2020
The Blesma News for 2020 covering news, activities and fundraising events for limbless veterans.
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Remembering VJ Day: Jack Booth
15 August 2020
John Booth survived having both legs amputated with a saw without anaesthetic as his pals held him down when he was a Prisoner Of War. John, known to many as Jack, was born on 14 March 1918 in Chadderton, Lancashire, and was a driver for the Co-op before he joined the Royal Artillery at the age of 21. He trained in North Wales and Woolwich but his then girlfriend Irene, insisted they marry before he was posted overseas. John managed to get a 48 hour pass for the ceremony at St. Gabriel Church in Middleton, Manchester in 1941. They had just one night together befo
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Remembering VJ Day: Arthur Bomber
14 August 2020
World War Two Veteran Arthur Dennis Bomber, fondly known as Bomber, passed away at the age of 100. Arthur was born on 8th July 1919. His parents separated when he was three years old and both he and his brother Jim spent a period of time in a children’s home before being raised by their maternal grandmother. On 15th January 1942, 22-year-old Arthur was called up for service and joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment. He married his sweetheart Florence, his Floss, in 1942 on a 48-hour pass. After training he was sent to India. He saw action on The Arakan Front
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Jamie Hull talks to LadBible
13 August 2020
Blesma Member Jamie Hull has recently spoken to The Lad Bible about how he was able to survive the plane crash that left him with third degree burns over 60% of his body and nearly cost him his life. The doctors gave him a five per cent chance of survival and, as he admits, it took an “epic journey and an inordinate amount of grit, determination, and willpower” to pull through. “In 2007 I was part of 21 SAS and an active young officer in the Thames Valley Police. I wanted to learn to fly, so I signed up for a course in Florida. One day during training, when I
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On the set of Scars
12 August 2020
Simon Brown was shot in the face by a sniper in 2006 while on a mission to rescue six people in Iraq. The REME soldier was blinded in one eye and left with just 20 per cent vision in the other. Simon, now 41, from Leeds, was also severely scarred in the incident. Earlier this year, he took part in the film Scars: How Our Wounds Make Us Who We Are. He and one of the film’s co-directors, Laura Dodsworth, discuss the documentary and what it says about the physical and psychological impact of scars. Watch the film in full
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