The article below was written by Liz Robbie, Veteran and Charge Nurse at University Hospital Monklands, to mark Remembrance Day.
Most people who ask about my military service say “Was it really as bad as they say?”.
Every veteran has a different story to tell and my story brought me to Lanarkshire.
As a very young lassie, I was hungry for adventure, travel and comradeship so I joined up to be a British Army Reservist. I loved it!
I did every single course that I could. Every deployment opportunity I was there, literally with my hand up and ready to volunteer for my next challenge.
My civilian role as a healthcare assistant also rocketed and I was lucky enough to secure a scholarship through NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to do my nurse training.
Just as I was settling into my studies, my regiment was being mobilised in 2003. Being exempt from mobilisation on the grounds that I was in full-time education, I cried for weeks. The regiment that I had trained for war with, the lads and lassies that I had trained for war with, were off to war and I wasn’t. Gutted!
It’s extremely difficult to explain but the relationship that you have with the people that you serve with is undeniable. Sharing fears, worries and anxieties – sometimes in very dangerous situations and often putting your life on the line for them but also sharing a very dark humour meaning that you can find the funniest side of horrible situations. Luckily all of my regiment returned home and there was a party like no other.
Fast forward, and again able to volunteer, I found myself in the back of a Hercules being flown into Camp Bastion in Helmand Province. This time as a Registered Nurse and Nursing Sergeant, having spent two years preparing the Regiment for military deployment as a military skills weapon handling instructor, battlefield casualty drills trainer and ensuring optimal clinical skillset throughout the hospital wide team.
This is where the part of the remembrance season brings a tear to my eye. Every young soldier with physical injuries, every young soldier with mental injuries, their next of kin, the names on the wall of those who paid the ultimate price, the team who fought so hard to get them home – they have all sacrificed.
This is why we should remember.
