take equal amounts of scottish, english, welsh, northern irish, mix it all together and bake for half an hour. remove from oven and you get 100% bad ass.
note: it is not advisable to preform a zulu charge against this particular baked product.
Go to "google earth, street view" and have a look at the blue disc on "16 Kings Hall Road, Beckenham, Kent" . This is the house where Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne ended his days on VE day 1945 at the age of 91. I wonder what kind of car he drove.
Look people are even fighting over what country the people were from at this battle just STOP!! it does not matter what country ur from be PROUD to all the men because they fought for the British army not for wales england scotland etc. im really proud of the guys that fought for us not just the welsh men (im welsh)
@ImperialistRunningDo Hi, Sorry for the much delayed response. The books by Mike Snook represent the latest information (much of it culled from the 24th's own archives). The two (really a pair) are "How Can Man Die Better" (Isandlwana) and "Like Wolves on the Fold" (Rorke's Drift). Great stuff.
@Shropshireladdie Have you seen the web page for Rorke's Drift VC? There's a good article on the topic. But there's a lunatic minority that thinks that the Welsh Guards were at Rorke's Drift, even though they were formed in 1915.
The Welsh didn't hold the Romans back as has been suggested. The whole of Britain south of Hadrian's Wall was brought into the Roman Empire. During the fall of the Empire the Romans abandoned Britain, and the Anglo-Saxons (English) invaded from the East driving the Britons into Western strongholds of (what is now) Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria and across to Brittany, where they continued to speak their Brythonic language. Cornish and Cumbrian are now extinct. Brythonic is a sub-branch of Celtic.
Well you could call them a type of Celt but they are worlds apart from the Irish and Scottish, the simple fact is that near on everyone that lives in Ireland had to pass through England -Sussex, Cornwall and Wales because these are the first generation of humans to re-inhabit the British isles after the ice cap melted 25000yrs ago most of the British today that live here came from Belgium and before there they had migrated from Spain, we as a majority have the D.N.A halo-group (RB1).
@britishbulldog2008 ''D.N.A halo-group (RB1).'' to high tech all that for me but the Welsh are the inhabitants of England who got pushed into the mountains by the saxons. Didnt the saxons call the english welch so you can see were the name welsh comes from. The English were saxons until the scottish and irish started moving to England now the white English are a mix of everything. I have a Scottish surname but I have ancestors in ireland, cornwall and Lancashire ... weird.
@PrestonNorthEndFan No. Wales has always had a separate language, and is made up of people who held the Romans back when they overran the rest of the United Kingdom. Their ancestry isn't just fleeing Englishmen, but people native to Wales since pre-Roman times. They also held back the Saxons, Vikings, and Normans.
@simplysimple2 they didnt hold back shit. more like just hid better than everyone else. There was no "holding" back the romans. they wanted the country, and they took it.
@PrestonNorthEndFan Of course England belongs to Wales, just look at the words of our national anthem "Land Of Our Fathers" it makes reference to the sea being a wall, protecting our language, that sea being the English Channel!
@PrestonNorthEndFan The REAL welsh (ancient British) are brythonic not Celtic, now you may say but brythonic is a type of Celt, in many ways i would agree but i know better, we may pigeon hole them into category's as much as we like but at the end of the day the actual people in those days don't give a fuck about any of it,they were not part of a larger family or government/country/religion.
The Irish and scot are Goidelic and the Welsh/English are brythonic, the differences are massive.
@mercian7 Dont worry, I am Anglo Saxon, but surely my blood is diluted with Welsh, Irish and Scottish blood as are most of us really? and proud of it too
@GERMANOPHILE I am off Celtic blood and born in England and the anglo saxons are nothing but invaders to a celtic nation. We are not brothers or share a bloodline your kind pushed the true people of England into the welsh valleys and into Ireland. As a anglo saxon you have alot in common with anglo-saxon Englishmen but nothing with the celts infact your hated.
The only people who hate Anglo-Saxons for being Anglo-Saxons are what are commonly referred to as racists. My suggestion is you actually go and look up the genetic patterns of the UK and some more history for that matter. When you do you will find over half the population of England alone is Celtic descended, but like the so called Celtic nations has Saxon, Viking and other blood mixed in. In all likelihood you to have some blood other then Celt, impossible not to.
The only people who hate Anglo-Saxons for being Anglo-Saxons are what are commonly referred to as racists. My suggestion is you actually go and look up the genetic patterns of the UK and some more history for that matter. When you do you will find over half the population of England alone is Celtic descended, but like the so called Celtic nations has Saxon, Viking and other blood mixed in. In all likelihood you to have some blood other then Celt, impossible not to.
trust me there is no such thing as a modern celtic nation. While some might like to pretend their from an acient people standing the test of time and all that other nonsense, you;ll find its mostly not true, and never really was.
As generations pass, as ages turn, peoples change. It's not whether the past is perfectly carried to the present that matters. What matters is what stays in the heart as time marches on.
There are indeed modern celtic nations. Note the word "modern". People today define themselves just fine.
As for "all that other nonsense"...
Some may be annoying about it, but if you have a problem with connecting with the past, I have a problem with you.
Well that’s your problem isn’t it? Connecting with the past is fine. Getting a sense of entitlement about it, using it as an excuse for racism and attempting to use it to show some kind to superiority about it are things that go beyond connecting. That is of course ignoring the other actual connections. After all the so called modern celtic nations are as mixed as the Anglo-saxon one.
@MajBlood Interesting to compare Zulus to Afghans. The Zulus were extrodinarily well organized, and put into regiments at puberty. Organization of Afghans is ... well, not their strong suit. But once theZulu king was forced to flee Ulundi, the war was pretty much over. There is no king of Afghanistan now; if one general is killed, there's lots more where he came from.
I'm hearing all this talk of the "British" the Scottish and even the bloody swedish on what is predominantly a welsh call to battle, and that we never yield, our spirit still stands strong.
@flargle1967 im afraid it was a regiment from Warwickshire which became the south wales borderers 2 years after the battle. 20 per cent brave welshmen but the majority were english. only 1 scot and several irish.check out the rorkes drift vc site.very informative. BRITISH balls of steel
@flargle1967 Rev. Otto Witt was Swedish, but took little part in the battle (his daughter took no part, and wasn't even there!). Are you talking about Scheiss? He was Swiss.
Cumbas all I am seeing from you a bunch of crap and French propaganda, odd that you seem to be say about the British.
Oh we fight with Allies, yeah so people like us. I fail to see how having people on your side is a bad thing. See unlike the French, people actually like us.
Dishonourable Acts, hmm like what convincing your Allies to let your pour troops into their country and then stabbing them in the back? Wait no that was the French (Spain 1808.)
@a0e0roberts Well if you look very carefully you can see a Mark IV Panzer tank rolling across the back of the picture (only joking! I think alishehrishah was on crack)
When you think about it the countries that were under British control are now rich, properous nations. Unlike the french, spanish and portugese colonies, which now have huge amounts of poverty. The world should be glad the British were the biggest empire, imagine what anarchy would happen otherwise.
The British Empire was the first to outlaw slavery and activley seek to destroy the slave trade most people that are Anti-British try and lay the blame of slavery squarley at the feet of the British Empire they should get their facts straight before they open their lying Jewish mouths.
@davery1234 You made a great point and then ruined it with that last bit... so unnecessary, and giving British people a bad name. I wish I could take that thumbs up back, won't make the mistake of repping to early into reading next time.
Never got a foothold in Japan though. Funny. Old Ieyasu locked the borders. Knocked off a few Christians and silence happened.
Love the song though. Always brings back memories of "Zulu". Great final scene. British defiance. What happened to Britain? You told the Nazis to sod off. But that's in all of Europe. Being proud of your nation is now a bad thing, thanks to the red fascists.
how can you be proud to be welsh your known around the world as a joke and sheep shaggers, if i was welsh i would stay with britain then you can share the reputation of real countries like england, scotland and northern ireland.
@NorthEndFan At least the Welsh aren't as hated by the rest of the world as much as the english are. In any case, only english bigots regard the Welsh as sheep shaggers
great britian is one country as far as im concerned and we all serve togeather. the welsh and scottish regiments are some of the best in history and best in the world. I love great britian and canada and australia all the commonwealth, equally!
lmao freedom for wales. and is wales is free how will the sheep shagging people make any money to keep there country going lol. lmao freedom for wales. lmao.
I'll say one good thing about the Welsh. At least the Welsh don't shag dogs - unlike the english. Anyway the Wesh can always make money by pissing into their reservoirs and selling it on to england as Welsh water.
Have no idea were the idea of teh red coat came from, maybe it was cheapest form of dye or in the era of poor communication a good form of identification but its were the term the 'long red line' comes from.
Also as said before, and as comedian Ricky Gervais said to the Americains: you may not know me but we had an Empire before yours came along :)
Yes it was tactical actually sir! In fact it was originally designed so when twats like you were conscripted they could tell what fucking side they were on.
That 'native' baby fit just as well on the end of a war hatchet or knobkerry; dont' think just cuz they were 'natives' they were any more merciful or just or enlighted. I see no reason to beat oneself up over it is all.
@LeedsEngland The red coats were still fucking stupid. Dumbass Brits made it that much easier to spot you. No wonder they were defeated by American gunslingers. We even lined up and fought you and won battles.. So much for being such a great empire.
@Doughost26 Pretty much depends how you look at it. Would be a shitload harder to see if they had the sun behind them.
Christ you talk like you fucking whipped us, read up on the war abit more and you'll see how fucking lucky you got. Who was more of a threat to Britain, France or the U.S? Which one is also closer to the mainland. You were fucking smallfry my son.
@LeedsEngland I know the history of the war, and for a bunch of somewhat disorganized troops to stand up and kick a world power out or up into Canada was quite a feat. Now it is you who are smallfry son, since the 1940s you are smallfry. Get off our land Brits, just like so many of others have said, and now look at you on your little island. Red coats = easier ambush
@Doughost26 Oh common, the Americas were the last of our worries back then.
Yup I agree we are smallfry these days. We still punch above our weight for such a small island don't you agree? And for this small insignificant island to once rule so much of the world is also quite a feat.
@Doughost26 If you would know your history, you would know that without french weapons, a french fleet and a french army Yorktown would never have happend. Without the France, Spain and the Netherlands joining the war as allies of the US without a prussian officer who turned the bunch of undisciplined gunslingers you used to call an army into a real army that was able to stand against the red coats the British would now fight a war against terror in their american colonies .
@FWvSteuben Prussian officers? Ya ok, americans are everybody from all over the world, people that hated the British empire and came over here, banded together and beat your ass. Kicked you off of our land not once but twice. Then in WW2 you allowed 2 million american men to set up base on your homeland. Then we rebuilt your country, google Marshal Plan history buff. 2 million British soldiers will never set foot on American soil, dont you ever forget that.
@Doughost26 Well not British soldiers, but I woildb't be surprised if it wpold be 20 million chinese ones. After all the US is already a half owned subsidiary of the PRC ;-). Just continue spending money you borrow from them and it won't be long before they own you.
@Doughost26 Well, may be not 2 million british soldiers, but I wouldn't be surprised if it would be 20 million chinese ones. After all the US is already a half owned subsidiary of China. Continue spending money you borrow from them and it won't be long before they own you. ;-)
@FWvSteuben Be realistic, china will never have millions of soldiers over here, mutual destruction would occur before that ever happened. If the U.S was as brutal as the British empire at its peak, the U.S would still have complete world control. The U.S just has different morals that the British royalty couldnt even comprehend. That is also one of our weaknesses that is exploited and is part of our downward standing in the world.
@Doughost26 Actually, if the british had exterminated the natives in their colonies as ruthless and brutal as the americans did, they would have retained their empire as there would have been no one to strive for independence.
I never said that the chinese would invade. They will just by you, if necessary peace meal.
@FWvSteuben So the British didnt kill the natives? That what your saying? You said millions of Chinese soldiers could end up here. Just like 2 million american soldiers, but we were protecting you. No amount of money could ever repay that debt the British owe the U.S. Maybe we should of just stayed home, it clearly isnt appreciated by most Brits. According to many Brits I have talked to on here, the U.S didnt really do anything in WW2.
@Doughost26 1. Ididn't say the british didn't kill the natives, I said they didn't exterminate them. That is quite a difference. I other words , how many Idians lift in British India and how many Native americans in the US?
2. You ended up in Britain because Japan and Germany declared war to you, otherwise FDR wouldn't have got you into the war.
3. Any British who believes the US did nothing in the war doe not know what he is talking about.
@Doughost26 4. In WW2 the supplies from the US to Britain and Russia where crucial. Without them the war would have ended differently.The american tropps however where not quite as crucial but definitely more than a big help. Without them the war would have lasted longer and cost more allied lifes.
By the way, I never doubted that the US saved Britain in WW2. I only insist that the US could not have won the war of Independence without massive help from abroad (mainly France).
@Doughost26 US help in WW2 was of course gratefully recieved, and we have not forgotten it, but it was not as if you did it out of the goodness of your heart. By 1941 you had no choice but to join the war, if Hitler conquered Europe and Russia the United States would have been in the gravest danger (especially if Hitler had secured the Royal Navy). Of course the Lend Lease etc WAS done more out of goodness than national security, and for that i thank you most.
@Doughost26 Now of course if the United States had actually joined the League of Nations like they promised to do, the League that Woodrow Wilson himself pushed to create, the war might well have been averted altogether....
@Doughost26 The US now isnt as brutal as the British empire then, but the US now is less brutal than the US then and Britain is less brutal than Britain then. Its timescale. Britain's empire was far less brutal than other empires of its time. The French, the Spanish, the Dutch, the Italians etc were all as bad if not worse. Belgium's colonial empire was horrific but Britain stopped that. And of course in comparison to Nazi Germany and Revolutionary France....
@Doughost26 The US now is less brutal because the Western nations as a whole are less brutal, if the US followed tactics from ANY other time period in history they would be pilloried. Take the Israel/Palestine divide. This is the first time in history when other countries have really cared about the outcome in any sense other than "winner takes all". From the beginning of history until the end of WW2 the mantra has always been "might is right", and all countries were guilty of it.
