paul guthrie Posted 29 July , 2005 Share Posted 29 July , 2005 Question 1, he wore it cause he thought he looked good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott Waterfall Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 One commet I remember reading about WSC as a battalion commander was that he wore the French style helmet. Did he wear it because it was more protective from shell fragments? Also-there is a photo of WSC about 1913 as a Naval Pilot. How good was he a pilot? Did he keep his license up to date? The photo that you refer to of Winston Churchill wearing a French Helmet, is I believe the one taken in 1915 while he was on active duty, the French helmet was his prefered headgear.. WSC did not take up active military duties till December 1915 with the Grenadiers and in January 1916, as a Light Col in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. As CO of the 6th Battalion till April 1916, when 6th and 7th Battalions were amalgamated. Sir John Lavery's painting of WSC in Royal Scots Fusiliers uniform shows WSC wearing the French Helmet As to his Pilots Licence, he never gained a full flying licnece, in fact he only ever flew with an instructor. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Bachelor Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 When this thread resurfaced today after many months I remembered an email I received a little while ago. I don't know if there is any truth in it, I somehow doubt it. What do the pals think? Rich. His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life." "No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly. "I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of." And that he did. Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin. Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill. Someone once said: What goes around comes around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 When this thread resurfaced today after many months I remembered an email I received a little while ago. I don't know if there is any truth in it, I somehow doubt it. What do the pals think? Rich. ................. Quick google showed. Alexander Fleming attended local school in Darvel then Kilmarnock Academy. Left there to go to London and St Mary's Medical School. Not quite Eton / Harrow etc. etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Bachelor Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 Quite right, now why didn't I think of doing that? Just shows what utter b******s is floating about on the internet. Shame on those who repeat it without checking the facts. Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwenlock Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 Maybe not the greatest soldier, but beyond doubt the right man at the right pace & the right time... And an Oxfordshire Yeoman to boot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 Quite right, now why didn't I think of doing that? Just shows what utter b******s is floating about on the internet. Shame on those who repeat it without checking the facts. Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 Maybe not the greatest soldier, but beyond doubt the right man at the right pace & the right time... And an Oxfordshire Yeoman to boot I think you'll find that Alexander Fleming did not serve in Oxfordshire Yeomanry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwenlock Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 Did i loose the thread here - I meant Churchill was the Oxford Yeoman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Bachelor Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 Paul, I think Tom was having a bit of fun, or perhaps not. Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 Paul, I think Tom was having a bit of fun, or perhaps not. Rich. Well spotted that man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob B Posted 5 February , 2006 Share Posted 5 February , 2006 So Churchill was not bright and probably 80% of all he came up with was utter madness but 20% was brilliant and inspirational and with good strong people behind him he achieved and saw us through to the final victory. He was a product of the Empire led from the front and had a good War after the Dardanelles debaccle. As CO of the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers he did a good job and managed to get most of the Officers on side who were put out to have a Grenadier in charge, and to make matters worse he brought a Grenadier Adjutant with him. He never got a Gallantry award and the DSO is fiction. He was however highly vain and his award of the Stars in the Second war show that what, would we say if Blair et all appeared at the Cenataph with the Kosovo, Bosnia, Gulf etc collection! He was the right man at the right time and whatever happened at Singapore or wherever were not just his fault but the legacy of numerous Goverments before him. Cheers, Rob As to Lt Colonel Colin Mitchell 1 A&SH, he did receive the Italy Star but missed the 39-45 Star which he would have received had he gone to the Regimental Aid Post and had his would treated which would have been entered in the Regimental report. He felt quite hard done by missing out on that medal and a DSO in Aden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyHollinger Posted 6 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 6 February , 2006 I am currently reading In Command of History ... an excellent book about his writing of THE SECOND WORLD WAR and it's comparison to his actions there-in ... great reading. The man was an enigma ... ego personified ... 1940 savior but, what else, really ... (not that this itself wasn't enough) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salesie Posted 6 February , 2006 Share Posted 6 February , 2006 I am currently reading In Command of History ... an excellent book about his writing of THE SECOND WORLD WAR and it's comparison to his actions there-in ... great reading. The man was an enigma ... ego personified ... 1940 savior but, what else, really ... (not that this itself wasn't enough) He was a man, Andy. And, just like all men, flawed and thus imperfect; sometimes right, sometimes wrong, sometimes good, sometimes not. But, in my opinion, what marked him above others was not just his ability to carry on when all seemed lost and if need be to die for what he believed in (for that alone could simply be attributed to lack of intellect and imagination) but, much more importantly, he had the energy, the strength of character, the imagination and the intellect to enable him to raise others into achieving great things against incredible odds. An extremely rare and complex combination of human chracteristics, so rare in one man that, in my opinion, the old cliche "cometh the hour cometh the man" does not even go close to describing what Churchill achieved. An enigma? Certainly. A buffoon? Sometimes. A Genius? Sometimes. A great leader? Certainly, at the time when his people, faced with the greatest peril in their history, needed leadership above all else. Cheers - salesie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew lucas Posted 7 February , 2009 Share Posted 7 February , 2009 not read all thios, so maybe someone has mentioned it. his outstanding feature in 14-18 was without dubt his time as minister of munitions, he did far more than LG in this dept. He was a big part behind the scenes for 100 days success ect. Am not suprised by an american conference, they do seem stuck in the Western front lions led by donkeys myth, and how woderfull the Germans were1 matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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