Picture of the day

In a doc I saw on Mountbatten, following the defeat of the Japanese in Malaya, he put armed Japanese soldiers on the streets to maintain order and give the impression of stability. This to stave off expected unrest and retaliation against profiteers, collaborators, etc.

I believe that Macarthur (The American Shogun) did much the same in Japan following VJ Day, going out of the way to appear not to be a vengeful dictator.
 
Gas Station, Red Deer, Alberta
p_kb885c1.jpg

p_kb885d1.jpg
 
dryfire said:
It may have been perceived at the time as the right thing to do but it was completely unnecessary. Germany was losing the war of attrition and the destruction of their cities did not hasten the end just as the attempted flattening of London didn't break the Brits.
Click to expand...

So what should of the allies do to win the war instead?
 
That is one cool picture


I remember a Tiger Moth and a Cornell owned by the local baker being flown out of a farmers field near the hamlet of Monkton in SW Ontario in the early 50's. Still painted trainer yellow. My uncle had been a fitter in RCAF but refused to work on these A/C because of a licensing issue. He was a licensed vehicle mechanic at the time. If I remember correctly the owner/pilot was a bit of a cowboy and wound up catching the landing gear of one of those AC in my uncle's fence and overturned. Don't remember which one. No serious injuries but did result in the permanent grounding of the Monkton Air Force

Different times.
 
Which is why the Legion was out to lunch when they raised a fuss over Sikhs wearing turbans in the Mess. OK for them to fight and die in a British war though. If it is acceptable for a Sikh to wear a turban when being presented to the Queen, that's good enough for me.
 
Anyone who reads about the history of the Sikhs will come away with substantial respect. Guru Nanak's basic concepts are very decent and sound. The ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, is on record as the only leader of a major religion to sacrifice his life on behalf of another faith.

Sikhs kick ass. I've liked the ones I've known and would happily share a mess hall with them. The Legion was being simpleminded when they made that fuss, as were the mounties when they opposed Sikh headgear.

4-sikh_soldiers_manning_a_tank_in_libiya_world_war_two._0.jpg


tumblr_lm1tvlpGDC1qgxrsco1_500.jpg


article-1253385-0871FFA7000005DC-847_468x376.jpg


Badass.
 
I am curious about the terrific photo of Sikh's ....are they infantry, cavalry or a mixture? I think I see infantry pattern sword(s) and several sabres...clearly the front rank wear spurs and at least one is in jodhpurs ...they presumably would have been mounted normally and carry swords (sabres?) but the second rank marker appears to be an NCO...and not dressed as a trooper but also carrying a sword (or is it a pacestick/cane?)..more info would be great..thnks
 
I trained at Depot in 95-96 with a Sikh. Tall, well built man, nice to talk with. He looked good in red serge. I saw him standing in the lobby of the mess hall one day. I went over and shook his hand and wished him luck. It doesn't matter a rat's butt to me that a Sikh would wear a turban in the RCMP, not at a legion.

I had an uncle, a big, strong man with a hint of a British accent, who fought in WW2 and in the Korean War. He had nothing but good to say about any Sikhs he ran across while fighting. Coming from him, a big crusty old Sgt-Major in the Canadian Army back in the day - that was as good as money in the bank to me.
 
If you love sikhs, don't read what Col Meinehertzhagen said about them at the battle of Tanga. I read a book about him not too long ago and the anecdote made me smile.
 
Re: Bomber Service

"What happened to it? Anybody have any knowledge on this? Is it still a gas station?"


I remember how we kids could get up inside the bomber. My dad went there for gas sometimes in the 1950's. He told me that the bomber had been bought at a war surplus auction by some friends of his east of Red Deer who thought they could use it for crop dusting, but they crashed it and so it ended on display at Bomber Service. I think the gas station disappeared around 1960 or so...maybe a bit later. It was located just south of Red Deer on the east side of the Calgary-Edmonton highway about halfway between the city limits and what is now Gasoline Alley. I don't know what happened to the plane.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom