GB News Veterans' Voices: Sunday, November 8, 2026
Share this As we mark Remembrance across the country this week, GB News has been finding out the stories of veterans from across the UK. This special series continues today with the story of John Bennett. “My name is John Bennett. I served in the British Army, Royal Signals. I served four tours of Northern Ireland and one tour of the Falklands. “Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It was the one place where I felt I could make a difference in my role. I can't talk about what that was, but it was the one Army service where you felt you had an opportunity to make a difference. And what I was doing was important. “It was a war zone in Northern Ireland, and people were in fear for a long time over there. And the British soldiers were there because they were sent there. The whole point of going over there was to protect people. And it turned into the tragedy we know today. “I served my country, and I would do so again. When you're there, you're just doing your job. We're only a very small cog in a very large machine. So the work that we did was that the information that we gleaned may have helped shape some of the things that followed. “But I think at the time, it's not until you it's not until you leave the battlefield, if ever. If I call it that. If you leave the conflict,, you realise years later that some of the things that unfolded you may have played a part in, so you don't realise it at the time. “When I got to the age of 57, I had the misfortune to get a condition called myasthenia gravis, which affects the limbs in the arms and the legs, and it also can render you blind for periods of time. “The Royal British Legion was someone I could approach, and they put me in touch with other charities. They were always there in the background for anybody who served or is in the armed forces serving now, so there is someone who can help, or an organisation you can turn to that can make a difference. “History is easily forgotten. The remembrance days for all wars. And it's a way of remembering the sacrifice that people made, and you perhaps don't really understand just how brave some of these people were. “We wouldn't be a free country today if it weren't for the people that served during the First or Second World War and subsequent wars after that.” WATCH ABOVE Follow related topics: You are about to be charged £0.00 * *Your gift has been applied