A Young American Man's Musings On The Battle Of Britain…

Hey Rad,

Good to hear from you, though actually those figures are quite outdated at this point! At present it has received 3 times that, 2,227 views, as far as just clicks to that link go, and has been viewed in at minimum 36 countries. It was a great ride, got me in contact with lots of very respectable people, and may even help me get into grad school this January. I’m also now beginning work on my first book, a biography of Lane, which I’m starting with the consent of the Lane family who I’ve been in touch with for about a month now. I’m also looking into starting a book on No. 315 Sqn members after some discussion with others in the field. Don’t worry, this won’t be the last I’m heard from. Thank you to everyone for your support! Especially Andy and Baz, who’ve done far more to spread it than I’d ever hoped for! And to all the others for the debates and discussion as well like JDK, I won’t forget that either!

Cheers all!

Just an update, keeping track of things on my blogger account, “The Faces of ‘The Few'” has received 764 page views since I put it up on The Battle of Britain Historical Society’s discussion board almost 48 hours ago. It’s been viewed in over ten countries (they only list the top ten) and seems to be being twittered, facebooked, forumed, and emailed all over the place. This is astounding to me.. (FTR No I cannot actually read people’s emails, dont’ worry!) I just never expected any of this and I largely have this forum and Andy Saunders (Tangmere1940) to thank for that! Cheers to everyone!

Nathan

I apologize for my failing penmanship… I’ve probably only gotten 5 hours of sleep since this went up, i think tomorrow calls for a day off!

Nathan, that’s brilliant news!!:), don’t be so astounded!, in honesty,your appraisal of the battle have probably reached out and brought an awareness to many people who aren’t entheusiasts or historians in a much better way than the official channels have. Add to this is the amount of debate your description has generated.

I feel that it is us that should say thank’s to you for reminding us, not only of the importance of the events and outcome of 1940, which should be of a world-wide commemeration, but that it was a battle worth fighting, for the sake of us all.

The vast majority on this forum will always show gratitude to the few, I just wish that it was more universal.

Cheers, Rad.

Sorry DCK, missed this, yes in fact it has generated hits (Google Blogspot lets you view things like hit numbers, referring websites, the countries they originate from, it’s rather fascinating I must say!)

Good!!

I hope my link to his article generated some of those visits he listed.

Sorry DCK, missed this, yes in fact it has generated hits (Google Blogspot lets you view things like hit numbers, referring websites, the countries they originate from, it’s rather fascinating I must say!)

Now what did I say, and where’s the delete?

hah! I’ll never divulge such things so easily, they’ll follow me to my grave! No no, I was just giving you deserved credit for dousing at least my flames a good bit, good sir.

On an unrelated note, one last message to Baz (Spitfireman) while corresponding with Michael Lane (cousin of Brian mentioned in my piece) he loved the pictures and is adding them and the piece to their family dossier he’s been assembling, so it seems we’ve both been able to add to Lane family history.

Now a special thanks too to James K for his kind words in talking me into returning, and identifying some personalities around here to help give me a better understanding of the rest of the crew.

Uh, oh.

This appraisal of forum regulars is available to the paranoid when wrapped in a $50 (or fifty quid, I don’t mind) note. :diablo:

Now what did I say, and where’s the delete?

Okay, I’ll return one more time before returning to my task of fighting off a lovely bout of allergy attacks. I’m humbled by your praise Mike, truly. And don’t worry Mike or DCK, I’ll keep the secret going. And DCK, the words are always there, we just sometimes need that spark to let them out. For me, it was this photograph.

I also want to say that I may have seemed like I was overly bitter to J Boyle, just in case anyone felt that way, I wasn’t really. I’ve heard it from others that he is a stand-up individual and I was not accusing him of being a troll, merely expressing that it was how some of the posts were coming off to me and I think others. Cheers again!

God that was an inspired piece of essay writing. Congratulations young man, I have no idea of your age nor do I wish to know as there are many of my age (60+) who would be hard pressed to match it.
Well done and thanks for sharing it with us.
Mike

I don’t know his age, but under 30 maybe? But then again, you don’t wanna know 🙂

I identify with where he’s coming from, as I’m 29 myself. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to write such an emotional piece on the BoB myself, but I do venture into writing when I have the time, and I hope my link to his article generated some of those visits he listed.

God that was an inspired piece of essay writing. Congratulations young man, I have no idea of your age nor do I wish to know as there are many of my age (60+) who would be hard pressed to match it.
Well done and thanks for sharing it with us.
Mike

Well it’s Thursday, and I return, as promised. Firstly, I really want to thank everyone for all the support that I have gotten for my very first piece. It’s really been a fantastic ride.

