A hollow square
of pride, Para smocks and red berets;
(Is sympathy in place?)
Stacked drums
draped in the colours
and regimental honour.
Piper plays the lament
(Dare a man cry?)
Weekend warriors
Aren’t supposed to die
They only drowned
Does that “dead” count?
Am I a real soldier now?
I stand proud
in front of my platoon
All wings
and one pip
emotions stream down my face,
embarrassed to use my handkerchief
“Dismiss”
I march to the orderly office
to wipe my nose
and issue three thousand Durex for the weekend off in Hamburg
(I didn’t know you could get boxes of five hundreds.)
September 1988
I did about nine years in 15 Para. In September 1974, just after I had been commissioned, I took part in a large NATO exercise in North Germany. Six drowned in the Kiel Canal during the parachuting phase.
I am sorry I missed the anniversary service – I only found out about after it had taken place
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/survivors-one-scotlands-worst-army-19881406
Poems from Simon Maclaren 