Can do that although it seems to be just a quote without a personal opinion added. Haven't really read it yet and have to see how it fits into the thread.
Indeed it was a quote... in reference to @Tom Galty 's ''stand alone in 1940'' comment''... On June 17, 1940, the defeated French signed an armistice and quit World War II. Britain now stood alone against the power of Germany’s military forces, which had conquered most of Western Europe in less than two months.
Yes that's right, I didn't say it was my opinion....I posted it as Historical fact..complete with link to the source...
@Tom Galty Well, yesterday was an eventful day with all the election analyses and talks. Tbh, I prefer talking to people and commenting on their opinions rather than just commenting on quotes or videos posted. I'd like to bring in @Ken Anderson at this point because I agree with a number of things he wrote: http://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/suggestions-for-effective-posts.6612/page-2 We post a lot of links to news or opinion pieces here, we embed video, and we make references to things that other people have reported or said, and that's fine - I do it too. But what is most valuable are your own words and thoughts. ... Your thoughts, stated in your words, these are the most valuable posts that any forum can hope for, and I'd love to see more of it here. If your thoughts are stirred by some news event, or by something that you have read somewhere, by all means, post a link, but if you don't have anything to say about it yourself then why would you think the rest of us would want to talk about it? Exactly that was missing. You posted the video and came up with a one-line comment that Britain stood alone. This is not particularly motivating for others since they would have liked to read your opinion and thoughts expressed in your own words. I, for one, did not feel motivated enough to watch the video. Now, before coming up with an answer, I, and maybe other readers, had to puzzle out, firstly, what precisely you were referring to? To the time (roughly four months) of the (Air) Battle of Britain only or to Britain's role in the hostilities throughout the whole year of 1940, i.e. also including other branches of military services like the navy and army? You didn't specify that. But you'd get different reactions to either of these. And, secondly, you did not spell out what you understand by "standing alone". You did get some answers, nonetheless, which showed that forumites have a different idea of what "alone" means. If your point was that as far as the mere aerial combat during the Battle of Britain only is concerned Britain stood basically alone, I'd agree but would like to include those many pilots from other nations and the Commonwealth mentioned above . But that's precisely what you didn't specify. That missing, I took a broader view. My understanding was that - also apart from that air fight - Britain was de facto not alone.It was already mentioned in the thread that Britain had been helped by US deliveries even months before the Lend-Lease-Act was signed, i.e. in 1940, irrespective of whether there were heavy losses in the Atlantic. In September of that year the British navy also received those 50- odd obsolete destroyers from the US.Even though Britain may, for a limited period of time and as regards certain clashes, not have received the assistance it needed and had hoped for (Battle of Britain), the fact that Britain had always been part of the allied forces was of tremendous importance both psychologically and morally. Just imagine it wouldn't have been. I'm currently reading Alan Turing: The Enigma. Also when it came to cracking the Enigma code Alan Turing and his team were not alone but were able to benefit considerably from advanced work done by the Poles. Thus, from mid-1940 German Air Force messages could be read by the British. More than 100 000 allied French army soldier were rescued and taken to Britain after the Dunkirk disaster in 1940 helping on the ground. So taking all that into account, I wouldn't say Britain was really and completely alone. If you had said that Britain had to bear the brunt in the Battle of Britain in 1940, I wouldn't have stumbled over that.Yet "alone" is interpretable. As for Holly's quote, for reasons of simplicity being or standing alone is often used in popular scientific accounts, abridged and as a synopsis of the events at the time. It's certainly not wrong but not set in stone either. It should be understood as virtually alone. It's all interpretation and as such, btw, this particular assertion "alone" is not a historical fact but an opinion. Historical facts would be, say, the number of aircraft each side had at its disposal at a particular point of time. But let's not forget: Your one-line statement did not make it clear to me what you were referring to. Misunderstandings may be the result. I had said that in my second post.
Am not saying we stood alone in 1932 I am saying we stood alone in September 1940. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...igma-code-cracked-Polish-Brits-MPs-claim.html
Where did I say you stood alone in 1932? I didn't even mention that year. I said Turing and his team benefited from the work done by the Poles.
Am not saying we stood alone in 1932 I am saying we stood alone in September 1940. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...igma-code-cracked-Polish-Brits-MPs-claim.html You are the one who brought up the Poles getting the enigma machine in 1932 which you think won us the war in 1940 with out any help from Bleachtly No you did not mention 1932 . If you quote something get the year right. Around December 1932, Marian Rejewski, a Polish mathematician and cryptanalyst, while working at the Polish Cipher Bureau, used the theory of permutations and flaws in the German military message encipherment procedures to break the message keys of the plugboard Enigma machine.
When I was in elementary and high school, we didn't learn much about World Wars I or II, and practically nothing about World War II. It seemed that by the time our history lessons reached the 1900s, the school year was over, or perhaps the World Wars weren't considered history yet. Most of what I know about World War II is from books that I read on my own, but I've read quite a lot, beginning with a large encyclopedia set that my dad had for the 6th Infantry in World War II, with several volumes. He served in the 6th Infantry, of course, and was pictured in the set three times. He rarely spoke about the war, though. Pertinent to this thread is the fact that, to most Americans, World War II began when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and the English are treated as bit players in our histories of the war. Until Pearl Harbor, we did, as stated, provide support for England, but there were many in our government who had sympathies for the Germans. Hitler borrowed from the US eugenics program, and we had a common enemy (who became an ally) in Russia. There were those in the German government who believed that the US might be persuaded to come in as an ally of Germany.
@Ken Anderson While going through old letters from My wife's uncle to her mother, we were surprised at some of his pro-Nazi statements. When the US entered WW II he joined and served in Europe against the Nazis.
Intersting fact when this man was relised from Colditz by American Troops he had been captured at Dunkirk in 1940 and was asked by a Yank. HOW long have you been here... Reply 5 Years the reply Yank said you are a liar the war has only been for going on 4 years(Dec 1941) He had a deep hatred for Americans since that and he even had a fist fight with an American Stunt Advisor on a Bond Flim Lovely Actor who did not like a few Americans. The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 halted his acting career; Llewelyn was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the British Army, serving with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. In 1940, he was captured by the German Army in France and was held as a prisoner of war for five years in the infamous Colditz Castle in Germany. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005155/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t24
That translates to: "I love you with all my heart." Hal, A Latino Gringo (President of my High School Spanish Class in 1952-53.)
On why he disliked Americans: In World War II, Desmond was rescued from a German POW camp by an American GI. When he told the soldier he'd been there for five years, the American replied, "Aw, cut it out. War's only been on for three years," forgetting that it was only the United States that had been at war for three years. Upon telling his story to Ian Bulloch, an American stuntman on the set of Thunderball (1965), Bulloch replied, "Maybe the Yank should've left you there!".
It's kind of funny that I had to live not too far away form Colditz in Saxony for years without even knowing where Colditz was exactly located let alone that there was a castle. In the early 90s I read about the castle and what it had been used for. I also learnt that, as a POW camp, it seems be of special importance to the British and that there was a TV series about it. It then took me another 15 years before I happened to visit it. Did not take many photos inside, can't remember if that was forbidden. Took a guided tour and learnt that bus loads of elderly and increasingly younger Brits would still arrive when they are in the area or stopping over on their usual way to Prague. What did impress me, though, was that detention conditions for those officers were quite comfortable compared to many other normal POW camps. Rehearsed plays, etc. The other things like the glider can all be read about in Tom's link. If I remember correctly, Tom also posted a comedy video about Colditz in the British comedy thread. Think it was. Might have been a group from Britain. Hope the man on the left was not overwhelmed by his feelings or bad memories.