James Blunt thought it not a good idea to take on the Russians, who occupied the airport for two weeks. Photo / Supplied
Kosovo, June 1999. Serbia has withdrawn from the campaign. Hundreds of thousands of refugees wait over the border to return to their homes. A column of 30,000 Nato troops is advancing towards Pristina airfield - a crucial strategic position.
Unexpectedly, the Russian forces reach the airfield first; Russia, Serbia's patron,
is hoping to stake a claim in the occupation. The soldiers are pointing their weapons at the incoming Allied troops. "Destroy!" orders the US general over the radio. World War III is on the cards. Enter crooner James Blunt. Crisis averted.
Blunt was then 25, a captain in the Life Guards and the lead officer at the front of the Nato column. He risked a court martial by refusing to obey those orders from US General Wesley Clark, then Supreme Allied Commander of Nato forces in Europe, to attack the Russian forces.
In a BBC radio interview yesterday, Blunt said: "The direct command [that] came in from General Wesley Clark was to overpower them.
"Various words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as 'destroy' came down the radio. We had 200 Russians lined up pointing their weapons at us aggressively ... and we'd been told to reach the airfield and take a hold of it.
"That's why we were querying our instruction."
"Fortunately," Blunt recalled, "up on the radio came General Sir Mike Jackson [commander of the British forces], whose words were, 'I'm not going to have my soldiers start World War III.' He told us, 'Why don't we encircle the airfield instead?' And after a couple of days the Russians there said, 'Hang on, we have no food and no water. Can we share the airfield with you?"'
Blunt said that even without Jackson's intervention he would have refused to carry out that order.
The stand-off lasted two weeks. Russian forces continued to occupy the airport, until eventually an agreement was secured for them to be integrated into peacekeeping duties, while remaining outside of Nato command. Clark was eventually relieved of his position earlier than expected.
Blunt spent six years in the Army after taking an Army-sponsored place at Bristol University, where he studied aerospace engineering and sociology.
He left the forces in October 2002 and recorded his debut album, Back to Bedlam, which contained the surprise hit song You're Beautiful.
- INDEPENDENT
