Bravery of airmen made difference
Friday 28th March 2008, 10:51AM GMT.
As an octogenarian ex-serviceman I am disappointed that the present generation shows so much ignorance of the reasons for World War Two, the way it was fought and the final outcome.
At the beginning of the war the Army suffered humiliating defeats despite many individual courageous acts. They faced an enemy with superior equipment and, dare I say it, superior leadership. The miracle of Dunkirk prevented the incarceration of thousands of our men.
A similar defeat was inflicted upon us by the shameful surrender of thousands of our able men to the Japanese in the Far East.
Our Navy also faced an enemy armed with modern ships and U-boats.
Our Navy was still equipped with vessels from World War One.
The RAF was no better off, with little modern equipment apart from Hurricanes and Spitfires, which were in very short supply.
None of these shortcomings were the fault of the regular fighting men, rather the inability of successive governments to see what was going on in Germany prior to 1939.
It is an historical fact that, after the defeats of our armies and the partial defeat of the Navy, only the RAF managed to thwart the plans of the German High Command by defeating the Luftwaffe. The Battle of Britain indeed saved our day.
Without the efforts of RAF Bomber Command and, much later, the American 8th Air Force, the enemy would have been able to make many more tanks, U-boats, aircraft and rockets.
It is well to remember that by far the greatest number of aircrew were non commissioned officers and, sadly, no fewer than 56,000 lost their lives while on flying duties.
They died so that you can enjoy freedom and the way of life that you have chosen.
D G Rouse, Shrewsbury
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i do not think any one has forgotten ww2 i think any one under 20 do not know a lot about as it is not high up in the education prioritys etc , and dare i say it the pc brigade sooner or later will stick there beaks in and say we shouldnt pick on the germans etc etc etc etc infact as the famouse saying goes dont mention the war.
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Blame the government and the education system for our younster’s lack of knowledge regarding their own British history.
It seems that they must learn about every one elses past – except their own.
Why can’t schools send pupils to Remembrance Sunday parades and services?
What about the idea of schools ‘adopting’ a certain number of war veterans? – Just think how mutually beneficial this could be to pupils and veterans alike.
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I know for a fact that World War Two and the events leading up to it are taught in Telford’s primary schools, so the idea that the education system doesn’t teach it is demonstrably untrue.
My daughter’s school also had a couple of WWII veterans who came and talked to the children and shared their experiences – my daughter has since met one of them again at a number of 1940s events in the Midlands and at the RAF museum at Cosford – fascinating and nice men they were too!
They were greatly pleased by the interest and enthusiasm shown by the children – you should not despair Mr Rouse, these things are still being taught. It’s all the more important in this day and age that children understand why their forbears fought against the Nazis, and how easily their propaganda brainwashed and hoodwinked an entire nation into believing the poison they spouted about the Jews and other minorities – history has a habit of teaching some very pertinent lessons!
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The work that I do for the Royal British Legion, obviously brings me into contact with plenty of war veterans. They are the most patriotic people I know.
Ask an ‘ordinary’ conscript-veteran what his personal reasons for fighting were – and quite often the answer will be … for his family and his country’s freedom.
In other words, patriotism.
These are the voices I that I believe our schoolchildren should be hearing- From men and women who could just as easily be their own great-grandparents.
While I agree, the historical plight of other people is important – it should never take priority over our own British history. Our children must learn about their own past, first and foremost.
History (especially the WW1/WW2 eras) should be taught mainly from a British perpective.
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“While I agree, the historical plight of other people is important – it should never take priority over our own British history. Our children must learn about their own past, first and foremost.
History (especially the WW1/WW2 eras) should be taught mainly from a British perpective.”
Most commendable and I utterly agree! ….. but I think you will have to first win another War in this country ….. against the Liberal Minded Politically Correct Minority who it would seem have managed to Win and Hold the high ground in Britain……………
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All tyhe Brits who lost their lives in WW 2 must be turning in their graves at the present state of the UK and the world in general !!!!
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Yes, history is taught in our schools peter, but from what perspective? My year 7 child recently studied the Spanish Armada and on the schools history website was a project where the children were asked to design a poster for a Spanish sailor explaining why he hated the British.
(I suggested that my child should write something along the lines of ‘I hate the British because they are better than us’
I bet the teacher had an apoplectic fit!)
Our children are being taught a poisonous cocktail of liberalism and marxism through the brainwashing of political correctness.
I would suggest they throw pc out the window and teach our children to have pride in their community, their country; then perhaps heroes like Mr Rouse will get the respect and admiration they deserve.
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Michael – sounds a bit paranoid to me I’m afraid. Whilst it tends to be true that the victors of conflicts get to write the history, if you want your child to understand at any level of intellectual depth, then it’s important that history is examined from a variety of perspectives.
So, with the Spanish Armada it’s important to understand the politics of the era and to look at things from the perspective of the vanquished and the victor – that way, when you come to the conclusion that we were right you have the reasoning to back up that view.
Similarly with WWII, we need to give our children the perspective of events leading up to the war. The German people had suffered a huge recession, with hyper-inflation following WWI. This allowed the extreme right, under Hitler, to capitalise upon that situation, and manipulate the population to a) feel that they had been unjustly treated after the Great War, and b) look for scapegoats for their situation in ethnic and other minority groups. The subsequent expansionism of the Nazis was tolerated, if not approved of, by Britain and the US. Eventually, the invasion of Poland was a step too far, and we went to war – we were right to do so, but up until that time there had been no particular direct threat to Britain.
Both yourself and Nelson seem to want WWII taught as a ‘Britain vs. Germany’ topic – a bit like some football match. The reality was much more complex than that, and if we want our children to learn the true lessons of history rather than some jingoistic dislike and suspicion of foreigners, then we owe it to them to tell the whole story.
Why are you so frightened that we look at history from the perspective of others sometimes? Your children can only gain knowledge by doing so.
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From across the pond we have the same problem in teaching history to people – teaching often is nothing more than teaching date memorization and rarely in teaching of the reasons why any war is fought — from either sides point of view. They also rarely teach how the past still directly affects the present or how the past can HELP you in the present.
The RAF pioneered semi-precision night attacks – but really perfected navigation aids whose decendents are only now being replaced with GPS (also pioneered Electronic Warfare).
Having talked with a few RAF bomber crew members while holidaying in the UK at East Kirby, Duxford, Hendon, Horham and other locations (and the pubs), what they accomplished is really amazing. How often do you get to talk to a Master Bomber to Berlin or someone who almost got to Nurenberg on March 31, 1944 before being shot down?
(He was still in the plane when it blew up – and went through the roof and not out the door.)
The after effects of MANY wars from hundreds of years ago are still being played out today.
Here in Oregon we have a regular program where veterans visit schools on an annual basis around Memorial day to talk about their experiences – our last WW I vet died so now we have only WW II and beyond who talk.
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