Why We Didn’t Lose World War II
I have just read this article on the BBC about building a Wellington bomber in under 24 hours. It was not so much that we did it, but how we did it.
This paragraph in the article sums up why we held the fort long enough for the Japanese to attack the Americans at Pearl Harbor.
“Women were absolutely vital – first of all to the war effort as a whole, and to aircraft production,” says historian Sir Max Hastings, author of the book Bomber Command. “They were very good at what they did. Britain mobilised women more efficiently than any other wartime nation, except perhaps the Russians.”
Hitler never mobilised the German women and this was one of his biggest mistakes. But what do you expect from a power-crazed racist idiot? Not sound sense!
Women did virtually everything to support the war effort in the UK. They may not have flown combat missions, but a lot of the delivery of planes to and from front line squadrons was performed by pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary, of whom in one in eight were women. Interestingly, women pilots were paid the same as the men. In fact the Air Transport Auxiliary is another of those organisations we created that made the most of scant resources. When they were disbanded after the war, Lord Beaverbrook said this.
“Without the ATA the days and nights of the Battle of Britain would have been conducted under conditions quite different from the actual events. They carried out the delivery of aircraft from the factories to the RAF, thus relieving countless numbers of RAF pilots for duty in the battle. Just as the Battle of Britain is the accomplishment and achievement of the RAF, likewise it can be declared that the ATA sustained and supported them in the battle. They were soldiers fighting in the struggle just as completely as if they had been engaged on the battlefront.”
I once asked my father, who at some time may have been an aide to Lord Beaverbrook, why women didn’t fly combat in the Second World War. He said it wasn’t about competence, but because if they had and it had been known, it would have had a bad effect on the morale of the population.
But in one story I’ve read, women would have been called upon to fight in the air. If the Germans had landed, one of the lines of defence was what best is described as a immense swarm of Tiger Moths. I read about this in a history of the Mosquito. Hundreds of Tiger Moths were fitted with bomb racks by de Havilland and assigned a pilot and a support truck and personnel. They were to fight tanks from the lanes. The rag-bag collection of pilots would have included women.
As my next door neighbour, a retired British Army Colonel, once said, “in case of war, ignore all the rules!”
We could all do to look closely at the lessons of history!
Mark Serwotka Talks Sense
He doesn’t very often, but his views in this report are absolutely correct. Lord North must be turning in his grave.
Is Lincolnshire a Nanny State?
This story, about a father being threatened with action because his seven-year old daughter walk twenty metres to the bus stop to go to school is ridiculous.
At the age of six or seven in the early 1950s, I used to be taken to the bus stop at Oakwood by my mother to catch the 107 bus to Enfield for piano lessons with my Aunt Mabel. I had my couple of pence for the ticket and used to sit in one of the back three seats by the conductor. When I got to the stop just past Enfield Town station, I would get off and run down to my aunt’s. It should also be said that my aunt didn’t have a phone at the time. Were my family responsible or not? Perhaps, my illnesses are all down to letting me look after myself from an early age!
A Message from a Jock in Exile in Kazakhstan
I have really upset a friend of mine who is currently working in Kazahkstan, by posting a picture of a bacon sandwich.
Here is what he said.
Here I am in the middle of now where and you show me one of the best things in life. You rotten little bugger !!! O’ps I forgot the HP just to round it off. I am so looking forward to getting home a week on Sunday as being a Jock I am having fish withdrawals as there is absolutely nothing here and I suppose I could not get any further from the open sea. There is Sturgeon but there is a ban on fishing it as they are trying to preserve the Caviar stocks after years of over fishing. So no fish, no scampi, no scallops, no lobster, no crabs in fact no anything which is nice.
Long live good old Blighty.
A Gluten-Free Bacon Sandwich
I bet some people who end up here, didn’t think it could exist.
A Gluten-Free Bacon Sandwich
It was made with organic bacon from Waitrose and a couple of slices of Genius brown bread. I didn’t use butter, but Benecol.
It was a very nice sandwich! I would say that wouldn’t I!
Hospital Car Parking
The government seems to change its mind about whether there should be charges for hospital car parking.
In these times of austerity, I believe that it should not be, as obviously this would mean loss of revenue and perhaps cuts in other services.
But we should in fact be creating good systems and alternatives, that remove the need for the parking in the first place.
- I have to go to the West Suffolk Hospital occasionally for my Warfarin test. My driver drops me and then goes and does something else and I phone to be picked up. But a National Anticoagulant Service would avoid that, as I could probably be tested in a pharmacy. How many other people have to go to a hospital for something that could be done by the GP or a local clinic, or even over the phone?
- West Suffolk Hospital has also banned staff car parking.
- Hospitals should also be well served by public transport. I can’t get to either West Suffolk or Addenbrooke’s by public transport. But saying that, last time I went to Addenbrooke’s, I took the train into Cambridge, played real tennis, had lunch and took the bus for an afternoon appointment, after which I was picked up. So sometimes a little thought can remove the need for parking.
- I think too, that many hospitals have been designed so that you are supposed to go there by car.
- We also put new hospitals in the wrong places. Imagine a hospital built by the train station or close to the city centre, so that it was more convenient for everyone.
So if we can cut the number of journeys, then we can reserve the car parking spaces for those that really need them!
Perhaps too, we should make car parking free in the evening for visitors to those in hospital. When I was in Addenbrooke’s, it was the evenings, where I wanted to see someone. But I’d have preferred to be at home, so perhaps hospitals should really concentrate on getting people home or in the community.
It is also a green issue to me. We shouldn’t need to drive to hospital, spewing carbon emissions!
Line-Up the Dinosaurs
It would appear that the TUC’s response to the country’s enormous deficit is to do nothing!
The dinosaurs are saying we need a few strikes to stop the cuts. If there is anything, that will put as back in recession, it’s that, as people won’t be able to get to work and will have difficulty living their lives.
On the other hand, strikes would probably be counter productive, as the general public seem to be very realistic about the need for austerity. I also think that a lot of Union leaders and members know this, so they would actually suggest cuts that are sensible and worthwhile, as it’s better to have a job rather than no job.
Dr. Rosemary Leonard is Horrified
The very sensible BBC Breakfast doctor is horrified. And rightly so!
So what is she horrified about. A BBC Scotland report has shown that people are turning to homeopathy instead of conventional vaccinations, such as MMR.
These cranks should be stopped as the only way homeopathy can work is by a placebo affect. It has no scientific basis whatsoever.
As someone who has suffered the death of his wife and child in recent years, I would not recommend suffering bereavement to anybody. But some of these stupid parents will find out the pain if they persist in using homeopathy, on their children. You could argue it’s child abuse!
The Anonymous Widower 