@thebigJM92 Good stuff man. Don't forget to put a little blame on Chamberlain for taking part in the "appeasement" of Hitler. It wasn't just British appeasement, all European countries majorly pussed out. Should of been all over Hitler WAY earlier for breaking WW1 treaties and allowing him to build an army. I agree with most that the WW1 treaty was very unfair to the German people, but them building a big ass army should of been kept in check before it was to late.
@Doughost26 Yes the strange thing is that the great call for peace that has kept the world from total war since WW2 was just as strong after WW1. In fact it was that very strive for peace that made WW2 so bad. The idea of peace at any price (an understandable wish after the most horrific war in history, with two and a half million British empire troops killed or wounded) only let Hitler, who had no wish for peace, build Germany into major military power before war was forced on us all again.
@thebigJM92 You also have to realize that preWW2 the attitude by the majority of people was to stay out of the war and concern ourselves with what is going on in our hemisphere. Stay out of other peoples business attitude. Its understandable, why send our boys to fight and die?
@thebigJM92 What I always think about is that if Hitler would of just waited say 5 years to start being aggressive the world could of been in WAY more trouble. The technology edge they could of had would of been far superior and alot tougher to catch up. Also thank the Fins for putting up a fight against Russia and making Hitler think Russia was weak. Hitlers other problem was he thought he was a general and didnt listen to his generals that knew their shit.
@Doughost26 You are spot on. Hitler had a few very succesful strategic ideas in 1939, and this made him believe he was a strategic genius (even at the end, in April 1945, he believed that he could pull victory out of defeat, like his hero Frederick the Great). His success therefore led to his downfall. Rather than letting his Generals (trained in the superb traditional Prussian military vein) get on with it he instead constantly frustrated their wishes and implemented frankly stupid ideas.
@Doughost26 Hitler waiting 5 more years before he got aggressive... There were some good reasons why he COULDNT wait those years. For example his aggressive evolution from merely re-militarising the Rhineland to a full blown invasion of Poland took place over 4 years and only gradually grew more aggressive. Hitler was also not very popular with the military before 1939, and there had been numerous attempts to have him killed, he needed a victory.
@thebigJM92 Politicians trying to be generals, sounds like what goes on way to much now. Main reason why Vietnam was a clusterfuck. "Don't go to war unless you have the will to win it" MacArthur. Imagine if Hitler did wait a little while longer. Jet planes vs the RAF and americans. Could of been alot different outcome. Maybe even a nuclear bomb could of been developed before we got the Manhatten project going. Scary.
@Doughost26 Very true, war should be left to those who have spent their lives doing it, not a politician with a chip on his shoulder. The idea of the Germans having the nuclear bomb if they had waited longer is possible, if it wasnt for Britain getting rid of the German "Heavy Water" they may have had one anyway. However it might not be so grim as it seem. Hitler did not really care about his "wonder weapons" until he suffered major reverses, investment before that was very low.
@thebigJM92 Always heard that the Nazi's had jet planes flying over Britain towards the end of the war, when it was nearly over and to late. I wonder how those early jet planes would compete against the American P-51. Wonder weapons ya, Ive seen the video of that big ass cannon that would shoot over the English Channel. Alot of other wierd shit. Also the American idea of putting bombs on bats to burn the wooden buildings in Japan.
@Doughost26 Heres an interesting quote from "The Third Reich at War".
"The first "wonder weapon" to be deployed was a pilotless 'flying bomb'. It was named with Hitler's immediate approval, the V-1 on 17th June 1944.... The 'V' stood for Vergeltung, retribution, an appellation that already betrayed an unspoken assumption that their morale purpose was greater than their military effectiveness....
@Doughost26 "The V-1 resulted from experimental projects developed in the mid-1930s, when the engineer Paul Schmidt had begun work on a pulsejet system that would operate through rapid intermittent explosions. To speed up progress the Air Ministry had asked the Argus air engine company to take the project over in 1939, and the pulsejet engine was tried out on a small fighter plane in 1941-2. However its extreme noisiness and the vibrations it caused made it impossible to use in manned aircraft
@Doughost26 .....The alternative was an 'aerial torpedo' or what would now be called a cruise missile, and in June 1942 the Air Ministry gave its formal approval to a full developement programme to be carried out by the aircraft manufacturing firm Fiesler. It took another 2 years to reach the production stage. On 13th June, at Hitler's urgent command, the first ten V-1 flying bombers were catapulted from their coastal launch ramps at London."
@Doughost26 However it says that "Hitler ordered a massive production boost in late June 1944".... by which point it was too late to have any real effect.
Similarly with the V-2 (which was an early ballistic missile) the very early science had been done in the 1920s. A genius aristocrat called Wernher Von Braun started his own in-depth research in 1932, but there was no links to the German government. He got his big break when he awed Hitler in October 1942.
@Doughost26 Von Braun was a genius, plain and simple. But he was also heartless. That said if the West hadnt nabbed him the USSR would, and then we could have been in serious trouble....
@Doughost26 As it turned out Speer and Himmler then argued about who should be overlords of the operation while Hitler, who was going doolally, expected the rockets to go 5000 miles. Production rapidly sped up from that point on, but only because the camp where work was done the "Mittelwerk" was supplied with plenty of POWs, 20,000 of whom died. That place was running by October 43. The first successful rockets were only fired in September 1944.
@Doughost26 Not anymore. But i think there was a decade or so when a strong argument could be made for that point. In the 1950s and 1960s before Western Europe had fully recovered. The US is in the same position now as Britain was a century before in that respect. For a while everyone relies on you.... but then thanks to you everyone is safe and happy and for some reason they now hate you at the same time, possibly for that very reason.
@thebigJM92 Never seen someone put it quite that way, I like it. I believe that as technology becomes more advanced it will become easier for the elite to control the masses. Can you imagine a world ruled by say the Chinese Communists? Or just a group of powerful thugs from all over the world could possibly force their will on the planets population sometime in the future. Mankind always seeks power. The only thing the common man has, is that there is more of us, than their are of them.
@Doughost26 It could already be happening gradually, with some of these secret societies like the Bilderburgers influencing world leaders. I felt like Bush and now Obama really have very little power and that others are really pulling the strings.
@Doughost26 With these important and engrained defences, the secret knots of people with their aims of self-advancement on a huge scale can stay only influential and their power can only grow to a certain degree. Unless they can use other countries to quash us, or brainwash us, their influence will always be restricted.
@thebigJM92 I hope so, just seems that slowly our constitution is moving towards being considered obsolete. I dont think people realize that 1776 was just when we declared independence. Our founding fathers who lived under a king took 20 years to form our constitution. Yet here we are today with politicians trying to do quick fixes.
@Doughost26 Oh yes the Founding Fathers were very intelligent men, and they all had very different ideas. Of course they were all middle-aged to old, white and male, but in those days they were the ones with the education and the knowledge. The Founding Fathers ranged from people like James Madison on one side to Thomas Jefferson on the other. Between them, over many months and years, a constitutional compromise was created, one that was built to preserve and at the same time to allow change.
@Doughost26 The reason it has lasted so long (and well deserves to have) is because it prevents change for changes sake, but allows change were it is necessary. So the short term whim of the people is blocked by the need for a two-thirds majority in both Houses and three quarters of the State's. But if change is essential then this number will be hit. I would say it works well 90% of the time, and no system is perfect.
@Doughost26 The US has a greater buffer than most countries in that its codified constitution has engrained itself within the US subconscious. Despite bickering over the semantics almost all Americans believe in the Bill of Rights.
Strangely enough Britain's monarchy is a buffer against tyranny. This is because our monarch has very little power that they can actually use, but a LOT that they can officially use. This both ensures smooth democracy in good times and prevents dictatorship in bad.
@Doughost26 So not only does the Hereditary monarchy prevent a tyrant becoming Head of State but also could withdraw from him all of the "Crown Perogatives" that are currently used by the Prime Minister. In times of freedom a monarch will give these powers instantly to the elected as they know we will become a Republic if they dont. But when the people are oppressed the crown could pull the carpet from under the feet of the dictator (as in Italy in 1943) and become saviours.
@Doughost26 Yes, the Me 262 was the first jet fighter seeing action. It was much faster than any allied plane so the P-51 couldn't touch it in full flight. It was vulnerable during take off and landing when it was slow and it gained speed slowly.. Anyway, as you said it came too late thanks to Hitlers wish to build it as a bomber, and in too small numbers to make a diffrence. One or two years earlier though it would have cleard the sky for Germany.
@Doughost26 At the same time by 1938 and Anschluss (ie absorbing Austria) the allies began to re-arm just in case. In 1939 they werent quite prepared however France and the USSR had been expanding their armies and Britain had had a particularly big expansion of the RAF (Chamberlain's only redeeming feature was his knowledge that the RAF needed to be expanded to meet the Luftwaffe threat... in that he was correct)
@Doughost26 No doubt the decline of the british empire began 1918, but until then it had lasted for quite a while. It remains to be seen how long the US will last. After all it is a very young nation.
@Doughost26 By they way there was a good reason for the brightly coloured uniforms in those days. With all the gunsmoke on the battlefield the generals would not have been able to see, not to mention discern their troops otherwise. Of course, for a bunch of "bandits", sorry the proper US term is "unlawful fighters", this would not matter.
If Britain hadnt had the greatest Empire then the spanish, french or dutch would have had! The truth is that everyone was out for themselves! Britain just did it bett
Who's singing this?
SuperMandelson 3 months ago
Welsh singing though - fantastic - says this Englishman!
Bennetscomet 6 months ago
why argue over english or welsh just leave it as british
jonathanhaggett 6 months ago 5
take equal amounts of scottish, english, welsh, northern irish, mix it all together and bake for half an hour. remove from oven and you get 100% bad ass.
note: it is not advisable to preform a zulu charge against this particular baked product.
conradmilligan 7 months ago 21
I had family at RD, and then my G-Grandad and his brother served with the successor regiment in the Great War.
Sadly I had to break tradition and am joining the Coldstreamers :P
BassDudeBear 8 months ago
@349quinman Agreed.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
LordWellington15 8 months ago 5
Hail the Empire!
LeMightySabre 8 months ago 5
Go to "google earth, street view" and have a look at the blue disc on "16 Kings Hall Road, Beckenham, Kent" . This is the house where Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne ended his days on VE day 1945 at the age of 91. I wonder what kind of car he drove.
MrGoldsable 9 months ago 3
Look people are even fighting over what country the people were from at this battle just STOP!! it does not matter what country ur from be PROUD to all the men because they fought for the British army not for wales england scotland etc. im really proud of the guys that fought for us not just the welsh men (im welsh)
xXEmo1994Xx 9 months ago 2
HERMOSO HIMNO.
DIADEM1806 9 months ago
British infantry or Welsh - pardon - is one of the toughest in the world. Marvelous song, greetings from Finland!
lauttamus 9 months ago
Awesome version!
HenryvKeiper 10 months ago
My understanding is that recent research suggests that at least 40% of the men were Welch.
skiprydell1 10 months ago
@skiprydell1 could you suggest a book? Mine are all rather old.
ImperialistRunningDo 10 months ago
@ImperialistRunningDo Hi, Sorry for the much delayed response. The books by Mike Snook represent the latest information (much of it culled from the 24th's own archives). The two (really a pair) are "How Can Man Die Better" (Isandlwana) and "Like Wolves on the Fold" (Rorke's Drift). Great stuff.
skiprydell1 9 months ago
@skiprydell1 My copy of "Wolves on the Fold" arrived last week. I have to finish Frank Emery's "The Red Soldier" first.
Thanks for the tip.
ImperialistRunningDo 9 months ago
@skiprydell1 My copy of "How Can Men Die Better" arrived today. This is going to be a long day, waiting for a chance to read....
I think Emery will get bumped to the back of the list.
ImperialistRunningDo 9 months ago
I love this song, very uplifting.
northman585 1 year ago
Most of the men were from Shropshire, There are loads of Shropshire men in the Welsh guards, Royal welsh and the QDG. There our local regiments....
Shropshireladdie 1 year ago
@Shropshireladdie And what does the Welsh Guards regiment have to do with Rorke's Drift?
ImperialistRunningDo 1 year ago
@ImperialistRunningDo
Just making a point that the taffs think they were the only soldiers there but Englishmen were 80% of em'.
Shropshireladdie 1 year ago 5
@Shropshireladdie Have you seen the web page for Rorke's Drift VC? There's a good article on the topic. But there's a lunatic minority that thinks that the Welsh Guards were at Rorke's Drift, even though they were formed in 1915.
ImperialistRunningDo 1 year ago
cymru am byth
reinierchristiaan 1 year ago
I am a retired Marine. The Marine Corps Hymn is my martial music theme...But this would be a very good subsitute
VEWenneker 1 year ago
SimplySimply is surely Simply Simple.
VEWenneker 1 year ago
Welsh wankers
Harkenish 1 year ago
The Welsh didn't hold the Romans back as has been suggested. The whole of Britain south of Hadrian's Wall was brought into the Roman Empire. During the fall of the Empire the Romans abandoned Britain, and the Anglo-Saxons (English) invaded from the East driving the Britons into Western strongholds of (what is now) Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria and across to Brittany, where they continued to speak their Brythonic language. Cornish and Cumbrian are now extinct. Brythonic is a sub-branch of Celtic.
mcox01denmaorg 1 year ago
The welsh aren't Celt,,,lol
anyone that thinks they are is thick.
britishbulldog2008 1 year ago
@britishbulldog2008 The welsh are celtic, In parts of Wales they still speak a ancient celtic language.
PrestonNorthEndFan 1 year ago
Well you could call them a type of Celt but they are worlds apart from the Irish and Scottish, the simple fact is that near on everyone that lives in Ireland had to pass through England -Sussex, Cornwall and Wales because these are the first generation of humans to re-inhabit the British isles after the ice cap melted 25000yrs ago most of the British today that live here came from Belgium and before there they had migrated from Spain, we as a majority have the D.N.A halo-group (RB1).
britishbulldog2008 1 year ago
@britishbulldog2008 ''D.N.A halo-group (RB1).'' to high tech all that for me but the Welsh are the inhabitants of England who got pushed into the mountains by the saxons. Didnt the saxons call the english welch so you can see were the name welsh comes from. The English were saxons until the scottish and irish started moving to England now the white English are a mix of everything. I have a Scottish surname but I have ancestors in ireland, cornwall and Lancashire ... weird.
