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Yarkshire Gamers Reet Big Wargames PodcastEpisode 71 - Company of Makers - Veterans and WargamingHello everyone and welcome once again to the Yarkshire Gamer Reet Big Wargames Podcast.
Today for the 71st episode I have three guests, Steve Bomford who runs the Company of Makers (CoM) Organisation which helps Veterans adapt to civilian life post service. Nick Denning who is a former British Army Infantry Officer who is developing a near future Wargame with the assistance of CoM and Conrad Steele - Benny, a 30 plus year RAF Veteran who is heavily involved in the organisation of CoM events.
Between us we discuss their individual careers and involvement in Wargaming...2025-04-172h 15
Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesToby Harnden, Author of First Casualty“…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...2022-03-101h 10Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesIan Cumming MBE, RAF Veteran & CEO Erskine“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 real...2022-02-241h 04Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesPeter Kelly, Royal Marine & CEO at imployable“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.…...2022-02-101h 07Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesLieutenant Commander Oli Brown“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...2022-01-2751 minLand, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesPam Healy, CEO British Liver Trust“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 o...2022-01-131h 03Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesHappy New Year!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...2021-12-3123 minLand, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesCraig Jones MBE, Joint CEO at Fighting With PrideIn 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 wi...2021-10-211h 01Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesAlistair Halliday, CEO RFEA - The Forces Employment 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 Sailo...2021-10-071h 04Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesTip Cullen, Royal Marine and Actor“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...2021-07-151h 02Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesChief Petty Officer Janine Potts, Deputy Race and Ethnicity Inclusion Advocate Royal Navy“The Navy? What is that?!” Few Royal Navy sailors started their careers with that question, but then most Royal Navy sailors didn’t grow up in land-locked Zimbabwe.Janine arrived in England aged 19, having been invited by her aunt when Janine felt she needed to leave Zimbabwe due to the political unrest of the 1990s, “So I left, came to London and it was exciting. I’d never left Africa before. It was a cultural shock and London was just buzzing.” Next, Janine needed to figure out, “How do I stay?”Janine’s experiences of growing-up in a mi...2021-05-2032 minLand, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesMandy Hickson, RAF Tornado Pilot and Motivational SpeakerTornado Pilot, Mandy, Served for 17 years in the Royal Air Force. Yes, you know we can’t resist, “Highway to the danger zone…..” OK, Top Gun reference out of the way and onto business.Literally, actually. Having left the RAF 10 years ago, Mandy runs her own business as a Motivational Speaker, taking lessons learned from aviation into businesses and schools.Mandy‘s grandfather, a pilot in World War II, was her inspiration to fly fast jets; but she failed the RAF aptitude tests to become a pilot. However, she persevered and learned to overcome obstacles, “I aspire to...2021-04-2249 minLand, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesLeading Writer Rebecca 'Bex' Fyans MBE, Advocate for Down Syndrome & Naval Servicewoman of the Year.“It’s not something to be scared of… they are a little bit different, but with the right care and nourishment they can thrive and they can be awesome.”When Bex’s son was born with Down’s Syndrome, being his advocate became her sense of purpose.Since then, Bex has helped to support other families who have children with Down’s and has been working to raise awareness; volunteering with the Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association, Chronic Conditions and Disability in Defence Network (CanDiD) and the Royal Navy Disability Network/Team - working to shine “a spotlight on d...2021-03-2544 minLand, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed ForcesAdrian Bell, CEO of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines CharityIn the first episode of 'Lockdown', we spend time with Adrian Bell, the CEO of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, as well as a Royal Navy Veteran. He shares his thoughts on the current situation from his personal perspective, reflecting on its parallels with life at sea and how his life has been changed in both his professional and personal life. Along with co-hosts Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks, we discuss the lessons of the past, the challenges of today and our hopes for tomorrow.If you have served in the Royal Navy o...2020-05-1830 min