On The Table Read Magazine, “the best arts and entertainment magazine UK“, discover the untold story of the unsung heroes who kept British troops fed and fighting through war-torn Bosnia and beyond in Taff Rees’s gripping memoir The Red Roses of Sarajevo – a raw, humorous, and deeply moving tribute to life behind the front lines.
The Red Roses Of Sarajevo
In an era when military history is often dominated by tales of combat and heroism on the battlefield, a remarkable new memoir reminds us that wars are also sustained—and sometimes humanised—by the people who keep the troops fed, supplied, and morally supported far from home.
The title itself is haunting. In Sarajevo and other Bosnian towns scarred by the 1992–1995 war, mortar craters in roads and pavements were filled with bright red resin as silent memorials to civilians killed by random shelling. Locals called them “Sarajevo Roses.” For Taff Rees, who arrived shortly after the Dayton Agreement brought an uneasy peace, these blood-red scars became an enduring symbol of the human cost of conflict—and of the strange, often surreal normalcy that service personnel tried to maintain in their wake.
Taff Rees’s The Red Roses of Sarajevo is that rare book: a vivid, deeply personal account of life in the shadowy but vital world of the NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes) and its overseas arm, the EFI (Expeditionary Forces Institute).
From 1994 onwards, Rees’s postings read like an atlas of late-20th-century British military engagement: Denmark, Norway, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain. He drove generals through mine-strewn Balkan backroads, flew in Chinooks and Sea Kings over desert wadis, and kept remote detachments supplied when convoys were delayed by blizzards or bureaucracy.
Taff Rees
For more than two decades, Rees drove trucks, managed stores, and delivered everything from chocolate to cigarettes. His memoir is packed with the small, telling details that only an insider can provide—how many loaves of bread a company eats in a week, the logistics of flying fresh milk into a forward operating base, the priceless boost when a surprise delivery of Mars bars arrives just before Christmas.
This is far more than a logistical diary. It shines an overlooked light on the unsung heroes who made prolonged deployments possible while living alongside soldiers, airmen, and marines—often in the immediate shadow of conflict.
Rees writes with warmth and self-deprecating Welsh humour about the camaraderie that bound everyone together. He recalls meeting boxing legend Frank Bruno during a morale-boosting visit to Kosovo, sharing a beer with 1966 World Cup heroes Alan Ball and Jackie Charlton, and even crossing paths with Fish, the lead singer of Marillion, who turned up to entertain the troops.
In Bosnia he drove his commanding officer through Ilidža, the Sarajevo suburb that once hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics athletes and later became a sniper-infested no-go zone. In Saudi Arabia he kept isolated desert detachments going during and after Operation Granby. In Kosovo he witnessed the raw grief of refugees returning to burned villages, and the quiet pride of British troops trying to restore order.
A Book Brought to Life
Richly illustrated with the author’s own photographs—many published here for the first time—and supported by letters and documents from his personal archive, The Red Roses of Sarajevo brings these vanished worlds vividly to life. Readers who served will nod in recognition; those who did not will gain a profound appreciation for the thousands of civilian and uniformed personnel who worked “behind the lines.”
An Enduring Tribute
Now settled in Wales after a lifetime on the move, Taff Rees has produced a memoir that is equal parts adventure, travelogue, history, and heartfelt tribute. Essential reading for anyone interested in modern British military life, the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, or simply a damn good story told with honesty, humour, and humanity.
In a conflict that left physical scars filled with red resin across a shattered city, Taff Rees has filled the pages of his book with something equally enduring: the living memory of resilience, service, and the quiet determination to keep going—one delivery, one cup of NAAFI tea, one shared laugh at a time.
Find more from Taff Rees now:
Kindle: https://amzn.to/4pl2SGD
Paperback: https://amzn.to/48p12io
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