The Words of the Wise Old Paratrooper
Complete book.
The Words of the Wise Old Paratrooper
by Robin Horsfall.
Edited by Oliver Horsfall
www.robinhorsfall.co.uk
© 2017 Robin Horsfall
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.K. copyright law. For permissions, questions or requests please contact:
o.horsfall@gmail.com
Cover by Ernie McGookin.
ISBN: 978-1-973-299-813
The Words of the Wise Old Paratrooper
Robin Horsfall
to all my departed comrades.
Never forgotten.
The Author
Robin Horsfall was a soldier from the age of fifteen up to the age of thirty-two. He served with the Parachute Regiment, the SAS, The Sultans of Oman’s Armed Forces, The Army of Sri Lanka and was a Major in ‘Frelimo’ The Army of Mozambique. He studied Karate for most of his adult life achieving the rank of 6th Dan Black Belt until in 2011 a neck fracture halted his career. During his recovery he went to Surrey University and studied English literature and creative writing graduating in 2016. Married since 1981 this father of five and grandfather of ten started posting ‘The Sayings of the Wise Old Paratrooper’ on Facebook and later decided to collate them along with his short stories and poetry into this collection.
Background
At the age of twenty-three or thereabouts I was an isolated and rather cynical young soldier struggling to find a place in life. I had recently taken up the art of karate and came across an article in Combat magazine in which there was a short saying which had a profound effect on my future. It read ‘When in company never discuss the faults of others and when alone contemplate your own thoughts.’ I cut the piece out and pasted it to the sloping ceiling above my bed. Those few words carried an important lesson that changed my life for the better.
I discovered as the years passed that my true vocation in life was teaching; it didn’t matter what I taught I just loved the thrill of imparting information to others, especially children. There was a joy in seeing their confidence and abilities grow in response to my work. During classes, I often found myself using short metaphorical sayings. Sometimes they were humorous and at other times thought provoking - occasionally they were a path to force someone to be introspective. Such sayings are an old method of teaching, and they can carry great weight. I know that wiser and older people have voiced the same thoughts in similar words and where I can locate that individual, I give them credit but when I quote the ‘Wise Old Paratrooper,’ I am to the best of my knowledge using my own thoughts and words.
I was inspired by the war poems of Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Brooks, Rudyard Kipling and the songs of Barry Sadler and Harvey Andrews.
I broke my neck when I was fifty-four when I was a full-time karate instructor. As I recovered, I applied for a degree course at Surrey University studying English Literature with Creative Writing. The different poetic forms were fascinating and fun. I have tried to use a variety of these to express my feelings and I have also introduced a series of short, light-hearted military stories to balance some of the deep and sad philosophical aspects of this collection. It is important to remember our sad losses but just as important to recall the laughs, the fun, and the joy of life too.
Inspiration
*
Wrote a poem today
Never wrote before
Never wrote anything
I’ll never write amore.
***
'A wise man will put into words what you already know.'
Growing up
*
'Whether you start from the top or the bottom in life you can stand still or move in one direction.'
‘If there’s something about you that you can’t understand, something that makes you unpopular with your peers, then you will develop a personality that is independent. Your isolation from friends will impose this characteristic upon you. That independence might be perceived as arrogance or petulance - it is neither. It is a protection, a defence against unkindness, created by distrust, and it is also a defence against loneliness. You will learn to manage without the help or the generosity of others. You will ask no favours and unwittingly perpetuate the isolation that you desperately hope will end. Others will watch and wait for you to fail. If you stagger, they will say ‘I knew he would get his comeuppance in the end'. If you don’t fail and instead succeed, they will resent you for proving them wrong.’
***