But it does not go out. As ASM826 has posted, the Past is a foreign country - they do things differently there. But even from Blighty, where it seems that the post-whatever elite has made fair their triumph, comes this: the first real Commando raid, sponsored by Churchill himself.
Yeah, it suffered two thirds casualties, but it accomplished the mission. I wonder what the current generation would make of this.
Actually, I don't.
Giants strode the earth in those days.
ReplyDeletejudging by the cadets i see daily, there is little hope.
ReplyDeleteSome, well, many of the things the Sub Service and the various special forces, especially Delta and ANV have done in the last 40-50 years would boggle people's minds.
ReplyDeleteOf course, most all of us don't have the minimum security clearance, and even if we did, we all lack the need to know.
Some weird stuff, really weird stuff, happened during the Cold War and after.
Not every military member these days is a Bradley Manning.
It was a failure, but it DID set us down a new road...
ReplyDeleteOld NFO:
ReplyDeletepretty much everything W.Churchill put into motion was a failure. The only thing he salvaged was not losing ww2, but the British lost everything else. Hazard of starting wars. Reminds me of the saying "we need a short, victorious war".
It sounds like you're suggesting that the British started the war.
DeleteWell, Churchill had one thing in common with George Washington: he persevered through each successive failure until he reached victory with the help of a stronger foreign power.
ReplyDeleteThis wasn't a failure. The mission was a complete success. The drydock was out of commission until 1948. It just came at a high cost.
ReplyDeleteWell, then there's the US raid where they purposely crashed a Jolly Green into a Viet Prison. The Son Tay raid.
ReplyDeleteLots of 'greatest raids' out there.
As to British failures, they weren't Churchill's fault. They were often faults of the General Headquarters, or the field marshall in charge.
Churchill believed in giving orders and letting the 'experts' fill in the blanks. Much like, oh, say, Montgomery and his expert handling of Marketgarden. (sarcasm implied.)
Men, such as those who lived, needed to be issued wheel barrows upon their return to England. So they could cart around that absolutely huge balls they had. When I see videos or pictures of the men of WWII willingly charging to what had to be almost certain death....Wheel Barrows all.
ReplyDelete