Blunt was a 25-year-old cavalry officer at that time and the head of his unit, which was leading a column of 30,000 NATO troops. The Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers had entered Kosovo under a UN mandate after Yugoslavia withdrew from the region following a 11-week bombing campaign by NATO. The Yugoslav troops were trying to suppress Kosovo's ethic Albanians' campaign to split from the country. "I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there. "I was the lead officer with my troop of men behind us ... The soldiers directly behind me were from the Parachute Regiment, so they're obviously game for the fight.

"The direct command [that] came in from General and [NATO Supreme Commander Europe] Wesley Clark was to overpower them. Various words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as 'destroy' came down the radio." But Blunt, who said he was "party to the conversation" about the possible attack, said "we were querying our instruction" as it would have meant fighting the Russians. "Fortunately, up on the radio came [British] General Mike Jackson, whose exact words at the time were, 'I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III'. "And after a couple of days the Russians there said 'hang on we have no food and no water. Can we share the airfield with you?'." Blunt said he would have defied General Clark's orders even without the support of General Jackson, risking a court martial.

"There are things that you do along the way that you know are right, and those that you absolutely feel are wrong, that I think it's morally important to stand up against, and that sense of moral judgement is drilled into us as soldiers in the British army." General Clark, who has since retired from the US Army, told the BBC in 2000 that he had cleared the possible attack with then NATO Secretary General Javier Solana. "He talked about what the risks were and what might happen if the Russians got there first, and he said: 'Of course you have to get to the airport'. "I said: 'Do you consider I have the authority to do so?' He said: 'Of course you do, you have transfer of authority'." A senior Russian officer also told the BBC in 2000 that the Russians planned to fly in thousands of soldiers after they occupied the airport.

"Let's just say that we had several airbases ready. We had battalions of paratroopers ready to leave within two hours." Blunt quit the military to become a singer in 2002. His debut album sold 11 million copies, led by the success of his hit song You're Beautiful. smh.com.au