Dorset veterans speak out against BNP leader
Dorset war veteran William Davis-Sellick, aged 75, was among a number of Devonshire and Dorset Regiment veterans who joined the grieving families of the soldiers to fly the regimental standard at the ceremony last Tuesday in Wooton Bassett.
According to a local Dorset newspaper, Mr Davis-Sellick and his comrades were incensed to see the BNP leader with a contingent of party members at the solemn occasion at Wootton Bassett.
He said: “I understand it was the first time he has ever been to one of these ceremonies. I think for him to be there on this occasion was totally wrong and it caused a lot of disruption. You could see that some people were very upset to see him there and there were some people who wanted to duff him up.
“The police were having to protect him. As an ex-serviceman I have spoken to quite a lot of other servicemen and they were not happy to see him there at the repatriation of our lads. He was just there to have his photograph taken.”
Mr Davis-Sellick served as a cook in the Dorset Regiment in the early 1950s before its merger with the Devonshire Regiment, and was deployed to the Korean War. He is now an active member of the Gillingham branch of the Devonshire and Dorset Regimental Association, which has its main headquarters in Exeter.
He said: “We send as many men as we can muster to each repatriation service to fly our standards and they are very emotional occasions. To see the parents throwing flowers on the hearses is very hard. Although I was only a cook in the Army, I had some very good friends that I lost out there and these ceremonies bring those memories back.”
Tony Coombes, secretary of the Gillingham branch, who spent his national service in the Dorset Regiment between 1955-57, said that crowds were unhappy with Mr Griffin’s presence.
He said: “There were a lot of people in the crowd who were concerned by that gentleman’s presence and found it somewhat disturbing. However, I would suppose he would say that it is his right to be there.”
The Devon and Dorsets were amalgamated into the Rifles which was formed in 2007 and is the largest infantry regiment in the British Army. The Rifles has been hit hard by the recent upsurge in violence in Afghanistan. It has suffered 29 fatalities so far this year. The latest was killed by small arms fire on Sunday. On Monday this week, both Mr Davis-Sellick and Mr Coombes were again in Wootton Bassett with representatives of the Devonshire and Dorset Regimental Association to pay their respects as former Dorchester schoolboy Philip Allen, 20, of the 2nd Battalion the Rifles and Samuel Bassett, 20, of 4th Battalion the Rifles, who was from Plymouth.
Sikh pilot who fought Nazis condemns Griffin
One of the last surviving Indian Second World War fighter pilots has launched an attack on the BNP after it used images of a Spitfire in its campaign.
Mohinder Singh Pujji hit out at the far-Right party, and urged all British ethnic minorities not to shun the forces. The 92-year-old RAF Squadron Leader flew a Spitfire in the Battle of Britain and also met Sir Winston Churchill. He was one of only 18 Indian pilots in the RAF in the war, and the only Sikh to fly wearing his turban.
Sqn Ldr Pujji said he was outraged at the way the BNP has used imagery from the war: “The BNP are wrong to use the Spitfire as representative of their party. They forget people from different backgrounds helped in the Second World War. I am proof of this – I was flying a Spitfire. I also met Winston Churchill. Even in those days, there were ethnic minorities fighting for the British. I would recommend the armed forces for young people, regardless of race.”
Sqn Ldr Pujji was born in Shimla, India, and volunteered for the RAF in 1940 after qualifying as a pilot in 1937.He was shot down twice and flew missions in North Africa and Burma, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he flew commercial airlines, settling in Newham before moving to Gravesend. He was made a freeman of Newham in 2005.
Tags: Stolen Valour, veterans
“He was just there to have his photograph taken.”
Well to the best of my knowledge the BNP have not made use of any such foto, it was probably a tabloid photographer making a cheap headline without consent.
Maybe he should have worn a hat?
“Sikh pilot who fought Nazis condemns Griffin”
I can’t see that the foto of a Polish Spitfire is anti Sikh Spitfire pilots, he equally used the experience in his CV to fly commercially & why not, it gave him a good career?
He is not threatened by the BNP’s present stated position, he may well live to see BNP MP’s next year but I think that is all.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Well it’s ok. Some sikhs join the BNP and some criticise the BNP. That is the nature of democracy.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by NothingBritish. NothingBritish said: New post: War veterans speak out against the BNP (http://cli.gs/VSJEN) http://cli.gs/VSJEN [...]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[...] post: War veterans speak out against the BNP « Nothing British This entry is filed under War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 [...]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Mr Pujji is undoubtably a war hero and should be honoured as such. I am sure many supporters of the BNP would agree.
This does not detract from valid concerns regarding the multicultural experiment and mass immigration.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Everyone in this country (including BNP Members) had relatives, friends and loved ones who were involved in the war, supporting the war and indeed dying in the war.
They (whoever, or whatever, they may be) by the actions of their ancestors, have earned the right to use any symbol from the war in whatever political way they see fit.
Why is it that the established parties refuse to face the immigration problem and discuss it in public?
Why is it that they instead choose to take actions such as turning their backs, or walking out on BNP candidates?
They carry out those silly actions because they too relise that the immigration issue is a real and vast problem here in the UK.
The established parties have all, in the past, contributed to that problem and continue to do so.
That is the reason that they all scream racist and refuse to share a stage with the BNP, they are scared that someone might just ask them some unanswerable question about the immigration problem.
Look, you stop and talk to 1oo people at random on the street. Out of that 100, how many do you suppose would state that the immigration situation is untennable?
Well lets assume it is a very conservative 10 people.
So if 10% of people agree that the immigration in the UK is out of control, then how many MP’s in parliament must think exactly the same?
Yet evryone of those MP’s values their seat and their income far more than they value what is right and what is wrong.
That is why the BNP membership is growing and untill the thieving MP’s in parliament get to grips with the immigration problem then the BNP membership[ will go from strength to strength.
You can turn your backs on BNP candidates and hide your heads in the sand as much as you like. Nero fiddled whilst Rome burned and our MP’s in Parliament are doing the same.
Finally, did you notice that not once did I mention colour?. The colour of someone’s skin matters not to me. What does matter is the overloading of this country by immigration from all over the world, from all colours and all creeds.
I am an ex New Labour Branch Chairman and activist and my only hope of seeing any action on immigration lies with the BNP
Now you show me, where, amongst all the other parties manifesto’s, there is a solution to the immigration overload?
Well!, I am waiting?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Brilliant post Stephen.None of the other lilly-livered parties have any solution.They are dangerous because they just shout “racist” and refuse to face up to the problems they have caused with unfettered immigration.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Most British families had members fighting in all the British wars and conflicts and we all had our family heroes and many didn’t come back home
except Jack Straws family ,,, Jack Straw a liar cheat and embezzler his father a C.O. his brother a convicted paedophile and his son a convicted drug pusher
The UKIP/Lab/Lib/cons are terrified that BNP and Nick Griffin will enter Westminster because their luxurious lifestyle will be exposed and perhaps come to an end
The BNP are trying to save Britain whilst other are doing their utmost to destroy her
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The Sikh gentleman has earned his right to his opinion. I believe, like others, have earned mine. I will vote BNP.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
and im sure you believe you re onto a winner,Jackanory,Jackanory
Like or Dislike:
0 
0