Paras: Men of War

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by CL1, Jan 10, 2019.

  1. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    ITV 9pm 10/1/19

    This brand-new three part landmark documentary series features unprecedented and unfiltered access to the elite Parachute Regiment, after its doors were opened to a UK network broadcaster’s cameras for the first time in a generation


    The Paras: Men Of War Episode 1
     
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  2. redtop

    redtop Well-Known Member

    • Nick Betts
    It has been more than 35 years since network television cameras were last allowed into the clandestine, vaguely cultish world of the Parachute Regiment.The British Army’s elite airborne infantry has a reputation – one they’re all too happy to burnish – for being the fittest, most aggressive, resilient and disciplined regiment in the military, yet stubbornness and an extreme suspicion of outsiders has meant very few people have ever been able to see just what it takes to earn the trademark maroon beret of a paratrooper. In the summer of 2017, my executive producer Neil Grant and I approached the Ministry of Defence about changing that. It was my intention to collaborate with them on a fly-on-the-wall documentary series that would show what the Paras are like behind closed doors. One by one, after a good deal of persuasion and reassurance, the right people said yes.The result is The Paras: Men of War, a three-part series beginning tomorrow night that gives unparalleled access to not just the regiment in general, but follows a group of new recruits as they take on the physically and psychologically punishing, 28-week recruitment course to become paratroopers. In essence, it answers a simple question: what does it take to turn a regular young millennial man into a combat-ready fighting machine? We begin at Darlington railway station more than a year ago, where 40 fresh-faced wannabe Paras line up for their first day. They’re from every class and background, ranging from 17 to 31 years old. Some have qualifications, some don’t.Some have military experience, some don’t. Many are from Britain, but the lure of the regiment is such that some have come from as far as South Africa and Afghanistan. And all have a basic level of fitness, but none have yet got the required level of mental and physical military robustness to become a para. Following these young men for 12 months, it was extraordinary to see them broken down – their heads shaven, their backchat and attitude barked out of them, and all known as ‘Joe’ (meaning Joined On Enlistment) to rid them of their civilian identities – and built back up as new, near-identical machines.The Paras constantly refer to themselves as a ‘brotherhood’, and they operate on and off the field of battle as a wolfpack. I found that out myself, in dealing with them on a day-to-day basis.As an outsider, they were naturally wary of me and my motives, but once I’d won the trust of a senior officers and soldiers, the respect of the rest followed.And once they like you, they’re engaging and surprising company. I’m sure some of them in another life could have been stand-up comedians – though I wouldn’t want to caught not laughing at their jokes. By the end, I thought of them as ‘trained killers with a twinkle in their eye’: terrifying – but if they like you, quite charming, too. The Parachute Regiment was formed in 1942, and they’re eminently proud of the fact that many of their training methods have barely changed over the years. The 28-week course is intense and varied. We see new recruits’ first-night exercise, in which they must avoid being captured by staff in minus 10 celsius.They’re all fairly hapless, understandably, but the night game establishes an essential us-and-them division between the recruits and their superiors. The idea is that the newcomers band together, like Paras, and don’t view the staff as parents or mentors.
     
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