{"id":1297,"date":"2013-10-10T12:27:18","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T11:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2013-10-10T12:27:18","modified_gmt":"2013-10-10T11:27:18","slug":"anger-and-disbelief-over-call-to-downgrade-repatriations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/?p=1297","title":{"rendered":"Anger and disbelief over call to downgrade repatriations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anger and disbelief over call to downgrade repatriations<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

(already posted on “OAMAAM”, sent to me by Rod Spinks)<\/p>\n

\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The repatriation of Private Robert Hetherington, of The Royal Regiment Of Scotland, at RAF Brize Norton in May<\/p>\n

OXFORDSHIRE\u2019S repatriation officials have vowed to never stop holding ceremonies to mark Britain\u2019s war dead after a MOD document suggested their profile should be lowered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A Freedom of Information request has revealed MOD officials considered looking at ways to \u201creduce the profile of the repatriation ceremonies\u201d.<\/p>\n

The MOD\u2019s development, concepts and doctrine centre \u2013 a military think tank based at Shrivenham \u2013 made the suggestion in a report in November 2012 as a way of handling \u201ccasualty adverse\u201d public opinion.<\/p>\n

The document says such ceremonies make the public more uneasy about the idea of sending British troops to war.<\/p>\n

Repatriations<\/a> have largely taken place from RAF Brize Norton<\/a> since it took on the duty in September 2011 from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.<\/p>\n

Mourners gather in Carterton to pay respect, while residents also gather in Headley Way, Oxford, on the final turn before the cortege arrives at the John Radcliffe Hospital<\/a> for a post-mortem examination.<\/p>\n

The MOD yesterday distanced itself from the report, although it was unclear when the think tank\u2019s idea was rejected. However, the document has sparked outrage.<\/p>\n

Royal British Legion<\/a> Oxfordshire vice-president Mike Henderson lowers the Union Flag at the Carterton memorial garden on repatriation days.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI think it is a disgusting thing to think about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people seem to have forgotten there are parents, families and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if the ceremonies could be reduced in profile, Mr Henderson said: \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee Mackie lost her son Jason, 21, to a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2009 and came up with the idea of the memorial bell that now tolls as the cortege approaches the memorial garden.<\/p>\n

Members of the public helped to raise \u00a326,000 to build the bell, which was installed in June last year.<\/p>\n

Mrs Mackie said: \u201cThe public has every right to have the repatriations carry on just the way they are. I know people want the repatriations to carry on in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oxfordshire County Council<\/a> spokesman Paul Smith said: \u201cAs far as we are concerned, there is no change to arrangements we have had in place since September 2011.\u201d<\/p>\n

An MOD spokesman said: \u201cIt is entirely right we publically honour those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and there are no plans to change the way repatriation ceremonies are conducted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anger and disbelief over call to downgrade repatriations (already posted on “OAMAAM”, sent to me by Rod Spinks) The repatriation of Private Robert Hetherington, of The Royal Regiment Of Scotland, at RAF Brize Norton in May OXFORDSHIRE\u2019S repatriation officials have … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1298,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297\/revisions\/1298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}