Sorry to hear that, but being an ex copper, can you, or do you want to tell us what happened, as it may save some of us from the same fate.

Lincoln .7

Not really sure Lincoln 7. Only realised when I checked my account online and found out that I had pennies left in my account rather than pounds! Immediately called the bank and got them to check transactions. Transpired that someone had had a fine time ordering items from Sony, John Lewis, Comet etc. at my expense.

Quite simply, someone has managed to obtain my card details and tried to use it to fit out there home a bit !! Knowing how they have obtained the details is another matter. Could have been cloned, or picked up from using the card online. I know it wasn’t from discarded details ( statements etc) as I always shred them. The bank have been good, and are making moves to have the funds returned to my account. The other worry is the problem of identity theft. As they know personal details ( this is known as they mananged to circumnavigate the “Clicksafe” password system and change the password). This means that they could apply for storecards, credit cards, etc all in my name. The first I would know about it is possibly when threatening letters for non-payment come through the door. I now have a credit agency scanning my credit profile for any applications made in my name.

All in all, I thought I was pretty careful about how I used my card – never letting it out of my sight in restaurants, shops etc. Just shows it’s good to keep a regular update on whats happening on your account. I was lucky that I caught it on the day that it started.

The thieving scumbag(s) who managed to clone my card, gain access to one of my bank accounts and wipe it out. 😡

Thanks to you – whoever you are – for all the hassle and inconvenience you’ve caused me. It’s good to know that I spend a lot of my time away from home, working in some of the less hospitable parts of the world to enable you to stroll along and help yourself to what isn’t yours.

Hope your next sh*te’s a hedgehog !!!!

Don’t forget “Thunderbird 3” outside the Eastern Airways shed !!!

Bit of a thread creep here, but there is also connection between Al Capone and Chicago’s “O’Hare” Airport……If you don’t know what it is, read on !!

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn’t famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” He was Capone’s lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.

Eddie lived the high life off the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him. Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object, and despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn’t give his son; he couldn’t pass on a good name or a good example. One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al “Scarface” Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified.

Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street . But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

The poem read:

“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.”

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. On February 20, 1942. LT O’Hare and his wingman were the only U.S. Navy fighters available in the air when a second wave of Japanese bombers were attacking his aircraft carrier Lexington. They raced eastward and arrived 1,500 feet above eight attacking Bettys nine miles out at 1700. Dufilho’s guns were jammed and wouldn’t fire, leaving only O’Hare to protect the carrier. The enemy formation was a V of Vs flying very close together and using their rear facing guns for mutual protection. O’Hare’s Wildcat, armed with four 50-caliber guns, with 450 rounds per gun, had enough ammunition for about 34 seconds of firing.

O’Hare’s initial maneuver was a high-side diving attack employing accurate deflection shooting. He accurately placed bursts of gunfire into a Betty’s right engine and wing fuel tanks. When the stricken craft on the right side of the formation abruptly lurched to starboard, he ducked to the other side of the V formation and aimed at the enemy bomber on the extreme left. When he made his third and fourth firing passes, the Japanese planes were close enough to the American ships for them to fire their anti-aircraft guns. The five survivors managed to drop their ordnance, but all ten 250kg bombs missed. After O’Hare blew up the leading Betty’s port engine. O’Hare believed he had shot down five bombers, and damage a sixth. Lieutenant Commander Thach returning to the scene with other pilots of the flight from another action later reported that at one point he saw three of the enemy bombers falling in flames at the same time.

In fact, O’Hare destroyed only three Bettys. Another two Bettys were damaged by O’Hare’s attacks. One safely landed at Vunakanau airdrome and the other was later shot down by LT Noel Gayler when trying to escape 40 miles from Lexington.

With his ammunition expended, O’Hare returned to his carrier, and was fired on accidentally but with no effect by a .50-caliber machine gun from the Lexington. O’Hare’s fighter had in fact been hit by only one bullet during his flight, the single bullet hole in his port wing disabling the airspeed indicator. According to Thach, Butch then approached the gun platform to calmly say to the embarrassed anti-aircraft gunner who had fired at him, “Son, if you don’t stop shooting at me when I’ve got my wheels down, I’m going to have to report you to the gunnery officer.”[16]

By shooting down five bombers O’Hare became a flying ace, was selected for promotion to Lieutenant Commander, and became the first naval aviator to receive the Medal of Honor. After receiving the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, then-LT O’Hare was described as “modest, inarticulate, humorous, terribly nice and more than a little embarrassed by the whole thing”.

A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.

So, if you ever find yourself at O’Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It’s located between Terminals 1 and 2.

Well….Butch O’Hare was “Easy Eddie’s” son.

Google did better. If you googled our previous defence minister a few years ago, the first link was a dictionary entry for “conard” (coward in French):D

Thread drift I know so please forgive, but try going into Google homepage, type in “French Military Victories” and press the “I Feel Lucky” button. See what comes up !!

No malice intended to our cousins across the Channel…..just a bit of fun !! :diablo:

The last aircraft of the Jet Airaft Preservation Group was moved out of Long Marston yesterday Hunter T.7 N-315 ws loaded for its trip to Aberdeen.

Do you know where about in or around Aberdeen it’s headed ?? Just that it’s my neck of the woods and if there was ever any volunteer help needed …..!!!

Post no. 2, i said it.

Sorry…..must have been beer induced blindness !! 😀

“Reach for the Sky” anybody ??