Falklands 40 years on ..

[Spymaster]

I find that hard to believe. In any case Spymaster does not behave like a comrade.

 

[marty21]

Was in France when Argues invaded. But knew where Falklands were ..had always been part of my Dad's nuclear escape plans. As was his period in RN reserve had just ended and he got a frustrated watching his old mates in the FAA kick ease in Harriers

I was in the Outer Hebrides on a school trip , and Falklands does sound like a Scottish island brief confusion followed , ironic as it was a Geography field trip.

 

[gosub]

I was in the Outer Hebrides on a school trip , and Falklands does sound like a Scottish island brief confusion followed , ironic as it was a Geography field trip.

We took the piss out out of Dad for years about his quiet out of the way place that nobody's ever heard of

 

[Sasaferrato]

No, some of our atrocities in building and holding empire were abominable and could never seem anything other.

But it is interesting how most British and especially English posters here are well aware of the dark and despicable side of our past whereas quite a few others, whilst spot on about 'our' bloody history, have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to 'their' own nation or those that they admire.

I don't think our colonising behaviour was any better or worse than any other countries colonising behaviour, with the exception of the Belgian Congo which was atrocious.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Didn’t see the Spanish giving cricket to anyone.

The very first international cricket match was between Canada and the USA.

 

[A380]

I find that hard to believe. In any case Spymaster does not behave like a comrade.

Your perception of how you think he behaves ( erroneous in my experience) fits in pretty well with many ‘Comrades’ I have the misfortune to know and work with over the years.

 

[A380]

I just wish the government had shown the same commitment to the right of self-determination a couple of years later, when it involved the future of six million British subjects in Hong Kong instead of two thousand white people in the Falklands.

Me too.

But we had stolen Hong Kong as a price for not burning down any more Chinese cities, nicking all the gold leaf off many of their most important historically and culturally important buildings and forcing their government to stop protecting their people from massive drug abuse only 100 years before. And even then we had to lease 95% of it for 100 years. Plus Argentina didn’t make most of our stuff on credit or have nukes.

 

[A380]

As i said "Imperial powers love claiming islands" - China is an imperial powe

As i said "Imperial powers love claiming islands" - China is an imperial power

 

[Pickman's model]

Most people in Europe knew that the world was round and that North and South America were there centuries before Columbus discovered ( millions of people living in ) America. As you know.1494 Alexander IV which would have been good going if Chris’s 1493 voyage had be. New info…

Yes. As von Lichtenberg pointed out,the islander who discovered Columbus made a very bad discovery. Have you heard about Alexander VI, the Borgia pope who was responsible for the Treaty of Tordesillas?

 

[Pickman's model]

I was in the Outer Hebrides on a school trip , and Falklands does sound like a Scottish island brief confusion followed , ironic as it was a Geography field trip.

A joke made at the time by sue Townsend in her secret diary of adrian mole

 

[AmateurAgitator]

Well it would be if I had made any such claim. But your grasp of history doesn’t go any further back than what you can attach your schoolboy level class politics to, does it?

So I logged on to Urban when I wasn't fully awake - so what? Get fucked mate. I'd like to see you cope with this forum when trying to wake up on the medication I'm on.

 

[seeformiles]

I was 14 and listening to Radio 1 in the morning (probably DLT..) when I heard the news. Like others I had no idea where the Falklands were. I thought they were somewhere in the English Channel near Jersey and that it was pretty weird that Argentina had bothered sailing all that way. I recall the news coverage well but see it as more of a background event since it was a difficult time for our family. Around that time my old man was nearly killed in a road accident, had his legs shattered and was off work for over 2 years so things were a bit lean. A war on the other side of the world - now I knew where it was - wasn’t that high on my list of priorities.

 

[Spymaster]

So I logged on to Urban when I wasn't fully awake - so what? Get fucked mate.

More sleep, less Kropotkin, Wolfie.

Edit> Ah, you edited in the bit about your medication.

 

[AmateurAgitator]

More sleep, less Kropotkin, Wolfie.

I've had plenty of sleep dickhead and don't pretend you know what it's like being on my medication.

 

[Spymaster]

I've had plenty of sleep dickhead and don't pretend you know what it's like being on my medication.

I'm pretending nothing of the sort. Until a few minutes ago I had no idea you were on medication, and even now I don't know what it is.

Happy to leave it there.

 

[AmateurAgitator]

I'm pretending nothing of the sort. Until a few minutes ago I had no idea you were on medication, and even now I don't know what it is.

Happy to leave it there.

Good.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

A joke made at the time by sue Townsend in her secret diary of adrian mole

After scouring an atlas they found the islands under some crumbs. George Mole was not a happy man and went back to bed.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

I'm still waiting for compensation for British behaviour during the Irish Potato Famine. All my ancestors died then and I was never even born. That must be worth something.

 

[MickiQ]

I'm still waiting for compensation for British behaviour during the Irish Potato Famine. All my ancestors died then and I was never even born. That must be worth something.

Sack of spuds

 

[AmateurAgitator]

He doesn't, in fact.

Spymaster is an auld contrarian on the boards but in real life he espouses views with which durruti or makhno would have agreed

If this is true then we've got off on the wrong foot.

