North Korea video planning on blowing up New York City

[Matthew3590]

I agree with rebelcowboysnb too - probably for the very first time.

NCReb, your summary of the relationship between south Korea and the US is exactly right.

As for abandoning friends and allies, well there are plenty of precedents. Vietnam, Iraq and, soon, Afghanistan, for example. Vietnam did quite well but the other two are disaster areas.

Also WW2 was because of alliances. Turned into a larger conflict than needed to be because of alliances.

 

[hemet dennis]

Quote:
That would be WW1. WW2 was because of aggression.

 

[thaiturkey]

Also WW2 was because of alliances. Turned into a larger conflict than needed to be because of alliances.

That's a difficult one. The only country in Europe ready for war was Germany. The rest of the European countries had had enough after WWI and were suffering an economic depression. Continental Europeans had little choice but to capitulate to Germany. Britain, protected for the time being by the English Channel and North Sea, declared war because Germany was intent on attacking. Arming the country could only be doe with loans from across the Atlantic. Even then, invasion was avoided by some good luck and Hitler's errors of judgement. The military involvement of the US almost certainly saved Britain from being overrun by Germans.

If Britain had not had help from the US and Commonwealth countries the war would have been shorter, I agree, but I would have been writing in German now. It never occurred to Britons that the US and others abandoned them after the war. Incidentally, there are still US military bases in Britain.

WWI was an abomination. Lives of ordinary people were sacrificed to protect the interests of the elite on both sides. A cynic may say the same about WWII, I suppose.

 

[bakerjw]

The truth of the state of the North Korean people. It's a shame when governments treat their people in such a manner.

 

[chickened]

That's a difficult one. The only country in Europe ready for war was Germany. The rest of the European countries had had enough after WWI and were suffering an economic depression. Continental Europeans had little choice but to capitulate to Germany. Britain, protected for the time being by the English Channel and North Sea, declared war because Germany was intent on attacking. Arming the country could only be doe with loans from across the Atlantic. Even then, invasion was avoided by some good luck and Hitler's errors of judgement. The military involvement of the US almost certainly saved Britain from being overrun by Germans.

If Britain had not had help from the US and Commonwealth countries the war would have been shorter, I agree, but I would have been writing in German now. It never occurred to Britons that the US and others abandoned them after the war. Incidentally, there are still US military bases in Britain.

WWI was an abomination. Lives of ordinary people were sacrificed to protect the interests of the elite on both sides. A cynic may say the same about WWII, I suppose.

The air battle over Britain was not luck but short of a miracle I met a man who as a child witnessed a German pilot get shot down at treetop level by a RAF pilot. He said he waved at the RAF pilot and the pilot waited to shoot until they were past hi house he said he could see both pilots faces.

 

[thaiturkey]

The air battle over Britain was not luck but short of a miracle I met a man who as a child witnessed a German pilot get shot down at treetop level by a RAF pilot. He said he waved at the RAF pilot and the pilot waited to shoot until they were past hi house he said he could see both pilots faces.

It must have been quite a sight over southern England and a real nail biter. I think it was at that time Britain had radar but Germany didn't. We also had mocked up planes on the ground to give the impression that we were better armed than we were.

Occasionally, the wreckage of a crashed plane is dug out of a wood or some other remote place even today.

The heroes were the Spitfires and their teenage pilots. A hidden store of unused and still crated Spitfires was found in Burma last year. The enthusiasts will be very pleased about that because there are few originals left back home.

 

[Matthew3590]

Sorry I meant WW1 not 2

 

[newfoundland]

I don't believe those spitfires have been located yet, although they are supposed to be buried near the airport at Rangoon. It would be brilliant if they were discovered as there is reputed to be a whole squadron and very few remain now, I think only two are air worthy. My son-in-law in the RAF, until very recently worked at Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, servicing the spitfire and Lancaster bomber which are part of the flight. They fly over us occasionally in the summer and the drone of the Merlin engines still send shivers up one's spine.

 

[thaiturkey]

I thought that they had been located and recovered.

I've seen the Lancaster and Spitfire flyover at Duxford. It made me think about what those young guys went through. Apart from the obvious violent aspect of it all, what a thrill it must have been for a twenty year old to fly one of those beasts.

My father was in the RAF during the war, working on Lancasters to keep them fit for use. He told me about a very cold day when the parts he took off an engine froze to the wing before he could re-fit them. He also told me that there were some Lancasters, unused, buried in a quarry in East Anglia. He wouldn't tell me where because of the Official Secrets Act! I don't understand why they would be buried rather than used, mothballed or broken up.

 

[newfoundland]

It would seem that your father did the same job as my son-in-law, although in much more difficult times. The Lancaster still flying is the 'City of Lincoln', which was only commissioned at the end of the war. During last summer, when the 'Bomber Command' memorial statue was unveilled at Hyde park, the Lancaster did a poppy drop over the park it was very moving. That is very interesting about the Lancasters being buried in East Anglia. I know the Spitfires in Burma were supposed to be buried because it was too costly to repatriate them. Don't see how that might apply to the Lancasters though. The Spitfire squadron has definitely not been located yet, but we shall see.