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No apologies: Ben Roberts-Smith breaks silence

<p>Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has returned to Australia for the first time since losing his defamation case against Nine newspapers.</p> <p>Roberts-Smith touched down in Perth on June 14 and said he was shattered by the outcome of his defamation case against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times.</p> <p>This is the first time he has spoken out publicly since the landmark ruling.</p> <p>"It was a terrible result and obviously the incorrect result. We will look at it and consider whether or not we need to file an appeal," Roberts-Smith said after landing in Perth.</p> <p>"There is not much more I can say about it ... we just have to work through it and I'll take the advice as it comes.”</p> <p>He was spotted checking into business class with his girlfriend in Queenstown, New Zealand prior to touching down in Perth.</p> <p>Roberts-Smith rules out apologising to families of the victims impacted by his actions in Afghanistan.</p> <p>"We haven't done anything wrong, so we won't be making any apologies," he said.</p> <p>As he was collecting his luggage at Perth airport, he was approached by a man who voiced his support for the former soldier.</p> <p>Roberts-Smith's return comes on the same day as reports that an Australian Federal Police investigation into his alleged war crimes had collapsed.</p> <p>The decision by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions not to prosecute Roberts-Smith based on evidence collected by the AFP has led to a new joint task force being assembled to investigate alleged executions.</p> <p>The task force is comprised of detectives from the specialist war crimes agency, the Office of the Special Investigator and a new team of federal police investigators not related to the abandoned AFP probe.</p> <p>Roberts-Smith did not appear in the Federal Court when a judge found allegations he murdered or was complicit in the killing of four unarmed Afghans while deployed overseas were "substantially true” in a bombshell defamation ruling.</p> <p>The former soldier insists there was never any foul play.</p> <p><em>Image credit: A Current Affair</em></p>

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Father of murdered Aussie soldier voices support for Ben Roberts-Smith

<p> The father of an Australian soldier murdered in Afghanistan has spoken out in defence of former SAS member Ben Roberts-Smith.</p> <p>Hugh Poate’s son, Robert, was playing cards with two other Australians when they were tragically shot by a rogue Afghan soldier named Hekmatullah in 2012.</p> <p>According to Poate, Roberts-Smith was simply following orders in a bid to apprehend Hekmatullah, who had brutally taken the lives of their son.</p> <p>Acting on intelligence, they were taken to the village of Darwan, where Roberts-Smith had allegedly kicked a farmer named Ali Jan off a cliff and ordered his execution.</p> <p>“These citizens in the village could well have been a civilian one day and pulling the trigger the next, that‘s the way the Taliban operated. This perspective should have been included to provide some balance and context,” Poate told the<em> Daily Telegraph</em>.</p> <p>The federal court <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/a-win-for-the-press-a-big-loss-for-ben-roberts-smith-what-does-this-judgment-tell-us-about-defamation-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial against the <em>Sydney Morning Herald</em>, <em>The Age</em>, and the <em>Canberra Times</em>, with Justice Besanko concluding the various titles had substantially proven the former soldier unlawfully killed four unarmed Afghan prisoners during his service in the SAS between 2009 and 2012.</p> <p>The judgement also acknowledged instances of Roberts-Smith’s alleged bullying of fellow soldiers. However, the court dismissed two other murder allegations and an accusation that he had assaulted his mistress.</p> <p>In his thorough 736-page judgement, the judge determined that Roberts-Smith and four key witnesses called to testify were both dishonest and unreliable in their evidence.</p> <p>Following the release of the completed judgement, Roberts-Smith’s legal team is now closely inspecting the document to identify potential grounds for an appeal.</p> <p>Poate emphasised the fact that Hekmatullah was captured and convicted of war crimes and subsequently released. In comparison, Roberts-Smith <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/australian-war-memorial-urged-to-remove-ben-roberts-smith-s-uniform-from-display" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has not been convicted</a> of any war crimes. Potae perceives the treatment of Roberts-Smith as a case of double standards.</p> <p>Additionally, Poate asserted that the responsibility for any wrongdoing committed by the SAS in Afghanistan lies with others in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). By acknowledging the collective accountability within the organisation, Poate has suggested a wider perspective on the matter.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

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Ben Roberts-Smith’s furious phone call to fellow soldier

<p>A livid Ben Roberts-Smith has berated a fellow soldier he believed had been speaking to the media about war allegations, demanding he “stick to the f**king code”, newly released audio has revealed.</p> <p>Nine’s 60 Minutes played a recording of the exchange between Roberts-Smith and a fellow SAS member known as “Soldier M” in 2018 amid a media frenzy.</p> <p>Soldier M is a relative of Australia’s most wealthy individual, billionaire Gina Rineheart, and prior to the phone call, Roberts-Smith had sent him a threatening legal letter, with the mining magnate CC’d in.</p> <p>“Yeah, it’s RS, mate,” Mr Roberts-Smith says in the audio.</p> <p>“Because I know you’ve talked s**t about me, right? I know that.</p> <p>“I’ve got no ill will towards anyone that has no ill will towards me, it’s real simple. So you know, like, I’m 100 per cent, I stick to the f**king code, mate, 100 per cent, and I have. So all the s**t that’s going on, I’m still probably the only c**t that hasn’t f**king spoken.</p> <p>“I don’t trust you, mate, I haven’t been able to trust you for a long time. You say we’re mates. We used to be actually, but for some f**king reason I’ve just become the centre of all evil for you and the group of people …</p> <p>“You’ve got a young child, I’ve got a f**king family, I want to move on, I’m so sick of f**king army, the unit and all the bulls**t. Just remember I was minding my own business, just trying to do my job, and I get attacked by all these f**king journalists. I haven’t spoken a word about it to anyone in the unit.”</p> <p>On June 1 Roberts-smith lost his lengthy defamation trial against Nine newspapers’ The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times.</p> <p>Following the verdict, The Australian War Memorial has faced calls to <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/australian-war-memorial-urged-to-remove-ben-roberts-smith-s-uniform-from-display" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remove the decorated soldier’s uniform</a> from its display.</p> <p>The 22-week trial saw 32 current and former SAS members provide evidence.</p> <p>One of the 32, known as “Person Y”, who has never spoken to the media, appeared anonymously on 60 Minutes on June 4.</p> <p>“You don’t win insurgencies on body counts, yet here is a guy who thinks he’s going to win the war by killing as many people as possible,” he told the program.</p> <p>“We are not above the law, we are not above the rules of engagement, but I think for him he felt he was above all that, that the rules don’t apply. Many people are having a hard time reconciling the fact that someone they thought was a national hero is in fact the complete opposite, proven to be a bully, a liar and a murderer.</p> <p>“It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially for a country that’s believed the lies for so long.</p> <p>“I think they thought they were above the law, that they were not going to be caught, that it was a free-for-all.</p> <p>“I think I could say on behalf of every guy who took the witness stand that none of us wanted to be there, that’s just not who we are.”</p> <p>One day after the verdict was reached, Seven CEO James Warburton revealed Roberts-Smith had resigned from the network.</p> <p>“We thank Ben for his commitment to Seven and wish him all the best,” he said.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

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"He was a mess": Harry's drunken behaviour outed by ex-soldier

