Xann Posted August 19, 2020 Share Posted August 19, 2020 Someone's great granny was pretty cool 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Quote The Cambridge 5 " Kim Philby jokes with newsmen at his mother's home during a 1955 press conference after being formally cleared of tipping off Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean that British intelligence was on to them. Philby later resigned from MI6, but agents interrogated him about this again in 1963. As they closed in, he escaped to Russia. © Bettmann/CORBIS A womanizer who married four times. A flamboyant gay man with a penchant for drunkenness. A famous art historian knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. It may sound like the lineup for a new HBO miniseries, but these men were real-life spies during World War II and beyond. Along with two fellow Cambridge University graduates, they penetrated British intelligence agencies and turned over secrets to the Soviets. The Cambridge Five -- Harold "Kim" Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross -- were members of the British elite and so ensconced in their communist beliefs they refused payment for their spy work. All were hired to work in key British intelligence positions and continually alerted Moscow about British and U.S. plans, including efforts to construct an atomic bomb in 1941 and Korean War strategy, causing the deaths of many. Things started unraveling when Americans deciphered a coded Soviet message that implicated Maclean. Philby warned him, and in 1951 Maclean and the flamboyant Burgess promptly defected to Russia -- a move that left the remaining spies under a low-hanging cloud of suspicion. Philby and Cairncross were investigated by MI6, the British foreign intelligence service, but not charged. Nevertheless, both were forced to resign. Cairncross moved to France while Philby escaped to Russia in 1963. Blunt confessed and was granted immunity to remain in England. He was stripped of his knighthood when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher publicly revealed his espionage in 1979. Maclean, Philby (who had an affair with Maclean's wife) and Burgess all lived in Moscow until their deaths, nostalgic for England. None of the five were ever charged with any crimes [sources: Boghardt,Barnes]. How Stuff Works It's hard to see how the Cambridge 5 won't be eclipsed by the Brexit 4. Farage, Banks, Johnson and Cummings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 German POW disembarking at Newhaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 9, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted October 9, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Xann said: German POW disembarking at Newhaven. Coupla good WWII stereotypes there. Fat, red-faced British sergeant. Stylish Luftwaffe officer with one arm and a black leather glove. They may have been sadistic Nazis, but they did have Hugo Boss uniforms. Edited October 9, 2020 by mjmooney 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 They definitely won the style war. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Neural network restoration. The channel is wonderful. Seen a couple of the films before, not like this though. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD8J_xbbBuGobmw_N5ga3MA 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 On 09/10/2020 at 22:02, mjmooney said: Fat, red-faced British sergeant. He saved all his rations until the very last day it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I wonder how Covid will be written about in years to come ? WIth Brexit and Covid the UK's version of events could still be written on the sheets of toilet rolls, the only thing in abundance now. Depends on how the economic, community and health collapse goes I suppose. In a candle lit hanger near Rugby you too could be watching "Words and pictures" on video real soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted October 21, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 21, 2020 2 hours ago, Xann said: Neural network restoration. The channel is wonderful. Seen a couple of the films before, not like this though. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD8J_xbbBuGobmw_N5ga3MA The train is still there today, it's a fantastic engineering oddment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PussEKatt Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Here is a question I have always wondered about. England had a pact with Poland that if they got attacked England would come on their side.The thing is that when Germany attacked Poland,the Russians attacked Poland also but we only declared war on Germany ?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 26 minutes ago, PussEKatt said: Here is a question I have always wondered about. England had a pact with Poland that if they got attacked England would come on their side.The thing is that when Germany attacked Poland,the Russians attacked Poland also but we only declared war on Germany ?! Simply, if I recall it was pick your enemies. We couldn’t defeat 2 foes, and I think Germany was the easier target to go to war with. I think this was the reason but will bow to more learned authorities. @mjmooney? It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Seat68 said: Simply, if I recall it was pick your enemies. We couldn’t defeat 2 foes, and I think Germany was the easier target to go to war with. I think this was the reason but will bow to more learned authorities. @mjmooney? It The French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 22, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted October 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Seat68 said: Simply, if I recall it was pick your enemies. We couldn’t defeat 2 foes, and I think Germany was the easier target to go to war with. I think this was the reason but will bow to more learned authorities. @mjmooney? It TBH I'd never thought about it, but it's a very good question. I suspect you're right about the reason, plus the fact that nobody really believed in the temporary buddying up of Hitler and Stalin. They were so ideologically opposed there was a good chance they would soon be fighting each other - and so it proved. Dipolmatically speaking, however, we were probably out of order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 22, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2020 18 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: The train is still there today, it's a fantastic engineering oddment. Does it work? Is the whole thing there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Aristotle wrote an estimated 200 thesis level works. Quite adept in writing on his-story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted October 22, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2020 3 hours ago, bickster said: Does it work? Is the whole thing there? I believe so, fully working and in use - the town is in a valley and along a river and it's the only way they could do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 22, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2020 6 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: believe so, fully working and in use - the town is in a valley and along a river and it's the only way they could do it. Thats almost a reason to visit Germany Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted October 22, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2020 6 minutes ago, bickster said: Thats almost a reason to visit Germany An elephant once fell off that railway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 22, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: An elephant once fell off that railway. Go on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted October 22, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2020 1 minute ago, bickster said: Go on... Genuinely, some bright spark with a circus thought it would be a fine bit of PR to put a baby elephant into one of the cars and send him up and down the tracks. The elephant got a bit nervous and managed to fall out of the car into the river - luckily suffering only minor injuries. Now that, I would like to have seen! Also the bloke who invented it seems to have had something to do with the first petrol engine and sugar cubes. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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