It was a pretty shocking situation…you really wanted to do your bit…you really wanted to get stuck-in and help” and that’s exactly what 2 Para did. Don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest updates about our podcasts, talks & workshops, direct to your inbox.Supported by SAMA (82) in collaboration with TheVeteran.UK

“You’ve got the battles, then you’ve got the humanitarian side…It’s a strange thing is war…” This is the astonishing story of how a North Sea passenger ferry and her civilian crew, became a troop carrier, rescue ship and prisoner of war ship; in the thick of the firing, bombs and air attacks of The Falklands War.  The entire operation would have been impossible without the merchant ships taken up from trade and requisitioned. But, how did they come to play critical roles in a war 8,000 miles away? We hear from Keith Thompson of MV Norland, who’s crew all volunteered to support the task force.    However, they could not have foreseen just how dangerous it would get. The night before landing 2 Para on The Falklands, “…we had a message that Norland would go through first…the SAS had found mines…they decided to take the old ships through first…so Norland headed through, followed by HMS Plymouth, HMS Intrepid and HMS Fearless…we were the first few ships through the minefield.”  That was just the start. Norland finally got back to Hull on 1st February 1983, after 282 days at sea, “We were proud of what we did…we’d certainly do it again…but only on Norland.”  Don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest updates about our podcasts, talks & workshops, direct to your inbox.Supported by SAMA (82) in collaboration with TheVeteran.UK

“The First Sea Lord… decreed that HMS Hermes was under just 72 hours’ notice to sail…” It’s the day after the Argentinians invaded The Falklands and Margaret Thatcher announces that Britain would send a task force. Just a few days later, the task force was ready for war. This is the story of the dockyard workers who rose to that challenge, many of whom had just received redundancy notice.  Flagship HMS Hermes was in a state of disrepair, “…an assisted maintenance period in Portsmouth Royal Dockyard. From the top of her main mast right down to her flightdeck, she was covered in scaffolding, much of her main machinery was ashore in the civilian workshops when the call came…”  We hear accounts from two former Portsmouth dockyard workers who worked round the clock to achieve this enormous task, Clifford Ball and Mike Huitson. These are voices not usually heard but without whom, the task force could not have sailed.  We also hear from Andrew Cave, who Served on HMS Hermes. He’s now working to ensure that the thousands of dockyard workers from across the UK and Gibraltar, are commemorated for their herculean effort in readying the warships, troop carriers and supply vessels to sail 8,000 miles and fight a war with no land-based air support, in just a matter of days.  Don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest updates about our podcasts, talks & workshops, direct to your inbox.Supported by SAMA (82) in collaboration with TheVeteran.UK

“For the last 40 years, (we’ve been) trying to get the truth told about what happened on the day that it all kicked off, 2nd April 1982.” This is that true story.  “…We didn’t just surrender as the popular story goes.” Ray Bloye was part of Naval Party 8901, the small detachment of Royal Marines on the Falklands at the time of the invasion.  The portrayal of NP8901 by the British press led to 40 years of hurt, “The Daily Mail headline, ‘Shamed’…The Sun, ‘Surrender’. Ray hopes that the record will finally be set straight, “What I want, is an acknowledgement from the MOD and the government that we did our job.” Ray takes us through a blow-by-blow account of the first few hours of the invasion, including the attack on their barracks in the middle of the night, “3 o'clock… it was a very still, calm night and we could hear the choppers coming in… shortly after this, all hell seems to break loose…” The Royal Marines, massively outnumbered and under attack by land, sea and air, defended the Islands without suffering casualties. Finally, Rex Hunt, Governor of the Falklands, ordered them to stop fighting and lay down their weapons as a truce had been declared.Don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest updates about our podcasts, talks & workshops, direct to your inbox.Supported by SAMA (82) in collaboration with TheVeteran.UK