<p dir="ltr">A former soldier has revealed Prince Harry accidentally triggered a panic alarm at St James’s Palace after a drunken night out.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Duke of Sussex reportedly stumbled into a sentry box when he returned from a night out, banging into the emergency response button.</p> <p dir="ltr">Three armed soldiers from the Guards Division dashed out to find Harry, who was 27 at the time, on the floor in a “mess”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Two armed police officers also attended the scene and helped carry the young prince back to his apartment.</p> <p dir="ltr">A former soldier, who served in the Guards Division and was part of the Quick Response Force that found Harry, revealed how the Prince was “blind drunk”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He recalled, “He was a mess, he was on the floor drooling on himself.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“When we tried to get him up he was uncooperative and abusive.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The ex-soldier, who did not want to be named, said, “It was around midnight. An alarm went off in the guard room, but we’d never heard it before.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“One of the senior lads said it was one of the sentry boxes.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Within a couple of minutes three of us who were in the QRF were out the door. There were two Met Police guys there as well.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“But instead of an intruder or terrorist, we found Prince Harry.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“He was slurring his words, not making any sense.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“When we tried to pick him up he started yelling, ‘Get off me, I don’t need any help’.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“He was pushing us off and being very abusive.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The source said they took him inside and up to his apartment – which was in a “right state”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said, “It was like student digs, it was sh*t.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“The double bed was unmade, there were clothes and socks over the floor, cans of lager and dirty coffee cups lying around and packs of cigs.”</p> <p dir="ltr">He said the team carried Harry to his bed where the royal “passed out” and was left to sleep it off.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said, “We all had a good laugh and a joke about it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The ex-soldier, an injured veteran with more than a decade’s service, came forward about the incident after becoming enraged by claims Harry made in his memoir <em>Spare</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said the Prince had a reputation among military circles for being a “social hand grenade” who would often make trouble with his drunken antics.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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“We will miss you brother”: Kiwi soldier killed in Ukraine identified

<p dir="ltr">A New Zealand soldier who died in Ukraine fighting alongside other foreign troops in the International Legion has been remembered by fellow soldiers as “strong, hardcore and handsome”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Corporal Dominic Abelen was fighting on the frontline in the east of Ukraine while on leave away from the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and not on active duty, as reported by the <em><a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-off-duty-new-zealand-soldier-dominic-abelen-killed-in-ukraine/M45ZWJEZ47I2Z5XD4Q44KNJFD4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NZ Herald</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 30-year-old soldier was based at Burnham Military Camp, outside Christchurch, with the Royal New Zealand Regiment’s 2nd/1st Battalion.</p> <p dir="ltr">“At this early stage, there is still more information to be gathered in order to understand the circumstances fully,” the NZDF said in a statement.</p> <p dir="ltr">Brigadier Rose King, the Acting Chief of Army, said <a href="https://www.nzdf.mil.nz/news/further-details-released-on-nzdf-soldier-reportedly-killed-in-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in a statement</a> that their efforts would be concentrated on supporting Abelen’s family and NZDF personnel.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Any loss of one of our whānau (‘family’) is deeply felt across the New Zealand Defence Force. We are concentrating our efforts on supporting Corporal Abelen’s loved ones and our personnel as they grieve,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">His family have requested not to be approached by the media, with his father, Bryce, sharing a statement with the NZDF.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Dominic was in the New Zealand Army for 10 years but never got to fight for his country,” Bryce said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He didn't tell us he was going to Ukraine until he was there. He knew we would talk him out of it. He also knew the risks of going there but still went to fight for them.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That is Dominic, always thinking of helping others.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We understand why he went and hold no grudge against the NZ or Ukraine Army and fully support what he did.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Dominic loved being in the army, the life-long friends he made there.</p> <p dir="ltr">“There has been relentless support from half the Burnham Military Camp that knew him, as well as personnel from overseas.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A kind, gentle man with the most infectious smile that you couldn't help but smile back.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He had a love of the outdoors and did a lot of tramping. He spent his holidays travelling around New Zealand and the world.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I'm extremely proud of my children and especially Dominic for standing up and doing what he thought was right. He leaves a massive hole in all our hearts.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Abelen’s siblings describing him as “the most amazing human being”, the “buffest” member of their family, and that he had “the biggest heart to match”.</p> <p dir="ltr">A former NZDF soldier who is also fighting with Ukraine’s International Legion paid tribute to his fallen comrade, describing him as “a warrior until the end”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The bro was anything but scenery. Strong, hardcore, handsome but extremely humble,” he wrote online.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Best believe he died doing what he loved and was extremely good at.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We will miss you brother. So much. You have left a hole that we are feeling and we could never hope to fill.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Sources have since told the <em><a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-off-duty-new-zealand-soldier-dominic-abelen-killed-fighting-re-taking-trench-in-ukraine/26EVXCDFPOAROXLSARVPKIZSQU/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Herald</a></em> that Abelen was involved in a joint operation to retake the frontline of a trench network and was instantly killed in a firefight during a dawn assault.</p> <p dir="ltr">Another American fighter is also said to have died.</p> <p dir="ltr">Defence Minister Peeni Henare expressed his condolences to Abelen’s family, friends, and colleagues.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have been advised the New Zealand Army are supporting the soldier’s family through this difficult time,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Tenby Powell, the former commanding officer of the NZDF who is currently in Ukraine undertaking humanitarian work, said he was asked by Abelen’s family to bring him home.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though he didn’t go into the details surrounding the soldier’s death, he told Today FM that the family were distraught.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s a very sad day here in Ukraine, not just for New Zealanders but for everyone,” Powell said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve talked to a family member they have asked me and I have agreed to go and get him. We need to do this in a very respectful and expedient manner. I have given the family my assurances that he will be well looked after all the way back.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The critically-important thing is to ensure that he is recovered and brought back in a way where he is looked after for the entire trip back to New Zealand.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Powell intended to drape the New Zealand flag over the coffin for the trip home and ensure that Abelen had all the care a person serving in the defence force warranted.</p> <p dir="ltr">Abelen would be taken first through Warsaw, then Ukraine and on to New Zealand.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are determined to bring him out. He will come out and he will be looked after all the way,” Powell said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The soldier’s passing comes after the New Zealand government announced that a further 120 NZDF personnel would be sent to Britain to help train Ukrainian soldiers, on top of the 30 personnel deployed in May.</p> <p dir="ltr">"New Zealand has been clear that we will continue to answer the call of Ukraine for practical support as they defend their homeland and people against Russia's unjustified invasion," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on August 15.</p> <p dir="ltr">"We know that one of the highest priorities for Ukraine right now, is to train its soldiers, and New Zealand is proud to stand in solidarity alongside a number of other countries to answer that call."</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-936352a7-7fff-fcbe-1d7f-0f92419aff13"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: NZDF</em></p>

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Senior soldier confirms Ben Roberts-Smith’s story, contradicts another

<p dir="ltr">A senior SAS soldier has testified in the defamation case launched by Ben Roberts-Smith, backing claims made by the veteran but contradicting another of his key witnesses.</p> <p dir="ltr">The soldier, referred to as Person 81, began his evidence in the Federal Court on Wednesday and is likely to be the last of 40 witnesses called by Mr Roberts-Smith in the year-long trial against Nine newspapers.</p> <p dir="ltr">The court heard that Person 81 was heading a patrol of a Taliban compound known as Whiskey 108 in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province in 2009.</p> <p dir="ltr">The newspapers alleged in their defence that two men who were found in a tunnel in Whiskey 108 were killed, with one elderly man being shot by a “rookie” on Mr Roberts-Smith’s orders, and the other, who had a prosthetic leg, being shot by Mr Roberts-Smith with a machine gun.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, Mr Roberts-Smith denied the allegations as impossible and that “there were no men in the tunnel”. He said he shot and killed the man with the prosthetic leg, who was armed and running, outside the compound.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 43-year-old said the elderly man was also killed outside the compound by another soldier who was unknown to him.</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 81 backed up these claims, telling the court he heard no engagements at Whiskey 108 and wasn’t told of any insurgents being killed. He testified that he entered the compound after SAS troops stormed and secured the site, and that he saw Afghan civilians inside.</p> <p dir="ltr">He also said he saw “body parts” amongst “rocket paraphernalia” in the rubble.</p> <p dir="ltr">Defence barrister Arthur Moses SC, representing Mr Roberts-Smith, asked Person 81: “Did you see any engagements in the Whiskey 108 compound after the compound was declared cleared?”<br />“No,” Person 81 answered.</p> <p dir="ltr">Moses: “Do you recall hearing any engagements while you were in the compound?”<br />Person 81: “No.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Moses: “Do you recall reports of any engagements?”<br />Person 81: “No.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 81 also said he “would have reported it” when asked if any members of his troop had told him that unlawful activity had occurred that day, as reported by <em><a href="https://7news.com.au/news/crime/senior-sas-officer-backs-ben-roberts-smith-c-7017617" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7News</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though his testimony supports Mr Roberts-Smith’s claims, it contradicts evidence given by Person 5, Mr Roberts-Smith’s patrol commander, who said he heard gunshots from outside the compound during a “rendezvous (RV) meeting” with other patrol and troop commanders.</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 5 told the court he discovered Mr Roberts-Smith killing an insurgent, who was later discovered to be the man with the prosthetic leg, and returned to the meeting after he confirmed the man was killed in action (KIA).</p> <p dir="ltr">“When you went back to the RV meeting, did you say anything to Person 81 or anybody else?” Mr Moses asked Person 5 during his testimony.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I informed Person 81 there were two KIA on the north-west corner of the compound,” Person 5 said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though it is undisputed that the two men were killed during the raid on Whiskey 108, the question of whether they were legitimately killed or unlawfully killed as prisoners has become a point of contention during the trial.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Roberts-Smith and five other soldiers have said no men were found in the tunnel, while another five said there were men in the tunnel.</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 4, another soldier who is alleged to have shot the elderly men on Mr Roberts-Smith’s order, has also refused to testify on grounds of self-incrimination.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-668a94c1-7fff-8f9a-6e90-a35aed6d53e5"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Most of Person 81’s evidence was concealed behind a closed courtroom on Wednesday, and he is due to continue his testimony on Thursday before Justice Anthony Besanko.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Chloé: how a 19th-century French nude ended up in a Melbourne pub – and became an icon for Australian soldiers

