Although born in Salisbury, Robert was an old ‘Plymothian’, having moved here in 1954, and often reflected with great fondness of spending his childhood years growing up in our beautiful city. In 1973 he joined the army (REME) as a private, and in the subsequent 28 years worked his way up through the ranks – eventually retiring as a Major. He served his country - with immense pride, dedication and distinction - in Belize, Hong Kong, Singapore, Northern Ireland, Germany, the Gulf (Desert Storm) and in Bosnia (two tours). On many occasions he operated in regions of bitter conflict, placing his own life on the line to help and protect both colleagues and civilians. Towards the end of his career Robbie served as an instructor at the Officers Training College, Sandhurst.

Robbie greatly enjoyed army life. He took great pride in being, for a time, Army Squash Champion, and was also a member of the Victory Services Club (London). Sadly the experiences of these conflicts (of Bosnia in particular) left their mark on Robbie. He was witness to acts of such inhumanity and savagery that as a result he suffered the horrors of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This was compounded by the harsh physical effects of a long army service and Robbie had to endure almost constant pain from arthritis.

These problems were to blight his retirement years and greatly reduced his quality of life. In 2006 Robbie joined the British National Party and was immensely proud to become the Organiser for Plymouth. He was a true patriot and would often simply respond, when being challenged regarding his role within the BNP that “it is because I love my country”. It is because of this love of country that he was often verbally abused by those members of the public and media far less educated or worldly-wise than himself. He took all these insults with immense good grace and extraordinary patience.

It is regrettable that the country he so loved (or, rather, those treasonous non-entities that claim to represent the country) never even had the decency to thank Robbie for his service work, or in any adequate way to help him deal with the terrible price he paid for his dedication and commitment. Like all too many of his fellow service compatriots, Robbie was callously betrayed by those who had every reason to be thankful to him and who, despite claiming to be our representatives, disdainfully ignored their duty to provide him with the very best.

Major Robert “Robbie” Perkins 1953 – 2007, British Patriot, RIP.