The devastated widow of a British soldier killed by an IRA bomb has said she would give Extinction Rebellion protesters a ‘punch on the nose’ for desecrating the Cenotaph yesterday.
Dianne Rose, 74, added she would give veteran Donald Bell – who was injured in the blast in Northern Ireland that killed her husband in 1974 – a ‘mouthful of abuse’ if she ever met him.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, she said: ‘I don’t know what gave Bell the right to do what he did. It was totally, totally wrong.
Dianne Rose (pictured with a picture of her husband Vernon), 74, said she would give veteran Donald Bell – who was injured in the blast in Northern Ireland that killed her husband – a ‘mouthful of abuse’ if she ever met him
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Ms Rose said: ‘I don’t know what gave Bell the right to do what he did. It was totally, totally wrong.’ Pictured, her husband Vernon in 1963
Extinction Rebellion veteran and a nurse put up a banner warning climate change means war
Donald Bell, a former soldier who served in Northern Ireland, is an Extinction Rebellion activist
‘There’s a time and a place and Remembrance Day is not the time. I think I just want to punch him on the nose to be honest, and give him a mouthful of abuse.
‘I actually agree with climate change and I’m hoping the Government will sort it all out for us. But not on Remembrance Day. Please.
‘Sometimes I think these XR people are fanatics, that’s what they are. I think they’re nuts, some of them. I think they’re off their heads.’
Former soldier Donald Bell, 64, and mother-of-two Anne White, 53, were blasted by furious veterans, MPs and the families of fallen soldiers for the climate change stunt that went unchallenged by police yesterday.
The demonstrators trampled over wreaths and unveiled a banner reading ‘Honour Their Sacrifice, Climate Change Means War’ on the 100th anniversary of the memorial in central London.
Mr Bell led the protest at 8am, staging his own two-minute silence before hanging an Extinction Rebellion wreath above ones laid by senior military figures, Royals and politicians at the weekend.
It took the Metropolitan Police at least half an hour to take his down, despite one of their cars being parked within sight of the monument.
Vernon pictured while serving in Sarawak, Borneo, in 1963 – two years before he married Dianne in 1965
Dianne is pictured with her late husband Vernon on their wedding day in January 1965
Pictured right, Vernon at a dance in 1963 while serving in Sarawak, Borneo. Left, Vernon with his twin brother Colin, who signed up with him. Colin died recently from cancer
‘My late husband, Vernon, wouldn’t have agreed with what they did, that’s 100 per cent,’ Mrs Rose said. ‘I’m sure about that. He wouldn’t have agreed with it at all.
‘Probably he wouldn’t have got into a row with them, because he wasn’t that type of person. He would have made some sort of statement and that would have been the end of it.
‘He’d just say well, that’s their opinion and they’re entitled to it. He’s have had a lot more dignity than Donald Bell, that’s for sure.’
Mr Bell says he completed four tours of duty with the Royal Anglian Regiment and is now a full-time activist. In September, he took part in protests at London newspaper presses, accusing the media of failing to report on climate change.
In February, he was seen digging up the lawn at Cambridge’s Trinity College and was later arrested after gluing himself to a police van, telling reporters he had been writing letters to the Government for nearly 50 years but was always ignored.
It comes as the daughter of a second soldier killed in the same IRA blast in 1974 also hit out at Extinction Rebellion protesters for hijacking the Cenotaph.
Elizabeth Metcalf’s father John Charles Simpson, then 35, was killed alongside comrade Vernon Rose, then 30, by a landmine in Northern Ireland.
Mr Bell was also reportedly hurt in the tragic incident – but has now turned into an activist for Extinction Rebellion.
The former soldier has faced criticism for his stunt during Armistice Day events, where he placed a controversial wreath on one of the nation’s most famous war memorials.
The wreath read: “Honour Their Sacrifice, Climate Change Means War.”
Speaking from her home in Trowbridge, Wilts., today (12/11), Mrs Metcalf, 54, said she was unsure if Mr Bell was injured in the same incident as her dad.
She said she had read the police reports and did not recognise his name – although conceded he could have served with Mr Rose during the Troubles.
But she still criticised the “audacity” of Mr Bell’s actions as a former soldier herself, having spent nine years serving – reaching the rank of sergeant.
She said: “It’s beyond disrespect. He’s wearing an SAS beret and he dares salute at a protest for the military?
“He’s entitled to believe what he wants to believe about climate change. He’s got the right of freedom of speech, as we all have in this country.
“But to have served, and to use Remembrance Day, and such a public – the Cenotaph. Remebrance Day is everywhere in the country but the Cenotaph is it.
“It’s what everyone watches, it’s televised – which is probably why he did the stunt there. It’s sacred.
“I’m just flabbergasted that he thinks he can turn up in military uniform at a Remembrance Day and not be there for respect.
“It’s not just everyone who’s died. It’s everyone who’s been injured. People die and there’s the bereaved, there’s the people left behind.
“But an awful lot of people have been really horrifically injured in all conflicts, whether it’s physical or mental.
“We have got to remember that they have lost the ability to walk, the confidence to go out, they have lost the ability to walk down the street and react when a car backfires.
“War is awful – people get hurt. I just can’t believe he would the audacity to turn up in uniform and salute. What is he saluting?
“Say what you want about climate change, but just have a bit of judgement about when, how and where to speak.”
Ms Metcalf was aged eight when her dad was killed by an IRA landmine in Stewartstown, County Tyrone more than fourty years ago.
Of Mr Bell, she added: “I think everyone is entitled to change their mind. That’s up to them. But to do it at a sentimental time for families is totally wrong.
“Anyone who has been in the military should respect Remembrance Day. There’s plenty of other times in the year and other ways to state your beliefs.”
A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the incident ‘on today of all days’ was ‘profoundly disrespectful’ while Sir Keir Starmer branded the protest as ‘wrong’, ‘in bad taste and we do not support them’.
Tobias Ellwood, who served with the Royal Green Jackets before becoming an MP, said the group was going to ‘alienate’ people and the Royal British Legion said the day was ‘not for political protest’.