 

[Pickman's model]

If this is true then we've got off on the wrong foot.

He's a gentleman off the boards

 

[likesfish]

Nah tell us about the skateboarding incident, you've started so...

Well the death star is very boring so a Skateboard was acquired as were several more because the corridor slopes ideal for slamon all was fine.
The RAF police even got some exercise chasing skaters
Till and F4 phamton pilot had a go being a sky god was way to confident smashed his Jaw that was a £2million plus pilot out of commision. Skateboarding outlawed

 

[Ming]

Trigger warning for pedants. This is a definite ‘guy in the pub‘ post.

Aaaanyway…what i heard was (i think it was on here actually) that when Andrew was gallivanting around in his Sea King he was protected by ships lowering their defences and not deploying chaff to divert missiles away from him. Probably bollocks but I’d be curious to know if anyone had heard more.

 

[likesfish]

Yeah that's actually bollocks being the spare he could be sent into harms way.
Same way Harry could got to Afghanistan but William couldn't.

 

[srb7677]

I was nearly 17 when it started , and 17 when it finished. A mate who was 18 was in the Navy do did go , he was OK, survived , no long-term after effects.

I was a similar age, perhaps maybe a year older? I was 17 when it started and turned 18 that June not long after the end of it.

The war was an eye-opener for me. Being young and impressionable I got caught up in the wave of jingoism sweeping the country at first but had the good fortune to go to Germany mid-way through due to visiting a German girlfriend. And what an eye opener that was. The war was discussed rationally, as was the British media reaction to it. I came back home highly critical of the nauseating jingoism, and learned a lesson about media narratives, agendas, and manipulations of fact that I have never forgotten.

It was a part of my turn to the left ideologically, where I have remained ever since.

 

[kebabking]

Trigger warning for pedants. This is a definite ‘guy in the pub‘ post.

Aaaanyway…what i heard was (i think it was on here actually) that when Andrew was gallivanting around in his Sea King he was protected by ships lowering their defences and not deploying chaff to divert missiles away from him. Probably bollocks but I’d be curious to know if anyone had heard more.

Yeah, it's horse shit.

He flew the same sorties, in the same aircraft, under the same conditions as everyone else.

That doesn't stop him being a borish arse with questionable sexual tastes, but neither does being a borish arse with questionable sexual tastes stop him doing what what everyone else did - he flew looooong anti-submarine missions, including at night, he flew decoy missions with radar reflectors and chaff, and he flew into the smoke and the flames of the LSL Galahad at Bluff Cove to bring survivors to shore.

Ships don't have long-lived secrets. A thousand people on an aircraft carrier, 2-300 on every frigate and destroyer in the fleet - if special conditions were being manufactured every time a random Sea King flew, particularly if those special conditions put everyone else at greater risk, then it would have leaked long before now.

 

[kabbes]

I’m not even sure that the halls of power would see it as a bad thing that one of the unnecessary royals died in battle. It’s very useful myth-building.

 

[srb7677]

I’m not even sure that the halls of power would see it as a bad thing that one of the unnecessary royals died in battle. It’s very useful myth-building.

With that particular royal they probably especially wish he had died in battle so he could have been cannonised for their propaganda long before anyone had the chance to suspect certain things about him, lol

 

[Gramsci]

I was a similar age, perhaps maybe a year older? I was 17 when it started and turned 18 that June not long after the end of it.

The war was an eye-opener for me. Being young and impressionable I got caught up in the wave of jingoism sweeping the country at first but had the good fortune to go to Germany mid-way through due to visiting a German girlfriend. And what an eye opener that was. The war was discussed rationally, as was the British media reaction to it. I came back home highly critical of the nauseating jingoism, and learned a lesson about media narratives, agendas, and manipulations of fact that I have never forgotten.

It was a part of my turn to the left ideologically, where I have remained ever since.

Growing up in Naval/military Town I didn't have a lot of time for the armed forces by time I left. Or all that went with it.

Yes I do remember the upsurge in jingoism. Something that doesn't entirely go away in this country. Nor did I ever feel a part of it.

 

[srb7677]

Yeah, it's horse shit.

He flew the same sorties, in the same aircraft, under the same conditions as everyone else.

That doesn't stop him being a borish arse with questionable sexual tastes, but neither does being a borish arse with questionable sexual tastes stop him doing what what everyone else did - he flew looooong anti-submarine missions, including at night, he flew decoy missions with radar reflectors and chaff, and he flew into the smoke and the flames of the LSL Galahad at Bluff Cove to bring survivors to shore.

Ships don't have long-lived secrets. A thousand people on an aircraft carrier, 2-300 on every frigate and destroyer in the fleet - if special conditions were being manufactured every time a random Sea King flew, particularly if those special conditions put everyone else at greater risk, then it would have leaked long before now.

That's all no doubt true.

One of my former comrades - a socialist to the core and highly critical of the powers that be - was a young man in the navy in the Falklands war. His experinces include a direct hit on his vessel which resulted in him and several others being blown into the cold seas. Had there been special treatment for anybody he would have heard about it. And knowing him as I do there is no way on this earth that he would not have shared that information.