Not wanting to start this month’s Blog with some obscure facts about May like you should not buy a broom, wash your blankets or get married as that approach would have been too predictable. So, on a personal note. As a kid I did a lot of freshwater fishing, I was even a member of the Corby Silver Band Angling Club no less, along with my mate Jabba (that’s his nickname by the way). Had all the gear including a telescopic landing net, a rectangular keep net and an umbrella with sides that drop down for extra protection from the elements BUT the most versatile piece of equipment in my angling armoury was the fishing line – WHY? Well not only did I land a few bars, for those of you that aren’t fluent in Middle English, it means Perch, but I used it to suspend my Airfix models from my ceiling.
Everyone I knew played football using jumpers for goalposts when it rained, we played Subbuteo. If your mates were busy, we built Airfix spitfires dive-bombing German Heinkels and Junkers trying to replicate the Battle of Britain. Hours of fun to be had but at that age, I really didn’t know what it meant, or the absolute carnage World War II caused but on Tuesday 8th May 1945 the world changed for the better. May 8th is Victory in Europe Day or as the Pome’s like to call it, VE Day.
Picture the scene, war-torn London in 1945.
Winston Churchill learned of the German surrender at 7 am on May 7th but did make an official announcement until 7:40 that evening – WHY? Well because of this statement ‘In accordance with arrangements between the three great powers, tomorrow, Tuesday, will be treated as Victory in Europe Day and will be regarded as a holiday.’ – you beauty!
Tens of thousands rushed into the streets of London and continued celebrating until heavy rains arrived around midnight. Street parties sprung up the following day and celebrations continued as best they could with rationing still in place. The Home Office declared ‘Bonfires will be allowed, but the government trusts that only materials with no salvage value will be used’. The Board of Trade lifted rationing of cloth with ‘Until the end of May you may buy cotton bunting without coupons as long as its red, white and blue.’
Churchill was greeted everywhere he went with cries of, ‘Winnie, Winnie’ and his reply was ‘Britons may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing. Advance Britannia. Long live the cause of freedom! God save the King!’ then it was back to finishing the war against Japan. There we have it, the end of World War II. After six years of fighting and an estimated 85 million lives lost, which was 3% of the global population, Europe decided to PARTY!.
To break the Blog up, some gratuitous advertising.
It got me thinking what turned the tide for Britain. Well, in my humble opinion, I put it down to a British engineer called Reginald Joseph Mitchell, who came up with the iconic fighter, the Supermarine Spitfire. What made it special I hear you ask. Well is was its distinctive elliptical wings with cutting edge sunken rivets, that allowed for the thinnest possible wing cross-section, which in turn made the Spitfire go bloody fast – that and the Rolls-Royce v12, 27ltr engine. All that was needed was two 7mm Browning machine guns in each wing, and I give you what was lovingly referred to by its pilots as a lady in the air, a bitch on the ground. Here is what else I know about the Battle of Britain:
- It got its name before it started – that was Winnie’s idea
- It lasted three months, from 10th July to 31st October
- It was the first battle in history to be waged exclusively in the air
- It was one of the earliest uses of the radar in combat, and
- On the 15th September, a British pilot named Raymond ‘Ray’ Holmes famously rammed a German Dornier Do 17 bomber, preventing it from destroying Buckingham Palace – Ray survived this act of bravery, passing away at the age of 90 in 2005, WELL DONE SIR!
Not to dwindle too much on machines of war – just think of all the street parties across Europe and the amount of fun everyone had – happy days. When someone mentions the war as a kid there is, of course, Airfix but we also had Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. Two shining examples of great British comedy written by two ex-servicemen called Jimmy Perry and David Croft.
The first stop along memory lane is Dad’s Army.
Running for 80 episodes on the BBC from 1968 to 1977, it centred around the British militia called the Home Guard during the Second World War. Starting as a sitcom, it went to radio, it was made into a film and ending as a stage show. Set in a fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea on the south coast of England. Based on Jimmy Perry experiences in the Local Defence Volunteers, an overlooked aspect of Britain’s defence during the war. The Home Guard consisted of local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, either because of age or by being in professions exempt from conscription. With one-liners like ‘The Vicars not going to like this’ and ‘Don’t Panic!’, my global audience, I give you a theme tune that can only be described as nostalgic.
Next stop, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. Another sitcom for the BBC about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma during the last months of the Second World War. It ran for eight seasons between 1974 and 1981, totalling 56 episodes and is based on Jimmy’s and David’s experiences servicing in similar roles in India during the war. The title comes from the first episode in which young Gunner Parkin writes home to his mother in England.
The cast performed loads of songs from the era in their re-enactment of wartime variety shows. In 1975 Don Estelle and Windsor Davis in character as Gunner ’Lofty’ and Sergeant Major Williams released ‘Whispering Grass’ which reached No1 on the singles charts, staying there for three weeks. To whet your appetite here is The Last Post and to finish this section in the immortal words of Sergeant Major Williams ‘Right lovely boys, let’s have a look…..’
The last stop is one of the most iconic scenes from Faulty Towers, a personal favourite. People I give you a Latin teacher called John Cleese and The Germans.
Moving swiftly on, it’s the Come On URs section of my Blog. The first team has returned to non-contact training in groups of FIVE! (whatever that means). The gaffer reckons it will be mid-July before any competitive games are played behind closed doors, but there is a silver lining. If its kick-off at 3 pm in London, then the game will be televised in Oz at midnight which is better than the usual 2 am on a Sunday. Mourinho is still sniffing around Eberechi Eze in a bid to get him to Spurs, and Bright Osayi-Samuel is attracting interest from several premier league clubs. They will both be gone during the summer, but at least we will get some cash to go shopping with, but I hope we use the kids from the academy as we have a few bright prospects coming through the ranks.
Finally, the ride has been postponed to next May but do not fear people; there is only 357 sleeps to go. So my sponsorship reminders will be coming thick and fast, some subliminal and some not so.
Oh and it wasn’t COVID-Bloody-19 that interrupted my training but its monsoon season here, and it’s precipitating profusely (you thought I was going to say pissing down didn’t you). That translates to little riding, but if I intend to get your money for kids doing it tough, I will need to pull my finger out.
Be safe people, stay indoors as it saves lives, respect our front liners and for pity sake look after the oldies!
Badger & Batbottom 