The British Way of Military Death
I have a strong sense of history and want to try to make sure that we learn from the past and don’t make the same mistakes again.
I first noticed when we went to the cemeteries on the River Kwai, that every British grave has a personal message. There were a lot of Dutch graves on the Kwai, but they were plain and identical except for the name. I found the same messages at immaculate cemeteries in the Gambia and on the Somme.
And now we have the respect shown at Wootton Bassett, a town through which all the British victims of Afghanistan pass on their final way home.
There are some things in this country that we do very, very well.
Liverpool and Meccano
There are various events, cities, techniques, toys, people and just plain things that has shaped my life.
If I take events, there would be the first Sputnik, Sharpeville, the assassination of President Kennedy, England winning the World Cup in 1966, man landing on the moon for the first time, the Six Day War, the suicide of Jan Palach, the Falklands War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and many others. Perhaps one that will mean more to me in a few years time, was being in Trafalgar Square, when London won the Olympics for 2012.
I will be proud of the London Olympics because London is my city. I was born there and when I’m sad, lonely or just plain bored, I make to the most fabulous city in the world. The London Olympics may be a failure because of circumstances, good or bad, but London will do its best. And that will be better than most, as when you throw London into turmoil, Londoners respond in a unique way. Why unique? Because Londoners are the biggest mongrel race in the world and they can draw from experiences like no other.
I met my wife in Liverpool at the University.
For that and other reasons, to me Liverpool will always be my second city, just as it is the second city of the UK. Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham may make this claim, but they are lightweights compared to the city of the Beatles. I sometimes ponder how life would be different without the Beatles and it may be a bold claim to say that without them the UK might have been some insignificant island off mainland Europe. But those four did give England and Great Britain a new pride, that had been lacking since the end of the Second World War. I still play their songs virtually every day.
At one time my late wife shared a flat near the Meccano factory in Liverpool.
I had a very large Meccano set, which was very much part of my life until about sixteen when I sold it, because I needed the money. I’d while away the time in my bedroom, building all sorts of machines. Later when I worked for ICI, we’d use bits of Meccano to make instruments work. Do engineers still do that?
So it was with pride and a lot of sadness that I watched James May’s Toy Stories about Meccano. He built a Meccano bridge over the extension to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. I cried as it was set in my university, the university where I met my wife and was about my favourite toy.
Life is a powerful mixture of emotions.
What Happened to Men’s Nylon Shirts?
Do you remember those awful drip-dry nylon shirts of the ninteen-sixties?
They were awful and I don’t think they did anything for attracting the opposite sex. Especially as they used to shine in the lights on the dance floor.
But why did they disappear?
It was all to do with mini-skirts.
Before women raised their hemlines and men’s heart rate, they used to wear stockings. But as skirts got shorter, you weren’t decent in stockings, so there was a swift move to tights. Look at the average pair of tights and they use perhaps more than twice as much nylon than the stockings they replace. And to make matters worse, you can’t use two odd ones to make a pair.
So the result was that the demand for nylon rocketed.
As you can’t build a new plant overnight, ICI and the other manufacturers had to get the nylon from somewhere.
So they diverted it from men’s shirts to ladies’ hosiery and killed one of the most abominable articles of men’s clothing.
Sun in the Morning
It is a beautiful morning here today, even if other parts of my life are not so good. So I walked the stud and took a few pictures.
The horse in the overcoat is Vague Shot, who won the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot in 1987.
House of Parliament?
This short and sweet spam came twice.
Hello this is Dr Roger Berry from the British house of parliament, how are you doing today? this email is to remind you of your CONTRACT PAYMENT SUM/ INHERITANCE FUNDS of $5.2 million US dollars, your money is now available for payment. Your attention is needed urgently get back to me immediately.
Dr Roger Berry
Note that it came from the British House of Parliament. Did he mean Commons or Lords, as there is no House of Parliament, but Houses of Parliament? Dr. Roger ought to learn to type and punctuate as well.
I needed a good laugh and this crook made me chuckle.
Best of Salineville Awards
I received this from the US. As with most things like this, I recognise they are spam and completely worthless.
In recognition of your achievement, a 2009 Best of Salineville Award has been designed for display at your place of business. You may arrange to have your award sent directly to James Miller by following the simple steps on the 2009 Best of Salineville Award order form.