“…what has become my specialism, I think is… gritty, granular detail of the reality of war set in the broader context of important national events…” Having joined the Royal Navy in 1985, Toby managed to pack-in trips round the West Indies, Australia, Hong Kong and Europe during his 10 years of Service. His thirst for adventure remaining unquenched, he began a successful career as a journalist, becoming a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph specialising in terrorism and war, “… as a journalist, generally speaking, you're sort of against authority, you're trying to find out things you shouldn't know, print things people don't want you to print, upset people and you're sort of on the side of the every man or every person...” Toby’s tenacity and talent for investigation has also led him to write three non-fiction books, the latest ‘First Casualty’, tells the gripping and incredible true story of the six-day battle that began the War in Afghanistan with the response to 9/11, where Toby gained unprecedented access to the CIA, SBS and US Special Forces. Listen on; and if you like what you hear, tune in our live online event where Toby will talk more about his experiences and he’ll answer as many of your burning questions as we can squeeze in!Get tickets for Toby's live talk about First Casualty on 4th May 2022 at 1800 GMT Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

“I joined the RAF during the Cold War in 1986… around the time of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the threat of… thermo-nuclear war.”  After going down the pilot route, it became apparent where Ian was more suited, “…the RAF Regiment who seemed larger than life… I met their Commanding Officer who had an unusual approach to dealing with banter in the bar, which normally involved throwing pilots out of windows and I was just kind of smitten… (laughs)”  So, about that banter, “The RAF Regiment gets a lot of ribbing from the Army and the Marines, but they really have made a profession of force protection… in that day it was ground defence, air defence, nuclear, biological, chemical defences and they were very good at it…” Ian gives us the low down on working hard and playing hard in the Caribbean,  “…that was a boys’ own adventure… crashing hangovers on a Saturday morning when the troops expected you to take them out on their compulsory R&R, lots of bouncing around on speed boats, swearing you would never drink again and then 10 minutes of lying on the sand in the sun, beads of sweat coming out, "I could murder a pina colada..." Working with the RAF Police was followed by tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, “…it was complex, my air responsibility was about 650 square kilometres… it was challenging.” Having left the RAF after 27 years and getting through the difficulties of transition, Ian’s civilian career began and he’s now the CEO of Erskine, “…one of Scotland's oldest, probably biggest and most iconic Veterans' charities… formed in 1916 as a… hospital for limbless sailors and soldiers… physically and mentally shattered from industrial scale warfare in the Naval and trench battles of WWI.” As part of their recovery, “…we were helping them find new jobs, teaching them skills, carpentry, boot-making... making new prosthetic limbs for their brothers in arms who were returning… a holistic approach.” Today, with over a hundred years’ experience, Erskine’s holistic and innovative approach continue to make Erskine a leading light in Veterans’ care and Ian will tell you all about it. All that’s left for us to say is, with Ian’s exciting ideas and new projects underway, wouldn’t it be great to see Erskine south of the border too – perhaps we’ll put it to him. Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

“I lost my purpose at that point… I had no mission and I really started contemplating what I'd done wrong. I couldn't go back…”  A far cry from Entrepreneur of the Year, Peter’s transition from the Royal Marines to the business world was challenging, “I joined a company... my first foray into civilian world… it was a really toxic, horrible environment… probably the worst experience I could've had.”  Months of being unemployed followed leading Peter joined the Reserves, “I kept my rank. I went straight in… and they put me on the Royal Navy officer training team.… and I was basically just thrashing these Navy officers… because I was a drill instructor, so it kind of worked... and that saved me...”  Peter found the motivation to help himself and spent 6 weeks on YouTube learning how to build websites, then pitched to his first customer, “ ‘I'll do it for 50 quid’. He was like, ‘50 quid?!’ I was like, 'Look, mate, I'm gash… I'm not amazing, but it’ll be something that gives you a bit of presence…' and he's still got it!”  The entrepreneurial seeds were sewn, “… a load of lads started coming out of The Corps and I started building websites… I smashed them out quite quickly but it was a great little niche because people coming out of the forces couldn't afford a £2-3,000 website and they didn't really know anything about business to be able to start that side up… I always said to them, 'Look, I will build you a website, it will cost you between 5 to £700… but it will pay for itself within a month… the traction and the customers that you get, will pay that back…”  Fast-forward and Peter’s the 2018/19 Nat West Entrepreneur of the Year and co-founder of the ‘imployable’ App with £1.4 million of private investment. So how does a highly successful businessman end-up laying his soul bare on LinkedIn in the middle of the night, discussing the abuse he experienced as a child? Listen on. Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

