Fighter pilots' guts
 

If we are going to endure any more of this diatribe - god knows why as it is not going to solve anything after nearly 65 years :) - can we have some consistency in references to people for the UK.

I, for one, am getting fed up with reading about England and Britain in the same article, sometimes even the same sentence "Remember what the British press and almost every Englishman wrote and said about the French" for example. Also, does that mean 50 million English people picked up a pen and wrote anti-French articles, perhaps that explains why the British Library in London is so large!!?? :)

If you must continue, just make references to Britain, or British people as appropriate. Not all British people then and now are English, although the English make up the bulk of the UK population.

I also worry about newcomers to this excellent Forum and wonder what they make of it all - whatever their nationality :)

None of us were around at the time being written about - well maybe a few as babies, but certainly none in a position to influence matters.

Hawk-eye, give us all a break - please !!??:)

Re: Fighter pilots' guts
 

Please Kutscha
explain who is displaying venomous hatred : those who claim that not one single member of a nation's 40 million inhabitants was keen nor gallant during a war or he who is trying to make the truth known to all... This is precisely what certain people want to prevent with all means.
Hatred towards what or whom? Be specific, give us precise information. I for my part praised British airmen's gallantry several times HERE with the highest respect, which I herewith confirm.
Perhaps a piece of information points in the right direction : in several English books on the later stages of WW II, especially on RAF Bomber Command, I found some grateful remarks on the fact that all Bomber Command crews felt relieved already when they knew they had left German (or whatever) airspace and were over France - sigh! - for they knew that if they had to make a crash-landing or parachute there they would enjoy the immediate help of the local people, who would hide them, protect them from the Germans and very often spirit them back to England thanks to their permanent organisation. Only a small minority of the French was really active in this (which was part of the French Résistance) but almost the whole population hated the Germans and had great sympathy for the British. When taken by surprise when some airman/airmen landed near them they almost invariably helped as best they could. Many veterans were / are very grateful and come and visit their brave French (as well as Dutch and Belgian) friends from the war regularly.
Remember that if a member of the RAF was taken prisoner by the Germans this was certainly not a reason to rejoyce but at least they would certainly survive the war in some prisoner camp. On the other hand every French person "helping the enemy" could be shot on the spot or tortured for a long time and murdered, his / her entire family too, or, worse still, all these people could be sent to a concentration / extermination camp in Germany or Poland (Dachau, Ravensbrück etc.). In fact many French people paid their resistance with their life, sometimes with the lives of their wife/husband and their children. Think of it Mister Wonderful.

Re: Fighter pilots' guts
 

Here we go again! Always the same tricks : No counter-argument, no counteranalysis, only lamenting devoid of any basis : the usual old stuff from England (Britain if you prefer). You want me to unify my vocabulary? All right, I'm sorry : put "English" everywhere. Satisfied?Besides, Wales and Scotland are only poor English colonies having the bad luck of sharing the same island with the English imperialists so it is perfectly justified to use the most widely used phrase : England instead of the so-called "Great-Britain". Not to mention Ireland... When will your paratroopers once more shoot women and children peacefully walking in the streets of Derry (the English colonialists keep calling it "Londonderry" : no comment)? Tomorrow? In one month? In five years? Does it matter when? Can't you leave the Irish alone in Ireland? Even YOU can't do otherwise than calling the northern part of Ireland "Northern IRELAND". So it's Irish isn't it. When no stranger listens you call the Irish "cattle" and such things so you must understand I don't fancy call them "British", which actually means "English". Scots don't take kindly in being called "English" and they're damned right.
Don't ever try the same "peacekeeping" in "Londoncalais", Londonboulogne", "Londonparis" or "Londonmarseille".

Re: Fighter pilots' guts
 

Hello Hawk-Eye,

Whatever makes you think that I am angry ????

I am not.:) far from it,

I am just fed up with your personal continual attack on one of Britains war hero's and your continual attack on myself for questioning your motives for this type of thread on this site.

As others have said there are more appropriate sites to aire your sometimes venomus ideology .

It is time for you to stop this foolishness .

Have a good day

Alex:)

Re: Fighter pilots' guts
 

Discussion effectively torpedoed.

But don't expect this to be a precedent, next time I may choose to delete a (number of) post(s) instead of closing a thread.