kev35What we really need is some good, forceful moderation here.
Then we could get rid of all the flying stuff :p
Moggy
Moderation Moggy? Wasn’t there meant to be some kind of poll about that soon?
Welcome John. I’m just a visitor here. I’m more regular on the historic forum, as befits my age and gradual mental decay….. Mind you I’m pretty regular due to the lactulose too 😉
Enjoy.
Regards,
kev35
kev35D-Day was about courage, bravery, endurance, fear, loathing, duty, honour, hatred, desire, passion, compassion, liberation, cruelty, strength, weakness, tears, sacrifice, laughter, blood and guts, humanity and inhumanity. It saw the best and the worst of mankind encapsulated in a day.
But it helped to give us what we have today. We all have different viewpoints. That’s as it should be. I don’t subscribe to TTP’s viewpoint that ‘America’s industrial might would have defeated the German’s easily.’ It was men not machinery that did it. The Duplex drive tanks that never got ashore were to have been a big help on the American beaches but they failed. It was men with Bangalore torpedoes, M-1 Carbines and an amazing amount of courage that did it.
For me, D-day, like the rest of the war, is about the people.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Bluenoser.
What a wonderfully heartwarming story. It’s nice to know that repatriation or proper burial of remains continues. I bet there was a host of invisible P-51’s flying over the ceremony that day.
Regards,
kev35
kev35[QUOTE=JDK]These would be F-15 ‘fighters’? Rather than F-15 ‘bombers’? So we don’t need to worry about any F-15 driver ‘friendly fire incidents’ with a bomb hang-up then… (See Yorkshire, hole in, sorry, by USAF.)
Above is trivia.
[QUOTE]
Hi, James.
You’re right, it is trivia. But it has no place here. Too many British families realise just how trivial ‘friendly fire’ incidents are. The rest of your post is spot on.
Commemoration is important. The 8th AF were an integral part of the Allied bombing effort mounted from these shores. It is right that not only their sacrifice be remembered but also the service of those who returned safely to the US. I’ve never been to Madingley when a ceremony was taking place, but, on your own, or with a group of like minded friends, it is an intensely moving place.
There’s an old wartime song, ‘Bless ’em all’. Never has that sentiment been more true than it is today.
Regards,
kev35
kev35It is, on the face of it, quite a generous gesture. But it is simply a small part of the debt we all owe.
Forget, the Aces, the V.C.’s, men with more ribbon than chest space to display it. And think about what the debt actually is. From the greatest ace to the humblest erks we owe them. And what we do owe them is the opportunity to live the lives we lead today. We owe them our lives pure and simple. Now, if we have the gall to believe that our lives are not worth a donation of £8, what is it all about? Europe, North Africa, the Far East, all the seas and oceans, even our own fields hold our dead. The War Memorials that our drunken and callow youth choose to defile by using them as a toilet name those who made the supreme sacrifice. If we’re now struggling to Honour the dead, for God’s sake let’s do what we can for those who are still with us.
Andy in Beds is right. Free entry to the over 70’s, let’s all pay a bit of the debt while some of them can appreciate the gesture.
Regards,
kev35
kev351988 – the tall guy on the front row? Couldn’t be JDK could it? As for the location, no aircraft in sight, a couple of guys on the front row with that bewildered ‘what are we doing here?’ expression, could it be Swinderby? I spent six months there one week.
Regards,
kev35
kev35I think it’s time…….
to embarass someone. Well, maybe not embarass them but express my appreciation that I was priveleged to play a very small part in reaching the end of one of their particular rainbows.
I refer to that magnifcent and dedicated piece of research which came about as the result of a forumite having nowhere to place a poppy on Rememberance Sunday, 2002. From a simple request for information about Sgt Johnny Wiseman came a literal avalanche of events which culminated in the dedication of a permanent Memorial to Johnny and to F/Sgt Alan ‘Babe’ Haddon who was killed in the same action.
The event, coming a day after Legends, had a very respectable turn out on a beautiful summers day. The RAF provided a padre and a Jaguar three ship flypast. I know in my heart that Johnny and Babe were with us that day, and probably many other of their comrades lingered in the gentle breeze. The day was theirs. I remember the organiser saying to me early on in his project that he wanted to give them the next best thing to a grave. And so he did.
An example of what many of us are striving for in one way or another, and a stunning success. No-one who was there that day will ever forget July 14th.
Mark Crame (Snapper), I, and no doubt Johnny and Babe, salute you.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Well my own personal Rainbow was reached when I was able to pay my terminally ill mum back for all the times she stayed by my sick bed when I was a child. An amazing experience that I will cherish for ever. It sounds corny but whan I was sitting next to her when she was drifting in and out of a Coma I kept thinking to myself “I’m not leaving my wingman”. Sad but true.
Nick.
It’s not corny, I had the privelege of being there for my mom and an aunt. Your comment about not leaving your wingman is truly wonderful. It encapsulates a concept we are all so aware of in our chosen interest and brings it to our lives today. Expressing that sentiment in that way is most certainly NOT sad.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Fantastic responses from everyone and some really heartwarming moments shared. Geoff and Dan are right, Rememberance is key to much of what we cherish. What Geoff says about planting the seeds for future generations is of paramount importance. We tend to forget just how ‘mortal’ we are until something happens to someone we are close to. To the veterans we remember and honour that mortality was an ever present fact of life. Empty seats in the mess, a dog who no longer has an owner, a wife or sweetheart waiting for the news that their lived one is safe, and the final devastating realisation that they weren’t.
Not an achievement, not even a rainbow, and at the time this incident occurred I was too naive to realise its importance and significance. I have told this story before but that was nearly three years ago now. Back in the early eighties I was at an airshow down south and had the opportunity to clamber inside Sally B for a small fee. In front of me in the queue was a short grey haired chap wearing a leather jacket. Anyway, on leaving the aircraft he stumbled and fell and I helped him up. He was crying. I asked if he was ok, (I cringe at the crass naievety of that question now), he had been a ball gunner in 1944 and in his broad American accent told me he was crying with pleasure at the memories evoked by sight of an aircraft which had carried him safely through his tour, and with sadness at the loss of his best friend ‘whose remains were hosed out of the tail turret’. His words, etched forever in my memory, not mine. I would swap every memory of every airshow and aircraft I have seen to be able to spend one hour in that mans company. To have the chance to ask him the questions which would come easily to my lips now. And to thank him.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Robert.
“I can understand that you’re a bit upset about this and I am speaking primarily as a layman, but I would have thought that the examiner needs to be confident in his/her own mind that you understand the principles and methodology as well as getting the right answers. I am not suggesting that you guessed the answer, but getting the answer right is only half the battle I would think, as if the answer doesn’t look right, I suggest you need to understand the workings first to see where you went wrong and therefore be able to correct it. I’m not trying to patronise you on this, but surely the examiner is somewhat more experienced and knows what he/she is doing?”
As another layman I would expect the same. When training to be a nurse it was not enough to be able to give an answer to any calculation for drug or IV dosages, you had to be able to demonstrate how and why you came to that answer. I’m sure if you persevere and keep practicing as you are all will come right in the end. After all, you’ve got this far.
Auster fan.
“Reminds me of my grammar school days in the 70s trying to work out log tables…………….. aaaaggghhhhhh!!!!!! 🙂 “
Grammar school? And you can’t even spell aaarrrggghhh! What’s the world coming to?
Regards,
kev35
kev35That was indeed the plan but a family member is in ITU and a dear friend has just found out their nephew has died. It all got a bit frantic last night and was desperate for a while this morning so I had to give it a miss.
How was today? Hope you all had a good time.
Regards,
kev35
kev35It looks very much as though they have cut a triangular shape into the grass which has been concreted to support the starboard undercarriage leg of the aircraft. Looking at the ‘conga’ line of aircraft on RWY 23 the last but one (777?) overhangs the runway by a considerable margin on both sides neccessitating Concorde having to move that bit onto the grass to give enough room for safe passage.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Mark.
I think Ashley will call you tomorrow to find out where you are. Hope that helps.
Regards,
kev35
kev35I have terrible visions of Carry on Doctor……..
You have terrible visions?
regards,
kev35
kev35All being well I shall be in attendance on the morrow. I’m a bit worried about coming actually as Snapper has already volunteered himself for wheelchair duties. If anyone has a barf bag or two from their ATC days could they please bring them along?
I’m easy to recognise, I shall be, as Geoff says, seated with a decidedly green tint to my visage and a nervous twitch and will repeatedly be saying things like “That’s not Snapper over there is it? Where’s my medication? I need a lie down now…….”
regards,
kev35
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