Just 2 generations..... and history is forgotten

ricasso;46597 wrote:

couldnt agree more,history at school (late 60s early 70s) taught me nothing, it was only when id left that i could actually start studying the stuff I wanted to learn,much the same as the rest of the subjects,school taught me to read, write and count but that was about it! couldnt wait to get out and start earning.

Totally agree with this statement !! From 1961 when I first started school til leaving in 1972 there was no mention of either the first or second world wars. It was everything but, by the time it came to leave our history lesson had got as far as 1900. Too early for me, though we were actually given a few Sex lessons just before leaving. Sadly all of these were about the male, the girls had their's about females...... we all wanted to swap places !!!!!

It wasnt really until we realised that almost all the wwi generation had departed that people really started to take an interest in wwii. I suppose it wasnt helped by the fact that so few veterans wouldnt talk about their experiences so we just the same old bores such as Bader talking about what they did, and dont forget Bader was shot down in 41 so he had a short war.

And in case you hadnt realised Im not a fan of Bader. Yes he was a brave man, but he was a pratt.

And Ive just realised something about June 1944. Not only did OVERLORD take place on the 6th, although it was a day late. But the 4th of June saw the end of the battle of Kohima and thereby the beginning of the end for Japan in wwii, and also the capture of Rome by the allies.

It is a shame that there is no ongoing interest in the media. But take a look at hotel bookings in that part of northern France for this period, and their numbers will tell a different tale. Only people who are interested will be walking those invasion beaches, much the same as our enclave here. It is only because we are interested in old airfields that this forum exists. It is heartening to find younger people who have the interest.

Jim C and ourselves met such a chap a couple of months ago. We were out in woods bordering one of the old dispersals at Hunsdon and were looking for artifacts, we met a lady with her twelve year old son who knew as much about the plce as we did! He knew of Jericho and Pickard, Townsend and 85 Squadron,He could reel off locations of buildings, squadrons and the types of aircaft. He said it was a place he would tell his children and grandchildren of!

It was refreshing to know that fellows like this will always be there to remember. Maybe the media isnt so important sometimes:)

canberra;46609 wrote:

Im not a fan of Bader. Yes he was a brave man, but he was a pratt.

I Couldnt agree with you more. There was a documetary on a few years ago featuring the blokes who were in POW camps with Bader, They all thought him a pillock as well!

canberra;46612 wrote:

But the 4th of June saw the end of the battle of Kohima and thereby the beginning of the end for Japan in wwii

One of the things I miss out here is that the Kohima Blessing is not used by the Royal Canadian Legion, I uderstand why but for me it is as moving as the lines from Binyons For the Fallen that we do still use at Legion Meetings

Didnt Gordon Brown show himself up last year when he announced that the British government said they wouldnt be supporting the 65th anniversary of OVERLORD. IIRC they even stopped Her Majesty attending, thats where the Canadian government could have pulled a flanker by inviting Her Majesty as Head of State of Canada.

there was no mention of either the first or second world wars

Yes much the same when I was at school (1947-1958 ) ...no mention of either WW1 or WW2.

Luckily for us , many of the teachers had seen active service and some could be persuaded top talk about it at the drop of a hat.

However, the subject of Korea - which was ongoing at the time(1950-53) - was one that nobody seemed to want to talk about.

Even now the Korean War seems an almost forgotten war - or pushed aside in very much the same manner as Vietnam is treated in the US .

Airfields Man - regarding the sex lessons - there are ways and there are means - and by these methods we managed to attend (unofficially of course) the girls' sex lesson.

I only found out when my Headteacher died that hed served in Burma as an Intelligence officer, he could in fact speak fluent Japanese. And round about the 50th anniversary of VJ day there was a documentary about one blokes experiences in Burma, he showed a picture of his company in Burma, he was my dads company commander!

For MASH get SMASH, remember the advert PNK from the 1970s ? All about potatoes..