Each year, the US Commerce Association (USCA) identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.
Also, a copy of the press release publicizing the selection of James Miller has been posted on our website. The USCA hereby grants James Miller a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, and display this press release in any media formats and through any media channels.
An Award Code has been assigned to your company that can be used on our website for quick access to your award information and press release.
Your Award Code is: 8A3F-WX2B
Sincerely,
Ashley Carter
Selection Committee Chair
US Commerce Association
So I searched for Ashley Carter and the US Commerce Association. It is just a rather dubious vanity award and as I thought completely worthless.
Communicate with these people at your peril.
A Loveliness of Ladybirds
This collective noun came up on BBC Breakfast this morning. It seems that it might be dubious, but after the hoards of Harlequin ladybirds this autumn, that the collective noun may stick.
But I’m not a lover of these Asian imports, which could wipe out a lot of our familiar species. Helen Roy, an expert on ladybirds said this.
“We believe that the negative impacts of the harlequin on Britain will be far-reaching and disruptive, with the potential to affect over a thousand of our native species,” she said. “It’s a big and voracious predator, it will eat lots of different insects, soft fruit and all kinds of things.”
It shows the danger of allowing alien species to be introduced into an environment. Grey squirrels being the worst example in the UK. There’s a full list here in Wikipedia.
I don’t like the name of loveliness for Harlequin ladybirds.
William Garrow
My late wife was a barrister.
I’m watching the BBC drama about William Garrow, who is credited with laying down the principles of defending the accused in Court.
It is fascinating.
I never saw her in Court except for one fleeting moment in front of Judge Greenwood in Chelmsford, but Garrow’s principles are those that she fought with for all her professional career.
These principles are those that we are in danger of losing, as Prudence and his awful government, make it more and more difficult for a defendant to obtain a trial that my wife would have considered fair.
Stories of Lady Houston
I’m just watching James May’s Toy Stories about building an Airfix Spitfire.
May has got a few facts wrong about the Battle of Britain, where the Hawker Hurricane was more numerous and was more influential in the Battle of Britain. (To the French, we are too selfish in calling that battle that name. They made a documentary to commemorate the 25th anniversary and said it was the Battle of Europe. If our aerial knights had lost, it would have given Hitler everything he wanted. But the rest, as they say is history!)
I have to put one story that happened to me concerning a Hurricane. I was flying my Piper Arrow from Staverton airport to Ipswich and to do this I had to transit the USAF base at Upper Heyford. Just as I’d received my clearance to cross the zone, I heard a clipped accent say something like this. ‘Heyford Tower, this is Hurricane One, request transit your zone.’ The voice was all very wizard prang and the call-sign was that of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The reply was American and slightly worried. ‘Say again call-sign and aircraft type’.
The clipped accent replied. ‘Heyford Tower, this is Hurricane One, request transit your zone.’
The American still had no idea what aircraft he had and repeated his request for call-sign and aircraft type. It was at this time, that another American voice broke in. ‘Hurricane One, this is Heyford Tower, permission to transit the zone. That’s a mighty fine aircraft you have there. Any chance of a pass of the tower.’
‘Hurricane One. Wilco!’
Even some Americans know how significant Sidney Camm‘s design is in the history of the UK. Sir Sidney also laid down the design of the Harrier, which had tremendous influence in the outcome of the Falklands War. Has any other designer helped his country in a major way in two wars forty years apart?
I didn’t see the Hurricane that day, but I have stopped by Duxford and seen one doing aerobatic practice on a crisp morning. As someone born just after the Second World War, I felt a lump in my throat. Do children today understand the significance of the Hurricane and the Spitfire?
But why is Lady Houston the title of this post?
Dame Fanny Lucy Houston was one of the first five Dames of the British Empire. She was given that title for looking after tired nurses in the First World War. In Wikipedia she is described as an “English benefactor, philanthropist, adventuress and patriot”.
They also describe her relationship to Robert Houston.
Her third and final marriage, on December 12, 1924, was to Sir Robert Paterson Houston, 1st Bt., member of parliament for West Toxteth, and a shipping magnate. Robert Houston is described in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as “a hard, ruthless, unpleasant bachelor”. They lived as tax exiles on the island of Jersey.
