How did you deal with wading through all the accounts of British casualties? Some of them are pretty grim to say the least and even after all this time they can bring out strong emotions.

Ken Wharton has collated and written A Long Long War, a unique and emotion popping collection of accounts of life serving in Northern Ireland by the people who were there. There are a good many former soldiers on HMVF who may have seen the book already or may even be interested in contributing their own recollections. The book is not always the easiest of reads, by dint of the content, and putting it together is a feat in itself. Ken is preparing further instalments, and takes time to explain a little bit about his motivations as well as answering some of the more traditional questions we ask our victims.

Who are you and what do you do? Ken Wharton; father of 7, skydiver, former football referee and writer.

What was your chief motivation for putting A Long Long War Together? I had felt that the troubles – from the soldiers’ perspective, that is – was a forgotten and oft ignored event. But I felt that the deaths of 1300 military personnel was an event which should be propelled back into the public’s eyes and senses

How did you deal with wading through all the accounts of British casualties? Some of them are pretty grim to say the least and even after all this time they can bring out strong emotions. My own experiences as a soldier lead me to often cry at the death of a fellow soldier, and reading the personal tragedies as they came in was pretty traumatic. My objective is to name every single soldier, sailor or airman who died in, or as result of, Northern Ireland.

How difficult did you find the writing process as a whole? Not too difficult really; more a matter of discipline and it was, of course, a labour of love

How well is the army represented in coverage of the Northern Ireland conflict? Are there any other books you can recommend? Very poorly in fact. Read ‘Faith and Duty’ (but remember that some of it is fiction) ‘Pig in the Middle’ and ‘Brits’

It must have been very hard to remain politically neutral when writing the book, given the situation soldiers often found themselves in. Do you hope you can maintain the balance while continuing with further instalments? I’m not sure that I did maintain a balance. The book is unashamedly pro-squaddie; I couldn’t write anything else. Throughout future instalments, I will maintain the bias.

What do you think of the Help For Heroes campaign and do you think it is timely or way over due? I absolutely endorse it (and, as we say in Yorkshire ‘absolute’ is a bloody hard word to argue with !) It is way over due; maybe 50 years overdue.

Give yourself a shameless plug and tell us about your next publication. The second book is again an oral history of the troubles but this is themed and not at all chronological as the first one was. It is broken down as follows: Part one: Belfast, with separate chapters on the ‘Murph, Turf Lodge, Andy’s Town, Falls etc. Part two:

Londonderry, with separate chapters on Creggan, Bogside, Waterside and Co Londonderry etc. Part three: Rural Ulster; with chapters on XMG, Newry, Belleek, Forkhill etc. Part four: Mainland and European attacks. Part five: Loved ones.

What is the best way for potential contributors to get in touch with you? Either by writing via the Publishers or e-mailing me on either This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Do you have a particularly funny story from your service career you are able to share? An incident which still, to this very day, gives me nightmares and has, consequently, made me the organised, well-prepared person I am today.

One morning, bright and early, we were marched out, as usual, on to the parade ground and instead of going straight into training drills, we were to be inspected by the CSM (no 2 to Hitler, who was, of course, the omnipotent, RSM, whom it was rumoured, forced God to pay him protection money). He began by asking "Who hasn't had breakfast this morning?" Of course, after the first few men had been charged for missing breakfast - in the Army it is a chargeable offence to do so - no-one who had indeed done so, was foolish enough to admit it.

I should really preface this section, by stating that I was aware that I had a couple of loose belt loops on my trousers and a loose pocket; all of which could have been mended in 10 minutes by employing my "housewife" and sewing the bloody things up. However, Wharton is complacent and when Wharton becomes complacent, he makes errors and loses things.

On this day, he was to lose his dignity and some leisure time !

The CSM walked along my line and walked past me and I must have visibly relaxed, relieved that he wasn't going to pick on me, because, he either saw, or sensed, that my shoulders had dropped. He stopped immediately, did a 180 degree turn and stood, unsmiling in front of me, the peak of his gleaming no 2 hat pulled down so far over his eyes, that he was forced to hold his head up just in order to see. Despite this, he managed to look down and - God knows how - spotted my loose pocket. A red rag to a bull, I thought, impotently, as he ripped off the pocket, leaving the material hanging by a few threads. Next, he removed my webbing belt and took the three brasses off - today's modern British Army have glossy stay-bright things, the lucky sods - and noticed minute green Blanco stains on the inside of the brasses and then threw both belt and brasses somewhere behind me.

I was tempted to look, but experience cautioned me and I gazed fixedly ahead. Of course, the removal of the belt had revealed the loose belt loops and he inserted his pace stick into the intact loops and forced them to rip. "Evened them all up now, haven't I, soldier?" I mumbled a reply and then he told me to take off one of my blancoed gaiters and he found Blanco on the brass buckle and that, too, went flying somewhere behind me. He then turned his attention to my beret and noticed a microscopic piece of fluff on there and it went the same way as most of my uniform and equipment.

He informed me that I was the worst soldier he had ever seen, that the British Army would be better off without my presence, that I was the mankiest human being he had ever met. He told me that I should report to the Company Major for O.C.'s punishment and then whispered "You playing for the battalion on Saturday ?" (I was the goalkeeper) and I mumbled that I was and he just smiled and said "Good lad" and off he went to torment some other poor sod !

I was fined a day's pay (£1-00) and sentenced to back-to-back guard duty when I appeared for O.C.'s orders, but learned my lesson.

A lot of what I did in the Army is documented elsewhere, but this simply deals with my first few weeks; I trust that you enjoyed reading it.

On HMVF we have an old chestnut question we ask everyone: What is your favourite tank? Sorry, don’t have one. God gave Infantrymen two feet; why would they want to sit in a tin can?

How much help have you had with your writing projects? Have you had any good advice on how best to proceed or have you had to learn as you go? Definitely the latter; On the job training so to speak.

A dodgy one from the kit locker: What would you say were the best and worst pieces of issued kit you had during your time in the army? Worst: Gaiters. Best: NIBA (Northern Ireland Body Armour)

Do you have a particular favourite military history author? The late Charles Whiting, who was my source of inspiration.

What do you think of the TV and film drama representations of British troops in the Northern Ireland conflict? Mostly awful. They tend to be Yank ones and as every American knows: the IRA are freedom fighters who love their country and want to eject the Fascist oppressors and the British Army were the SS in disguise. I hate watching American movies about NI.

The photography in A Long Long War is fantastic. How easy has it been to collate suitable material for your books? The people sending them in to me made it an easy job.

Thanks for being such a great sport. Our leader Jack Beckett is never slow to buy our interviewees a drink. What’s your poison? I love a lot of Aussie beers; Carlton Gold, Castlemaine Gold and Tooheys New. Love 12 year Scotch single malt (Laphroaigh is a favourite) and also Canadian Club whisky