PrestonNorthEndFan 1 year ago 2
@PrestonNorthEndFan No. Wales has always had a separate language, and is made up of people who held the Romans back when they overran the rest of the United Kingdom. Their ancestry isn't just fleeing Englishmen, but people native to Wales since pre-Roman times. They also held back the Saxons, Vikings, and Normans.
simplysimple2 1 year ago
@simplysimple2
I may be mistaken but didn't the Highlanders and Cornish do the same?
ivlfounder 1 year ago
@simplysimple2 Sorry, I didn't realise the Romans invaded Ulster - your history is better than mine
MrTotallyenglish 1 year ago
@simplysimple2 they didnt hold back shit. more like just hid better than everyone else. There was no "holding" back the romans. they wanted the country, and they took it.
daralzand 1 year ago
@PrestonNorthEndFan Of course England belongs to Wales, just look at the words of our national anthem "Land Of Our Fathers" it makes reference to the sea being a wall, protecting our language, that sea being the English Channel!
nrjelley 1 year ago
@nrjelley Doesn't the Welsh word for England basically mean "The lost lands"? Or did I imagine that?
Acrimonius1408 1 year ago
@Acrimonius1408 not sure
nrjelley 1 year ago
@PrestonNorthEndFan The REAL welsh (ancient British) are brythonic not Celtic, now you may say but brythonic is a type of Celt, in many ways i would agree but i know better, we may pigeon hole them into category's as much as we like but at the end of the day the actual people in those days don't give a fuck about any of it,they were not part of a larger family or government/country/religion.
The Irish and scot are Goidelic and the Welsh/English are brythonic, the differences are massive.
britishbulldog2008 1 year ago
as a COLLINS my celti ancestry goes from europe ,south england ,all of britain and of course Scandinavia(COLLINSON)
zeus21ish 1 year ago
Marvellous song, full of pride and strength. Go Wales, GO!
lauttamus 1 year ago
Well I am of Saxon and Welsh blood (my Maternal Grandmother) What am I to Do. I love this Anthem!
mercian7 1 year ago
@mercian7 Dont worry, I am Anglo Saxon, but surely my blood is diluted with Welsh, Irish and Scottish blood as are most of us really? and proud of it too
GERMANOPHILE 1 year ago
@GERMANOPHILE I am off Celtic blood and born in England and the anglo saxons are nothing but invaders to a celtic nation. We are not brothers or share a bloodline your kind pushed the true people of England into the welsh valleys and into Ireland. As a anglo saxon you have alot in common with anglo-saxon Englishmen but nothing with the celts infact your hated.
PrestonNorthEndFan 1 year ago
@PrestonNorthEndFan
The only people who hate Anglo-Saxons for being Anglo-Saxons are what are commonly referred to as racists. My suggestion is you actually go and look up the genetic patterns of the UK and some more history for that matter. When you do you will find over half the population of England alone is Celtic descended, but like the so called Celtic nations has Saxon, Viking and other blood mixed in. In all likelihood you to have some blood other then Celt, impossible not to.
Pizza23333 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@PrestonNorthEndFan
The only people who hate Anglo-Saxons for being Anglo-Saxons are what are commonly referred to as racists. My suggestion is you actually go and look up the genetic patterns of the UK and some more history for that matter. When you do you will find over half the population of England alone is Celtic descended, but like the so called Celtic nations has Saxon, Viking and other blood mixed in. In all likelihood you to have some blood other then Celt, impossible not to.
Pizza23333 1 year ago
@PrestonNorthEndFan
and just to point this out, the celts came from central Europe.
Pizza23333 1 year ago
@Pizza23333 Im talking about the modern Celtic nations.
PrestonNorthEndFan 1 year ago
@PrestonNorthEndFan
trust me there is no such thing as a modern celtic nation. While some might like to pretend their from an acient people standing the test of time and all that other nonsense, you;ll find its mostly not true, and never really was.
Pizza23333 1 year ago
@Pizza23333 Places like Scotland and Ireland are still very much celtic countries, in my opinion...
PrestonNorthEndFan 1 year ago
@PrestonNorthEndFan
Depends I suppose, you would have to define Celtic.
Pizza23333 1 year ago
@Pizza23333
As generations pass, as ages turn, peoples change. It's not whether the past is perfectly carried to the present that matters. What matters is what stays in the heart as time marches on.
There are indeed modern celtic nations. Note the word "modern". People today define themselves just fine.
As for "all that other nonsense"...
Some may be annoying about it, but if you have a problem with connecting with the past, I have a problem with you.
Kang5030 1 year ago
@Kang5030
Well that’s your problem isn’t it? Connecting with the past is fine. Getting a sense of entitlement about it, using it as an excuse for racism and attempting to use it to show some kind to superiority about it are things that go beyond connecting. That is of course ignoring the other actual connections. After all the so called modern celtic nations are as mixed as the Anglo-saxon one.
Pizza23333 1 year ago
@PrestonNorthEndFan
Yes you are bang on
southernspares 1 year ago
Good version, ends too quickly. Lots of Welsh in the family and both my names are Welsh/West Country. Honor To Wales
progressiverebel 1 year ago
They should play this for the British soldiers in Afghanistan when times get tough.
StudentEntrepreneur 1 year ago 3
@StudentEntrepreneur LOL I would say the Zulu army was much more dangerous than the bumbling Taliban Insurgents.
MajBlood 1 year ago
@MajBlood Interesting to compare Zulus to Afghans. The Zulus were extrodinarily well organized, and put into regiments at puberty. Organization of Afghans is ... well, not their strong suit. But once theZulu king was forced to flee Ulundi, the war was pretty much over. There is no king of Afghanistan now; if one general is killed, there's lots more where he came from.
ImperialistRunningDo 1 year ago
Men of harlech is a welsh song/call to battle, i'm not talking about rorke's drift.
flargle1967 1 year ago 3
@flargle1967 Call to battle against the English, as I recall...
a0e0roberts 1 year ago
@a0e0roberts
Well against the saxon tribes, which the english are descended from, but yes you are right =]
flargle1967 1 year ago
Good times, good times indeed...
gameplaya117 1 year ago
I'm hearing all this talk of the "British" the Scottish and even the bloody swedish on what is predominantly a welsh call to battle, and that we never yield, our spirit still stands strong.
Cymru Am Byth.
flargle1967 1 year ago
@flargle1967 im afraid it was a regiment from Warwickshire which became the south wales borderers 2 years after the battle. 20 per cent brave welshmen but the majority were english. only 1 scot and several irish.check out the rorkes drift vc site.very informative. BRITISH balls of steel
turkey08041954 1 year ago 36
@turkey08041954 Absolutely correct.
dannyallvey79 1 year ago
@turkey08041954
I agree at the end of the day it was British Balls of Steel (I guess like Sheffield steel in the old days) but still it is a kick ass song!
napowen 10 months ago
@flargle1967 the swede was corporal scheiss vc. a very brave man alongside english irish welsh and a scot.
turkey08041954 1 year ago
@flargle1967 Rev. Otto Witt was Swedish, but took little part in the battle (his daughter took no part, and wasn't even there!). Are you talking about Scheiss? He was Swiss.
a0e0roberts 1 year ago
@flargle1967 You are a Nazionalist prick - BTW Wales is full of English people.
slideharp1 1 year ago
I need to make a playlist of this, Rule Britannia, and British Grenadiers to play when I am fighting as the British Empire in Age of Empires 3.
