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Old 8th April 2005, 12:46
Hawk-Eye
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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.