John Hemingway

[Tonge moor green jacket]

Last remaining Battle of Britain pilot has died, aged 105.

End of an era.

[Cheese]

And the beginning of a new era of the Nazism he fought against.

[kent_white]

22 minutes ago, Cheese said:

And the beginning of a new era of the Nazism he fought against.

You know how people say 'lest we forget'? 

It's amazing how many people have forgotten. 

[Burnden Pies]

Shot down three times apparently. My God what a generation that was. RIP Sir and thank you 

Edited March 18 by Burnden Pies

[Cheese]

16 minutes ago, kent_white said:

You know how people say 'lest we forget'? 

It's amazing how many people have forgotten. 

They just post laughing emojis these days, and have convinced themselves it could never possibly happen again, even when it's bubbling away in front of their own eyes and they are unwittingly a part of it. Needed nipping in the bud years ago, but we're beyond that.

[kent_white]

34 minutes ago, Cheese said:

They just post laughing emojis these days, and have convinced themselves it could never possibly happen again, even when it's bubbling away in front of their own eyes and they are unwittingly a part of it. Needed nipping in the bud years ago, but we're beyond that.

Mind boggling how many men (mainly) proudly display their poppy profile on Facebook whilst also arguing that we should be negotiating Ukraine away with Vladimir Putin. 

I'm not sure what lessons they've drawn from WW2 but they look very different from mine. 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

Oh, ey up.

Cunt's out.

[L/H White]

16 minutes ago, kent_white said:

Mind boggling how many men (mainly) proudly display their poppy profile on Facebook whilst also arguing that we should be negotiating Ukraine away with Vladimir Putin. 

I'm not sure what lessons they've drawn from WW2 but they look very different from mine. 

these are also, rangers fans, tommy supporters and drink carling / dark fruits 

[kent_white]

6 minutes ago, L/H White said:

these are also, rangers fans, tommy supporters and drink carling / dark fruits 

Also fishing fans! 😁

And the kind of people I would have expected to have wanted to defend Ukraine to the hilt. 

[bolty58]

18 minutes ago, L/H White said:

these are also, rangers fans, tommy supporters and drink carling / dark fruits 

 If only we could talk to many who gave everything. I'll wager my last dollar they did it for an England not overrun with alien creeds and cultures including German nazism and more recent extremist religious interlopers some would throw the doors open for.

 

[Cheese]

15 minutes ago, bolty58 said:

 If only we could talk to many who gave everything. I'll wager my last dollar they did it for an England not overrun with alien creeds and cultures including German nazism and more recent extremist religious interlopers some would throw the doors open for.

You live on the other side of the planet, you daft old bugger. And we don't use dollars here.

[Zico]

32 minutes ago, bolty58 said:

 If only we could talk to many who gave everything. I'll wager my last dollar they did it for an England not overrun with alien creeds and cultures including German nazism and more recent extremist religious interlopers some would throw the doors open for.

 

 

[royal white]

1 hour ago, kent_white said:

Mind boggling how many men (mainly) proudly display their poppy profile on Facebook whilst also arguing that we should be negotiating Ukraine away with Vladimir Putin. 

I'm not sure what lessons they've drawn from WW2 but they look very different from mine. 

Depends which way you look at it. If Russia were bombing the U.K. then it would be different. If you ask a lot of lads who were sent to more recent conflicts against countries that weren’t bombing the U.K. you would see a very different resposne. 

[kent_white]

39 minutes ago, royal white said:

Depends which way you look at it. If Russia were bombing the U.K. then it would be different. If you ask a lot of lads who were sent to more recent conflicts against countries that weren’t bombing the U.K. you would see a very different resposne. 

I suppose that's one of the draw backs to joining the military. In that you don't get any real choice over where you're deployed or what your orders are. 

I often think that military powers like the UK choose to deploy frequently so that the troops have combat experience. You'd know more about that than I wouif though. 

I'd presumed John was a volunteer - or conscripted. 

[RoadRunnerFan]

I'm dead against the Lord such and such, lady what's her name, flag shagging poppy fetishists using our country's fight against authoritarianism as a means to promote authoritarianism. 

 

But let's get this back on track.

RIP Mr Hemingway - last of the few.

 

[Cheese]

 

[royal white]

1 hour ago, kent_white said:

I suppose that's one of the draw backs to joining the military. In that you don't get any real choice over where you're deployed or what your orders are. 

I often think that military powers like the UK choose to deploy frequently so that the troops have combat experience. You'd know more about that than I wouif though. 

I'd presumed John was a volunteer - or conscripted. 

I’m not sure about that, if that is the case they probably over did it between the late 90s to circa 2020. 
 

People from Johns era were a different breed (you don’t need me to tell you that) we had kids lying about their age so they could go and fight. I don’t think you would see much of that in this day and age 

[kent_white]

1 hour ago, royal white said:

I’m not sure about that, if that is the case they probably over did it between the late 90s to circa 2020. 
 

