homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II Here's what happened (Continued)

Folks,

Happy 10th HWH Anniversary my friend. I will remember that from now on and, yes, the stylings of some of those cartoons were less like Archie and more like those I've seen in Playboy when I was glancing through the magazine purely for its literary content....

I also remember the Vargas paintings done so well in his particularly tantalizing style. I have always found art, even magazine art broadens the mind, haven't you? And they were some classy broads.

In his 80's and having cast off his three live-in playmates deceptively dubbed "The Girls Next Door" for their TV show, Mr. Hefner is about to venture into matrimony once more. His daughter runs the magazine now. With so much more "literary content" on-line and freely available her job must not be an easy one.

You folks in the UK and Denmark have had your fill of snow I'm sure but it is still a novelty down here. All the Christmas snow is now melted and we have had balmy daytime temps around 65 F. / 18 C. for the last few days. All that is supposed to change next week when the unselfish C51 is expected to send us down some frigid Arctic air from Canada.

As I look out upon a warm, overcast, gray rainy day, it is hard to believe that just a week ago we had our first Christmas snow in 63 years and with 14 inches of new powder piled up around us it was bitterly cold with a 25 MPH wind (anything much under 32 degrees F. is "bitterly cold" to us). If I were a betting man I'd bet this pattern of unaccustomed snow may well continue through the winter this year. We had an extreme summer with 90's F. being the rule rather than the exception so why not expect a colder than average winter. Is this another sign of climate shift and global warming?

Let's ask our retired Beefeater, dogsbody, official HWH resident climatologist, prognosticator extraordinary and amateur weatherman, LeRoy what he thinks. Hmmmm. Sorry folks, I cannot seem to rouse him from what appears to be an exceptionally deep slumber. He is slumped... slouche.... reclining there in his customary chair by the crackling fire. Sigh, the holidays do take quite a toll on our LeRoy.

Veritably leaping into my Spitfire last evening I carelessly took to the skies over London. Skies, I must add, that were teeming with angry enemy planes bearing white and black crosses on their black wings. Even though the Studley Grange nursing facility was holding an open house I had reasonably expected to have Dux, MG and C51 on my wing. Apparently there had been some confusion regarding the duty roster that I had laboriously prepared which had rather a bit too conven... make that somehow gone completely missing.

It was a short trip. I went up to greet the Hun in my customary unfriendly manner and they promptly and uncharitably sent me right back down minus my ride and hanging under yards of silk,nylon, ladies bloomers or whatever they make parachutes out of these days. Not only that but, to heap insult upon injury, I distinctly heard laughter coming from inside a passing He-111. OK, I'm not absolutely sure about where it came from. It may have been coming from the ground. JRT gives an uncharacteristically innocent looking Dux a withering look and then he takes a warm seat also by the fireplace.

JRT,

Many thanks for your anniversary wishes. Your original signing up date was round about that time I'm sure. Can't we put a date to it. That should be recorded too! It would be fitting to count it from the same day don't you think? It surely can't be that much different.

Oh! Dammit! Happy Tenth Anniversary to you too!

Actually, me old mates, I think I posted a few messages on the B17 -1 forum before I began contributing to Rowan's BoB.

It was closed down shortly afterwards as B17-2 came on stream, to rapturous reception.

I commented that there was a fairly basic representation of St. David's Cathedral (in Pembrokeshire) which I found completely by accident and was duly and deservedly rebuked by other members for using it as target practice.

Folks,

Dux:

Why thank you old chap. That was very kind of you. It is not every day that I or anyone else digs about through the discolored and discarded pages of my old calendar to discover a forgotten anniversary.

If you have not already; I highly recommend that you read the 7 page article posted on page one of this forum regarding the future of sims.

Just as happened to you and to others when that big crash of the HWH servers happened everything was lost and we had to start everything all over including getting new names and passwords. Much data was lost so the records are iffy. HWH alone lost about 600 pages and SNAFU began HWH Continued. I signed up here on SimHq some time in January 2001. I had been lurking about in the shadows for some time before that. As the 7th poster I'm fairly sure that my first post on HWH was on the same date that this thread was inaugurated by SNAFU 4/24/01 or 24/4/01 as you would write it.

I have just come back from a late and leisurely meander through the wet leaves and grasses of our darkening woods. Walking in a light rain is not as quiet as trudging through the softly falling snow but the experience was pleasing. To paraphrase Mr. Frost, "The woods were quiet, dark and getting deep". The gray squirrels riding the wind driven trees and I below on foot seemed alone in our own little world. It was a good time for easy thoughts and gentle reflection.

