A WAR hero who lost an arm and a leg in Afghanistan says Britons would have to be dragged kicking and screaming if they were called up to fight Russia.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, the Chief of the General Staff, said today that fighting Putin’s butchers in a potential World War III would be a “nationwide undertaking”.
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Ben McBean said there was currently no incentive for Britons to join the army Credit: Stuart Clarke – The Sunday Times
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General Sir Patrick Sanders said a potential WW3 would be ‘a nation-wide undertaking’Credit: Rex Features
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Britons could face scenes similar to those seen in Ukraine’s war against Russia if called upon to fightCredit: Getty
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But former Royal Marine Ben McBean, 36, says poor pay, conditions and poor care for veterans are giving Britons no incentive to sign up.
Ben – seriously wounded in a Taliban blast in 2008 – told The Sun: “It’s not the same as before, people are not as patriotic.
“That mentality has disappeared and it will be difficult to bring it back. You’d have to get people in by kicking and screaming to get them to enlist.
“Advertisements do not help, the employment system is not good, the employment office where I live is closed.
“The way the country is run, and then people are thin and poorly paid, there’s not much incentive to want to fight for this country, even if it’s your own country.”
Sir Patrick – who is due to step down from his role in June – made the comments on Wednesday at the International Armored Vehicle Conference in west London.
He also called for a “shift” in the mindset of ordinary Britons to mentally prepare themselves for the possibility of war with Russia.
He added: “Our friends in Eastern and Northern Europe, who feel more acutely the proximity of the Russian threat, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilization.
“Ukraine brutally illustrates how regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.”
Sir Patrick did not specify what the mobilization in Britain would look like, but he called for more military funding.
And he said that the army must grow from 75,000 to 120,000 in three years, but admitted that even that “isn’t enough.”
However, father-of-two Ben said none of this would happen unless the army changed on all fronts.
He said changing the “posh” old general image and putting related men and women front and center in such calls to arms would appeal to soldiers of tomorrow.
Ben, from Plymouth, added: “Get veterans into schools, get them in young, by the time they’re 18 it’s probably too late.”
Speaking from experience, he said many are also disheartened to see vets being “rip-off” as they try to claim compensation if they are injured or fired.
He explained: “There are veterans on the streets.
“And it’s hard to justify fighting for a country that won’t look out for you if you get hurt.”
During the last year, 16,260 members left the Armed Forces.
In 2012, Capita received a 10-year contract from the Ministry of Defense for recruitment work, which was extended in 2020.
Over the past year, the company – tasked with signing up 9,813 people – received only 5,000 signatures.
Rishi Sunak today ruled out conscription and insisted that military service will remain voluntary.
A spokesman for the prime minister added: “There is no suggestion of that. The government has no intention of doing that.
“The British Army has a proud tradition of an all-volunteer force. There are no plans to change that.”
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has increasingly become a war of attrition with soldiers having to dig in on the eastern front.
Networks of trenches were dug in several areas such as Kherson and Zaporizhia, while particularly savage fighting took place in Vuhledar and Bakhmut.
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Soldiers of the Royal Welsh Battle Group are participating in NATO exercises in Estonia 2022
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Soldiers of the King’s Royal Hussars Armored Regiment take part in NATO winter training 80 miles from the Russian border in February 2022.
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Father-of-two Ben said the army must make big changes if it is to achieve mass mobilizationCredit: Marc Giddings – The Sun
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Rishi Sunak today rejected conscription and insisted that military service will remain voluntaryCredit: Alamy
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A Ukrainian infantryman walks towards his trench near Bakhmut on January 19 Credit: Getty
When was the last time the UK had conscription?
- On the day Britain declared war on Germany, September 3, 1939, Parliament immediately passed a new recruitment rule.
- The National Service (Armed Forces) Act imposed conscription on all men between the ages of 18 and 41 who had to register for service.
- The medically unfit were exempted, as were others in key industries and occupations such as baking, agriculture, medicine and engineering.
- Conscription greatly helped increase the number of men on active duty during the first year of World War II.
- After the end of the Second World War, a new Law on National Service was passed, according to which all young men between the ages of 17 and 21 had to serve in the armed forces for 18 months.
- They would also have to remain on the reserve list for several years.
- National service then lasted until the last soldiers were demobilized in 1963.
- Conscientious objectors could refuse, but would face a court where they would be expected to justify their opposition to accession.
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Source: HIS Education