MajBlood 1 year ago 2
Add in 'Over the hills and far away', the anthem of the 95th rifles as well as 'Hearts of Oak' @MajBlood
peterlesliegordon 1 year ago
@peterlesliegordon Except 'Hearts of Oak' is a navy song.
Puzzoozoo 1 year ago
is there a bigger picture of that anywhere? i wanna make it my background
Geistmeister6 1 year ago
!3 people who watched this are either South Africans or English.
Faxe90Swe 1 year ago
Cumbas all I am seeing from you a bunch of crap and French propaganda, odd that you seem to be say about the British.
Oh we fight with Allies, yeah so people like us. I fail to see how having people on your side is a bad thing. See unlike the French, people actually like us.
Dishonourable Acts, hmm like what convincing your Allies to let your pour troops into their country and then stabbing them in the back? Wait no that was the French (Spain 1808.)
Also what French Empire?
Xanrn 1 year ago
boody brilliant, & i'm ex english squaddie
zeus21ish 1 year ago
should be your Anthem, cracking muisic
zeus21ish 1 year ago 13
@zeus21ish
Welsh anthem is already quit impressive
napowen 10 months ago
@napowen quite*
matthewthecoolkid 9 months ago
OMG!! NAZIS!
alishehrishah 1 year ago
@alishehrishah WHAT? Where?
a0e0roberts 1 year ago
@a0e0roberts Well if you look very carefully you can see a Mark IV Panzer tank rolling across the back of the picture (only joking! I think alishehrishah was on crack)
thebigJM92 1 year ago
WTF I felt like I was in a grand echoing hall during this. like they were in the room.
warobsessive 1 year ago 2
Cymru Am Byth!
flargle1967 1 year ago
When you think about it the countries that were under British control are now rich, properous nations. Unlike the french, spanish and portugese colonies, which now have huge amounts of poverty. The world should be glad the British were the biggest empire, imagine what anarchy would happen otherwise.
Thgrt0 1 year ago 2
@Thgrt0
Like the cut of your jib.
canisfamilliaris 1 year ago
The British Empire was the first to outlaw slavery and activley seek to destroy the slave trade most people that are Anti-British try and lay the blame of slavery squarley at the feet of the British Empire they should get their facts straight before they open their lying Jewish mouths.
davery1234 1 year ago
@davery1234 You made a great point and then ruined it with that last bit... so unnecessary, and giving British people a bad name. I wish I could take that thumbs up back, won't make the mistake of repping to early into reading next time.
chuggawugga2 1 year ago
Union is strength!
GaraGambini 1 year ago
Comment removed
jamberryfarm98 1 year ago
Hey! I'm a man from Harlech good tune.
gimml111 1 year ago 10
can someone post the lyrics for this version up please?
bennythefox 1 year ago
Never got a foothold in Japan though. Funny. Old Ieyasu locked the borders. Knocked off a few Christians and silence happened.
Love the song though. Always brings back memories of "Zulu". Great final scene. British defiance. What happened to Britain? You told the Nazis to sod off. But that's in all of Europe. Being proud of your nation is now a bad thing, thanks to the red fascists.
higuma75 1 year ago
how can you be proud to be welsh your known around the world as a joke and sheep shaggers, if i was welsh i would stay with britain then you can share the reputation of real countries like england, scotland and northern ireland.
NorthEndFan 1 year ago
@NorthEndFan At least the Welsh aren't as hated by the rest of the world as much as the english are. In any case, only english bigots regard the Welsh as sheep shaggers
Vasyukov 1 year ago
The british tactics were outstanding shooting by ranks keep doing it untill all wiped out... zulus dropped even doe they outnubmered us 10 to 1.
iGziAmAzEi 1 year ago
great britian is one country as far as im concerned and we all serve togeather. the welsh and scottish regiments are some of the best in history and best in the world. I love great britian and canada and australia all the commonwealth, equally!
PurebredLondon 1 year ago 2
@PurebredLondon
hate the french equally.
lobbeification 1 year ago
lmao freedom for wales. and is wales is free how will the sheep shagging people make any money to keep there country going lol. lmao freedom for wales. lmao.
95thrifleman95 2 years ago 2
I'll say one good thing about the Welsh. At least the Welsh don't shag dogs - unlike the english. Anyway the Wesh can always make money by pissing into their reservoirs and selling it on to england as Welsh water.
Vasyukov 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
fuck usa fuck england . freedom for wales
zalat13 2 years ago
they werent welsh,
you ignorant fuckers,
they as every one knows if you read it up
properly were fine out standing irish men... whats this world coming to when people dont know there history..........
homerjaysimpson71 2 years ago
grammar>history
localfuckingized 2 years ago
Have no idea were the idea of teh red coat came from, maybe it was cheapest form of dye or in the era of poor communication a good form of identification but its were the term the 'long red line' comes from.
Also as said before, and as comedian Ricky Gervais said to the Americains: you may not know me but we had an Empire before yours came along :)
laganuk 2 years ago
No one sang it in africa it wasn't a wales regiment for a few years later
few wales men won VC
convertiblejones1 2 years ago
Is wearing Red Coats tactical? Just kidding wankers....
Doughost26 2 years ago
Yes it was tactical actually sir! In fact it was originally designed so when twats like you were conscripted they could tell what fucking side they were on.
runzordockz 2 years ago
@runzordockz Your a fucking wanker. Glad we kicked you fuckers outta here. Snobby ass bitches all of ya.
Doughost26 2 years ago
Lets see how many Native American babies we get fit on our sabres should we. Judge not lest be judged yourself.
runzordockz 2 years ago
That 'native' baby fit just as well on the end of a war hatchet or knobkerry; dont' think just cuz they were 'natives' they were any more merciful or just or enlighted. I see no reason to beat oneself up over it is all.
nickmitsialis 2 years ago
@runzordockz I don't beat myself over it. The U.S has never gone around and colonized the world at gunpoint.
Doughost26 2 years ago
Philippines
Salmon1BWFC 2 years ago
Not to the same extent as Brits did all over the world.
Doughost26 2 years ago
the philipines & haiti
TokenDeadGuy 2 years ago
@runzordockz No they just murdered, starved and stole the land from the native Americans, remember the Indian wars!!
bmer650 2 years ago
It was tactical if you actually use it right you cum guzzling little cunt.
LeedsEngland 2 years ago
Ya lining up in rows in front of each other is real tactical you uncircumcised wanker.
Doughost26 2 years ago
@Doughost26
You didn't mention about lining up in rows did you? You mentioned about the Red Coats. Now fuck off you mincing cum dump.
LeedsEngland 1 year ago
@LeedsEngland The red coats were still fucking stupid. Dumbass Brits made it that much easier to spot you. No wonder they were defeated by American gunslingers. We even lined up and fought you and won battles.. So much for being such a great empire.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Pretty much depends how you look at it. Would be a shitload harder to see if they had the sun behind them.
