Chris

The Phantom Bugle Player

5 March. "Are snails bisexual?" someone asks, voice rising above the slurping of soup and random chit-chat of the mess.
"Don't you mean hermaphrodites?" comes the reply. This raises a wry smile from one or two of the Warrior's crew but nothing more; we are no strangers to the surreal here. It's those moments of unplanned beauty in the midst of the high drama of the action that keep it together for me. I am never going to find actions easy. I can never put my finger on exactly what it is, and I don't expect to be able to now, but there is something about taking part in an action, any action, that leaves me completely drained, emotionally as well as physically.

So thank you. Thank you to whoever it was that took it upon
themselves to play the Charge of the Light Brigade on their bugle, out there somewhere on a dark French dockside covered in police, as I surveyed the scene from the crane I'd just climbed up. I have asked around, and no-one seems to know who you are. Until we meet again, and we will meet again, thank you.

Chris

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