Now, I need to address J Boyle. Firstly, I think a lot of miscommunication has been happening. Until your last post I was unaware of what point exactly you were trying to make. For days I’d been dealing with peoples’ appraisals of the entire piece, or very clearly stating the part in question they disliked. It seemed to me your statements were in the former category, which had I realized you were really referring to one particular aspect of the piece my responses would have been drastically different. And if it was clearly stated and in the mix I somehow missed it, then for that I apologize.

At this point I have to take another moment to reiterate a very strong point. This piece was in no way meant to cover the entirety of the pre-Pearl Harbor World War Two or even the entirety of the Battle of Britain. It is meant to inspire strong emotions and increase awareness and encourage pride as well as self-reflection. Things have to be left out, as this was a piece of rhetoric, not a historical document. I put historical information into it, but enough books have been written on the subject I didn’t need to write an entire new one to put down into words the feelings that came to mind as I stared into the face of a very admirable man. Instead I wanted something that would get people to want to know more for themselves, and I think in that I was successful.

Please do not assume as I’m younger than you and may not have studied some things for as long as you in this area that I’m therefore a novice. I actually know a great deal about volunteer Americans in the RAF/RCAF, particularly as individuals, however, the main course of the arguments I’ve been dealing with have been people only focusing on American involvement in the Battle of Britain, which put me into that focus. Had it been made more clear that you were upset that I only made passing mention to the American volunteers who did come after, this would have been a whole different thread. But it leads me back to my other point, I had to pick and choose with this piece. No, I didn’t make that big a deal of the brave Americans who went after, but I assure you it would not have changed the tone of my piece had I put more attention to it. But it isn’t that I didn’t mention them at all either. I stated that the “first squadron” of volunteers didn’t make it into service until February of 1941, which the use of first implies that more came after, not that none joined up until Pearl Harbor. Could I have elaborated on that more, yes, but I suppose I felt that going into things like that in too much more detail would have been a distraction from the main thrust of the piece, and if that’s what offends you, then unfortunately, I don’t really feel that’s my problem. I’m sorry that you don’t like that aspect, but at this point I can’t change it, I wouldn’t even if I could, and as I’ve said before I knew this piece was going to ruffle feathers if anyone else ever read it.

Which is another thing I would like to be understood, this was the first piece I have written that has gotten any attention from an audience of any kind, ever. Until now, no one, not even my friends or family, had ever viewed my page(by which I’m referring to any page of my site, including the main page, all views came from myself). Now less than a week later my page have been viewed over 1,800 times in now at least twenty five countries, probably more. It’s going to be read by an RAF Wing Commander aloud to crowds at an RAF airbase and been read and approved of by some of Britain’s elite. I never intended any of this in writing this piece. As I’ve said to others, the only person I ever figured would read it, and maybe even only person I ever intended it for, was me. Had it been intended for a wider audience, I may have written things differently, gone into a few more details here and there. But at present, this is how it stands, and now that maybe the air is cleared a little, we can make things a bit less hostile as far as the debate goes.

But in the future, J, I would please ask that you do not alter quotations of other people by adding bold marks and underlining to act as stress points or making statements such as “in my 40 years of” to help prove your points, it comes off as rather condescending and rude and does not lead to civil responses and debate. I know that sounds like a bit of a prickly statement, but in my time of studying how best to communicate effectively in the online world with the inherent communication deficiencies therein, those are just a couple tips to keep people from becoming standoffish when you’re trying to debate. It also makes you seem more like you’re actually following your signature and your description “with malice towards none”. Those are the tactics of “trolls”, not educated people.

Now for Kev35, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding then, and I do thank you greatly for the kind words. As my first piece, and as it was written with such passion on my part, I admit, I got defensive. You’re right, the missions flown by Bomber Command, particularly in the early days with the very outdated Blenheim were also the work of heroes, and it is an injustice that so little is known about them. And who knows, maybe in the near future I’ll write a piece on that as well. But again, I apologize for mistaking your intentions.

Now for Spitfireman Baz, this news pretty well has me speechless… I’m so flattered by that I really don’t know how to properly say thank you… Well I suppose saying thank you works but it just doesn’t feel like enough. So thank you again and I’m anxiously waiting to hear how it all went.

To PeterAsh, welcome to the board as well, well, welcome to the thread at any rate! And I thank you very kindly for your words.

To Pagen01 and Radpoe Meteor, thank you very much for your support. I really hope someday I get the chance to actually meet so many of you all and thank you face to face.

