Never in the field of human conflict
was so much owed by so many to so few.
All our hearts go out to the fighter pilots,
whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes
day after day…
was so much owed by so many to so few.
All our hearts go out to the fighter pilots,
whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes
day after day…
Winston S. Churchill, 70 years ago today.
Nice Squadron there Hugh, lucky you had a Kiwi in charge of 11 Group!
ReplyDeleteErrm, in both wars it was bloody lucky we had Kiwis, Diggers, Canucks, Gurkhas, Indians, Africans......and everyone else to call on!!
ReplyDeleteThanks - from a grateful Nation, my mother brought me up to know there were Chinese stokers on all the ships, Polish squadrons, Czech Bomb-disposal units, the kids these days know none of it.
When the wall came down we still had semi-civilianized Polish Tank Transporter units attached to BAOR, in the First (really 'second') Gulf war, the transporters were shipped to Kuwait where they found military crews waiting, after the conflict, to save the cost of shipping them back they were sold locally and the Polish family's who manned the units back in Germany were just laid-off under 'options for change'.
These were the son's and Daughter's and Grandson's and Grand-daughter's of the WWII guys we managed not to send back to certain death...every time he hears the Radio - Churchill must turn restlessly in his grave...we are not what we fought to be.
I suppose I should have said what they all are, but I thought it would be more poignant to leave just the quote, so for those who bother to check comments;
ReplyDeleteLeading is the Palitoy Bolton-Paul 'Defiant', then two Hong Kong models; a yellow 'Spifire' and an orange ? Hurrifire? Spitcane?
Between them is an early mixed colour plastic, generic 'plane more like a 'Bruster Buffalo' or something short and Naval, Diving!
Then a row of three metal models, the blue one at the front might be Crescent, and could be trying to be a 'Seafire'? Otherwise it's just a penny-toy/novelty. behind him is the Dinky 'Hurricane', badly repainted, and a very crude (home-cast?) 'Spitfire' at the back.
Then the three tiny ones; from the front are Airfix 'spitfire' from the Fighter Command interactive game, an unknown 'Made in England' (Kleeware, Tudor*Rose or early Arfix?) 'Spitfire' 4-cannon tank-buster in cellulose-acetate or early styrene and finaly what looks like a 'Spitfire' from one of the little plastic puzzles I covered early on, on this blog? It's got the same key-hole shaped void as some of those puzzles (pistol and ferry for instance), so maybe an aircraft carrier?