People : British Baby Boomer Bullshit

I'm going to talk about someone I know, whom I have known all my life, they consider themselves to have been brought up without the advantages of a modern childhood (my birth in the late 1970's and childhood in the 1980's being considered modern to their birth in the mid-1950's).

They once spoke to me about my having advantages they don't... That I could get work, when they couldn't (at least not at the time - the 1990's) and I admit that with the closure of the coal industry, the privitazation of Rail and Telecomms many "normal" routes of general employment of the British worker of yester-year were curtailed; though not closed off; in the 1990's.

But, I was still a kid, I didn't go to university until 1996, and I officially didn't graduate (despite working in the IT industry from 1998) until 2000.

All the time I struggled to keep myself in work, and have been now gainfully employed fulltime since 1998, no mean feat between Brexit today and the dot com bubble burst at the time of my graduation.

So, what was this persons point?... Well, their point was "We kids of the Baby Boom, were only had to replace the war dead, our parents had no interest in us".

They repeated this mantra in several slight variations for many years, and it always struck me as odd, even as a kid.  Because I had read the history of the second world war, and here in Britain we can only count about 350,000 service personnel killed (328,600 according to wikipedia) and there were only 67,100 civilian dead, a total less than half a million people.  Tragic, but nowhere near enough to warrant a ten year population boom from 1945 to 1955 of around 800,000 births per year.

A birth trend which went on for a peak of over 1 million live births in 1963.

That's millions more people, which this one person justified their upbringing as warranted for the loss of less than half a million lives in a war?  A war which predates them by a decade?

Strange thinking... And only now, in the internet age can one really turn around and challenge such strange miss-conceptions, no you didn't have a poor childhood, we're on the cusp of living our days where the current generations are for the first time earning less per capita than the previous, that is only now, nearing seventy years since your birth, that's generations before now which have enjoyed living well.

Brexit brings uncertainty, our special relationship with the USA; ironically fostered during the Second World War; is one life-line we have, but the youth of today can't point to the Falklands conflict or the First Gulf War and complain that their birth was accelerated by a necessity to respawn the population after a devastation.

Such devastation of the population has not happened since the First World War and the following Spanish Flu epidemic.

Could it happen again?  Perhaps... Will I be contributing children to repopulate?  No.  And will I cry that today we have iPads whilst when I was born we didn't even have an Apple 2?... No, of course I won't.

World War 2 - Toshio Tamogami - A Proud Japan

A few months ago I was at odds with revisionist thinking in Russia, about their performance, especially in the early years, during world war two.  Today I come back to these pages in utter disbelief at the news that there even is a revisionist movement in Japan; the Japanese people, their culture is to me always one of extreme politeness, of acceptance and unwavering resolution, this is why when McArthur became governor he paid note to the Emperor, though the superior power, this is why Hirohito remained as emperor and his prodigy today hold the Chrysanthemum throne.

But that was at the acceptance that War Crimes had been committed, and I'm not talking about the unclear timing between declaration of war and the Pearl harbour strike, and I'm not talking about the military operations such as Midway where the tide turned, or Singapore which was Britain's biggest defeat, or our British losses such as HMS Repulse & HMS Prince of Wales in the Indian Ocean.

What I'm talking about is that this news article intimates that there were no parts of the true history of World War 2 for Japan to be proud of, the strike planning on Pearl Harbour, the engineering of their fleet, the progression of Naval aviation and the military inventiveness and tenacity of the Japanese soldier meeting western forces and defeating them through the war.  They are all things to be proud of as a nation fighting a war, and should be understood, the Japanese Fleet was Amazingly powerful, a feat of amazing engineering which should be celebrated, and in places you will find celebration of that proud history.

But that proud history should always be remember in context, and the atrocities remembered, Korea, China, the Philippines all suffered under Japanese Imperial rule, as well as World War Two Marshall law.  Japan needed to wage a war, needed the raw material to do so, which lead to their invading all those countries, it's not neat, it's not polite, in some ways it's highly un-Japanese, but it happened.

