‘Our Business Now is North’: British Col. Tim Collins Gave This Rousing Speech to Troops on the Eve of Battle in Iraq

“Be ferocious in battle and magnanimous in victory.”

The British Army’s Col. Tim Collins gave this eve-of-battle speech to 1 Batt., Royal Irish Regiment, on 19 March 2003, immediately before they went to war in Iraq. Men who were there say they never will forget it.

“There may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign,” Collins said. “We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow. We will grieve for them later.” He concluded the rousing speech by telling his men: “Our business now is North.”

Watch actor Kenneth Branagh recreate the speech for the BBC production, 10 Days to War.