Now a special thanks too to James K for his kind words in talking me into returning, and identifying some personalities around here to help give me a better understanding of the rest of the crew. I’ll do my best in spite of the rough times to be there in Chino for the handshake and drinks, no promises but to try.

Cheers all! (note, since I’m still trying to take a break this will pry be my only post today, so much to do and so little sleep…)

Firstly, Baz the Spitfire looks amazing- I only wish I’d Got the cash to bring both yours & Graham’s to Aeroventure:( – ah maybe one day.

Secondly, JB, don’t be so harsh on Nathan’s written observation in that credit is taken where it is not due. There is evidence that shows he is not entirely wrong on that count- both officially and through the Media, Film and television.

To give just two examples the post V.E. Day Victory exhibition in Paris was pre-dominantary American equipment and the more recent Holywood debacle about the capture of the U-571, forced an apology from the producers to those men who did capture the vessel.

IMHO Nathan’s essay was a fairly honest appraisal.

On the the issue of official hostility to volunteers- there was no direct threat to the USA in 1940, no Anglo-American agreements to supply.

Congratulations Baz on an excellent job

Welcome to the forum Peter.:)

Dragging my Spit around the country till 4am yesterday and then having to set it up at RAF St Mawgan at 10am and other stuff (including sleep!) meant I could only punch up a small post to show the results. I made the C.O. at St Mawgan read Nathans “The Few” whilst setting up and he now has it (peeled off the board!) and will read it out tonight at the function my Spitfire is attending there. The saga continues:)

I have had a nice response from Nathan (which I haven’t replied yet!)

The pictures I posted does not convey how busy it became!!

thanks guys

Baz

What a masterstroke, putting Nathan’s excellent work on display in such an eyecatching context (ie with Spitfire) such that the powerful people present might read it and think.

Spitfireman Baz, hats off to you.

Well done Baz, sadly I didn’t see your Spit on national TV, but it did show up on local Welsh news strangely!
Looks like it was a great occasion, and glad Nathans’ essay went down well.

Hello to all,
What an interesting lot you are. I drop in to this site most days to see what’s going on, without providing any contribution to the forum whatsoever. However, I feel that it is time to comment. The particular article of discussion, by Nathan, has obviously touched a lot of people for a number of reasons. Among those are: That it is about a select group that all would say were “it”. In addition, it is focused on an individual who, through a very powerful and moving photograph, together with well written verse brings forth to our thoughts, traits that are held in high regard. Faith, stamina and spirit come to mind immediately.

I admire you all for your constructive and positive comments. One person I would like to identify in particular is Spitfireman. To place Nathan’s ‘musings’ on a board for all to read shows the impact those words have had on you, something you wish for others to also understand and share. Need I say more?

Regards

Pete Ashdown

🙂 Nice ‘work’ there by that man and (team?) – by the sound of it very rewarding! 🙂

Well done Baz. Great to see.

Not long got back from taking my Spitfire to the Guildhall in London.

What a (busy)day!:eek:

If you look under the nose you will see Nathans ‘musings’ on a ‘A’ board.

It created considerable interest from some of Britains most powerful people, all positive.

Well done Nathan.

I also saw several WWII veterans taking time out to read it, again with positive results.

Baz

Nathan.

I think you’re getting your opinions on this forum somewhat confused. I think it is pretty safe to say that you have had almost universal praise and approval for an excellent piece of writing. I Imagine there are a good many of those who have read it who will have retained a copy, I know I have. You may find that your piece will be read by an ever widening audience, and that is as it should be.

But the membership of this forum can best be described as diverse. We have a common interest, aviation, but from there the tentacles of that interest spread far and wide. In the historic sense, there are real experts here such as JDK, Andy, Mark 12, J Boyle, the list goes on. But as diverse as our spheres of interests are, that is accompanied by the diversity of our understanding of the history and politics surrounding that time of interest.

I suppose what I’m clumsily trying to say is that we learn by questioning, and questioning generates discussion, and that’s what keeps people coming back here time and time again. We all have things we want to know and to learn, and very often someone here in this little corner of the internet will either come up with the answer or set you on your way to finding it.

My comments re the role of Bomber Command during the Battle of Britain were in no way meant to denigrate anything you had written. It’s just that I feel the part played by Bomber Command during that period is overlooked. The crews may have been ill equipped, they may have been wildly inaccurate, but they still represented the offensive arm of the RAF whilst all else was required for defence.

If anyone’s interested I’d reccomend reading one of the Battle of Britain chronologies alongside Larry Donnelly’s “The Other Few.”

Regards,

kev35