The light was fading fast so I turned to the west and picking up the pace I returned home. I stepped through the gate just as the clouds grew dark and rain began to fall more heavily. So, here am I typing a bit while listening to Mr. Brubeck's masterful jazz classic "Take Five". Perhaps "A walk in the Black Forest" or even "Walk Don't run" might have been slightly more appropriate?

JRT,

My pleasure old friend!

I have briefly perused the article which you mention and I should really pay more attention to the entire content. It seems that the future is in good and capable hands judging by the comments of the many illustrious contributors!

Folks,

Dux:

You were the last one to plaster St. David's you say? As that evil perpetrator of the War of Northern Aggression, who burned our local mill, Sherman, said (perhaps when anointing his painful saddle sores), "War is Hell".

"Bomber" Harris would not have complained if it were in Germany I think. Coventry wasn't spared was it? Mr. Churchill might have prevented its destruction but chose not to for good reason. Yes, that is debatable.

Gentlemen,

JRT,

Churchill could have indeed spared us much death and destruction on every front if he and his War Cabinet had accepted Hitler's 'last appeal to reason.' He would have rather seen our country in ruins than cede to Hitler's appeals or demands. His will to fight on prevented the ideological domination of Europe and Asia by the Third Reich.

I hope to present some interesting info on 'Bomber' Harris along with other promised items.

Folks,
Dux:

"Peace in our Time" was a sham from the very beginning. Even that paper Chamberlain was holding in the famous news reel footage has been proven to have been blank. To his ever lasting credit Mr. Churchill was not about to be bullied by Hitler or anyone else for that matter except perhaps his Clemmy.

I was referring to the Ultra intercepts that allowed the Allies to read Hitler's "mail" almost before he did. As you know, Churchill was aware from an Ultra intercept that a big raid on Coventry was coming. He knew the precise date and time yet the government did not warn the population though it was in grave danger. He feared letting the Ultra "Cat out of the bag". IMHO that was a "ballsy" call and the right one.

Perhaps only those who had to sprint to the air raid shelters or those whose lives were spared at later dates by Ultra have the right to rule on the Churchill decision? IMHO the only true victory in any war for the people on both sides of the conflict is surviving to see it ended.

If this is so, were those millions on the "winning side" who could not muster for the final roll call even as the signatures on the official papers were beginning to dry were not victorious? War is indeed hell and though one can make a case for the great altruism of giving ones last full measure for a buddy or a cause there is nothing lofty or heroic about being dead. There is goodness and heroism in every man and war can bring that out as surely as it can manifest the worst.

I watched a simply magnificent show on Public TV last night. "My Boy Jack" is the story of the tragic death just one day after his 18th birthday, of Rudyard Kipling's son in the new war of 1914. Though Kipling is one of my literary heroes I was not aware of how jingoistic the man actually was. Of course 1914 was a different time and both boys and men felt it their solemn duty to answer the call to defend King and Country. Even though he was terribly short sighted, almost blind and would have been better suited for a non-combat job the young Kipling became an officer in the army and was shipped to France.

His family was justifiably proud of the young man and suffered greatly at his premature loss. The elder Kipling never lost his belief in the righteousness of the war but he came to hate its terrible inefficiency and the resulting unnecessary carnage. Some say that war only ended when they finally ran out of bullets to shoot at one another.

Wars should have to be fought by the politicians whose failure started it.

JRT,

I think that the information gained from Ultra would have held good for every city. The problems involved in evacuating entire populations to other 'safe' but temporary locations on a nightly basis would have been insurmountable.

The League of Nations failure to control German re-armament left Chamberlain with an impossible task. I liken that organization to a pile of inadequate sandbags, straining to hold back the flood of German resentment, and burgeoning national pride, born of the Treaty of Versailles.

Folks,

Dux:

I neglected to mention that "Harry Potter's" Daniel Radcliffe played the part of Jack and did a commendable job even without his magic wand. The battle scenes depicted are rather well done. It was a deadly time when mere flesh and sinew were called upon to march into the teeth of curtains of lead spewing from machine guns for the first time. Tangled in wire and knee deep in mud must have been a particularly miserable way to spend one's last precious if horrifically painful moments.

You are doubtless correct in your observation of course. We do not know much about other cities but we do know that Churchill and his cabinet struggled mightily with the decision regarding the Coventry raid as that has been well documented.

They were a wet pile of bags containing some substance for sure. It may not have been sand. I think we can certainly lay the blame for sewing the seeds for the Second World War directly at the feet of the angry, vindictive politicians who engineered the treaty of Versailles. Reparations payments demanded for that war have only recently been paid off by the way.