“I'm a Lieutenant Commander Serving in the Royal Navy, Serving a full, capable career. Oh, by the way, I have HIV.”  Oli found out by accident and his 2019 diagnosis came as a complete shock. His first 3 thoughts were:  What is my life going to be like?  When am I going to die?  And do I still have a job?  “I realised quite rapidly, I'm not going to die... and that's the simple fact of HIV for people in the UK today, I can do whatever I want and I put no one else at risk. The third one wasn't as straightforward as it should have been.” The answer finally came back as, “Yes, you can stay in, but you'll be medically limited deployable.”  Medically downgraded with anxiety and depression, Oli’s counselling from the Terrence Higgins Trust is helping him to come to terms with having HIV and he’s campaigning with them to reduce stigma, educate and shine a light on policy… getting the attention of No.10,  “…Defence announced that you can join the military and have no impact on being in the military, if you take PrEP (HIV medication) …and as of Spring this year, when it comes to living with HIV and joining with HIV in the military, those restrictions will be lifted.”  Medical knowledge has come a long way since the campaigns of the 1980s as dramatised recently on TV in ‘It’s A Sin’. People can now live full lives with HIV, “I take one tablet a day … and I cannot physically pass HIV on to anyone.”  Oli’s December 2021 post on LinkedIn went viral with 2.6 million views,  “I felt that no one else should feel as alone and isolated as I did. I can't be the only person in the military with HIV. Well, where are they?”It starts with me - National HIV testing week Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

“They could only work until they didn't fit in their uniform, so the aim was always to circulate the skirts until no skirt would fit them….”  Joining us this episode is former WREN Officer and Reservist, Pam Heeley, who explains how women were not allowed to remain in the Navy once they had children; and as there was no maternity uniform, pregnant women had to leave when their skirts no longer fitted. Thankfully, times have changed.  With ‘secret communications’, the handover of Hong Kong, a James Bond premiere event and working on the Bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar ‘T200’ under her belt, Pam’s time in uniform was diverse and interesting. But one of her most challenging roles was helping with the Lockerbie Air Disaster, “…shocking but a good thing to have done.”  A later role with the MOD, saw Pam running the regional media for the whole of the country for all three Services, “…there was a feeling in about 2007 that defense was taking a bit of a hammering in the national media, lots of questions about whether we should be in Afghanistan or not… So as a result, the then the Gordon Brown government decided to try and tilt a bit of focus towards the regional media… their angle tends to be supporting their local Service personnel, not necessarily asking whether we should be there in the first place.”  Finally leaving the military world, the charity sector beckoned, with Pam becoming CEO of a breast cancer charity and is now The British Liver Trust. We hear the little-known fact that men can contract breast cancer and that incidence of liver disease has increased 400% in the last 30 years. We discuss how since the Covid pandemic started, the medical world has accelerated to the cutting edge of science and technology and how advances in knowledge could have widespread benefits for years to come. Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

