WO2 Hamilcar, Sgt Braille and MCpl Amy joined forces to accompany the 2009 ARRSE Tour of the WW1 Battlefields around Ypres.  This is the first occasion when 3 Bears assembled to support an event, and the massed ranks of Slingsby's Team were very effective in relieving people of money for the Appeal.  The Tour comprised both Serving and Retired personnel, and of course members of their families.

Since departing Germany, after my lovely Christmas Holiday, I have been really busy. Firstly the Post Office took me prisoner, and refused to release me until "theloggie" (TL) came to my rescue and snurgled me away from their evil clutches before they sent me back to whence I came. I discovered my escape 'enabler' (for this is what loggies are) had got me as far as Frimley Green in Surrey - ideal, well not exactly, but at least it was Blighty.

Greetings from Liverpool University Air Squadron! I have made it to RAF Woodvale safe and sound and, in spite of my fears, this student lot aren't actually that bad.

Trip to the Somme for a battlefield tour. The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, fought from July to November 1916, was among the largest battles of the First World War. With more than 1.5 million casualties, it is also one of the bloodiest military operations recorded. The Allied forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 12-mile (19 km) front north and south of the River Somme in northern France. One purpose of the battle was to draw German forces away from the Battle of Verdun; however, by its end the losses on the Somme had exceeded those at Verdun. By the end of the war the Allied losses proved replaceable, the German losses less so.

So once again I found myself in a Royal Mail sorting office awaiting my next Bearer to collect me. The only information I'd been given was that it was going to be a member of the Senior Service chaperoning me around Afghanistan. Now I'd heard all about these sailor types and was more than a little apprehensive about the kind of shenanigans I'd be exposed to, especially as I have no trousers, but fortunately he arrived with his missus and seemed "normal" enough. The fresh air and leg stretch was all too brief though; within minutes I was forced into a Bergen with all sorts of Gucci kit that blatantly isn't issue, and we were off.

Horsa in the hot and dusty places with 'Monti LP'.This is the initial set of images with lots more to follow.

The prairie of Alberta has provided an excellent opportunity for the British Army to train on a large scale since 1972. The British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) is an organisation situated on one of the most sparsely populated areas of the Alberta plain.

Deployed on Exercise Medicine Man 5 with the Royal Tank Regimentamnd 'Sandy Boots'

I was driving down the road en route to, well, somewhere else and came across these

One of my earliest outings, its all a bit blurred

Was very privileged to go on a battlefield tour of Arnhem and surrounding area. Where it all started