If you’re reading this, I’d like to thank you. Thanks for taking the time to look around the site and thanks for your interest.

I’d be interested in knowing what you think of the site and I’d welcome any suggestions you have for improving it. I’d also be interested in hearing from you if you’ve read the military disasters book and finding out what you thought of it.

For brief period the site included a live-chat feature which was supposed to allow a real-time dialogue between visitors. But it was abused by people trying to advertise what I took to be porn sites. I didn’t follow any of the links to find out where they led because I’m suspicious of porn sites. I keep thinking religious extremists will set up a porn site that destroys the computers of anyone who visits it.

A couple of months back I suggested turning this blog into a discussion forum. I’d hoped we could start a “what if” feature. The first “what if” was “what if the Jacobites hadn’t turned back at Derby in 1745”. That one attracted a single reply, which I posted in the hope of stimulating further discussion. It didn’t happen. Maybe visitors felt they were being asked to sing for their supper. I just thought it might be worth trying to provide a discussion forum for people who share an interest in history.

So, if anyone is interested in getting a forum going, please use the “Contact” section of this site to send in a “what if” and perhaps even set the ball rolling with their own view on the topic suggested. I’ll post the material and with luck that will avoid the abuse that led to the ‘live-chat” section having to be closed down.

I’ve never been sure about blogs anyway. I’d be really surprised if anyone was interested in the minutia of my daily slog to make enough money to pay the rent and put food on the table. I find myself toning down the content of my blog entries because I have to make a living and I can’t afford to piss more people off than I already have done. I’m fairly sure the US military blacklisted me because of the fuss I made about their aircrews killing British and Canadian troops in circumstances very far from being shrouded in the fog of war. The battlefield is a dangerous place and accidents will happen – but there are accidents and there are trigger-happy jet-jockeys who don’t care who they kill, as long as they get to kill someone. Mindful of an incident from the First Gulf War, I joked with some Canadian soldiers in Kanadahar about taking cover if they heard a jet overhead, as it could only belong to the US air force. A week later a US jet did fly over and four Canadian soldiers were blown to pieces by the bomb the pilot dropped. I might write more about that – and the pilot’s mother – in my next blog posting.

Once again, your feedback and suggestions would be really really welcome.