The misery and chaos resulting from the loss of the war by Germany and the resulting departure of the Kaiser, the break down of the society as people had known it before the war and the crash of the German economy were also triggers. Let us not forget the street fighting amongst the miserable returned veterans, Communists and other factions. Hitler offered an end to all of that and for a time after he became dictator the people of Germany had little reason not to be pleased. All too soon however they had plenty of time to repent their terrible failure in judgment as did so many far more innocent and equally bereaved families across the entire world.

It was not a matter of casual interest. In those pre-enlightened days, your ability to navigate the streets and school hallways unmolested hinged on identifying your place in the hierarchy and dressing appropriately. Taking on the uniform at too young an age was invitation to a corporal lesson in the rankings, but so was taking too long to to step up to the approved dress code tradition. Your continued health, and of course it seemed like your life, depended on it.

Folks,

PV1:

Steady on there chum "pre-enlightened days" for 'Old' Dux possibly means before we had fire.....

I can somewhat identify with that. Back in the mid to late 50's (yes I meant 1950's Dux) we all wanted to be a non-conformist by conforming to the prevailing standards of non-conformity set by our peers. Most of us managed that rather well. I remember a time when duck tailed haircuts similar to Elvis were all the rage and every boy carried a light to heavy caliber comb.

For some sadistic reason some less stylish fellows took great delight is banding together to muss up other boys perfectly primped hair doos during lunch and recess periods when most of us guys congregated in the school courtyard to do what Brits might call 'chat up' the girls.

When the 'Hair Today Gone Tommorrow' goons did their worst some fellows seemed to be traumatized by it, some fought back and still others just laughed, whipped out their trusty combs and took it all in stride. I began as one of the latter but eventually grew tired of it and began fighting back. I carried several bruises around proudly until the ridiculous craze eventually ended.

I remember one otherwise fine day I had about twelve of those howling guys hanging onto me in what must have looked like some sort of demented conga line. Pumped full of adrenaline, I literally drug that whole line of larger boys all around the courtyard until they all either fell off or just gave up. They did not muss my hair on that day and in fact they never bothered me again. To my great pleasure most of the school witnessed the event and several of the girls had been much impressed. No Dux, there is absolutely no truth to that malicious rumor started by C51 that I ever sprayed my hair with wood shellac so I wouldn't have to comb it.

At the top of this page, one of the menu banners has an item called "my stuff"; the pull down contains an entry called "Preferences", and the page which opens from there offers, among many other items "Total posts to show on one page", the default being 10. I have mine set to 25 as I find ticking over every 10 to be a bother.

Folks,

MyStuff... I should have remembered that. Perhaps we should all synchronize our pages then? I now have mine set to 25. Anyone have a different setting? No, C51 I do not think you can set yours to 24 and 3/4 but you may certainly try.

That fine actor who played the despicable Sergeant in 'Sharpe's Rifles" and so many other fine roles in the movies and on TV, including the last Jurassic Park film, Pete Postlethwaite has passed away. IMO he made every film he was in a better one even when his character seethed with evil. he had a rough, working class looking face and his eyes sometime held a soulful look. At other times it was a deadly one. He was the epitome of the best of British character actors.

Gents,

I can't say I noticed any rules or pecking order dictated by the clothes we wore. We all seemed to be grouped into the same post-war category which consisted of:

Trousers with one's backside hanging out and held up with the usual 'S' shaped snake buckle.
Socks draped around the ankles.
Shoes that sometimes even matched in size and colour.
Wellingtons that left chaff marks around the lower knee.
Knotted ties which looked as though they had been used to tow a car - which we didn't own until 1959.
Pullovers which kept mother busy with needle and darning wool.
Balaclava - or if you were lucky - the highly prized RAF surplus leather flying helmet.

Richmal Crompton's Just William in full cry was well dressed by our gang's standards. He would be, coming from an aspiring middle class background.

Folks,

Dux:

Your prose describes an era so eloquently dear boy. Today the trousers are just about draped around the ankles along with the socks... if there are socks. The boys dress is even worse...

Surely you did not wear your Wellies to school? Wait, did they have schools back then? Did you ever meet the Duke? If so, did he have on his Wellies? So many questions desperately need an answer.

C51 writes that he is beginning to build a Spitfire kit he received back in May. Apparently this is thirsty work as he also told me his right hand is performing extra duty as he occasionally bends his elbow to down a tasty slug of Spitfire Ale which is now conveniently available in Toronto.