<p>Chloé, the French nude by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Joseph_Lefebvre">Jules Joseph Lefebvre</a>, is an Australian cultural icon. </p> <p>Chloé made its debut at the 1875 Paris Salon and won medals at the 1879 Sydney and 1880 Melbourne international exhibitions. In December 1880, Thomas Fitzgerald, a Melbourne surgeon, bought Chloé for his private collection. </p> <p>Two years later, when Fitzgerald loaned Chloé to the National Gallery of Victoria, a furious debate erupted in the press. Public opinion was <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224814361">sharply divided</a> over the propriety of displaying a French nude painting on the Sabbath.</p> <p>Chloé spent the next three years at the Adelaide Picture Gallery, before Fitzgerald <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/94392855">removed her</a> from the public gaze.</p> <p>After the surgeon’s death in 1908, Henry Figsby Young bought Chloé for £800 and hung the famous nude in the saloon bar of Young and Jackson Hotel, opposite Flinders Street Station in Melbourne. </p> <p>Enjoying a drink with Chloé at the hotel has been a good luck ritual for Australian soldiers since the first world war. </p> <h2>Longing for her lover</h2> <p>According to the 1875 Paris Salon catalogue, Chloé depicts the water nymph in “Mnasyle et Chloé” by 18th century poet martyr <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Ch%C3%A9nier">André Chénier</a>. Toes dipped in a puddling stream, longing and heartache etched on her lovely features, she listens for the voice of her lover. </p> <p>Chloé was created in the winter of 1874-75. France was still rebuilding after its defeat in the <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/the-franco-prussian-war-150-years-on">Franco Prussian War</a> and the Versailles government’s brutal repression of the revolutionary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWrnGZ_975I">Paris Commune</a>. </p> <p>Newspapers in France and around the world described women who supported the Commune as lethal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9troleuses">pétroleuses</a>, or petrol carriers. The women were often blamed for destructive acts of arson carried out by Versailles troops during <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/paris-communes-bloody-week">The Bloody Week</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://index-journal.org/issues/identity/evanescence-of-an-artist-s-model-by-katrina-kell">Jules Lefebvre claimed</a> his working class model for Chloé was involved with former Communards. She may have fought alongside other girls and women, and witnessed the widespread bloodshed that stained the streets of Paris red in 1871. </p> <p>This volatile chapter in French history has been absent from <a href="https://index-journal.org/issues/identity/evanescence-of-an-artist-s-model-by-katrina-kell">Chloé mythologies</a>. But Chloé was painted in the wake of war and revolution and of women’s inspiring activism, as women challenged the class and gender barriers that had limited their opportunities.</p> <h2>Chloé and the Australian soldier</h2> <p>The ritual of having a drink with Chloé at Young and Jackson Hotel, opposite <a href="https://heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/get-involved/tours/melbourne-at-war-hidden-histories-1914-18-audio-tour/melbourne-at-war-stop-2a/">Melbourne’s busiest railway station</a>, began after <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89096318">Private A. P. Hill</a>, who was killed in action, put a message in a bottle and tossed it overboard. </p> <p>When the bottle was found in New Zealand in January 1918, his message read, "To the finder of this bottle. Take it to Young and Jackson’s, fill it, and keep it till we return from the war."</p> <p>The <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148561880">hotel and Chloé</a> proved irresistible for returning soldiers.</p> <p>By the start of the second world war, Chloé and Young and Jackson’s were so enmeshed in military mythology they were included in the 2/21st Australian Infantry Battalion’s <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11305333">official march song</a>: "Good-by Young and Jackson’s, Farewell Chloé too, It’s a long way to Bonegilla, But we’ll get there on stew."</p> <p>Tragically, on February 2 1942, the B and C Companies of the 2/21st Australian Infantry Battalion were massacred by Japanese forces at Laha Airfield on the Indonesian island of Ambon. Those who weren’t killed became prisoners of war. </p> <p>After Japan’s surrender in 1945, the Australian prisoners’ hopes for liberation were frustrated when Japanese officers refused to give them radio access. </p> <p>When they finally got a radio transmitter their SOS message was received on the neighbouring island of Morotai. The men were asked questions to prove they were “dinki-di Aussies”. </p> <p>One of the first questions Melbourne soldier John Van Nooten <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23494802-ambon">was asked was</a> “how would you like to see Chloé again?” </p> <p>When Van Nooten replied “Lead me to her”, the operator asked “where is she?” </p> <p>Van Nooten responded with Young and Jackson’s, finally convincing the operator he was Australian.</p> <h2>A soldier’s consolation</h2> <p>In his 1945 article <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38559150">Seein’ Chloé</a>, West Australian journalist Peter Graeme claimed, "Chloé is to Melbourne what the Bridge is to Sydney. From the soldier’s point of view of course. All over Australia you meet men who have seen her […] Chloé belongs to the Australian soldier."</p> <p>Graeme recalled meeting a soldier at Young and Jackson’s who drained three drinks in front of Chloé. When he asked the soldier why he drank the beers in quick succession, the soldier said he was honouring a promise he and two mates had made to Chloé. </p> <p>The three of them had pledged to have a drink with her when they returned to Melbourne. His two friends never returned, buried at Scarlet Beach in New Guinea.</p> <p>As Graeme concluded in his poignant tale, Chloé may have been, "the symbol of the feminine side of his life. That part which he puts away from him, except in his inarticulate dreams."</p> <p>The soldier’s grief for the mates he lost, and the comfort drinking with the painting gave him, seems to resonate with the longing in Chloé’s melancholy expression, and the war-torn history behind this celebrated Melbourne icon.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://theconversation.com/chloe-how-a-19th-century-french-nude-ended-up-in-a-melbourne-pub-and-became-an-icon-for-australian-soldiers-180032" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation. </a></em></p>

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Russia 0, Door 1: Soldier’s shocking defeat blows up online

