FOR WAR: Veteran says action is needed now

Mr Valentine, from Kenwood Avenue, Worcester, is no stranger to conflict. His boat was torpedoed in the Battle of the Bulge during the Second World War, and his own father died from injuries sustained in the conflict.

Despite his experiences, Mr Valentine, a vice- president of the Merchant Navy Association, believes Britain should take action now - or worse will follow, and more will die.

He compared the anti-war French President Jacques Chirac, with Britain's 1939 prime minister Neville Chamberlain, who brokered a peace agreement with Hitler days before Germany invaded Poland.

With recent anti-war marches in Malvern, the 78-year-old, who served in the Merchant Navy for seven years, is urging people to rethink and support our troops and action in the Gulf.

Mr Valentine drew uneasy parallels with the Second World War: "When Hitler attempted to take power in Germany in 1923, Winston Churchill wanted to take action, but nothing was done. If we had acted then, I'd have more ship mates about with me today," he said. "Saddam Hussein has been carrying out atrocities in his own and neighbouring countries for years. If we hadn't gone and tackled him in the last Gulf war, would there be any Kurdish people left alive in Kuwait today?

"We stood and watched as Neville Chamberlain came back with that paper stating 'peace in our time'. It was worthless. Today, Jacques Chirac cuts a similar figure.

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I personally feel we need to act now for democracy in Iraq, to give their children a future."

Despite losing his own father through injuries sustained in war, Mr Valentine signed up to the Merchant Navy to help in the war effort as a 16-year-old boy in 1941. He said he would do it all again and urged younger protesters throughout the region to think about the freedom of speech they currently enjoy.

"The liberty we have got today has been earned by the loss of many lives through wars, but it secured our democracy," he said.

"If it was not for the past actions of soldiers people would never have been able to demonstrate today. The people of Iraq deserve this same liberty.

"We cannot sit back and wait for weapon inspectors.

"We must act now to stop more atrocities being carried out. "

'Come back when you are a man', 16-year-old Dick is told

IT was third time lucky for Dick Valentine. He made repeated attempts to sign up for the war effort after the Royal Navy told him to, "come back when he was a man".

As a 15-year-old, he found joining the services a little harder than he imagined.

"I successfully took an examination to be a wireless operator in the Navy, but when I turned up at the college in Southampton for training I was horrified to discover it had been bombed," he said.

"Then, when I was 16, I went back to the Navy and asked if I could join. But they said: 'Come back when you're a man'.

"I was so incensed, because I wanted to do my bit for Queen and country. So I joined the Merchant Navy there and then and served my war duty in that service instead."

While completing his seven years, the Able Seaman transported troops, food and prisoners of war throughout the world.

He saw service in Malta, North Africa, Sicily, Anzio in Italy and the south of France. But it was during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, when his ship lay off the Antwerp coast, that he came closest to death.

"We were ferrying supplies to our troops and bringing casualties out. I suddenly heard two massive explosions. We'd been hit by torpedoes," he said.

"The boat was split in two and we desperately began launching the lifeboats. But as I attempted to launch the third boat my hands lost grip on the oily ropes and I fell into the icy water.

Covered in oil

"I was covered from head to toe in oil, which stung and burnt. I was swimming with one hand and trying hard to keep the oil out of my nose, eyes and mouth with my other. I eventually made it to the lifeboat and to safety.

"I have seen men in terrible predicaments and states, men with dreadful injuries pleading with God to take them.

"War is a terrible and wicked thing to even think about and must only be ever used as a last resort."

"Unfortunately, I feel this time has come around again."

As well as being vice president of the Merchant Navy Association, Mr Valentine is also president of the Royal British Legion, Claines branch and a member of the George Cross Island Association.

'Prince of Darkness' will command British troops

TOUGH-talking and uncompromising, General Sir Mike Jackson will command the British Army in war against Iraq as Chief of the General Staff.

Gen Jackson took up his post just over a month ago from General Sir Michael Walker, who, in turn, will replace Admiral Sir Michael Boyce as Chief of Defence Staff in April.

The 58-year-old married father-of-three was in charge of British troops in the successful 1999 operation to end ethnic cleansing of Albanians in the former Yugoslav republic of Kosovo.

His unmistakable style came to its fore during the Kosovo campaign and he won the Distinguished Service Order for the leadership he showed during the tense times there.

During campaign, Gen Jackson became known as the "The Prince of Darkness" throughout the Army for his cool manner and gravel voice.

And it was clear his hard exterior has softened little in the last four years when he dismissed reports that British troops preparing for war in Iraq were under-fed, under-supplied, lacking vital equipment and suffering from low morale.

"If anything, I'm a little concerned it may be too comfortable," Gen Jackson said.

"If they are required to do a dangerous job in difficult circumstances, they must get used to those circumstances."

The troops were "good to go" if the order came, he said.

Educated at Stamford School and Sandhurst, Gen Jackson earned a degree in Russian studies from Birmingham University while serving in the Intelligence Corps.