Themes

Commander Iain Henderson on the distancing effect of all the smart weapons on board ship and the irony of the press onboard bringing the Gulf War home to so many. (RNM)

“There is a certain, a certain remoteness anyway about being on board a ship. And also, with the link picture we had on the radar, watching the battleships firing missiles. Cruise missile after cruise missile – and these things just sort of marching off up the screen – and you thought ‘Crikey’, you know, ‘Where’s that going to end up?’ But there was a real - you just couldn’t believe that these were missiles armed with lots of high explosives that were going to go and kill lots of people. I mean; it just didn’t seem to be real from that point of view. But at the same time of course, yes, the war is brought into peoples’ homes.”

Return to article