On this day in history

[Julian T]

My great uncle flew for Coastal Command as a volunteer pilot, he was awarded a DFC and mentioned in dispatches in 1940, he died flying a Hudson which lost an engine and crashed near whitby on a ferry flight in 1941.

His brother was in the Royal Engineers in North Africa and Italy as a side note.

All my grandfather would say about the war is that it makes good men do bad things, he did not like talking about the war either, I know he did a lot of mine defusing so he probably saw a lot he also did not want to talk about.

 

[clivehorridge]

Although volunteers, many of them struggled to come to terms with what had happened, and in those days that was dealt with by burying it. My mums uncle was a Navigator in Mosquitoes. He got the DFC, but could never come to terms with being the one that dropped the bombs. His brother was a GP and offered to sign him off sick, but he declined the offer. He was such a lovely man but had a lifetime of mental illness and ended his days in a psychiatric unit.

That’s tragic. My dad was a pacifist, and too old for call up. But he realized everyone had to do their bit and went for officer training in the RAF. He consoled himself that all his targets were war-effort factories and munition sites until the last, which was Dresden. He lost it then a bit, but seemed to come to terms with it, but we’ll never know the deeper scars.

 

[Chas]

That’s tragic. My dad was a pacifist, and too old for call up. But he realized everyone had to do their bit and went for officer training in the RAF. He consoled himself that all his targets were war-effort factories and munition sites until the last, which was Dresden. He lost it then a bit, but seemed to come to terms with it, but we’ll never know the deeper scars.

I was born in 1942 so I missed the blitz, I was evacuated out of London to live with friends of the family, London was a lot smaller then and where I went was like being out in the country, oddly enough their house was situated near the end of the runway of what was then London airport but wasn't used, as far as I know, as a wartime airfield.
'Do their bit' that was the common admirable thought back in those terrible days, the whole nation had that frame of mind, unfortunately I can't see that being the mindset these days. Of course there will always be the few who will think that way but never the whole nation I think.
My dad was in the RAF out in Palestine as ground crew for Spitfires and I don't remember him ever talking about his experiences in the war, apart from saying "The only time he fired a gun was to shoot at tin cans"
Oh how we laughed.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Paternal Grandparents were protected occupation - Grandad was a Railwayman, Grandma was a Firespotter at the railway (daughter of a policeman/fireman - they often did both jobs at that time)

Maternal Grandparents were a bit more interesting. Grandad ran away from home to escape his 2 sisters in about 1943 (when he was 16) and ended up doing his time in REME. Great Grandfather on that side was evacuated from Dunkirk on a little boat, spent time in North Africa and generally had an "interesting" time by all accounts. Grandad in REME used to spend a lot of time with radio's, so ended up hearing the chatter on the German radios ahead of the surrender.

Grandma on that side was Abwehr in Hamburg, and was the daughter of a Prison officer from the Alsace-Lorriane. Entertaining story there is that in the mid 1930s when she was at school she announced (as small children do) that her Dad was in prison. Confusion reigned at parents evening when he turned up - took a bit of explaining that he was a Prison officer.

My dad was in the RAF out in Palestine as ground crew for Spitfires and I don't remember him ever talking about his experiences in the war, apart from saying "The only time he fired a gun was to shoot at tin cans"
Oh how we laughed.

Grandad also got sent to Palestine - he lost a mate in one of the bombings led by the Jewish/Zionist groups.

He was also back to India (he'd spent some of his childhood there) both before and after partition. Mum went with them to Pakistan as well - I think by the age of 5, Mum had lived in Germany, the UK and Pakistan...

 

[clivehorridge]

Paternal Grandparents were protected occupation - Grandad was a Railwayman, Grandma was a Firespotter at the railway (daughter of a policeman/fireman - they often did both jobs at that time)

Maternal Grandparents were a bit more interesting. Grandad ran away from home to escape his 2 sisters in about 1943 (when he was 16) and ended up doing his time in REME. Great Grandfather on that side was evacuated from Dunkirk on a little boat, spent time in North Africa and generally had an "interesting" time by all accounts. Grandad in REME used to spend a lot of time with radio's, so ended up hearing the chatter on the German radios ahead of the surrender.