Christ you talk like you fucking whipped us, read up on the war abit more and you'll see how fucking lucky you got. Who was more of a threat to Britain, France or the U.S? Which one is also closer to the mainland. You were fucking smallfry my son.
LeedsEngland 1 year ago
@LeedsEngland I know the history of the war, and for a bunch of somewhat disorganized troops to stand up and kick a world power out or up into Canada was quite a feat. Now it is you who are smallfry son, since the 1940s you are smallfry. Get off our land Brits, just like so many of others have said, and now look at you on your little island. Red coats = easier ambush
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Oh common, the Americas were the last of our worries back then.
Yup I agree we are smallfry these days. We still punch above our weight for such a small island don't you agree? And for this small insignificant island to once rule so much of the world is also quite a feat.
LeedsEngland 1 year ago
@Doughost26 If you would know your history, you would know that without french weapons, a french fleet and a french army Yorktown would never have happend. Without the France, Spain and the Netherlands joining the war as allies of the US without a prussian officer who turned the bunch of undisciplined gunslingers you used to call an army into a real army that was able to stand against the red coats the British would now fight a war against terror in their american colonies .
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
@FWvSteuben Prussian officers? Ya ok, americans are everybody from all over the world, people that hated the British empire and came over here, banded together and beat your ass. Kicked you off of our land not once but twice. Then in WW2 you allowed 2 million american men to set up base on your homeland. Then we rebuilt your country, google Marshal Plan history buff. 2 million British soldiers will never set foot on American soil, dont you ever forget that.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Well not British soldiers, but I woildb't be surprised if it wpold be 20 million chinese ones. After all the US is already a half owned subsidiary of the PRC ;-). Just continue spending money you borrow from them and it won't be long before they own you.
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Well, may be not 2 million british soldiers, but I wouldn't be surprised if it would be 20 million chinese ones. After all the US is already a half owned subsidiary of China. Continue spending money you borrow from them and it won't be long before they own you. ;-)
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
@FWvSteuben Be realistic, china will never have millions of soldiers over here, mutual destruction would occur before that ever happened. If the U.S was as brutal as the British empire at its peak, the U.S would still have complete world control. The U.S just has different morals that the British royalty couldnt even comprehend. That is also one of our weaknesses that is exploited and is part of our downward standing in the world.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Actually, if the british had exterminated the natives in their colonies as ruthless and brutal as the americans did, they would have retained their empire as there would have been no one to strive for independence.
I never said that the chinese would invade. They will just by you, if necessary peace meal.
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
@FWvSteuben So the British didnt kill the natives? That what your saying? You said millions of Chinese soldiers could end up here. Just like 2 million american soldiers, but we were protecting you. No amount of money could ever repay that debt the British owe the U.S. Maybe we should of just stayed home, it clearly isnt appreciated by most Brits. According to many Brits I have talked to on here, the U.S didnt really do anything in WW2.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 1. Ididn't say the british didn't kill the natives, I said they didn't exterminate them. That is quite a difference. I other words , how many Idians lift in British India and how many Native americans in the US?
2. You ended up in Britain because Japan and Germany declared war to you, otherwise FDR wouldn't have got you into the war.
3. Any British who believes the US did nothing in the war doe not know what he is talking about.
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
@Doughost26 4. In WW2 the supplies from the US to Britain and Russia where crucial. Without them the war would have ended differently.The american tropps however where not quite as crucial but definitely more than a big help. Without them the war would have lasted longer and cost more allied lifes.
By the way, I never doubted that the US saved Britain in WW2. I only insist that the US could not have won the war of Independence without massive help from abroad (mainly France).
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
@Doughost26 US help in WW2 was of course gratefully recieved, and we have not forgotten it, but it was not as if you did it out of the goodness of your heart. By 1941 you had no choice but to join the war, if Hitler conquered Europe and Russia the United States would have been in the gravest danger (especially if Hitler had secured the Royal Navy). Of course the Lend Lease etc WAS done more out of goodness than national security, and for that i thank you most.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Now of course if the United States had actually joined the League of Nations like they promised to do, the League that Woodrow Wilson himself pushed to create, the war might well have been averted altogether....
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 The US now isnt as brutal as the British empire then, but the US now is less brutal than the US then and Britain is less brutal than Britain then. Its timescale. Britain's empire was far less brutal than other empires of its time. The French, the Spanish, the Dutch, the Italians etc were all as bad if not worse. Belgium's colonial empire was horrific but Britain stopped that. And of course in comparison to Nazi Germany and Revolutionary France....
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 The US now is less brutal because the Western nations as a whole are less brutal, if the US followed tactics from ANY other time period in history they would be pilloried. Take the Israel/Palestine divide. This is the first time in history when other countries have really cared about the outcome in any sense other than "winner takes all". From the beginning of history until the end of WW2 the mantra has always been "might is right", and all countries were guilty of it.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 Good stuff man. Don't forget to put a little blame on Chamberlain for taking part in the "appeasement" of Hitler. It wasn't just British appeasement, all European countries majorly pussed out. Should of been all over Hitler WAY earlier for breaking WW1 treaties and allowing him to build an army. I agree with most that the WW1 treaty was very unfair to the German people, but them building a big ass army should of been kept in check before it was to late.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Yes the strange thing is that the great call for peace that has kept the world from total war since WW2 was just as strong after WW1. In fact it was that very strive for peace that made WW2 so bad. The idea of peace at any price (an understandable wish after the most horrific war in history, with two and a half million British empire troops killed or wounded) only let Hitler, who had no wish for peace, build Germany into major military power before war was forced on us all again.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 You also have to realize that preWW2 the attitude by the majority of people was to stay out of the war and concern ourselves with what is going on in our hemisphere. Stay out of other peoples business attitude. Its understandable, why send our boys to fight and die?
Doughost26 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 What I always think about is that if Hitler would of just waited say 5 years to start being aggressive the world could of been in WAY more trouble. The technology edge they could of had would of been far superior and alot tougher to catch up. Also thank the Fins for putting up a fight against Russia and making Hitler think Russia was weak. Hitlers other problem was he thought he was a general and didnt listen to his generals that knew their shit.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 You are spot on. Hitler had a few very succesful strategic ideas in 1939, and this made him believe he was a strategic genius (even at the end, in April 1945, he believed that he could pull victory out of defeat, like his hero Frederick the Great). His success therefore led to his downfall. Rather than letting his Generals (trained in the superb traditional Prussian military vein) get on with it he instead constantly frustrated their wishes and implemented frankly stupid ideas.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Hitler waiting 5 more years before he got aggressive... There were some good reasons why he COULDNT wait those years. For example his aggressive evolution from merely re-militarising the Rhineland to a full blown invasion of Poland took place over 4 years and only gradually grew more aggressive. Hitler was also not very popular with the military before 1939, and there had been numerous attempts to have him killed, he needed a victory.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 Politicians trying to be generals, sounds like what goes on way to much now. Main reason why Vietnam was a clusterfuck. "Don't go to war unless you have the will to win it" MacArthur. Imagine if Hitler did wait a little while longer. Jet planes vs the RAF and americans. Could of been alot different outcome. Maybe even a nuclear bomb could of been developed before we got the Manhatten project going. Scary.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Very true, war should be left to those who have spent their lives doing it, not a politician with a chip on his shoulder. The idea of the Germans having the nuclear bomb if they had waited longer is possible, if it wasnt for Britain getting rid of the German "Heavy Water" they may have had one anyway. However it might not be so grim as it seem. Hitler did not really care about his "wonder weapons" until he suffered major reverses, investment before that was very low.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 Always heard that the Nazi's had jet planes flying over Britain towards the end of the war, when it was nearly over and to late. I wonder how those early jet planes would compete against the American P-51. Wonder weapons ya, Ive seen the video of that big ass cannon that would shoot over the English Channel. Alot of other wierd shit. Also the American idea of putting bombs on bats to burn the wooden buildings in Japan.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Heres an interesting quote from "The Third Reich at War".