I flew for the Fuhrer last night. After being so ignominiously shot down in my Spitfire the other day I wanted to see what it is "they" know I don't. Again, I was floating along over London accompanied by a few friends and a lot more enemies. I did not have much time for sight seeing as what seemed like several hundred Hurricanes began chewing off pieces of my 109. Where did they all come from. According to "Fat Hermann" we had shot them all down weeks ago? I know they can build the things fast but where are they getting the pilots?

There were many targets and they were keen to shoot back so in short order I sent 3 smoking in the down direction but did not see them crash. I heard Schmidt screaming on the R/T. He went down in flames. I pulled up out of the m�l�e and watched for another target. I spied a smoking Spitfire and fell upon it with a vengeance. And so it was over and over through the brief 30 minute battle. Teeth clenched, drenched in sweat, my hands clenched tightly on the control stick, almost out of petrol, I limped back to France for an unsteady landing.

We have heard rumors that our fearless leader told Galland we are cowards, then asked what we needed most. Galland looked him in the drug dilated eye and asked for a squadron of Spitfires. I would have loved to have seen Goering's flabby, cosmetically enhanced face when he heard that. If he doubts our courage why doesn't he squeeze that fat arse of his into a 109 or 110 and come up with us? He led the Richthofen squadron in the last war didn't he? I'd be brave enough to go with him just to see it.

JRT,

Please convey my New Years compliments to C51. Is that a plastic display model or will it be flown? Either way, I hope it turns out to be a satisfactory project.

As I type this, a programme about Albert Goering, the brother of Hermann, is being churned out behind me. Despite the former's record of giving assistance to Jews, he was charged at Nuremberg, not so much because of any evidence of war crimes but because of his association with his high ranking brother, I suspect. They continue to try and nail him but I don't know if I can hold out to the end because I am halfway through a bottle of Bordeaux. Perhaps you are aware of his fate?

Good show over the Channel - even if it was for an unfamiliar side.

We were never short of fighters. In fact, we lost more aircraft of all types to accidents than to enemy action throughout 1940. Experienced pilots controlled the balance. To kill one was worth quite a number of fighters and at the critical stage we were losing that experience faster than new pilots could gain it..

Folks,

Dux:

I will gladly do that at my earliest inconvenience most likely this very evening. The Spitfire model is a plastic kit and I do not believe that it is an Airfix. Would it not be grand to build a large stand-off scale radio controlled Spitfire, insert a video camera in the nose and fly it from a monitor?

That is done now days of course but with a Spitfire...wow. Some chaps even go so far as to build a reduced scale cockpit with the video monitor and controls part of the instrument panel. Add some force feedback and a hydraulic system for pitch and yaw and you are.... OK, you are completely broke, your wife has left you and you are starving to death with creditors hounding you day and night but you could not care less as long as the weather is good enough to fly, right?

Having read at least two biographies of Goring it seems to me that Albert was questioned at the Nuremberg War Trials in which his brother featured so prominently but when the fullness of his humanitarian acts were made known by the many who testified on his behalf, he was released. Ditto later on when the Czechs arrested him. He returned to Germany where he found himself ostracized. I believe he worked as a writer after the war.

It is claimed that Albert's mom had an affair with a Von somebody that was Jewish and that Albert was the issue of that union. I've read that if it was not so then it is a fluke of nature for Albert remarkably favored the man.

JRT,

Mmmmm....zat is very i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g-....but why should he have been ostracized by the very people who saluted Hitler in the thirties. If they could lick themselves clean, why not he?

The rain is bucketing down this morning but a heap of snow still stands in the local car park as a fading memorial to our white Christmas.

Folks,

Dux:

I suppose it was a backlash against Albert Goring due to his association by name with his half brother and the professed post war hatred of the Nazis by most Germans. Maybe it was because he was considered a traitor by those who shaved off their toothbrush mustaches but secretly still supported the Nazi cause. No doubt it was complicated.

The Christmas snow remains only as a pleasant memory. For the past several days the skies have been overcast and the daytime temps have hovered in the 40s F. There is no precipitation save for the last vestiges of leaves still floating down from the stiff, cold, fingers of our gray Oaks. It is wintertime now in Dixie.

I do hope that very shortly you will once again be able to enjoy the pleasures of BoB and other newer titles like ROF. I was hoping Santa would be extra good to you this year. Sadly, he also passed me up again but there were two beautiful children standing by our tree on Christmas morning that certainly were not and the smiles on their sleepy faces lit the hearts of everyone who saw them. Who really needs a new computer anyway? Mine is only 9 years old and I think it might make it at least another 9.