Griffin branded 'despicable' for attacks on Army top brass

Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry VC, with General Sir Mike Jackson

Former generals warn that far-right party is attempting to 'hijack' the armed forces

Racist insults made by the BNP against Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, the black Victoria Cross holder, was a driving factor behind General Sir Mike Jackson, the former head of the Army, making a stand against the far-right party.

Gen Jackson is among a group of distinguished former military leaders who have warned against the extremists attempting to “hijack” the reputation of the armed forces “for their dubious ends”. The General told The Independent: “I heard complaints that the BNP were being extremely offensive about Johnson Beharry, I looked into it, and found out that was indeed the case. I thought it was pretty appalling that a brave man like that should be insulted in this way.

“The BNP claim that they have a better relationship with the armed forces than other parties. But their behaviour shows that they don’t understand the armed forces at all. The fine men and women who serve so courageously are not like the BNP. They are decent people who appreciate and honour the sacrifices made by their comrades.”

Yesterday another senior former officer, Major General Julian Thompson, the highly decorated former commander of the Royal Marines, also speaking to The Independent, said: “The BNP trying to exploit the good name of our forces is pretty monstrous and the fight against this must continue. The fact that they had been maligning Johnson Beharry is dreadful.”

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the recently departed head of the Army, Lord Guthrie of Craigebank, a former Chief of Defence Staff, and Major General Patrick Cordingley, commander of the Desert Rats in the Gulf War, were among the others who signed the letter as part of Stolen Honour, a campaign by the military against the BNP’s attempt to exploit them.

Their view that the far-right groups was “fundamentally at odds” with values of the British military was supported by veterans like Simon Weston, who was severely injured while serving in the Falklands, and the writer and former SAS member Andy McNab, who condemned the BNP’s use of images of the armed forces in election materials.

Mr Weston said: “I find it appalling to think that they can take the dignity and the honour and the respect with which those people treated their service and their uniform, and align it to the horrors and desires of these people.” Mr McNab added: “What it’s doing is abusing and taking advantage of what our troops are doing in both Iraq and continuously in Afghanistan.”

Lance Corporal Beharry, whose family comes from Grenada in the Caribbean, received his VC in 2005 after twice saving lives of comrades under intense enemy fire in Iraq. On the first occasion his Warrior armoured vehicle was hit by rocket propelled grenades during an ambush. He pulled other soliders clear of the burning wreckage despite a bullet going through his helmet. He went back to duty and a week later drove an armoured vehicle through fire, while seriously injured, saving the lives of others.

In its website the BNP declared that Lance Corporal Beharry was an “immigrant” who had benefited from “ positive discrimination by a PC mad government”. What he had done was nothing more than “routine” said the message , continuing "All he did was drive away very fast from a combat zone. . . to safety, as have hundreds and hundreds of other British soldiers."

Veterans groups have complained that the BNP have been selling full-size replica VCs, and other medals for valour. Under military rules, only armed forces heroes who have won the decorations in combat - or their widows and widowers - are allowed to wear them. However, the Ministry of Defence said selling the replicas was not illegal.

BNP leader Nick Griffin insisted yesterday that his party has support among the military. He added. "The generals might not because some of these generals are now in the pockets of the Conservative Party, who used to be able to take Armed Forces votes for granted but now cannot.”

Independent

Tell us BNP, who are these "critics"?

A typically ignorant piece of race-baiting published on the BNP's website in August 2008 is in the news today. The News of the World has dusted off the piece, about the sale of replica Victoria Cross medals and comments about recent recipient of the honour, Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry VC, and reported it in an article as part of a campaign to remind voters what the BNP is really like. In all honesty it is a clumsy article by the News of the World beause Jamie Lyons opens his article by saying:

BRITISH National Party cowards have launched an outrageous attack on a decorated Iraq war hero - claiming he only got the Victoria Cross because he is BLACK.

The fact is they did not say that explicitly. It is blindingly obvious that the BNP's subtext was this is what they believe, but they deliberately avoided using those actual words. By doing so they would hold a plausible deniability card - which they have played today as expected thanks to Lyons' sloppy generalisation.