"The first "wonder weapon" to be deployed was a pilotless 'flying bomb'. It was named with Hitler's immediate approval, the V-1 on 17th June 1944.... The 'V' stood for Vergeltung, retribution, an appellation that already betrayed an unspoken assumption that their morale purpose was greater than their military effectiveness....
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 "The V-1 resulted from experimental projects developed in the mid-1930s, when the engineer Paul Schmidt had begun work on a pulsejet system that would operate through rapid intermittent explosions. To speed up progress the Air Ministry had asked the Argus air engine company to take the project over in 1939, and the pulsejet engine was tried out on a small fighter plane in 1941-2. However its extreme noisiness and the vibrations it caused made it impossible to use in manned aircraft
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 .....The alternative was an 'aerial torpedo' or what would now be called a cruise missile, and in June 1942 the Air Ministry gave its formal approval to a full developement programme to be carried out by the aircraft manufacturing firm Fiesler. It took another 2 years to reach the production stage. On 13th June, at Hitler's urgent command, the first ten V-1 flying bombers were catapulted from their coastal launch ramps at London."
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 However it says that "Hitler ordered a massive production boost in late June 1944".... by which point it was too late to have any real effect.
Similarly with the V-2 (which was an early ballistic missile) the very early science had been done in the 1920s. A genius aristocrat called Wernher Von Braun started his own in-depth research in 1932, but there was no links to the German government. He got his big break when he awed Hitler in October 1942.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 Von Braun?? Sounds familiar, oh yea he helped us get to the moon. Those German scientists were way ahead of us in certain areas.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Von Braun was a genius, plain and simple. But he was also heartless. That said if the West hadnt nabbed him the USSR would, and then we could have been in serious trouble....
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 As it turned out Speer and Himmler then argued about who should be overlords of the operation while Hitler, who was going doolally, expected the rockets to go 5000 miles. Production rapidly sped up from that point on, but only because the camp where work was done the "Mittelwerk" was supplied with plenty of POWs, 20,000 of whom died. That place was running by October 43. The first successful rockets were only fired in September 1944.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 What do you think about the statement that "America is humanities last hope for freedom"? Any truth to that in your opinion?
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Not anymore. But i think there was a decade or so when a strong argument could be made for that point. In the 1950s and 1960s before Western Europe had fully recovered. The US is in the same position now as Britain was a century before in that respect. For a while everyone relies on you.... but then thanks to you everyone is safe and happy and for some reason they now hate you at the same time, possibly for that very reason.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 Never seen someone put it quite that way, I like it. I believe that as technology becomes more advanced it will become easier for the elite to control the masses. Can you imagine a world ruled by say the Chinese Communists? Or just a group of powerful thugs from all over the world could possibly force their will on the planets population sometime in the future. Mankind always seeks power. The only thing the common man has, is that there is more of us, than their are of them.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 It could already be happening gradually, with some of these secret societies like the Bilderburgers influencing world leaders. I felt like Bush and now Obama really have very little power and that others are really pulling the strings.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 With these important and engrained defences, the secret knots of people with their aims of self-advancement on a huge scale can stay only influential and their power can only grow to a certain degree. Unless they can use other countries to quash us, or brainwash us, their influence will always be restricted.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@thebigJM92 I hope so, just seems that slowly our constitution is moving towards being considered obsolete. I dont think people realize that 1776 was just when we declared independence. Our founding fathers who lived under a king took 20 years to form our constitution. Yet here we are today with politicians trying to do quick fixes.
Doughost26 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Oh yes the Founding Fathers were very intelligent men, and they all had very different ideas. Of course they were all middle-aged to old, white and male, but in those days they were the ones with the education and the knowledge. The Founding Fathers ranged from people like James Madison on one side to Thomas Jefferson on the other. Between them, over many months and years, a constitutional compromise was created, one that was built to preserve and at the same time to allow change.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 The reason it has lasted so long (and well deserves to have) is because it prevents change for changes sake, but allows change were it is necessary. So the short term whim of the people is blocked by the need for a two-thirds majority in both Houses and three quarters of the State's. But if change is essential then this number will be hit. I would say it works well 90% of the time, and no system is perfect.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 The US has a greater buffer than most countries in that its codified constitution has engrained itself within the US subconscious. Despite bickering over the semantics almost all Americans believe in the Bill of Rights.
Strangely enough Britain's monarchy is a buffer against tyranny. This is because our monarch has very little power that they can actually use, but a LOT that they can officially use. This both ensures smooth democracy in good times and prevents dictatorship in bad.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 So not only does the Hereditary monarchy prevent a tyrant becoming Head of State but also could withdraw from him all of the "Crown Perogatives" that are currently used by the Prime Minister. In times of freedom a monarch will give these powers instantly to the elected as they know we will become a Republic if they dont. But when the people are oppressed the crown could pull the carpet from under the feet of the dictator (as in Italy in 1943) and become saviours.
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 Yes, the Me 262 was the first jet fighter seeing action. It was much faster than any allied plane so the P-51 couldn't touch it in full flight. It was vulnerable during take off and landing when it was slow and it gained speed slowly.. Anyway, as you said it came too late thanks to Hitlers wish to build it as a bomber, and in too small numbers to make a diffrence. One or two years earlier though it would have cleard the sky for Germany.
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
@Doughost26 At the same time by 1938 and Anschluss (ie absorbing Austria) the allies began to re-arm just in case. In 1939 they werent quite prepared however France and the USSR had been expanding their armies and Britain had had a particularly big expansion of the RAF (Chamberlain's only redeeming feature was his knowledge that the RAF needed to be expanded to meet the Luftwaffe threat... in that he was correct)
thebigJM92 1 year ago
@Doughost26 No doubt the decline of the british empire began 1918, but until then it had lasted for quite a while. It remains to be seen how long the US will last. After all it is a very young nation.
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
@Doughost26 By they way there was a good reason for the brightly coloured uniforms in those days. With all the gunsmoke on the battlefield the generals would not have been able to see, not to mention discern their troops otherwise. Of course, for a bunch of "bandits", sorry the proper US term is "unlawful fighters", this would not matter.
FWvSteuben 1 year ago
If Britain hadnt had the greatest Empire then the spanish, french or dutch would have had! The truth is that everyone was out for themselves! Britain just did it bett