Join us as we head into 2022 to hear the New Year’s Resolutions of 10 of our Armed Forces podcast guests. Actually, before we crack on, let’s put it straight out there, 2 of our guests don’t make resolutions! One thing that ties everyone's hopes and reflections together is sense of purpose and wellbeing. Here are a few of their words of wisdom, but can you guess who said what?  “Eat more cake”… “Spend more time working on myself”… “work towards what I'm going to do post the military”… “asking for help, I need to be much better at it.”  “Next year we'll be cycling unsupported across the U.S. 5,000 kilometres in just 35 days, raising money for mental health, 100% of all donations will go to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity” - now that’s a goal!  On a philosophical note, “Resilience through kindness. Not only does it help everyone, but it helps yourself as well.”  We've been fortunate to have had such fantastically inspiring guests from the Armed Forces community but for now, for 2021, that's all folks. Here’s wishing you lovely listener and all of our podcast friends out there a happy and healthy New Year. Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

In 1989, just before training began, “I realised, that I'd bought this copy of the Radio Times because it had a picture of Michael Ball on the front cover and… let me tell you that 30 years ago, Michael Ball was quite hot property...”  “…I thought well, ‘that's an incredible complication because in three weeks' time, I'm going to Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and that doesn't fit.’ But it just didn't seem relevant… the only people I thought might be gay were Larry Grayson and perhaps John Inman, and quite frankly, I didn't identify with those people. But what I did identify with was this amazing, exciting career that lay ahead of me… and I parked all the gay stuff and walked through those gates...”  The ban on gay people Serving in the Armed Forces lifted in 2000. Several years later, ‘Fighting with Pride’ began as a book, “…I was concerned that the story of the amazing careers of the years of the ban were being lost, so I brought together a group of 10 people who all wrote a chapter… but when we… were ready to launch, we realised that… we were angry… about the fact that nobody has gone back to pick up our fallen, for those who have struggled in the years beyond the ban, and who live lives, which are not those that we would wish of any Veteran...”   Fighting with Pride charity was formed on the 20th anniversary of the lifting of the ban, “…And our journey is beginning to make a difference.”   Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

“HMS Manchester… I was playing on the bridge wing once and… the Club Swinger… came out and started doing The Sailor's Hornpipe… and so I was… on my accordion and she was dancing it superbly... and then… we had an idea, 'Let's get a team together'. So, we put a thing on daily orders for… 9, a mixture, male and female from the ship's company, and then… she drilled them and trained them and that was our party piece... So for these big receptions, I remember doing one in Quebec and one in Montreal… we'd finish it off with this display of The Sailor's Hornpipe. It was fantastic… a really good way to end at a cocktail party.”  33 years of Service in the Royal Navy, 20 years at sea, 15 or so ships and several frontline deployments have produced many a dit and a Veteran who has, not only made a successful transition into the civilian world, but is now Chief Exec. of the Regular Forces Employment Association (RFEA), helping around 20,000 Service leavers a year into the world of commercial employment.  We talk about the impact of the ending of the furlough scheme and the perhaps surprising upshot of the pandemic, “Now employers are crying out for labour, so it’s a job seeker’s market…” with opportunities in the green energy sector, cyber, tech, distribution, construction and the defence industry.  …And of course, many of those dits we mentioned, thrown in for good measure *practices The Hornpipe* Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

