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Post by johnofgwent on Nov 12, 2022 12:49:55 GMT
Yes, I have to say it wasn’t until my youngest did A level history that she dug up the details of how Gavrilo Princip shooting the ArchDuke WHERE he did caused WW1 that the senseless stupidity of it all hit me. Had the assassin been almost any other nationality and had it been anywhere else and had society in general not pissed royally on the appearance in public at a state event of the woman he loved … millions would have lived beyond their twenties in not one but TWO world wars and the world would be a very different place indeed. That said, the world had we NOT won either wouldn’t be one many wouldn’t have appreciated much. As a six foot three blonde steel blue eyed Viking I would have been ok, but not many of the rest of this street would. Mind you, without the massive cull of European males both wars created …….. Did we win though? Millions dead and injured, economies wrecked for decades. Instead of looking at the war time leaders as heroes, why don't we question why they allowed things to escalate to that point? We give them a free pass when we say things like "we would all be speaking German". The soldiers did their duty, but the leaders neglected theirs when they allowed war to break out. It was they that created the conditions for war, not the poor fuckers that had to fight it. There were no “winners”. There never are, apart from arms dealers. Perhaps the biggest political gaffe in recent years was the decision by some arse in the Scottish devolved government to go to a golf match instead of a D day memorial, and at the same time the Welsh First Minister chose to go have a meeting with a multi millionaire who wanted to hold a golf tournament instead of standing on a French beach . In his case it seemed particularly appropriate that he was reminded the people whose deaths he snubbed made it possible for him to stand up and spout his hot air in Welsh when had they not done what they did he would quite certainly be forced to shove his regional dialect up his arse and speak German instead. Probably the sickest thing I ever heard about either conflict were the ‘blessed villages’ where all those who went actually came back. I don’t think they were in a majority I think our own family dodged some bullets literally in some cases, my great uncles got sent to Africa and both grandfathers had reserved occupations, one Hitler tried quite hard to kill, the other would have ended his days in a pillbox on the A48 a few miles from Chepstow had the German invasion gone ahead. As a teenager I met a chap called Arthur Barnes. He worked with my father in the Cold War era, flying an experimental Canberra for the radar research at Malvern. He had flown a spitfire in the war and told me his job was to get up early, climb to a freezing cold altitude and wait for my grandfathers invention to tell him where to go so he could shoot some poor sod in the back before he knew what was coming, and you did it because if you didn’t get them first they would do it to you. He told me to be very careful whenever I went to work on weapons of war lest someone decide to have me use them instead of make them. I really did feel his presence every time I went anywhere near a ship, plane or tank in my former work. As I said at the opening of this, no, I don’t think there were any winners from either conflict. There were perhaps some advances in society, but at terrible cost. |
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Post by Steve on Nov 12, 2022 12:57:06 GMT
 Sydney Opera House yesterday. The Ozzies do some things well. |
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on Nov 13, 2022 11:14:52 GMT
We should never forget all of the those who fell in Wars, be they members of the armed services, or civilians We should never forget the smart people too like my father. He scammed his way out of National Service. |
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Post by Pacifico on Nov 13, 2022 12:10:07 GMT
A very good turnout for 11:00 - the town band was good and the parade was excellent, this year we didn't have a single kid collapsing (last year we had 3!). The RAF contingent were obviously the smartest, but that was only to be expected. Great weather as well which helped with the very large crowd.  |
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Post by Red Rackham on Nov 13, 2022 15:03:56 GMT
First time for everything I suppose.  |
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Post by Red Rackham on Nov 13, 2022 15:05:02 GMT
We should never forget all of the those who fell in Wars, be they members of the armed services, or civilians We should never forget the smart people too like my father. He scammed his way out of National Service. And you're proud of that? |
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Post by Red Rackham on Nov 13, 2022 15:16:30 GMT
I have to say, this morning as we watched the Reith laying at the cenotaph, I looked at the rows of politicians and felt nothing but contempt for them. They were honouring people who died in defence of this country, yet today they allow hundreds of thousands of invaders to just walk in. The very people those po faced politicians were supposedly honouring will be turning in their graves.
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Post by Montegriffo on Nov 13, 2022 16:01:34 GMT
I have to say, this morning as we watched the Reith laying at the cenotaph, I looked at the rows of politicians and felt nothing but contempt for them. They were honouring people who died in defence of this country, yet today they allow hundreds of thousands of invaders to just walk in. The very people those po faced politicians were supposedly honouring will be turning in their graves. Honestly Red, do you really think this is an appropriate thread to crowbar your favourite hobby horse into? Especially when you consider how many men from all over the Commonwealth fought and died to protect Britain from fascism. There is no shortage of threads on immigration for you to vent your spleen on so how about you stay on topic in this one. |
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Post by Red Rackham on Nov 13, 2022 17:09:36 GMT
I have to say, this morning as we watched the Reith laying at the cenotaph, I looked at the rows of politicians and felt nothing but contempt for them. They were honouring people who died in defence of this country, yet today they allow hundreds of thousands of invaders to just walk in. The very people those po faced politicians were supposedly honouring will be turning in their graves. Honestly Red, do you really think this is an appropriate thread to crowbar your favourite hobby horse into? Especially when you consider how many men from all over the Commonwealth fought and died to protect Britain from fascism. There is no shortage of threads on immigration for you to vent your spleen on so how about you stay on topic in this one. My post is not about immigration. It's about duplicitous virtue signalling politicians who don't give a damn about remembrance. |
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Post by Vinny on Nov 13, 2022 17:14:48 GMT
It is right that we remember the brave young men and women who have died fighting for their country. However, I was watching that new film on Netflix, "All Quiet of The Western Front", the other day, and it made me think why we don't express our outrage at all these world leaders that allow things to escalate to war, and then send their troops into the meat grinder. Instead of thinking we "won the war", we should be viewing the First World War as one of the most shameful things in the history of the world. Belgium was invaded, what were we supposed to do ? Admittedly we hadn't the tactics or the appropriate weapons at the start of the war and we lost a lot of good and decent soldiers, but, we went into that war for the right reasons with the best of intentions. At times our politicians made mistakes, Generals made mistakes, but the decision to defend Belgium was right. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Nov 13, 2022 17:31:13 GMT
Honestly Red, do you really think this is an appropriate thread to crowbar your favourite hobby horse into? Especially when you consider how many men from all over the Commonwealth fought and died to protect Britain from fascism. There is no shortage of threads on immigration for you to vent your spleen on so how about you stay on topic in this one. My post is not about immigration. It's about duplicitous virtue signalling politicians who don't give a damn about remembrance. Of course it was. I think you dropped something.  |
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