<p dir="ltr">As the Russian invasion of Ukraine wages on, a battle between a Russian soldier and a door has <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/russia-ukraine-war-hapless-russian-soldier-loses-fight-against-door/I246LNFUTCXAE3Q2OVUSJ34Y7A/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resulted</a> in a crushing defeat.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3530fd72-7fff-6d10-7117-ac550587562f"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">A clip of the incident from Yeshiva World News reported Moshe Schwartz has gone viral online, with the interaction dubbed the Battle of Techno House.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">At the Battle of Techno House, the door secured a decisive victory against Russian forces <a href="https://t.co/QnMowf5T7l">https://t.co/QnMowf5T7l</a></p> <p>— 🇺🇦 Sid Chambers, PhD 🇺🇦 (@ArtfulTakedown) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArtfulTakedown/status/1499180997526663174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The soldier, reportedly in Kherson, Ukraine, is seen attempting to gain access into a store.</p> <p dir="ltr">When his first attempts fail, the soldier smashes the glass on the door but that also fails.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9c2b14f1-7fff-8297-db3c-24dce3d9498e"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Seemingly exasperated, the soldier tugs on the door handle before accepting defeat and walking away.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Geolocation confirmed.</p> <p>46.65046, 32.60758 <a href="https://t.co/bfjntnsPsG">https://t.co/bfjntnsPsG</a> <a href="https://t.co/fYUZxlLZGo">pic.twitter.com/fYUZxlLZGo</a></p> <p>— GeoConfirmed (@GeoConfirmed) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1499153094076153860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The soldier, reportedly in Kherson, Ukraine, is seen attempting to gain access into a store.</p> <p dir="ltr">When his first attempts fail, the soldier smashes the glass on the door but that also fails.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3ae3c580-7fff-901d-3f62-401101382f21"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Seemingly exasperated, the soldier tugs on the door handle before accepting defeat and walking away.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/FM3zsz5WYA0bOOl.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="1176" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>A Wikipedia page was allegedly created documenting the incident. Image: <a href="https://twitter.com/SwarmDMX/status/1499122912493809670" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a></em></p> <p dir="ltr">The page said the incident ended with a “decisive” victory for the door, and that casualties and losses included “ammunition, pride and a window”.</p> <p dir="ltr">One video of the incident was viewed more than a million times in one hour and attracted thousands of comments joking about an otherwise grim situation.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e6c0c3df-7fff-57b8-c599-f42aa0b7a7b1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">It comes as Russian forces have captured the strategically significant hub of Kherson, the first to be captured since the invasion began last week.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

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SAS soldier claims Ben Roberts-Smith catapulted unarmed man off cliff

<p dir="ltr">A former SAS soldier <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-28/ben-roberts-smith-trial-hears-more-evidence-from-afghanistan/100856732" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has said</a> he witnessed Ben Roberts-Smith kick and “catapult” an unarmed, handcuffed Afghan man over a slope before he was killed while testifying before a Sydney court.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Roberts-Smith launched a defamation case against The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times early last year over several articles he claims contained false allegations of unlawful killings, domestic violence, and bullying.</p> <p dir="ltr">The trial has continued with the testimony of Person 4, a former Special Air Services soldier who was with Mr Roberts-Smith during a 2012 September mission in Darwan, in relation to a central allegation in the case.</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 4 told the court on Monday that an Afghan man with a donkey was searched, questioned and taken prisoner, becoming a PUC (person under control) of the Australian soldiers.</p> <p dir="ltr">The witness said he later saw the handcuffed man being held by a colleague referred to in court as Person 11, with his back towards a slope.</p> <p dir="ltr">“At the same time, I noticed Ben Roberts-Smith, he had walked to a position maybe three to four metres away,” Person 4 said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“As I was trying to understand what was happening, he turned around and walked forward and kicked the individual in the chest.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The individual was catapulted backwards and fell down the slope.<br />“I saw the individual’s face strike a large rock and sustain a serious injury. He had knocked out a number of his teeth, including his front teeth.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 4 said he was “in shock” and that the man, who was injured and lying at the bottom of the slope in a dry creek bed, failed to sit up.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said Mr Roberts-Smith directed him and Person 11 to grab the man “and start to drag him” towards a tree.</p> <p dir="ltr">At that point, Person 4 said Mr Roberts-Smith and Person 11 had a “quick conversation” which he didn’t hear and was followed by two to three shots.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though he didn’t witness the shots, Person 4 turned around to see Person 11 in a “position to shoot”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said that when the man’s body was photographed, there was an ICOM radio next to him. However, he said he didn’t see how it got there and that the man didn’t have it when he was being questioned.</p> <p dir="ltr">When he noticed the radio was “slightly wet” and had a fogged-up screen, he said, “It dawned on me that I did know where it had come from.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 4 previously told the court that Mr Roberts-Smith took items off a dead enem prior to their arrival in Darwan, including a detonation cord and a radio - which he carried while crossing a river to return to the patrol.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Roberts-Smith has previously told the court that a suspected Taliban “spotter” was killed that day in a cornfield, but has denied other details including that he was kicked off a cliff.</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 4 claimed that Mr Roberts-Smith later outlined a “story” to him, Person 11, and a third colleague referred to as Person 56, about the man and the slope.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Your Honour, it was words to the effect of ‘the story is that we engaged a spotter whilst moving to our HLS’.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The trial will continue before Justice Anthony Besanko.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Queen Elizabeth soldiers on despite Covid diagnosis

<p dir="ltr">Despite her diagnosis of COVID-19, Queen Elizabeth II is still performing her royal duties in a promising sign that her symptoms may not be too serious.</p> <p dir="ltr">The monarch <a href="https://honey.nine.com.au/royals/queen-elizabeth-tests-positive-to-covid-19-signs-personal-message-to-winter-olympics-team/385681fe-ab37-461e-98b4-1c88e9e56834" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tested positive</a> to the virus over a week after she was in contact with Prince Charles, who contracted Covid for the second time.</p> <p dir="ltr">Buckingham Palace released a statement confirming Her Majesty’s diagnosis over the weekend, noting she was experiencing “mild cold-like symptoms” so far.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week,” the statement read.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Soon after the statement was released, Buckingham Palace also said the Queen had signed a personal message congratulating Team GB’s men’s and women’s Curling teams, after they claimed silver and gold respectively at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaM99bnsoFf/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaM99bnsoFf/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“I send my warmest congratulations to the Team GB Women’s Curling team on your outstanding performance in winning the Gold Medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, following the Silver Medal achieved by the Men’s Curling team yesterday,” the Queen said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I know that your local communities and people throughout the United Kingdom will join me in sending our good wishes to you, your coaches and the friends and family who have supported you in your great success.”</p> <p dir="ltr">According to <em><a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2022-02-20/the-queen-tests-positive-for-covid-and-is-experiencing-mild-cold-like-symptoms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ITV</a></em>, several members of the Windsor Castle team have also been diagnosed with COVID-19.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 95-year-old monarch met with her son on February 8, two days before it was announced that he tested positive to the virus.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/queens-health-fears-after-close-contact-meeting-with-charles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">At the time</a>, Buckingham Palace declined to confirm whether the Queen had tested positive or negative.</p> <p dir="ltr">She went on to hold various engagements, including a face-to-face audience with UK Defence Services Secretary Major General Eldon Millar and his predecessor where she appeared stiff on her feet and said she <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/i-cant-move-queens-first-visit-since-covid-scare" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“can’t move”</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Queen is understood to be triple vaccinated and under the care of the Royal Household’s medical team, including Professor Sir Huw Thomas, head of the Medical Household and Physician to the Queen.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">I’m sure I speak for everyone in wishing Her Majesty The Queen a swift recovery from Covid and a rapid return to vibrant good health.</p> <p>— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1495383017786945536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">British Prime Minister Boris Johnson took to Twitter to wish for the Queen’s swift recovery, writing: “I’m sure I speak for everyone in wishing Her Majesty The Queen a swift recovery from Covid and a rapid return to vibrant good health.”</p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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SAS soldier claims Ben Roberts-Smith threatened to shoot him in the head