When Sir Robert showed her his will, Lucy tore it up telling him that one million pounds was not good enough. Sir Robert then suffered a series of mental disorders and Lucy employed a food-taster to ensure that he was not being poisoned. Even so Sir Robert mysteriously died on his yacht Liberty on 14 April 1926, leaving his widow roughly £5.5 million.
She was described as paranoid with religious delusions and declared mentally unfit to manage her own affairs, but she left Jersey in the Liberty. She then negotiated with the British Government the payment of £1.6 million in death duties. Her political opinions were extreme (she supported Mussolini). According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography “she paid for nine by-election meetings by the British National Government to be disrupted”.
Yes! I suspect we’d say she was a couple of bricks short of a full load.
But!
She used her fortune to fund the defence of the Schneider Trophy in 1931. But her gift had long-lasting affects according to Wikipedia.
The gift gave Lucy Houston an opportunity to attack the Labour government, with the declaration: “Every true Briton would rather sell his last shirt than admit that England could not afford to defend herself.” The Prime Minister could not ignore the patriotic fervour that she generated and so yielded.
There were only nine months to prepare and so Supermarine’s designer Reginald Mitchell could only update the existing airframes. Rolls-Royce increased the power of the R-Type engine by 400 hp to 2,300 hp. The improved aircraft Supermarine S.6B won the trophy, though the technical achievement is slightly tarnished by the fact two S6Bs and an S6 were the only participants. (One S6B later broke the air speed record.)
Lady Houston’s gift provided a valuable impetus to the development of engine technology that would ultimately vital in the Second World War in particular the Battle of Britain. The lessons learned in building racing seaplanes also helped Reginald Mitchell to develop the Supermarine Spitfire. As Arthur Sidgreaves, the managing director of Rolls Royce, commented at the time: “It is not too much to say that research for the Schneider Trophy contest over the past two years is what our aero-engine department would otherwise have taken six to 10 years to learn.”
So every Merlin engine that powered the Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito and many other aircraft owed a debt to an eccentric English woman.
Would the Battle of Britain have been won, without her gift?
I’ve stood on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, but who should be there are Lady Houston, Sydney Camm, R. J. Mitchell and Henry Royce. Three of them were dead before the Second World War, but without them Britain would have lost its most desperate battle.
We think of Royce as the second half of Rolls-Royce, but he was a self-educated engineer of genius. Wikipedia tells this tale, about the successor to the “R” Type engine, that powered the seaplanes.
Following the success of the “R” engine, it was clear that they had an engine that would be of use to the Royal Air Force. As no Government assistance was forthcoming at first, in the national interest, they went ahead with development of what was called the “P.V.12” engine (P.V. standing for Private Venture). The idea was to produce an engine of about the same performance as the “R”, albeit with a much longer life. Royce launched the PV12 in October 1932 but unfortunately did not live to see its completion. The engine completed its first test in 1934, the year after he died. Later, the PV12 became the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and the man who had once humbly signed the visitors’ book at the RAF Calshot seaplane base as “F.H. Royce – Mechanic” would never know how his engines would go on to change the course of the Second World War.
Most will think of Rolls-Royce as a car manufacturer, but how many know that Royce was one of the most influential men of the twentieth century for what he did in the final years of his life.
But to return to Lady Houston.
My father met her and he described her as mad. She was in bed, with red, white and blue curtains and a Union Flag bedspread. What he was doing, I don’t know and I can’t ask him, but my father was a man who dabbled in left-wing Tory politics and somehow this may have led him to Lady Houston.
I may not have agreed with some of her politics, but…
Life After Widowhood
A couple of days ago, I got an e-mail from an old university friend of my wife’s. We’d lost touch over twenty years ago and it cheered me up to get a communication from the past.
But it was this piece that made me laugh and feel that I have a future.
My father remarried at 81 to his 79-year-old widowed girlfriend. They had been neighbours and sweet on each other at school at 18 and 16 and we knew them both on and off when we came on leave from India as kids. So great celebrations, for they were both extrovert and they had 4 happy years talking all the time before they went. He died in 1996 and last year one of the banks in Belfast found an overlooked account, so I bought another oriental carpet to go with the one he gave me for my 21st in Kashmir.
I talked to her on the phone for an hour this morning and it was good to hear a voice from when times were for looking forward, rather than looking back. It also turned out that her parents had been married for fifty years.
So some people do find another life after widowhood.
The Anonymous Widower 