That article about comfort girls, it's true to listen to, again go back to 1970 the Thames Television series there were Japanese soldiers interviewed, who said that the Japanese girls would collect 1000 stitches for their loved one, and give that 1000 stitches in a belly band, but he would rather her have given him her body for the night.  That was his attitude for Japanese girls, so for Korean or Chinese it would have been utility, blind, brutal, and Warlike, which was the situation.

Now I say it should be remembered, but should modern 20 to 30 year old generation be apologising?... No, it was their Grandparents at least who were involved, it should have been, and was their Grandparents who apologised, the apologies should be over, to brow beat new generations for the fault of old is something we have come to terms with in Europe, how else does Germany hold it's head high at the EU table.

But people like Toshio Tamogami have the wrong end of the stick denying what happened, they should know it happened, accept it and go on about their business, they didn't do it, Granddad did, and that two or three generation difference can never make the same mistake again, that's the best way they could ever apologise to the world, by never repeating the same dreadful mistakes, but the only way to avoid them is to know about them, and in knowing about them the rest of the community needs to realise they can not demand anything more than respect that it did happen, and should never happen again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33754932

History of Sexual Violence During World War 2

Maybe I'm being a revisionist, maybe I'm reading or learning history different to others, maybe I'm just wiser or perhaps, and I suspect this to be the truth, the journalist who created this report, and the supposed masses who are ignorant of sexual crimes during and especially in Berlin at the end of World War 2 are just ignoring the obvious.

I'm talking about this report from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32529679

It talks about Soviet troops raping and assaulting Nazi German women, we'll make the distinction that they were still Nazi's and as the report itself says "in the west German suffering was ignored due to the guilt for Nazi crimes", and crimes they were.

The wrath, pillage and rape of Soviet citizens was widely known, and understood, I was taught about it and in learning about World War 2, and the waves of troops following Operation Barbarossa it was generally understood to me, by my teachings, that the Germans were animalistic and treated the Soviet and sub-humans, and that included raping and killing the women and children.

I had read an account of a German officer on the Volga front who was "only interested in a little buggery", so whilst his troops had the farm wife and teen age daughter, he took the 7 year old boy to the barn... "All were killed later by the unterfeldwebel, who took great delight in stabbing their necks and holding them up by their hair as the life drained out of them" the account read, I remember reading this at around 12 year of age, it chilled me to the bone... What are people actually learning now-a-days?... Only of the heroic struggle?... Only of the Combat of Arms?  Only what Call of Duty teaches them?

The rape of German women, was not ignored, indeed there is an interviewee in the Thames Television series "The World At War", a German man named Friedrich Luft; a Berliner, and he explains how when the Red Army came (38m20 on wards) other members of the house hid whilst he lead the Soviet soldiers to two dead women's bodies from another flat... he explains, "I told them these are my women, our only women, in their broken German, or what they called German, they gave me condolences, but then moved onto the next house to get what they wanted there".

It always struck me more how condescending, about the Russians ability to speak German, and how lacking of guilt for the whole war that German man was... He comes across as a complete arsehole... But it never struck me as he was revealing a dark secret in the rape of Berlin, it was common knowledge, the status-quo.

The essence of the problem with German and Soviet peoples being ravaged of course is that, there are reports both German and Soviet forces pillaged and dismembered Poland in 1939, wind forward to 1945 the allies in the West were fighting the Axis alongside the Soviets, so the pall of guilt lies heavy over the honour of the victory gained.

It's clear in the post war Soviet Block talk of Soviet forces committing such crimes were forbidden, but why not talk of it now?  Is this another one of those Russian idiosyncrasies that they can't face?

I find many computer games made by today's, or even my, generation of Russian (War Thunder being a good example) have a very rosy idea of how the second world was was conducted... 

This is a very interesting ideal of what was going on, and is reflected in the game with the performance and action of the "Russian" aka Soviet vehicles...  If we spin into the "Making of" blog post...