<p dir="ltr">A former soldier who served alongside Ben Roberts-Smith <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-defamation-trial-new-witness-claims-bullying-death-threat/7df734b2-d86b-44c5-ab2d-a57f1e26a7d3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has testified</a> in the SAS soldier’s ongoing defamation trial, claiming Roberts-Smith bullied and threatened to kill him during their time serving together.</p> <p dir="ltr">The soldier, known as Person 1, told the Federal Court he was a victim of a seven-year intimidation campaign while giving evidence for Nine newspapers.</p> <p dir="ltr">During the trial, the court heard of a mistake Person 1 made during a 2006 mission in the Chora Valley, with the same mission seeing Mr Roberts-Smith receiving a Medal for Gallantry for single-handedly fighting off 16 Taliban insurgents.</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 1 admitted that his machine gun jammed at least three times during the mission because he forgot to bring his weapon oil.</p> <p dir="ltr">His error later prompted a commanding officer to issue him a warning for “not performing to standard”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The incident was followed by several alleged run-ins between Person 1 and Mr Roberts-Smith which the witness claimed became threats.</p> <p dir="ltr">“[He] said words to the effect of ‘if your performance doesn’t improve on the next patrol, you’re gonna get a bullet in the back of the head’,” Person 1 said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nine’s barrister Nicholas Owens SC <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-17/soldier-tells-oourt-ben-roberts-smith-threatened-to-shoot-him/100833982" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> the witness what he understood Mr Roberts-Smith to mean by that comment, to which Person 1 replied: “That he was going to shoot me in the back of the head on the next patrol if my performance doesn’t improve”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Person 1 told the court he lodged a formal complaint about the remark, which he said led to another confrontation.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If you’re going to make accusations **** you better have some f***ing proof,” he claimed Mr Roberts-Smith said to him.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Not only did I have to worry about the Taliban, but I also had to look over my own back at my own people,” Person 1 told the court.</p> <p dir="ltr">He also claimed that even after he switched patrols and climbed the ranks, Mr Roberts-Smith described him to other soldiers as “incompetent” and a “coward”.</p> <p dir="ltr">When they entered mediation in 2013, the soldiers agreed to disagree and shook hands.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Roberts-Smith has denied the claims while giving evidence last year and said Person “just wasn’t a very good soldier”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He also accused the witness of attempting to “cover up his poor performance”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The soldier’s testimony comes as part of Mr Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial, in which he is suing Nine newspapers over articles alleging he is a war criminal.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: 9News</em></p>

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Letter from soldier delivered to widow after 76 years

<p>After 76 long years, a heartfelt letter form the battlefield has finally been delivered.</p> <p>Angelina Gonsalves received the letter in an unexpected delivery form the US Postal Service, which was written by her late husband while he was deployed overseas in 1945.</p> <p>Written by 22-year-old Sergeant John Gonsalves while stationed in Germany, the soldier wrote the letter to his mother to check in on his family and let them know he was believed to be coming home to Massachusetts soon.</p> <p>The letter was dated December 6th 1945, and was never delivered to his mother.</p> <p>Instead, it was delivered to his widow 76 years and three days later.</p> <p>"I got to read it and it was wonderful," Angelina Gonsalves, of Woburn, Massachusetts, told CNN on Wednesday. "It is in really good condition. I was amazed by that myself."</p> <p>When John wrote the letter, he and Angelina has not yet met. </p> <p>The pair married in 1953, eight years after the war, and had five sons together, before John died in 2015 at age 92. </p> <p>In the two page letter to his mother, who shared the same name as his wife, John discusses the "lousy" options for food and the horrible winter weather, claiming where he was stationed has not seen the sun in weeks. </p> <p>He closes the letter by sending love to his family, before signing and sealing the note and attaching a six cent stamp. </p> <p>"It was a joy to see her face light up reading his words," Brian Gonsalves, Angelina and John's son, told CNN.</p> <p>"To be able to see her read something he wrote and look back at that history, it's something she'll always have now."</p> <p>It is unclear where the letter had been hiding all this time, but it was found at the USPS Pittsburgh processing centre late last year. </p> <p>Dedicated employees at the centre understood the importance of the late soldier's letter, and started to track down John's next of kin to deliver the piece of history. </p> <p>"We are aware of the passing of your husband in 2015 (our condolences)," reads a letter from the USPS, which was sent with John's letter.</p> <p>"By virtue of some dedicated sleuth work by postal employees at this facility, we were able to determine your address, hence this letter delivery to you, albeit 76 years delayed. Due to the age and significance to your family history, delivering this letter was of utmost importance to us."</p> <p>The letter was delivered to Angelina just before Christmas, which her son said made the perfect gift. </p> <p>"It felt like he came back for the holiday season," he said.</p> <p><em>Image credits: CNN</em></p>

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Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife ‘caught lying under oath,’ court told

<p>Ben Roberts-Smith’s lawyers have told a court they have ‘proof’ his former wife, Emma Roberts, was lying about a crucial matter in his high-profile defamation case</p> <p>The former elite soldier is suing Nine newspapers for defamation over a series of articles alleging he committed war crimes in Afghanistan and domestic violence – all of which he denies.</p> <p>But Roberts-Smith is also suing his former wife in a separate case.</p> <p>Roberts-Smith claims his ex-wife released his private communications to Nine ahead of the defamation trial.</p> <p>Ms Roberts, in sworn affidavits, denied she had given her friend Danielle Scott access to the email accounts and leaked emails.</p> <p>But the SAS veteran‘s legal team this week told the Federal Court they had objective proof that was a lie.</p> <p>“The only person who had access to that (Roberts-Smith) email was an email address associated with Ms Danielle Scott or her husband,” the soldier’s barrister Arthur Moses SC said on Wednesday.</p> <p>“(Ms Roberts) has been caught out lying on the objective evidence,” he added.</p> <p>Mr Moses said Telstra and website records showed the email address from the Scotts was used to access the soldier’s email at least 101 times.</p> <p>This allowed Nine to become “armed” with “private and confidential” information for their defamation defence, Moses said.</p> <p><strong>The court may now bring Ms Roberts in for questioning</strong></p> <p>Moses told the court Ms Roberts may now be brought into court for examination.</p> <p>Ms Roberts’ own lawyer acknowledged there was evidence Scott had accessed the email but said there was no proof Ms Roberts had given Scott access.</p> <p>Further, her lawyer Jason Murakami told the court that Roberts-Smith had never been able to show what information had been leaked to Nine.</p> <p>“Never once has (Roberts-Smith) been able to refer the court to the confidential information he says he’s trying to protect,” Murakami said on Wednesday.</p> <p>The lifelong friendship between Scott and Ms Roberts has been an enduring front in the legal battle after it emerged Ms Roberts would testify against her former husband.</p> <p>Nine accused Roberts-Smith of burying USBs containing important evidence in the backyard of his matrimonial home and returning to collect them after separating from his wife.</p> <p>Last month the courts were shown images of what appeared to be freshly disturbed earth at the Roberts-Smith Queensland home.</p> <p>The court was told Scott and Ms Roberts had dug up the USBs and copied their contents.</p> <p>Text messages between Scott and Ms Roberts have also been aired in court showing intimate discussions of Roberts-Smith’s relationship with another woman.</p> <p>The SAS veteran denies it was an affair, insisting he struck up the chaotic relationship with the woman as his marriage quietly disintegrated in 2017.</p> <p>Nine claims Roberts-Smith pressured his wife to lie about the time they separated to protect his public image.</p> <p>The defamation trial is expected to resume in November after being delayed because of Sydney’s COVID outbreak.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Tributes pour in for soldiers killed in army vehicle rollover

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tributes have flooded in for a man who died after an army vehicle rolled over near Townsville, with friends and family remembering him for his “heart of gold”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brendon Payne has been identified as one of the two Australian Defence Force personnel who perished following the Monday afternoon crash.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His 40-year-old colleague is yet to be identified, and the pair were members of the Brisbane-based 7th Combat Brigade.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emergency services responded to reports of the single vehicle crash on Dotswood Road, west of Townsville, with forensic investigators also attending the scene.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the efforts of both paramedics and Defence rescue and medical teams, both soldiers died at the scene.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police and the Department of Defence are investigating the incident.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Payne’s friends and family shared their heartbreak and tributes to the 29-year-old on social media.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Words cannot express the heartache my family and my brother and his family losing his 1st born,” Mr Payne’s aunt wrote.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our beautiful aimee brendons wife and best friend know that we love you so very much and thankyou for coming into our lives but mostly for making our brendon the happiest man ever.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A friend said: “My brother I can’t even speak it’s like [a] dagger gone into my heart you are honestly one of my best friends my brother in arms you are and always will be my brother.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another said Mr Payne would “stay with us all forever”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“His beautiful smile and gorgeous soul. We’re heartbroken,” she wrote.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A third described Mr Payne as having a “heart of gold”.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:374.51171875px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843598/e50f501b206613a117551c6c51725e59.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/19462bfd73984876b5de5281815115e4" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Facebook</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk expressed her sympathies to the families of the two men on Tuesday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I extend my sincere condolences to the family, friends and entire defence force community mourning the loss of two of their own in an army vehicle rollover in North Queensland yesterday,” she wrote on Twitter.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Army Chief Lieutenant General Rick Burr said: “This is a tragic accident and our deepest sympathies go to the families and loved ones of our soldiers.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Defence Minister Peter Dutton shared the tragedy in Parliament on Monday, and Shadow Defence Minister Brendon O’Connor shared his deepest sympathy on behalf of Labor.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is tragic news and we extend our condolences to their family, friends, and colleagues for this devastating loss,” he said.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Facebook</span></em></p>

