It's got people talking, which is a good thing – Fill Your Boots on importance of sharing tributes over Remembrance

The man behind the popular social media account Fill Your Boots has told Forces News about his mission to share thousands of heartfelt tributes to military personnel who have passed away.

Former paratrooper Alfie Usher has picked up more than 70,000 followers over the last 10 years, posting about life in the military on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as on Facebook.

In the run-up to Remembrance, he invited followers to share their tributes to military personnel who are no longer here - receiving more than 2,000 responses.

Warning: This article and the video above contain references to suicide.

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He said: "I put out a request ... if anyone wanted a moment in the spotlight for Remembrance, expecting it to get a couple of dozen responses and sort of have it over in a couple of hours. 

"But it had about 2,000 requests at the moment, so ploughing through those. 

"But I'm sort of surprised by the engagement level that people are having this year."

He added: "I think there’s an element that Remembrance is... more than usually politicised this year.

"There's a lot of other stuff going on in the background - and I think it's just nice to have somewhere where it's purely about Remembrance and not about any sort of other crusade going on."

Many of the tributes posted have included those who have took their own life and Alfie hopes it can encourage people to talk if they are struggling with their mental health.

He said: "I think it gives everyone a chance to reflect.

"I've had a lot of messages just from people still serving, just saying that it's been discussed at work and stuff, which I think is a positive.

"And there's obviously a lot of suicides and stuff in there as well, which I think is, sort of wasn't expecting that direction.

"As I say, it's not sort of a campaign, it's not anything, it’s just a chance to remember people.

"I think suicides hit people differently, especially like lots in Afghan and Iraq and stuff, but obviously equally as sad is just like slightly something in your stomach about it being potentially avoidable."

"Remembrance sort of comes and goes every year and you do your stuff on the weekend and then you're sort of over it, where this seems to have lasted a full week of Remembrance.

"It's got people talking, which is a good thing.

"But I'm also slightly scared that there's a lot of people if you're not in a great place already and you're seeing a lot of back-to-back ... terrible bits of information, then I’m not sure what that’s going to do."

Alfie said he appreciates the human element in the tributes he has been sharing.

He said: "I love the difference between how the MOD announces the death and how guys are relaying their friends’ passing because the MOD write-up will say one thing and then the guys will come back with 'he may have been the ugliest bloke in Nato, he was terrible with admin, weren’t a great soldier, but can we remember him?'. 

"I think it's more a human element to family and friends doing it than it coming out via someone else."

If you are struggling during this Remembrance period, there is plenty of help available. Click here to find out how you can be supported.