"we worked with a British studio, veterans of video trailer production. Together with them, we have created one of the most successful trailers referencing the military. But the British have their own history and their own view on the Second World War and we, the descendants of our Soviet heroes had our own war and own memories of it"

And it seems, certainly sexually, for the "honour" of the Soviet soldiers sake yes, Yes Russia you do have a different view of the Second World War, and it seems; like in Germany; it's slightly too far through rose tinted glasses.

BBC Top Gear - To Argentina - DO NOT APOLOGISE!

If they apologise I'll have a fit... I will seriously throw my rattle out my pram... Fuck Argentina, they conducted an illegal war against a British protected territory, whom has repeatedly stated its people wish to remain British... I am so suck of Argentina and this topic...

Just go on YouTube find a documentary about the Falklands war and read the Argentine comments...

One guy was trying to claim the Brooklyn class CRUISER the General Belgrano was a transport ship... Are you fucking retarded?... It was a CRUISER when it was laid down in the '30's and it was still a cruiser when we sunk the bastard!

It just seems whenever there's something to distract the Argentine people about they wheel out the Falklands... And the people follow like kittens being shown a ball of yarn.... Wake up people your politicians are hiding shit from you.

Like the Military Junta of 82 was hiding it was disappearing thousands of people... Remember them, not some trifling war they used to try and swing your opinion, and grow up you lost, grow a set of balls over it!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29706449

Germany v Argentina - Who does an Englishman Support?

Its agony, total agony, who to support for the World Cup Final?!??!

I'd of course started off the cup supporting England, I knew the fall was coming so was not surprised when they lazed their way out of contention, at least we weren't drubbed like Spain or Brazil.

I set my sights on supporting our near neighbours then, so I supported Belgium, the Netherlands and even France against Germany... All to fall at their respective hurdles.

I thought the Netherlands loosing on penalties was very stinging, I'm convinced they played the better game, and I really don't like the Argentine attitude, either on the pitch or off.

But both Argentina and Germany have history with us here in Britain, Wars mainly, and both are still pains in our political backside, most recently Germany with the PM loosing his case against J C Junkers getting into office, and their interminable economic dominance of the continent they tried to take by force in the 40's.

But then the scars of that conflict are old, and played as computer games, and if not forgotten they've been forgiven.

Its the centenary of the first world war too, so we're not forgetting that great conflict at German hands either, but still I'm more riled by the Argentines.

Their attitude over the Falkland islands has not gone unmentioned on this blog before, their politicians use of that topic to distract from home affairs problems they have, and their general blinkered approach to the islanders themselves voting to be part of the UK protectorate... It just beggars belief that the rest of the world doesn't look at them a bit more lob sided when they start sounding "Viva las Malvidas" or what ever they call them... Because if you've ever met a Falkland Islander (and I have) they have a slight Norfolk style twang to their very English/British accents!

They have red letter boxes, and red telephone boxes, even the Argentine soldiers who landed in 1981 said "we landed and took a look around, and realised this was nothing like back home", "we'd been taught the island was part of Argentina, taken from us, but there was no sign of home here, it looked like London on the postcards", "we knew we were a long way from home when we saw the people, for some reason we expected them to speak Spanish, then there was the car crashes as they drove on the left".

It all said it all really, but those accounts get ignored, and I think quite strangely when the British forces had cleared up they offered to return the Argentine dead to their homes, but they refused, they refused those grieving families the chance to bury their Sons, Brothers, Fathers and Uncles.  Instead making the political statement that the dead should be buried on the Falklands, as it was "part of Argentina", this from an illegal government who "disappeared" millions of innocent civilians and orchestrated and illegal war, nice moral high ground there lads.

I can tell you now folks, we British have buries so very many of our forefathers, Ruper Brooke said it best:

IF I should die, think only this of me;  

  That there's some corner of a foreign field  

That is for ever England. There shall be  

  

In his poem "The Soldier", he spoke of the first world war, but it fits so aptly with our British experience in the middle east, the far east, India, Malasia, across the battlefields of the ages the British Empire stuck its ugly nose.