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Army puts 13 soldiers on notice over war crimes report

<p>The Australian Army has issued 13 soldiers with administrative notices that could see their service with the military terminated over last week’s IGADF Afghanistan Inquiry.</p> <p>Chief of Army Lieutenant-General Rick Burr revealed that those who received a notice now have 14 days to respond to the claims.</p> <p>"Each matter and individual circumstance will be considered on a case-by-case basis," Lieutenant-General Burr said.</p> <p>"It is essential that privacy be respected and that procedural fairness is followed, and that no further comment be made until the process is complete."</p> <p>Last week the IGADF Afghanistan Inquiry found there was “credible information” that Australian special forces soldiers killed 39 civilians or prisoners in the Afghanistan War</p> <p>The Chief of Army was grilled during a press conference, with questions he declined to answer as reporters demanded to know whether he has plans to resign.</p> <p>“We have seen generals in Japan hanged for war crimes that they had no knowledge of,’’ the reporter asked. “Can you tell me why you shouldn’t resign?”</p> <p>But the Chief of Army chose not to answer the question.</p> <p>“There is a process to be followed here. We’ve received the inquiry one week ago,’’ he replied.</p> <p>“We need to follow a very deliberate, very methodical and very fair process, ensuring that we respect every individual’s privacy and right of reply. This will take time.”</p>

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Australia’s most celebrated soldier under investigation over “appalling” allegations

<p><span>Australia’s most decorated former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith is under investigation by the Australian Federal Police for a potential war crime against an Afghan farmer.</span></p> <p><span>Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry recipient, has been accused of kicking handcuffed farmer and father Ali Jan off a cliff in the Afghan village of Darwan in September 2012, according to a report by <em>The Age, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-under-police-investigation-for-kicking-handcuffed-afghan-off-small-cliff-20190910-p52pys.html">The Sydney Morning Herald</a> </em>and <em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-australia-s-most-decorated-soldier-investigated-over-death-of-farmer-in-afghanistan/1283c713-63d8-48e0-a287-60ee39548e85">60 Minutes</a></em>. </span></p> <p><span>Sources from the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) said Roberts-Smith was also present when the decision was made for another soldier to shoot dead the injured detainee.</span></p> <p><span>Two weeks before the farmer’s death, Afghan army sergeant Hekmatullah killed three Australian soldiers in a shooting.</span></p> <p><span>The SAS was searching for Hekmatullah in the Oruzgan province when the unit took fifty men, including Ali Jan, into custody for questioning.</span></p> <p><span>Reporter Nick McKenzie said a witness saw Ali Jan being taken from the compound before being placed on his knees near the edge of a cliff and getting kicked “like a scene from the movie <em>300</em>”.</span></p> <p><span>Under international law, detainees must be treated humanely and protected from violence.</span></p> <p><span>The AFP confirmed that it sent police detectives to Afghanistan earlier this year to collect eyewitness testimony on the role of Australia special forces soldiers in the alleged assault and murder.</span></p> <p><span>Ali Jan’s death is also being investigated by the Inspector-General of the Defence Force in a separate inquiry.</span></p> <p><span>Ali Jan’s wife Bibi Dhorko said the farmer was not involved in any violent crimes, and visited Darwan simply to obtain flour for his family.</span></p> <p><span>“He didn’t side with anyone and never had a gun. He was living in the mountain and doing his work, only going occasionally to the village if we needed any supplies,” she said.</span></p> <p><span>“He was not Taliban. There was no gun. He knew nothing about guns. He hated the Taliban.</span></p> <p><span>“I want justice because I have been widowed ... my children are now helpless.”</span></p> <p><span>Roberts-Smith said he was “<a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/vc-hero-robertssmith-denies-execution-claims/news-story/f14bdc94556bd43068a0ffed6b8aa145">appalled</a>” by the claims made against him and his colleagues in the program and launched a defamation proceeding against Nine as the publisher of the report. </span></p> <p><span>“I categorically deny the allegations made against me in tonight’s <em>60 Minutes</em> program,” he said in a statement.</span></p> <p><span>“I am concerned that tonight’s story and the previous publications by the <em>SMH</em>/<em>Age</em> are an attempt to improperly influence the outcome of the [Inspector-General of the Defence Force] inquiry.”</span></p> <p><span>He said he believed the sources quoted on the program had not witnessed the incident in person. “None of the witnesses on tonight’s broadcast provided any direct evidence of any sort to support their allegations,” he said.</span></p>

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Queen’s Guard soldier shoves tourist at Windsor Castle

<p>Footage has emerged online of the moment a tourist was shoved out the way by a soldier from the Queen’s Guard outside Windsor Castle.</p> <p>The video shows the soldier pushing the tourist while she was standing alone on the wrong side of a roped off area outside the castle.</p> <p>The woman, who was wearing a yellow dress and sunglasses, was pushed forward by the soldier.</p> <p class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-XGOzV6wa3Q" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>After being pushed by the guard, the woman moved to the side as he continued to march in front of the shocked onlookers.</p> <p>The Queen’s Guard are responsible for protecting official royal residences.</p> <p>They are easily identified by their distinctive uniforms of red tunics and bearskin hats.</p> <p>The Guardsmen are fully-trained serving soldiers and have protected the palaces since Charles II took the throne after the English restoration in 1660.</p> <p>There are guidelines in place for guardsmen to deal with nuisances, such as stamping their feet and shouting.</p> <p>Reportedly, raising a rifle is considered a “final warning”, after which the person in question is allowed to be detained.</p> <p>After the tourist was shoved by the guard, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence told <em><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>The Sun</strong></span></a>:</em> “The Household Division is proud to guard Her Majesty and honoured that people come from around the world to watch our ceremonial spectacle.”</p> <p>“The ropes are there to protect both the public and our soldiers; please stay behind them.”</p> <p>In 2015, a soldier was forced to turn his rifle on a tourist who grabbed him outside Windsor Castle.</p> <p>To the entertainment of his friends, a man marched alongside the guardsmen and placed his hand on one of the soldier’s shoulders.</p> <p>The soldier quickly turned around and pointed his gun at the tourist, shouting: “Get back from the Queen’s Guard!”</p>

International Travel

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The remarkable true story of how 4 Aussie soldiers escaped a prison train in WWII