Grandma on that side was Abwehr in Hamburg, and was the daughter of a Prison officer from the Alsace-Lorriane. Entertaining story there is that in the mid 1930s when she was at school she announced (as small children do) that her Dad was in prison. Confusion reigned at parents evening when he turned up - took a bit of explaining that he was a Prison officer.



Grandad also got sent to Palestine - he lost a mate in one of the bombings led by the Jewish/Zionist groups.

He was also back to India (he'd spent some of his childhood there) both before and after partition. Mum went with them to Pakistan as well - I think by the age of 5, Mum had lived in Germany, the UK and Pakistan...

That’s quite a pedigree you’ve inherited there ED!

Love the bit about grandpa running away from home at 16 to escape his 2 sisters...

Classic

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1994 Edvard Munch's The Scream - one of the world's best-known paintings - is stolen from a gallery in Oslo, Norway.

 

[Chas]

This day in 1809 was Charles Darwin's birthday.

What is Charles Darwin's theory?
Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce, mind you I think some of the examples you see today came from the shallow end of the gene pool.

 

[flint]

Not his birthday, but this man's worth a mention too. https://www.famousscientists.org/alfred-russel-wallace/

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1971, Pounds, shillings and pence begin to go the way of the dodo as the British government launches a new decimal currency.

 

[Brian S]

Wonder if it bounced
THAT was a lot of money back then !!

16 Jan 1659
1st known cheque (£400) (on display at Westminster Abbey)



Edit, just come across this ???
1659

The first British cheque (for £10) was written by Nicholas Vanacker and is now in the archives of the National Westminster Bank.

Even a Bill n Ben was a lot money , average workers wage 5 bob a week (if they were lucky)

 

[Brian S]

16 Jan 1940

World War II: In a daring night raid, known as the Altmark incident, a boarding party from HMS Cossack successfully rescued 299 British prisoners of war from the Altmark, a 12,000 ton German tanker, in Norwegian waters. The Altmark was returning to Germany with the merchant sailors who had been picked up from ships sunk by the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee.

 

[Brian S]

Found the answer to a question that has puzzled me for a long while Belisha Beacons

16 Jan 1957

Death of the politician Leslie Hore-Belisha, minister of Transport who introduced the driving test, the Highway Code and the Belisha beacon used at zebra crossings.

 

[Brian S]

"Don't them your name Pike"

16 Jan 1946

The birth of actor Ian Lavender. His best remembered role was as Private Frank Pike, the youngest member and 'stupid boy' of the platoon in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army. Lavender has a 'cameo role' in the 2016 film adaptation of the series and the actor Frank William takes the role of the Reverend Timothy Farthing. The Dad's Army went on general release in cinemas on 5th February 2016.

 

[Chas]

Not serious, just a joke.
On this day in history (9/2/1847) the surviving members of the Donner Party were rescued . . . and there's not a single vegan among them

.

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1969 The Anglo-French supersonic airliner Concorde makes a "faultless" 27-minute maiden flight, taking off and landing at Toulouse, France.

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1885 the first performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's the Mikado.

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1999 Ernie Wise, one of the UK's best-loved comedians as one half of Morecambe and Wise, dies aged 73.

 

[Chas]

In the words of Mandy Rice Davies, Well he would say that wouldn't he?

On this day in 1963, In a statement to Parliament, Secretary of State for War John Profumo denies any impropriety with the model Christine Keeler.

 

[Chas]

US President Ronald Reagan declares Star Wars
On this day in 1983 US President Ronald Reagan unveils plans to prevent nuclear war using laser or particle beam technology in space to "intercept and destroy" incoming missiles. The plans quickly become known as "Star Wars".

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1977 At least 560 people die after two jumbo jets collide on a runway in Tenerife.
Ultimately, the crash was blamed on one of the pilots who hadn't checked if he was clear for take-off.