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The history of Operation Banner cannot be understood through official reports alone.

For nearly four decades, thousands of soldiers, police officers, airmen and sailors served in Northern Ireland. They came from different units, backgrounds and generations. Most have never written books. Many have never spoken publicly about their experiences. As time passes, those voices risk being lost.

The Salus Video Archive exists to provide an antidote to the arrogance of the present in judging the past.

Rather than politics, polemics or propaganda, it preserves the testimony of those who served during Operation Banner and other conflicts, allowing them to explain—in their own words—what they did, why they did it, and what they believed they were trying to achieve.

Many believed they were protecting the public from terrorism. Others speak about professionalism, duty, comradeship or service. The archive does not ask contributors to defend a political position or advance a historical argument. Its purpose is to preserve first-hand testimony before it is lost.

History is strongest when it includes the voices of those who were there.

Each interview is recorded in long form, allowing contributors to speak without the constraints of short media clips or soundbites. Wherever possible, transcripts accompany the recordings to improve accessibility and strengthen the historical record.

The archive welcomes a wide range of experiences. Memories differ. Perspectives differ. Agreement is not a requirement.

What matters is that the testimony exists.

Salus Video Archive 001

Dave Groom, Grenadier Guards

The archive opens with a two-part interview featuring Dave Groom, who served for thirty years in the Grenadier Guards.

Dave describes joining the Army as “an escape route” from factory life, the standards and ethos of the Household Division, selection for a Close Observation Platoon, and two years conducting surveillance operations during Operation Banner.

Rather than focusing on dramatic moments, the interview provides something increasingly uncommon: an account of professional soldiering from someone who lived it.

He speaks candidly about training, leadership, surveillance operations, decision-making, responsibility and the friendships forged through service. Looking back four decades later, his conclusion is remarkably simple:

“When I left the Army after 30 years, I only missed one thing. I missed them blokes.”

The first interview in the Salus Video Archive is: