This is a sad and interesting resurrected thread. I have had to retype this 3 times due to being timed out…grrrrrr
My grandfather’s memoirs talk of a Luftwaffe chap down in South London…I need to cross check with other sources…I can understand a degree of unpleasantness on both sides.
In 1940/1, GB people had their backs to the walls; relentless bombing, numerous deaths, threat of invasion, scary news from Europe, on their own for two long years…all they wanted was the war to be taken to the Nazi bully boys. Newsreels show 1000’s of swastika waving Germans; not all were acting under duress????!
Sure, nasty things must have been done by some allied people and civillians, but at least it was not officially sanctioned by the GB government: Unlike the mass murder of Jews, Slavs, political prisoners, Russians, mentally ill, non arian people, allied servicemen, ethinics, people regarded as non-humans: all was sanctioned by the Nazi Germany government. They also conducted numerous massacres of civillians and servicemen even early in the war. In 1940, during the BEF retreat, servicemen were massacred.
Whilst I do not believe in doing things cos someone else started it, the Nazis had to be swept away into history: noone who did not live at that time can really understand this or have the right to criticise our allied forces. I am fiercely proud of them all, then and our services now. It is by their duties and sacrifices I can now type this now. And others (with their perfect hindsight and desire to apply modern, peacetime ‘values’ to times they could have no idea of understanding) can criticise them and try to devalue their contributions.
British people are ridiculously self critical…heaven only knows why. Modern values are not as good/high as we think they are.
Sign In
