Royal Artillery Captain Visits Veterans at Scottish War Blinded Linburn Centre

Captain David Seath of 19th Regiment Royal Artillery will visit blind and visually impaired veterans tomorrow (Thursday 25 July) to deliver a presentation on the regiment’s recent tour of Afghanistan.

The event has been organised by veteran charity Scottish War Blinded at their Linburn Centre in Wilkieston as an opportunity for their members to engage with serving personnel. The Scottish War Blinded membership includes veterans who lost their sight in the war, as well as those who have lost their sight subsequently.

Captain David Seath comments:

“Whilst 19th Regiment Royal Artillery (the Scottish Gunners) currently operate out of Tidworth Garrison in England we have a strong and proud Scottish heritage and it is important to maintain such links with Scotland and to continue to give back to the large community of Scottish ex-forces personnel. I am looking forward to meeting Scottish War Blinded and telling them about my experiences in Afghanistan” 

Linburn member Derek O’Rourke, a Navy veteran with the visual impairment Angeoid Streaks, will present Captain David Seath with a collection of Afghanistan conflict themed artwork he has painted to adorn the walls of the Regimental Headquarters.

Derek states:

“I wanted to produce the paintings for a military establishment as they are more likely to understand them. Each of the paintings has a separate meaning that focuses on thoughts, rather than actions, of servicemen in Afghanistan”.

Sheila Mutch, Manager of the Linburn Centre, comments:

“Recent international conflicts are often in the thoughts of Scottish War Blinded members. For many, it has brought memories of their time served in the forces, and indeed previous conflicts.”  

“Members view the talk as a forum not only to find out how the conflict has made a difference to the lives of the civilians of Afghanistan but to ask questions and share their views and concerns regarding the exit strategy endorsed by NATO to remove troops.”

Captain David Seath’s regiment was deployed to the Nahri Saraj district of Helmand province, a strong Taliban stronghold accounting for high numbers of British casualties since the beginning of the Afghanistan campaign in 2002.

Captain Seath states:

“I was based out of FOB Price but the Regiment was split across Helmand Province conducting a multitude of activities from war fighting to upstream capacity building that ultimately aimed to set the conditions for the transition of district control from ISAF to an Afghan lead.” 

For further information please contact:

Gary Seath; Marketing & Fundraising Assistant, Royal Blind

Email: gary.seath@royalblind.org Telephone: 0131 229 1456

Notes to Editors:

Scottish War Blinded was established in 1915 to care for Scotland’s service men and women blinded during the First World War. The Linburn workshop opened during World War Two to support young veterans, with a visual impairment, to attain vocational skills and build an independent future. www.scottishwarblinded.org

The award winning Linburn centre has been built to respond to the evolving needs of our members providing a tailor made facility for ex-servicemen and women who have a visual impairment.

Scottish War Blinded is the sister charity of Royal Blind: www.royalblind.org

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