<p>Here we were, four Australian soldiers, trudging along the edge of a railway track in the middle of the night, somewhere in the centre of northern Greece. We were all in high spirits for we had just escaped off a German prisoner-of-war train which had left Salonika some two hours earlier bound for Germany. Our escape from the train had been unpremeditated. However, from the time some 56 of us had found ourselves packed jam-tight into a cattle truck, we were sure there would be no way we would be willing to see out the expected eight-day journey to Germany in those conditions.</p> <p>There was absolutely no comfort in our situation, no seats to sit on, or even room where one could lie out flat. We either had to stand up or sit with our knees up under our chins, and as there was insufficient room for everyone to do the latter at the same time, everyone had to take turns at standing up. To make matters worse we were rotten with dysentery, which had plagued most of us from the first couple of weeks after we were taken prisoner on Crete some two months earlier — 31 May 1941, to be exact. We were also emaciated, lousy and unwashed, and altogether not a pretty sight.</p> <p>The cattle truck is a pretty common sight around Europe even today but during the war it was the sole means used by the Nazis for transporting millions of people to places they didn’t want to go. It is a rail box wagon about six metres long, three wide and two high. It has a sliding door on each side about 1.5 metres wide reaching from floor to ceiling. With the door closed the only ventilation inside was through two small openings about 50 centimetres wide and 35 centimetres high, placed high up under the roof at one end of each side wall and open to the elements. In our wagons these were crisscrossed with strands of barbed wire stapled to the outside of the wagon at about 10-centimetre intervals.</p> <p>In true German fashion it was planned to stop the train every hour and unload the prisoners a wagon at a time for us to attend to the calls of nature on the side of the track. But dysentery waits for no man, so, not long out of Salonika, one of the corners of the wagon was cleared for use as a toilet. In spite of this, and hampered by the darkness and the crush of bodies, people at the far end were often unable to make it in time. It is not hard to imagine the results.</p> <p>On the way back to the train after the first stop, and eyeing the window from the outside, someone said, ‘You know it would be pretty easy to escape from this bloody death-trap if we could only get out that window. Once out we could swing around the corner of the wagon onto the buffers and jump off from there.’ We all looked at each other but had our doubts.</p> <p>We got back into the wagon and started to discuss the possibilities. After a while we came to the conclusion that it was worth a try. If we got onto the buffers and waited for the train to slow down going up an incline before we jumped off, we could roll away in the darkness.</p> <p>First up we tried putting our hands through the wire while standing on the back of one of our mates, who was kneeling on the floor, and trying to lever the wire off the outside with our mess knives. However, neither our backs nor our equipment were up to the task and we soon had to abandon it. Then someone got the bright idea of lifting up one of our lightweights horizontally and getting him to kick the wire off with his army boots. We soon gave this a try and when it seemed to be a goer, decided to attack it in earnest after the next train stop which would be soon due. There were no guards on the outside of the train while travelling  (these were to come later). Our guards travelled in a passenger coach at the end of the train, the prevailing blackout conditions preventing them from looking out.</p> <p>Soon after the train was nicely on its way again we attacked the barbed wire with a vengeance. At first it seemed hopeless but slowly, gradually, it started to budge. After about 20 minutes and many changed shifts, one end of each wire had been freed and bent back out of the way. We were ready to go.</p> <p>It was obvious we would have to get through this small window feet first if we were to avoid doing ourselves an injury if we slipped. We soon worked out that the best way to do this was to stand with our back to the window and, while clinging to the shoulders of a couple of mates in front, have two others lift up our legs and feet from behind and feed them through the opening.</p> <p>Little Leo Barnden, who had had first go at kicking at the wire, was first to leave and was soon out of sight. I was about sixth in line, being preceded by Joe Plant, ‘Aussie’ Osborne, Noel Lumby and Reg Clarkson, all members of the same army platoon. Reg had agreed to wait for me on the buffers so we could get off together, in case we got separated from the others. Once outside, it was relatively easy for us to swing around the end of the wagon onto the buffers although it was pretty hairy making the leap as the train slowed down. Nevertheless we both got off safely — triumphant, if somewhat shaken.</p> <p>The arrangements were that once we were off the train we could walk back along the track until we met up with Leo, who would be waiting for us where he got off. We would then all head off east, moving by night and hiding by day, and eventually make our way into Turkey, which was a neutral country at that time. None of us had much of an idea of what was involved in this but, fired with the enthusiasm of escaping, we did not much care.</p> <p>Thus we found ourselves — Clarkson, Osborne, Lumby and Foster — picking our way along the track hoping to meet Barnden and Plant further ahead. It was incredibly dark and the going was difficult. As far as we could make out, it was open country with not a glimmer of light to be seen anywhere. We had been walking for 10 to 15 minutes and I figured we must be getting close to where Leo had got off the train, when ‘Aussie’ kicked something soft and heavy with his boot. He stopped, bent down, peered at it for some seconds in the darkness and finally picked it up.</p> <p>‘Bloody hell! It’s an Aussie army boot!’ he said, somewhat surprised. ‘A small one.’ And with a cry of anguish, ‘Gawd, it’s got a bloody foot in it. Leo must have slipped when he jumped and fallen between the rails and the wheels cut his foot off.’</p> <p>We stood still, straining to hear cries or moaning of any kind — stunned that our little mate could have come to such a tragic end — but all was quiet.</p> <p>Before we had a chance to organise there was a loud pained exclamation from ‘Aussie’. ‘Aw shit!’ he cried, and then started to laugh. ‘The bloody boot’s full of shit!’ and he proceeded to throw it away from him as hard as he could and rub his hands in the dirt as though to erase forever the thought of that horrible thing.</p> <p>It is easy to guess what had happened: someone on the train, caught in the grip of dysentery, had used his boot as a toilet and pushed it out the window. Four frightened soldiers breathed a great sigh of relief, collected their wits, and proceeded on their way. We never did find Leo or Joe that night. After walking another 20 minutes along the track we concluded they must have set off together eastwards on their own.</p> <p>Unfortunately none of us had any idea how far it was to Turkey or what type of country we would have to traverse before we got there. Of course we had no maps or compass. We set off in silence at a cracking pace, thinking that if we could put 15 to 20 miles between us and the railway before dawn, we would place ourselves out of harm’s way. We could then find some place to lie up during the day and continue our journey, moving by night. Food was going to be the problem, for we had only the meagre rations the Jerry had given us for the train journey, but we were confident we should be able to live off the land.</p> <p>This was all very well in theory, but unfortunately didn’t work out in practice. We had been captured nearly two months, were all rotten with dysentery and had been forced to work hard by our captors, on starvation rations, clearing the wrecked German transport planes and troop gliders which had crashed or been shot down on the Maleme aerodrome in Crete.</p> <p>After a couple of hours’ marching we began to tire. We must have been a good 10 miles from the railway. What initially had appeared to be flat country turned out to be quite undulating and crisscrossed with wadies or dried water courses. This had held up our progress so we were glad to call a halt and camp for the rest of the night.</p> <p>We slept fitfully and, cold and stiff, were relieved to see the arrival of dawn. As soon as it became light enough we began to look around and saw a group of houses, a village, a couple of miles away. ‘Let’s get closer,’ said Reg. ‘We might be able to scrounge something to eat before anyone gets about.’ We made our way closer to the village, keeping out of sight as best we could, until we were about 100 yards from the nearest house.</p> <p>We kept watch on the house and after a while a young man came out and hesitantly started to move in our direction. He stopped a short way off. We thought the game must have been up and decided to send someone out to meet him. Lumby agreed to do this, showed himself and went out. None of us could speak Greek, nor could the fellow speak English, so things were a bit difficult for a while. He could see from our uniforms that we were British (if not Australian) soldiers, and it was soon evident that his sympathies were with us. He motioned Lumby to go back and lay low, and he would bring us out some food and water. True to his word he appeared shortly with some farm bread, cheese, tomatoes and an array of vegies from their garden, the like of which we had not seen for months.</p> <p>Towards evening the young fellow came over with an older man, obviously his father, bringing us more food. The father seemed pleased enough to meet us, but showed his concern that we should not stay where we were, so close to the house, as they were afraid of reprisals from the Germans if they found us there. By gestures, they told us that they would take us, after dark, and hide us up in the hills, about a mile away. We would be able to stay there in a safe place until we recovered our strength and they would bring us food each night. As soon as it got dark they led us around the village and into the hills.</p> <p>We ended up at what looked to be just like a typical biblical sheepfold: a sheep yard fenced with a dry-stack rock wall, with a gate at one end and a little roofed shack for the shepherd at the other. It was an ideal hiding place for us, for we were well out of sight and had a good long-distance view if anyone tried to approach.</p> <p>The village people were peasant-type farmers and the kindest people one could ever wish to meet. Word gradually spread of our presence and before long they had organised themselves to take turns to deliver food to us on a nightly basis.</p> <p>One of the first things they wanted us to do was to shed our army uniforms and don civilian clothes and thus make ourselves less conspicuous if Germans happened to come our way. We kept our army pay books and identification discs. After we had been in the hut a few days, one evening at dusk we saw three men approaching up the track. We recognised Viachios but not the other two. Then we realised it was Joe Plant and Leo Barnden – they too were decked out in old civvy gear and had their hair dyed a dull jet black as they were both naturally blond-headed. Joe and Leo had been taken in hand by Greeks in another village. The local grapevine must have told their benefactors of our presence, so they’d brought them to join us.</p> <p>There were now six of us in the little hut: Leo Barnden, Reg Clarkson, Noel Lumby, ‘Aussie’ Osborne, Joe Plant and Norton Foster, all members of the same platoon of ‘B’ Company, 2nd/11th Battalion AIF.</p> <p><em>The group of six stayed in the area for some two months, assisting the villagers in raking up grain stubble and baling it. They were then taken to Salonika and escorted to a remote coastal area where British submarines made occasional visits to rescue escaped prisoners and stragglers from the Greek campaign. All six, who had enlisted at Northam, WA, in November 1939, were thus repatriated eventually to Australia.</em></p> <p><em>The Listening Post, Winter 1996 – Autumn 1997.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Norton Henry Foster</strong> was born in Melbourne on 7 August 1919, enlisted at Northam, WA, on 10 November 1939, was discharged with the rank of private in November 1945 and died 16 February 2004.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Noel Percival Lumby</strong> was born in West Maitland, NSW, on 20 April 1916, was discharged as a corporal in December 1945 and died 7 February 2010.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Reginald Thomas Clarkson</strong> was born in Dongara, WA, on 28 October 1917, was discharged as a private in September 1945 and died 17 January 1970.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Henry John Osborne</strong>, nicknamed ‘Aussie’, was born in Birmingham, England, on 30 September 1911, and was discharged as a corporal in September 1945.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Joseph Vernon Plant</strong> was born 7 May 1916 in Merredin, WA, was discharged as a lance corporal in September 1945 and died 4 September 1998.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Leo Edward Barnden</strong> was born 19 January 1918 in Geraldton, WA, was discharged as a private in August 1945 and died 17 October 2012.</em></p> <p><img width="178" height="273" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7816511/great-australian-world-war-ii-stories-cover_178x273.jpg" alt="Great -Australian -World -War -II-Stories ---cover" style="float: right;"/></p> <p><em><strong>This is an extract from </strong></em><strong>Great Australian World War II Stories</strong><em><strong> edited by John Gatfield and published by ABC Books.</strong></em></p> <p><em>Image credit: Australian War Memorial.</em></p>

