At the turn of this century a rebel army threatened the capital of an African country and in went Western troops to salvage the situation.

In May 2000 the capital under siege was Freetown in Sierra Leone and the troops sent to prevent a takeover were British.

They were led by the then Brigadier David Richards. I remember well greeting him as he arrived in the fearful city to announce a limited operation to evacuate foreigners .

But Richards soon saw the opportunity for a more expanded operation and having persuaded a doubtful Tony Blair of the wisdom of a more aggressive campaign, he set about pushing back the rebels.