However, in its attempt to devalue the bravery of L Cpl Beharry VC, the BNP repeatedly cites "critics" who have supposedly said Beharry of "that all he did was drive away very fast from a combat zone"; pointed out that "the VC was normally only awarded for gallant acts of bravery such as the Defence of Rorke’s Drift, head on enemy attacks such as in the trenches of World War I and so on - and that driving a vehicle through an ambush hardly compares to any of these deeds" ** see footnote below and suggested "that the only reason that Beharry was singled out for a VC was because of a made-up “positive discrimination” directive by the PC-mad government" - in other words only won the VC because he is black. So given all this, the questions the BNP should answer are:

• who are these "critics" cited in the BNP piece?
• where are the links to these assertions so we can verify them?
• what evidence is there that Beharry only won the VC due to positive discrimination?

Apart from the usual BNP sockpuppets who will leave comments trying to i) deflect attention from this by attempting to change the discussion to something entirely unrelated such as immigration and what 'British' means in their view and ii) do anything but answer the questions in the hope people forget the point being made, rest assured we will hear nothing.

I have no doubt that these "critics" are either BNP supporters furthering their racism in the usual anonymous fashion of the coward, or more likely, that these "critics" do not exist and were created specifically to enable the BNP to slur L Cpl Beharry VC (while retaining their deniability card) for no other reason than the fact he is not white British and was quoted in an article criticising the BNP trying to make money by selling cheap replica medals.

If I was serving in uniform and given a choice between having a BNP keyboard warrior alongside me in my section, or a courageous, determined and reliable squaddie like Johnson Beharry, I would want Beharry every time. The man chose to serve the Crown, he put his life on the line, he saved the lives of his brothers-in-arms and he is, without any doubt, a true hero.

** For the record: The BNP is keen to repeat on its website that all Johnson Beharry was recognised for was "driving a vehicle through an ambush". The ignorant morons are clearly incapable of reading, or just simply determined to hide the truth as part of a determined attempt to undermine him for not being white British. Beharry's citation makes clear:

Despite this harrowing weight of incoming fire Beharry continued to push through the extended ambush, still leading his platoon until he broke clear. He then visually identified another Warrior from his company and followed it through the streets of Al Amarah to the outside of the Cimic House outpost, which was receiving small arms fire from the surrounding area. Once he had brought his vehicle to a halt outside, without thought for his own personal safety, he climbed onto the turret of the still-burning vehicle and, seemingly oblivious to the incoming enemy small arms fire, manhandled his wounded platoon commander out of the turret, off the vehicle and to the safety of a nearby Warrior. He then returned once again to his vehicle and again mounted the exposed turret to lift out the vehicle's gunner and move him to a position of safety. Exposing himself yet again to enemy fire he returned to the rear of the burning vehicle to lead the disorientated and shocked dismounts and casualties to safety. Remounting his burning vehicle for a third time, he drove it through a complex chicane and into the security of the defended perimeter of the outpost, thus denying it to the enemy. Only at this stage did Beharry pull the fire extinguisher handles, immobilising the engine of the vehicle, dismounted and then moved himself into the relative safety of the back of another Warrior. Once inside Beharry collapsed from the sheer physical and mental exhaustion of his efforts and was subsequently himself evacuated.

Tony Sharp

BNP flog fake Victoria Cross

Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, 28, who won the VC four years ago

The British National Party is selling replica Victoria Crosses to fund extremism, The Sun can reveal.

In a breach of strict protocol, the far-right outfit is hawking life-size replicas of the nation’s highest award for bravery along with its famous scarlet ribbon for £12. Also for sale on the party’s official website are replicas of three World War II campaign medals and a World War I medal.

The Ministry of Defence last night said the sales were not illegal but branded the fake medals “an insult to both the Queen and our brave personnel”. MPs also rounded on the BNP for exploiting the heroism and sacrifice of servicemen to fill its coffers.

Under strict military rules, only armed forces heroes who have won the cherished gongs in combat – or their widows – are allowed to wear them. Hero Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, 28, who won the VC four years ago for saving 30 pals in Iraq, condemned the BNP.

He said: “Selling fake VCs is very disrespectful. The honour of the medal and its history shouldn’t be tarnished like this. I take so much pride in my medal and I hate seeing it abused. The medal is not about money or politics and it shouldn’t be worn for fun – that devalues the sacrifice of the soldiers who won it.”

Tory MP and ex-Army officer Patrick Mercer called on Defence Secretary Des Browne to make the BNP sales illegal.

He said: “This is utterly shameful. Medals for gallantry and campaigns are absolutely nothing to do with any political party. The Defence Secretary should look at this to see whether legislation should be introduced to forbid it.”

But BNP deputy chairman Simon Darby said: “We don’t get donations from dodgy foreign businessmen or the trade unions – so we raise money in other ways.”

Sun