BFBS Radio Sitrep

More than a hundred years after the First World War, more than half a million soldiers are still missing, a third of whom are thought to be buried as ‘unknown’. Two years after the end of the Great War, The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was established at Westminster Abbey and has served as a focal point for the public’s grief ever since.Former Tornado Navigator and bestselling author John Nichol talks to Kate Gerbeau about the history of the tomb and the painstaking efforts of finding, identifying and reburying the fallen, which he explores in his new book.They’re joined by a veteran who served in the Army for 30 years, Colonel Lindsay MacDuff, who was involved in more than 200 repatriations from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lebanon is on edge after thousands of Hezbollah electronic devices exploded across two days. Many people have died and thousands are injured. Former Army Intelligence Officer Philip Ingram explains how the plan was coordinated and what militaries  learn from these attacks.Russia has lost at least 15 warships since its full scale invasion of Ukraine but it hasn’t stopped it carrying out significant maritime exercises and launching a new department to strengthen its power at sea.Royal Navy veteran, John Foreman CBE, who was UK Defence attache to Moscow until 2022, says it shows Putin wants Russia to be a great maritime power. John also elaborates on the country’s naval ambitions.And - it was one of the most iconic campaigns of the Second World War -  Sitrep’s reporter Tim Cooper is in Arnhem to mark the 80th anniversary of Operation Market garden. 

More than 40,000 Ukrainians have had military training in the UK since Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country, but that’s made it harder for the Army to access its own training areas with bids now eight times more likely to be rejected.Former Royal Navy Commodore Steve Prest explains why the UK thinks it’s a price worth paying, for now.The UK led Joint Expeditionary Force is now a decade old. Professor Michael Clarke explains how this “alliance within an alliance” didn’t seem to matter much when it was created, but has become very important to NATO.And SAS historian Ben Macintyre reveals new details of the 1980 Iranian embassy siege, including how the special forces knew about the terrorist attack before ministers.

It remains an iconic piece of news footage and now historian Ben MacIntyre, the man behind SAS Rogue Heroes, has been given permission to talk to the men who took part in the operation to end the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980.Some of them have never spoken openly about the mission until now and these personal accounts detail the build-up, planning and execution of Operation Nimrod.Ben MacIntyre talks to Kate Gerbeau about the myths, the legends and ultimately the truth about the most famous and most public SAS endeavour.

The Defence Secretary has said “we will do our part” as the government prepares us for a “difficult” budget, fuelling speculation that some big defence projects, like new planes or ships, could be axed.Sitrep’s Professor Michael Clarke explains why the Chancellor won’t be making any such announcements, but that that everything is up for consideration, and how difficult choices will have to be made early next year.Also on Sitrep why the Armed Forces are pushing big into e-sports.  We talk to the Army team manager from international Call of Duty tournament Code Bowl.And the recently retired Surgeon General, Major General Tim Hodgetts, talks to us about soldiering, saving lives and how writing war poems helped him with both. 

Major General Tim Hodgetts served 41 years as an Army doctor, rising to become Surgeon General.He’s lived through gunfire and explosions while trying to save lives, from Germany via Northern Ireland, to Afghanistan. Throughout much of that time he also wrote poems as a way to help him process those experiences, but now he’s published some of them in an anthology, “Frontlines and Lifelines”Major General Hodgetts talks to Kate Gerbeau about his poems, the events that inspired them, and his contributions to revolutionising military medicine.

Rishi Sunak wanted one of the UK’s top generals to be the next National Security Adviser, but Keir Starmer has decided to readvertise the job.So far it’s always been a civilian, but would a top-ranking officer make more sense? The UK’s first ever National Security Adviser, Lord Peter Ricketts, tells us what the role involves and shares his thoughts along with ex Royal Navy officer Professor Peter Roberts.Jamie Gordon from BFBS podcast Mavgeeks reflects on the legacy, and hair-raising flying, of one of the founders of the RAF Red Arrows, Squadron Leader Henry Prince.And despite a career where he’s been captured and tortured, decorated for his SAS service, and sold more than 15 million copies of Bravo Two Zero, Andy McNab tells us why reading a “Janet and John” book was the moment that made him.

The UK’s first sovereign military satellite, Tyche, is now in orbit.  It’s the first piece of a planned constellation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance orbiters, at a cost approaching one billion pounds.Former Royal Navy officer Darren Jones, from Tyche’s manufacturer, explains what capability it can offer the Armed Forces, while Professor Michael Clarke and Juliana Suess from RUSI discuss the value of spending in space from a hard-pressed defence budget.Three years since Afghanistan fell, once again, to the Taliban, Sitrep hears one Afghan commando’s story of trying to fight back and eventually escaping.And former submarine captain Ryan Ramsay shares the moment that made him, while serving on exchange with the US Navy.

Is this Chess, or Russian Roulette? Professor Michael Clarke explains why Ukraine has chosen a path with big risks, but also potentially big rewards by taking the fight to Russia on its own turf in Kursk.Sitrep’s Simon Newton analyses the forces and movements of each side as we assess how this could develop and affect the war.75 years since the Geneva Conventions created a rulebook for the conduct of war their effectiveness is facing big questions.  Military ethics lecturer David Rodin sets out the case for new rules that would give different rights to troops depending on whether they are defending their country or attacking another.And decorated high-threat bomb disposal operator Kim Hughes tells us how an unwelcome assignment as a driver in Northern Ireland became the moment that made him.

Sitrep’s looking into the role of the Russian mercenary group, Wagner, after reports of fierce fighting in the West African country of Mali and asking why this conflict has caused a diplomatic row between Mali and Ukraine? And where is the balance between the needs of the military and the needs of the media? Sitrep will discuss that with the former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Sir Richard Shirreff, and Mark Urban, former Defence Editor at BBC Newsnight. And Sitrep has the latest in its series, The Moment that Made Me - this week there’s a powerful account from Major General Chip Chapman about what he learnt during the Battle for Goose Green in the Falklands.