“Everyone in the military loves a couple of idiots going off and doing a big physical challenge and that's what we are, and that's what we're doing.”  Having live streamed daily chats with Pascal throughout his recent ‘LEJOG’ bike ride – that’s Land’s End to John O’Groats to you and I, we catch-up with him as he reflects on what was achieved in support of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC) and how it’s prepared him for his epic cycle challenge across America next year with Stars and Spokes buddy and fellow Royal Navy Air Crew Officer, Lieutenant Commander Dan Waskett. So, as Serving pilots who fly “helicopters around war zones”, why are they doing it?  “Whilst we have our primary tasks when we're in a helicopter… we always have also what we call the MEDEVAC role. So, the medical evacuation role and if I use an example from Afghan say… So you're flying a sortie… if there are troops on the ground who have had an incident, and often in Afghanistan it was IED related… ultimately, he or she needs to be taken to a medical facility very quickly…  Now, because of the critical situation…, sometimes when you're flying someone on a MEDEVAC back to a medical facility, you've got all the medics in the back working on the individual trying to keep them alive. Sometimes it doesn't always work out… the individual unfortunately passes away over the course of that hour-long or two-hour-long sortie. And that's an incredibly sad situation.  And I found those moments deeply personal… suddenly it all goes quiet in the back, there's not that rustle of activity, the medics aren't doing anything and the reason being, the individual's passed away and there's nothing else that can be done at that point. And that's a precious moment to be involved in… a deeply emotional moment for everyone present.  But I think the second order effect to consider is at that point, there is a family back in the UK who doesn't know this has happened, and when they find out, it's going to absolutely crush them from a mental health perspective, because either mum or dad or brother or sister, they are not coming home.  The mental health impact of that is going to last decades, frankly, all of their lives. And what needs to happen is the long-term provision of mental health assistance to that individual, to that family, and that is where the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity fits in… (they) stay with that individual and offer help and support… for as long as it takes.  And they do that through the programmes that are funded through donations that come in; and Dan and I have first-hand experiences of that kind of stuff happening. We have seen first-hand the epic support that the charity provides and that is why we are riding our bikes across America.” Follow Stars and Spokes on Instagram.Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

“It's a bit like what we used to call in the Royal Marines… 'babbin’ your wack'… when you're proper pooing yourself before you go and do something.”  Royal Marine (RM) turned professional actor, Tip, is a ‘story-teller’ and as a young man in Belfast, he had an epiphany, “I knew that I had to become a Royal Marines Commando.” 30 years later, RM Captain, Tip, having achieved his goal of being a Mountain Leader, had another epiphany, “Be a storyteller… I thought, ‘Acting... that's a form of story-telling isn't it?’” Fast-forward 3 years and Tip graduated with an acting degree. Enter, The Actor’s Fear… “I was like that, 'Ummm fear...?' It's a bit like what we used to call in the RM, babbin’ your wack…” Tip’s memories of RM friends that he’s lost, help him, “I just have this memory… I've got my gang of friends sitting there looking at me going, 'So... you're nervous? So somebody can shoot at you from 30 yards away with a Kalashnikov and you're not bothered about that. What you've got to do is walk on there and stand and talk. And you're nervous?!’ …And I'm going, 'Gents, I am happy with that. I shall move on task!’ …Those people… that are gone, they're always with me.”  That said, learning to draw on Tip’s experiences as a RM has been a challenge. Currently, he’s playing Echo 1 in Sunray, a film co-written and co-directed by previous podcast guest, Sam Seeley, “A troubled character who's post-operations, has been suffering massively from Survivor's Guilt, potentially PTSD, and all these issues, get compounded when he's transitioning back into society… he's a very vulnerable person. He's massively broken, and he's lost everything he loves in his life including friends on operations. So I can empathise massively…”  No spoilers, but what does the future hold for Tip? “What I want is to be able to tell stories. Fame and fortune? I don't need that. I've got everything I want in life… and I just want to be telling stories.” Follow Tip on Twitter, Instagram and FacebookHosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