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The odd detail on Donald Trump’s personal cheque to dead soldier’s family

<p>The family of a fallen US soldier has received a US$25,000 (AU$32,000) personal cheque from President Donald Trump a week after media reported that the money hadn’t arrived.</p> <p>Chris Baldridge and his wife, Jessie, said that Trump had promised a cheque in a phone call after their son Sergeant Dillon Baldridge, 22, was killed in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan in June.</p> <p>However, it wasn’t until a Washington Post article reported that the promise was still unfulfilled that White House officials announced the cheque was in the mail.</p> <p>And sure enough, the cheque is dated October 18 – the same day the Post article came out.</p> <p>“The cheque has been in the pipeline since the President’s initial call with the father. The President has personally followed up several times to ensure that the cheque was being sent. As stated earlier, the cheque has been sent,” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said last week.</p> <p>“It’s disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognised as a generous and sincere gesture, made privately by the President, and using it to advance the media’s biased agenda.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">EXCLUSIVE: NC <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoldStar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoldStar</a> family receives $25,000 personal check, months after condolence call from <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC11_WTVD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABC11_WTVD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABC</a> <a href="https://t.co/eTUxCCgYMY">pic.twitter.com/eTUxCCgYMY</a></p> — Jonah Kaplan (@KaplanABC11) <a href="https://twitter.com/KaplanABC11/status/922603452487946241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>Trump made the offer to the family after Mr Baldridge told the president that only his ex-wife would receive money from the Pentagon’s US$100,000 (AU$128,000) death gratuity.</p> <p>“He said, ‘I’m going to write you a check out of my personal account for $25,000,’ and I was just floored,” Mr Baldridge told The Washington Post.</p> <p>“I could not believe he was saying that, and I wish I had it recorded because the man did say this. He said, ‘No other president has ever done something like this,’ but he said, ‘I’m going to do it.’”</p> <p>“We just thought he was saying something nice,” Mr Baldridge’s wife Jessie Baldridge told ABC11.</p> <p>“We got a condolence letter from him and there was no cheque, and we kind of joked about it,” she said.</p> <p>According WTVD, the personal cheque also came with a letter from the president that read:</p> <p>“Dear Christopher,</p> <p>I am glad my legal counsel has been able to finally approve this contribution to you. Enclosed is a check for $25,000 — I hope this will make things a bit easier, but nothing will ever replace your son, Dillon. He was an American hero.</p> <p>Sincerely, Donald Trump”</p> <p> </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">In letter to Baldridge family, shared only w/ <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC11_WTVD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABC11_WTVD</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> says "I hope this will make things a bit easier." <a href="https://twitter.com/ABCWorldNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABCWorldNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/MFu2DpGlQK">pic.twitter.com/MFu2DpGlQK</a></p> — Jonah Kaplan (@KaplanABC11) <a href="https://twitter.com/KaplanABC11/status/922604342338838528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>Mrs Baldridge told ABC11 that they were incredibly grateful to receive the money.</p> <p>“I’m still speechless,” Mrs Baldridge said. “We are so moved and grateful, and we promise to use the money to honour Dillon’s legacy.”</p> <p>The Baldridge family said they intend to use the money to start a non-profit organisation in Dillon’s name with the intention of helping as many of their fellow Americans as possible.</p> <p>Two other soldier also died in the same attack but it is unknown if their families would also be receiving money from the president.</p> <p> </p>

Money & Banking

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Donald Trump under fire for insensitive comments to soldier’s widow

<p>US President Donald Trump is under fire for telling a widow of a soldier killed during an ambush that her husband “must’ve known what he signed up for.”</p> <p>Sergeant La David Johnson, 25, was killed in Niger earlier this month during an ambush carried out by Boko Haram and other extremists linked to ISIS.</p> <p>Florida congresswoman Rep. Frederica Wilson was in a car with Myeshia Johnson, the pregnant widow of Johnson, when Trump called her Tuesday and spoke for about five minutes, according to South Florida’s NBC affiliate.</p> <p><img width="444" height="249" src="https://cdn.saleminteractivemedia.com/associated-press/data/photos/2017/291/040f0f25-e497-4fb8-b237-27879d183798.jpg" alt="Image result for donald trump widow" class="irc_mi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>Ms Wilson, a friend of the family who heard the conversation on speakerphone, described the president remarks as “insensitive”.</p> <p>“Sarcastically he said: ‘But you know he must have known what he signed up for,’” Ms Wilson recounted to NBC6. “How could you say that to a grieving widow? I couldn’t believe... and he said it more than once. I said this man has no feelings for anyone.”</p> <p>She added: "This is a young woman who has two young children, who is six months' pregnant with her third child [and] she has just lost her husband.</p> <p>"She was just told that he cannot have an open-casket funeral which gives her all kinds of nightmares of how his body must look, how his face must look. And this is what the United States President says to her?</p> <p>"That is not something you say to a grieving wife.”</p> <p>Ms Wilson said Ms Johnson did not respond to the President because she was crying.</p> <p><img width="247" height="393" src="https://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/pri_56907553.jpg?w=748&amp;h=1192&amp;crop=1" alt="Image result for donald trump widow" class="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>On Wednesday morning, Trump responded to the claims on Twitter, saying that Wilson “totally fabricated” the story. However, he is yet to provide evidence.</p> <p> </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!</p> — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/920611770775064576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>Wilson hit back saying several other people who were in the car also heard Trump's remark.</p> <p>"I have proof too," she said. "This man is a sick man."</p>

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