So we know when you're not wanted, and not liked, and the Falklands are an area where Argentina bark up the very wrong tree...

So, with all that said, I'll just have to support Germany for the Final...

Typhoon Fighters, Old and New

I was doing some research about the Hawker Typhoon Fighter Bomber in World War 2 last night, this was to help feedback against a moderated bug report on the Gaijin forums for War Thunder.

As part of my research I spent a good two hours after that dismal England match against Uruguay reading and checking figures in several books, it took so long because one of the references I wanted to pull out of my archive was from the Imperial War Museum's "Images of War" publication, and I could not find the right edition (there being 52 of them).

Anyway, I did find it in the end, and after checking with Janes, I hit the internet to re-evaluate the original digital source links I'd passed over in the post.

They all married up, roughly, and my observations of the climb performance in game were much higher, so there's clearly something wrong with the flight model.  I don't know if its a bug in how the sustained climb acts, or just a bug in the drop off of engine performance at height... But whatever it is, its not firmly in the hands of their moderators.

I like that they're handling bugs like this in a moderated fashion, it stops the dross of trolling and random posting which was the bane of my life when at the Lordz, trying to figure out what was an actual bug report and what was just people having a go.

I was however interested to see this article from the Telegraph come up, when I was searching online about the climb rate of the Typhoon.

In case you're not aware the Eurofighter as it entered RAF service was christened the Typhoon, unlike its name sake this new generation jet fighter can climb, oh boy can it, I've seen them in the flesh, a diamond formation of four going vertical over the Lincolnshire countryside.

Falklands Under Threat (AGAIN)

Its interesting how history repeats itself, in 1981 the Royal Navy had just completed retiring its large fleet aircraft carriers, switching to the last light fleet carriers (HMS Hermes) and the new through deck cruisers (Jump jet/anti-submarine carriers) of the Invincible Class (HMS Ark Royal).

A considerable drop in our maritime exponent, recieved internationally as a percieved lowering of the white ensign, so much to that Argentina conducted an illegal, and ultimately misjudged, invasion of the British Oversears Territory of the Falkland isles.

In my opinion, spurred on by the idea that Britain would not come to the Falkland island government's aid and that the British Government were unable, through lack of these ships, to come to their aid.

But history less on over... Here we are in 2011, the government has just retired the Invincible class of carriers, leaving the Royal Navy with only the rotary wing air arm and HMS Ocean, two giant costly probably ill equipped super carriers on the slip ways being haggled over... and the South American Trade Bloc backing Argentina's claim to the islands once more!

I find it ridiculous, Argentina lost them to the French, Spanish and British in turn, the British people have a longer more thorough claim to the islands itself, but Argentina keep badgering for them, bullying for them.  The reason is symbollic rather than required.  I've heard Argentine Army Veterans who were landed on the islands during the war, one of them very poiniently said "We landed, and it was Britain, they drove on the left not the right, there were Red telephone boxes and no-one understood us, we suddenly were invaders, where I had expected a Spanish mix of people and us to be liberators I was suddenly very aware of being the invader".

That soldier (at the time of speaking) was living on the Islands, married to a native Falkland islander girl.  And good on him, he'd seen how to co-exist, how friendly the Falklanders are, and how British they are.

Not to say they don't take on the Latin American flair somewhat, but they are basically good honest working folk, with strong British ties, on an island not unlike the Shetlands in both its weather and fauna.

Argentina better simply accept this, live with the people, instead of trying to always bully tactic them.

My bother with this is that, we really don't have a response, or an iron willed Prime Minister this time around, if Argentina or whomever, threatened the Falklands what response would we give... Moaning in the UN probably... but you never know, Gas and Oil have been found in and around the isles, the yanks might want in on the party just like they did with Kuwait.

Links:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16280613