“The thing I would say to anyone who's leaving the Services or has left the Services is, ‘Do not underestimate your ability to pull things off…” Royal Marine (RM) turned marine biologist and TV presenter, Monty left the Corps in ’96,  “I look back on it with the fondest, fondest memories… all my best mates, my best muccas are still bootnecks that I Served with, or joined-up with… a real eclectic mix as well… you've got eccentrics, heathen kings, warriors, intellectuals, loose cannons; a real mix of people from all backgrounds and all united under the green lid.” Transitioning from the RM to a successful TV career didn’t happen overnight and Monty Served as Reservist as well as studying for his marine biology degree,  “…Plenty of sort of dark times, you know… the thing that got me through those dark times were my muccas from the Corps… great old mates, great old relationships… we're getting better and better at it, I think, of actually hooking up with a mucca and I'd just say, 'Mate, I'm struggling a bit at the moment, actually.' And I think you're always surprised at the stories that emerge when you say that to a friend. It turns out that their life isn't all roses and platinum credit cards, either… there's a great expression that says, 'Never judge the inside of your life by the outside of someone else's.'” Monty’s big TV break came when he competed in Channel 4’s ‘Superhumans’ and he won. Since then, his TV credits include a series for Channel Four, 'Freedom Trails', about World War II escape routes through Europe and the survivors; and the two series he made with his young family, ‘My Family and The Galapagos’.  Monty and his young family spent several months in the Galapagos, finding out the challenges of living there and; as President of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, an experienced diver and marine biologist, discovering the environmental challenges to the unique animals of the islands, as well as the fantastic conservation work going on out there, “They're such an iconic archipelago and they're the lens by which we view conservation around the world in so many ways…” Monty takes a practical approach where environmental challenges are concerned,  “You can either do something or do nothing. That's your choice… and when you look back when you're old and you look back on your life, you will think to yourself, 'I should have done something.’ Even if it's saying, 'Right, I'm not going to drink from a plastic bottle anymore… Even that decision is significant… Or 'Right, today I'm going to join a conservation group…’ So, I think it's a straight choice. It's binary, actually.  These things are so overwhelming and so complicated and so nuanced, about the impacts and all that. But actually, personally, it's a binary choice. You either do something, or you do nothing. That's it, that's your choice, right now, today. And it's really easy to do something and say, 'Right, great, I've done something. I can crack on with my life.’ Follow Monty on Twitter, Instagram and FacebookHosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Find out more about the Company of Makers  or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the RNRMC

“When it comes down to mental health issues, I feel that a lot of it can be helped with just breaking that habit of what your brain's been through… If you watched a film and you thought it was rubbish, you wouldn't put it on again, you’d put something else on!” Submariner, John is part of HMND Clyde’s Recovery Cell, looking after the day-to-day lives of people who cannot sail with their unit for serious disciplinary or medical reasons including mental health issues,   “When it comes down to mental health… there's a lot of individuals who… don't want to tell someone of a higher rank, because they feel as if that may get used against them, or it's showing they’re not quite strong enough for the job, or it may harm their career prospects. And on the other hand, some people don't want to talk to people of a lower rank because they think it makes them look weak.”  So in 2019, John launched ‘Males Tales’,  “…purely for males to come and talk openly and share lived experiences and support each other.”  It’s been set up as a Community Interest Company,  “The military haven't got an input as such into it. It's not just for military personnel… 40% to 50% of the people who use Males Tales are Serving or Veterans, or families of, but that's purely because of our geographical location. It's totally civilian and there are many people who use the organisation, come to the meetings, who have no connection whatsoever to the military.”  A demanding operational period triggered John’s own mental health challenges,  “I actually spent 16 days without a minute's sleep... I was prescribed Diazepam and even that wouldn't knock me out.”  Although doing much better now, John’s son also suffered with mental health issues, “During the same trip, I was actually pulled back early because my son, who was 8 years old at the time, was self-harming and he was talking about taking his own life… he was diagnosed with Separation Anxiety. He'd have been about 4 1/2 – 5 when I started going away to sea… I'd probably seen him for about 6 months in 3 1/2 years.  John’s understanding of mental health issues is also as a result of challenges within his wider family, “I've had family members who've been on the brink of suicide. I've had ones who've had depression and been hospitalised. I think my family's ticked most of the boxes to be fair. And that's given me a good grounding of knowing what's going on out there…”  So back to Males Tales, “It's sort of grown arms and legs… we had our first ‘Females Tales’ last week.”  “If you sit and listen to someone who has been through an issue… Actually listen to them. Hear what they're saying. That 10 minutes could change that person's week, month, maybe their life… This is stuff we've been doing since cave men, talking and listening… For some reason… we've all lost that. Whether you're scared to talk, or don't want to listen.” Find Males Tales on Facebook, Instagram an Twitter.Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.