Well even I'm off today, so though I hardly ever come on here or anywhere else these days, I thought I'd have a look and saw this thread. And very good to see it too.
My own dad, who died over thirty years ago and who I will drink a toast too right now, was active in the war and away for most of it apparently. He got shot and was told he might not walk again, (clearly he did!) and fought in Africa, Italy, and France. As with most of his contemporaries he was taciturn about it to say the least. There was no "we beat that lot" from him or any of them. You never ever heard that and still do not. All those involved were aware of the common agony suffered by servicemen everywhere.They had all lost friends and any triumphalism would no doubt have felt ridiculously hollow.
This though,was a war that really had to be fought and won. We may all be under different stresses lately, but they cannot compare with the test that those who lived through that war faced, especially those who did front line duty. How they did it I can only imagine, sustained largely by Woodbines, Bully Beef and Potatoes.
We owe them. We will always owe them.
So thank you Dad. Thank you to all of those who didn't make it back. Thank you to all involved. It might be occasionally thought by some to be clever to doubt the certainty of the cause of WW2, especially among the self regarding bien pensant of the political left, for some of whom all British endeavour is better traduced than honoured or celebrated. . But we owe those who fought and died more than we can ever realise.
We are the ones who never had to grow up getting used to blood and bone and death being commonplace sights. They will always have my gratitude.
My own dad, who died over thirty years ago and who I will drink a toast too right now, was active in the war and away for most of it apparently. He got shot and was told he might not walk again, (clearly he did!) and fought in Africa, Italy, and France. As with most of his contemporaries he was taciturn about it to say the least. There was no "we beat that lot" from him or any of them. You never ever heard that and still do not. All those involved were aware of the common agony suffered by servicemen everywhere.They had all lost friends and any triumphalism would no doubt have felt ridiculously hollow.
This though,was a war that really had to be fought and won. We may all be under different stresses lately, but they cannot compare with the test that those who lived through that war faced, especially those who did front line duty. How they did it I can only imagine, sustained largely by Woodbines, Bully Beef and Potatoes.
We owe them. We will always owe them.
So thank you Dad. Thank you to all of those who didn't make it back. Thank you to all involved. It might be occasionally thought by some to be clever to doubt the certainty of the cause of WW2, especially among the self regarding bien pensant of the political left, for some of whom all British endeavour is better traduced than honoured or celebrated. . But we owe those who fought and died more than we can ever realise.
We are the ones who never had to grow up getting used to blood and bone and death being commonplace sights. They will always have my gratitude.
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