What would the world be like now ???

That’s more or less it.

Bear in mind that, for some reason still unknown, the mortality rate was highest among young adults.

The fact is that as we get older we have been exposed to more diseases and viruses so if we survive them we are less likely to pick up something fatal. The record on heart attacks is even more scary. Someone having a heart attack in their 20s is a great deal less likely to survive than someone in their 50s

I would doubt that all the Afghan civilians who have been killed are nineteen.

Have you been given extra internet priveleges today? You normally only post between 11 and 12:30.

Regards,

kev35

Pilot Officer Sir Arnold Wilson, 37 Squadron, killed while flying as a rear gunner in a Wellington, 31st May, 1940. He was 56 years of age.

Private Edmund Henstock, 2/5 South Staffordshire Regiment. Killed in action whilst acting as a stretcher bearer, 25th April 1917. He was 38 years of age and left a widow and two children under 8.

Sgt. John Mears. Voluntarily joined Aly Sloper’s Cavalry in November 1914. He was 32 years of age and survived the war and was 39 on leaving the Army in 1921.

If you take a look at the Great War, it was not only young men who rushed to join the Services under age. Many men joined up even though they were outside the higher age regulations set throughout the war.

Regards,

kev35

there will always be exceptions

but in vietnam the average age was nineteen n n n n nineteen nineteen !!

as in most conflicts

i rarely see anyone aged killed in afghanistan sure it will probably have happened but it’ll be a rarity !!

In addition to the previously made points about technology and the Cold War.

If WWII had not occurred, perhaps there would still be an English Empire.
And French, Dutch, German….

One outstanding effect it had in the U.S. was the “GI Bill” that gave college educations (or trade/technical traing) to millions. It really helped fuel US economic growth in the 40s-60s.

I’ve just thought of one. :diablo:

Edit: Make that two…. :diablo: :diablo:

That would be ********ed and ********ed I presume?

Regards,

kev35

For those of us old enough to remember Watergate… ”expletive deleted” is an unforgettable phrase LOL 😀

……..two!

nope, give us a clue……..:diablo:

I’ve just thought of one. :diablo:

Edit: Make that two…. :diablo: :diablo:

Do you know, I must be bored. I’ve actually spent twenty minutes trying to think of a ten letter expletive ending in ed and and I can’t. Either I’m just not very bright today or I’ve led a sheltered life.

Regards,

kev35

with common sense used it isn’t unknown

the young are psychologicaly easier to brainwash

say to an 18 yr old climb over there and rush towards a machine gun and he’ll stupidly view it as fun and adventure

say the same thing to a 40 yr old and he’ll probably tell you to ” get ********ed !!”

the forces rely on brainwashing and using it to thier advantage with the young

Yes, very eloquent.

The posting of mine that you quoted was actually talking about a flu pandemic and not a war, but don’t let that stop you.

Bumblebee.

Desertion runs in the family.

My Maternal Grandfather, 9378 Pte. James Bert Bullock, 1st South Staffs and later Machine Gun Corps voluntarily gave himself up after extending a period of leave. He was a Territorial, having joined in 1913, probably to give himself a couple of weeks holiday a year. He found himself on something of an extended holiday when he arrived in France in September 1914. He talked little but proudly wore the ribbons of Pip, Squeak and Wilfred on his waistcoat. He was an ‘Old Contemptible.’ We’re not sure when he was transferred to the MGC but family story states that he was wounded by a bullet which went through his leg and allegedly killed his best mate who was following him in that defining moment of going over the top. This has been attributed to an early battle in 1914 and to the Somme. I suspect we’ll never know for sure.

We do know that in 1917 a child was either stillborn or died in its first few days of life. grandad was granted compassionate leave. My Gran was very ill and he overstayed by two or three days. He was convicted of desertion but they must have accepted the extenuating circumstances. Again, it’s only a family story, but he is said to have been walking to Bilston Police Station to give himself up, accompanied by the local Bobby, when two Military Policeman learned of the circumstances they refused to take custody of him until he was at the Police Station. This was so that it would look better at his Court Martial. He was convicted in April 1917.

Like so many who were lucky enough to survive, he came home, settled into work and family life and died in 1970. He was suffering in dementia so I never really got to know him. His medals and one or two other bits and bobs of his are mounted on the wall near to my PC as I sit to write this.

Regards,

kev35

say to an 18 yr old climb over there and rush towards a machine gun and he’ll stupidly view it as fun and adventure

I would suggest that if you are applying the above comment to the young men and women currently serving in Afghanistan, then you are doing them a great disservice.

Regards,

kev35

Blimey they made ’em tough in those days.

Paternal Grandfather who looks to have had something of both an interesting and checquered career. Born to a serving Royal Marine at Queenstown in Cork in 1882, family stories say he was a groom for an Irish landowner. Said to have sought adventure by joining a Cavalry Regiment early 1900’s and served in India. Yet to be confirmed but one day I’ll get back to TNA. Told his sons that he deserted, presumably back in England or Ireland and went on to be a horseman in circuses and travelling shows and worked as a groom in between.

Joined the ASC in November 1914, I have copies of his attestation papers, which state he had no prior service, but then again you wouldn’t admit it if you’d deserted seven years previously would you? Served in Salonika where he lost half his face whilst serving the guns in an artillery duel. Hospital in Malta then England but didn’t want to be invalided out. Went to Western Front just before the Armistice. Stayed on with the Army of Occupation until 1921. Then went back to being a circus showman and in later life a steam roller driver. He died in 1951.

Regards,

kev35

Sgt. John Mears. Voluntarily joined Aly Sloper’s Cavalry in November 1914. He was 32 years of age and survived the war and was 39 on leaving the Army in 1921.

Family?

Moggy

I’ve always been surprised that although an estimated 50 million people worldwide died of the disease, 450 to 500 million contracted the disease and survived.

Regards,

kev35

GA was talking about the Spanish flu pandemic,which did indeed kill more young people rather than the elderly and infirm that you’d expect.
Sorry to be a smart@rse.

the forces rely on brainwashing and using it to thier advantage with the young

Pilot Officer Sir Arnold Wilson, 37 Squadron, killed while flying as a rear gunner in a Wellington, 31st May, 1940. He was 56 years of age.

Private Edmund Henstock, 2/5 South Staffordshire Regiment. Killed in action whilst acting as a stretcher bearer, 25th April 1917. He was 38 years of age and left a widow and two children under 8.

Sgt. John Mears. Voluntarily joined Aly Sloper’s Cavalry in November 1914. He was 32 years of age and survived the war and was 39 on leaving the Army in 1921.

If you take a look at the Great War, it was not only young men who rushed to join the Services under age. Many men joined up even though they were outside the higher age regulations set throughout the war.

Regards,

kev35

That’s more or less it.

Bear in mind that, for some reason still unknown, the mortality rate was highest among young adults.

with common sense used it isn’t unknown

the young are psychologicaly easier to brainwash

say to an 18 yr old climb over there and rush towards a machine gun and he’ll stupidly view it as fun and adventure

say the same thing to a 40 yr old and he’ll probably tell you to ” get ********ed !!”

the forces rely on brainwashing and using it to thier advantage with the young

…….The border control would have gone away by what…1940 say?

Germany did away with border control in Western Europe on May 10th 1940.

Regards,

kev35