MILITARY SPUNK FUNTIME HOUR
Nothing like some ancient army officers to help kick off the year, albeit two of a very different moral bent. Frank Kitson’s most favourable obits still made sure to say he was “controversial”. As did Kissinger’s. You know where this is heading. Kitson cut his craft during the Mau Mau Uprising and the Malayan Emergency, both wars where numerous innocents were sent to concentration camps. He took what he learned to Northern Ireland in the thick of the Troubles, and the unit behind Bloody Sunday was nicknamed “Kitson’s Private Army”. Though he was on leave at the time of the massacre, lest you think that absolves him, he chided the commander of his unit for not killing more. He was 97 and a unique for Windsor’s OBE.
On the opposite side of the coin was Mike Sadler, who fought Nazis. The last surviving founding member of the SAS, he shone as a navigator in the Libyan desert as part of the Long Range Desert Group. With the help of a theodolite and the stars above, he helped his troop discretely navigate through the sandy dunes and with his guidance they were able to destroy numerous Axis bases, ammunition, and aircraft. After the war he worked in Antarctica, and a passage there was named in his honour in 2021. He was 103 and picked by Bastard Must’ve Died and Pedro’s Catacomb Collective. Surely Bastard Must’ve Died picking Kitson would’ve been more apt?
Frank Kitson
15 December 1926 – 2 January 2024, aged 98
💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 9 POINTS
Mike Sadler
22 February 1920 – 4 January 2024, aged 103
2 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀 4 POINTS)