People from Johns era were a different breed (you don’t need me to tell you that) we had kids lying about their age so they could go and fight. I don’t think you would see much of that in this day and age 

It's a bit like JD Vance was saying the other day about countries who haven't fought for decades. I think we tend to make sure our armed forces see some kind of action periodically. You'd be able to say much better than me whether or not an army with no combat experience could perform as well one who has previously seen action. 

From what I read, that's one of the big question marks hanging over China's armed forces as it's been so long since they have actively fought in real conditions. 

Maybe you're right about John's era. But I also think that these days we've a much clearer idea of what the reality of war is like - it's less easy to whip people up into a patriotic fervour when you are watching footage of some of the horrors. 

Massive respect to you for that mate! 

[royal white]

38 minutes ago, kent_white said:

It's a bit like JD Vance was saying the other day about countries who haven't fought for decades. I think we tend to make sure our armed forces see some kind of action periodically. You'd be able to say much better than me whether or not an army with no combat experience could perform as well one who has previously seen action. 

From what I read, that's one of the big question marks hanging over China's armed forces as it's been so long since they have actively fought in real conditions. 

Maybe you're right about John's era. But I also think that these days we've a much clearer idea of what the reality of war is like - it's less easy to whip people up into a patriotic fervour when you are watching footage of some of the horrors. 

Massive respect to you for that mate! 

I think the amount of exercises that now take place with other countries is a massive help. Obviously it’s never going to beat the real thing but it gives a massive insight into how other countries operate (and how shit they are compared to ours)

[kent_white]

1 minute ago, royal white said:

I think the amount of exercises that now take place with other countries is a massive help. Obviously it’s never going to beat the real thing but it gives a massive insight into how other countries operate (and how shit they are compared to ours)

What do you think about the size of our armed forces and our kit? Does it badly need huge investment like has been suggested? 

I'd happily pay more tax for better defence to be fair. I don't think we can afford to mess around. 

[victor meldrew]

4 hours ago, Cheese said:

You live on the other side of the planet, you daft old bugger. And we don't use dollars here.

Give a few years and it will be chickens and other halal meats

[royal white]

3 minutes ago, kent_white said:

What do you think about the size of our armed forces and our kit? Does it badly need huge investment like has been suggested? 

I'd happily pay more tax for better defence to be fair. I don't think we can afford to mess around. 

We did have a lot of good kit, just not enough of it. Couple of examples at ground level when we went into Sierra Leone we had to sign out our jungle kit. Told the QM my boot size, “sorry mate we have no 8s but we have a size 9 arctic boot”  🤷🏻 you would be getting taken out of the field with trench foot within a few days wearing those things! In Iraq half the troop wearing green fatigues and half wearing desert. Radios always seemed to be temperamental with the batteries only lasting half the time they should do. However on the other hand we had some of the more upto date kit than the yanks, the main one I noticed as it was part of my job was the computer we had to bring in mortar fire. It was similar in size to a small tablet and a bit thicker, brilliant bit of kit. America with all their money were using a big fuck off plotting board like they used in Vietnam, basically running around with a blackboard strapped to them 😂 vehicles were always hit and miss and as for some of the vessels! I was on HMS ocean in 2000 it was about 3 years old at the time and was meant to be the pride of the Royal Navy. It was a Complete piece of shit that was decommissioned after about 20years. it seems like there’s always been money available however it’s been massively mismanaged. 

[kent_white]

11 minutes ago, royal white said:

We did have a lot of good kit, just not enough of it. Couple of examples at ground level when we went into Sierra Leone we had to sign out our jungle kit. Told the QM my boot size, “sorry mate we have no 8s but we have a size 9 arctic boot”  🤷🏻 you would be getting taken out of the field with trench foot within a few days wearing those things! In Iraq half the troop wearing green fatigues and half wearing desert. Radios always seemed to be temperamental with the batteries only lasting half the time they should do. However on the other hand we had some of the more upto date kit than the yanks, the main one I noticed as it was part of my job was the computer we had to bring in mortar fire. It was similar in size to a small tablet and a bit thicker, brilliant bit of kit. America with all their money were using a big fuck off plotting board like they used in Vietnam, basically running around with a blackboard strapped to them 😂 vehicles were always hit and miss and as for some of the vessels! I was on HMS ocean in 2000 it was about 3 years old at the time and was meant to be the pride of the Royal Navy. It was a Complete piece of shit that was decommissioned after about 20years. it seems like there’s always been money available however it’s been massively mismanaged. 

What did you say when he offered you a size 9 Arctic boot? 😁

[royal white]

3 minutes ago, kent_white said:

What did you say when he offered you a size 9 Arctic boot? 😁

I’ll be fine with my flip flops thanks 

[kent_white]

9 minutes ago, royal white said:

I’ll be fine with my flip flops thanks 

🤣