Today a special British Airways flight, an Airbus A321 airliner, carried 13 former Royal Air Force pilots, survivors of ‘The Few‘ who defended their country during the Battle of Britain in 1940, on a tour of the area of the Battle. It was joined in formation flight by two historic fighters, a Spitfire and a… Continue reading A salute to The Few, 70 years later
Tag: Military memories
As Lawdog says: “What problem?”
My friend Lawdog opines at some length on the case of the Gurkha soldier who neatly removed the head of a Taliban warlord, in order to have some proof that said warlord had shuffled off this mortal coil. Needless to say, the politically-correct pantywaists who now run things in Britain have been squeaking in horror… Continue reading As Lawdog says: “What problem?”
A long overdue commemoration of courage
I’m delighted to read that the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command of World War II is at last to have its own memorial erected in London. The Daily Mail reports: A memorial to the 55,000 airmen of Bomber Command who died helping defeat Hitler has finally been given the go-ahead. The £2.5 million [about US… Continue reading A long overdue commemoration of courage
“The Incredibly Stupid One”
Old NFO has a wonderful tale of courage, ingenuity and perseverance in captivity on his blog. Head over there and read it for yourself. Highly recommended. Peter
History comes to life
Back on March 14th I reported on the sale of a collection of British World War II propaganda posters. One of them was this: The Daily Mail reports that the man pictured in the poster has been identified. The dashing young airman who became the poster boy of the RAF during World War II has… Continue reading History comes to life
A new Battle of the River Plate is brewing
At the outbreak of World War II, the German pocket-battleship Graf Spee launched an audacious and far-ranging raid on British ships and commerce in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. She was brought to bay in the Battle of the River Plate, following which she sought refuge in Montevideo, Uruguay. A few days later, acting on… Continue reading A new Battle of the River Plate is brewing
A well deserved honor
I’m delighted to read that the US Post Office will honor World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin with a special stamp. CNN reports: Mauldin died at age 81 in the early days of 2003. The end of his life had been rugged. He had been scalded in a bathtub, which led to terrible injuries and… Continue reading A well deserved honor
A wartime souvenir discovered after 66 years
A British veteran of World War II recently discovered that he’s been carrying around an unwelcome memento of the fighting for almost seven decades. An 83-year-old West Midlands man thought he had arthritis only to discover a German bullet had been lodged in his hip for the last 66 years. War veteran Fred Gough was… Continue reading A wartime souvenir discovered after 66 years
Of fobbits, geardos and rooney guns
Back in the days when I wore military uniform, we used to joke about rear-echelon wannabe’s (we called them something ruder, that I can’t publish on so high-toned a forum as this blog) who dressed in the most ‘tacti-cool’ manner they could manage. You could bet your next paycheck that if those of us ‘up… Continue reading Of fobbits, geardos and rooney guns
Nineteen years ago tonight . . .
. . . Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm as the Allied coalition’s air forces forced their way into Iraq to begin dismantling its air defenses and pulverizing its ground forces. I was up late in South Africa, watching CNN on satellite feed, and I can still remember the thrill of that first strike… Continue reading Nineteen years ago tonight . . .