A memory owed

[Pudsey Bear]

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Well, I thought it was a good little film, and good timing too.

 

[Tribute11]

I only wish the younger generations remember the sacrifice of that generation

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Even our older members don't seem to be that bothered.

 

[wildebus]

Even our older members don't seem to be that bothered.

My mum remembered watching the bombers flying over her house and dropping their deadly loads.

Except in her case, they sported Red, White and Blue Roundels rather than Black Crosses.

 

[GeoffL]

Even our older members don't seem to be that bothered.

Some of us have more recent times to remember ... I lost several friends during the Falklands conflict and can thank my lucky stars that a catastrophic switchboard fire a few weeks prior to that kicking off kept my ship in Gibraltar rather than being sent down south. It wasn't until 2013 that I found out secondhand that the Argentinians had made a failed attempt to sink her using divers and limpet mines.

In the meantime, my father-in-law wasn't so lucky. His ship (HMS Gloucester) was sunk on 22 May 1941. He spent over 24 hours in the water covered in fuel oil, shot in the leg by a German aircraft that strafed the survivors in the water. Only about 80 survived from a crew of over 800. FIL didn't talk much about it, and I only became aware of some of the truth recently thanks to various "Fighting G" societies. I'll spare you, but some of the details are pretty horrific...