griff wrote:

I'm reading Masters of the Air about the 8th Air Force right now. I knew we'd taken losses but this is horrific.

I can recommend 'Secret Squadrons of the Eighth' by Pat Carty.
It concentrates on the more clandestine operations of the US 8th Air Force including electronic intelligence missions and leaflet dropping over Europe.
There's also a local history element in it for me as Cheddington is one of the airfields covered in depth and is just a few miles to the east from here.
Aylesbury even gets a mention and a photo!

I've discovered a copy on your side of the Atlantic for $9.48.

Secret Squadrons of the Eighth.

 

griff wrote:

Well done! Is the series all on the WW2 home front?

Yes, there are four books in the series 'Monuments of War' by Colin Dobson and published by English Heritage.

The subjects are covered in great depth and must have taken an age to research.

I had taken a photo of all four volumes but it won't upload for some reason, so details follow:

(i) Fields of Deception.  Britain's Bombing Decoys of the Second World War.

(ii) Building Radar.  Forging Britain's Early Warning Chain 1935-1945.

(iii) Operation Diver.  Guns, V1 Flying Bombs and Landscapes of Defence 1944-45.

(iv) AA Command.  Britain's Anti-Aircraft Defences of the Second World War.

Now, all I have to do is make sure I remember where I put them all!
 

griff wrote:

https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Fields-Deception-Britains-Bombing-Decoys-World/12618529644/bd
It can be found on the internet but at a price.
 

Thanks, Griff.

Pausing only to tie a ball of string to the door handle, I entered my ‘library’ more accurately known as ‘the spare room with all the books’.
Despite my best efforts I still didn’t manage to find the book in question but I did recall that I had a similar book about the ‘Starfish sites’ of WW2.
They were also decoys but mimicked nearby towns and were set fire to in order to direct bombing away from the real target.
I forget the title but I’m sure if I find one, I’ll find the other.

If all else fails, it’s off to abebooks!

While I'm here:

Sesquipedalian

Pertaining to or given to the use of overly long words.
Almost self defining when you think about it.

 

TheNeverWas wrote:

Hiya Mr. C!

Howdy, Grav!  Howya doin?

monster wrote:

Ephemera

 

Ephemera beyond the dreams of avarice can be yours.
 

Earth is pretty, even when viewed from 240,000 miles away.
Fifty five years ago today (24th December 1968) the crew of Apollo 8 read from Genesis 1 prior to setting off home from lunar orbit.

I never fail to be moved by this particular video.



 

monster wrote:

Today I saw a piece of mail for Shatrine.  I googled.  It's a real name.  for more than one person.

Anything beginning "Shat" would be bad enough, but to also rhyme it with latrine????

 

Is 'shat' a passed participle?
 

I have an almost intense dislike of London as well.
That said, a few weeks ago I found a railway season ticket wedged in the back of a drawer.
It dated from my earliest days in work and was for journeys to and from Harrow-on-the-Hill, a NW London suburb, and about nine miles from the city centre.
I hadn't been to London in decades but used that train on a daily basis for some years so was curious to see what changes there had been en route.
Having some time to spare, and the necessary funds, I took the train to Marylebone.
Now, here's the best bit. Not having the slightest interest in the city I got off the train, entered my outbound ticket at the barrier and within a couple of minutes was back through the return barrier and heading for the train home.
Total time in London? About fifteen minutes, but I did spot a red double decker bus in the station forecourt.
 

From a gentler age.

Surely gno-one will dislike this video.

 

Some years ago I saw Barry Humphries in a TV interview and he came across as a modest, almost self-effacing, man in stark contrast to the waspish suburban monster that is Dame Edna and the appalling Sir Les Patterson.
A bit of a puzzle really but perhaps even his TV appearance as himself was an act.

It's probably not the sort of thing that I should admit to in polite company, but Sir Les was my favourite Barry Humphries character.
The crass nature and monumental lack of self-awareness of the character was its USP, toe-curlingly embarrassing as it was to all but Sir Les himself.

Requiescat in pace.




 

Just a few words to say thank you to everyone who has asked after me in recent weeks. Limey has kindly updated me by Email. 

As you now know Dad died a fortnight ago.
His health had been declining for several years and two years ago pretty much fell off a cliff.
I won't trouble you with the details suffice to say that spinal deterioration was taking an ever increasing toll on his mobility to the point where he was unable to walk and I had to lift him from his bed or chair into a wheelchair. 

In mid February he was taken ill and was admitted to hospital.
Despite the best efforts efforts of the medical staff he didn't show any signs of improvement and it was agreed that he should be put on end of life care.

When the end came I had spent all day at his bedside except when I briefly returned home for a bite to eat.
On return, I'd been with him for an hour or so when he slipped away.
I'm just grateful that the end was peaceful and that I was there. 

Dad was born in 1925, lived through the privations of the nineteen thirties and was then called up to serve in the Royal Navy in 1943.
It probably wasn't the best way to spend the first twenty or so years of your life but as he lived to the age of ninety-seven it didn't seem to have done him too much harm
I'm not sure how I would have coped with a start in life like that. They made them tough in those days.

Dad's passing has hit me far harder than I ever could have imagined and just writing this is getting to me so I hope you'll forgive me if I bring this post to an end. 

Thanks, Dad.
Thanks for everything.

There's an Echo in Here by Edna Bucket.