chrisp65 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 3 minutes ago, maqroll said: If Franco caved to Hitler's pressure and joined the Axis... It's possible that the Americans couldn't have landed in Morocco to join the North Africa campaign, giving Rommel one less thing to worry about fighting the British. If the British were defeated in Africa, the Italian campaign never happens, meaning Hitler doesn't pull battalions from the eastern and western fronts, and German positions in France are fortified by Spanish forces making an amphibious invasion from England a virtual impossibility. In other words, Franco won World War 2. If my mate’s grandad hadn’t given 2 foreign gents a help bump starting their car, less Germans would have escaped from the PoW camp in Bridgend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy Lifeboats Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) On 28/01/2024 at 18:33, maqroll said: If Franco caved to Hitler's pressure and joined the Axis... This is a very interesting topic. The UK and Portugal have one of the oldest military alliances. But the UK agreed to refrain from activating that treaty in 1939. That allowed Portugal to stay neutral. It was also a way to pressure Spain into staying neutral. Had Spain joined the Axis the Portuguese would probably have joined the British. This would have tied up the Spanish forces who were still recovering after their civil war. It's unlikely that the Spanish forces could have defeated Portugal, defended Morocco from a US landing and helped the German defense of France. It would also have led to the Canary Islands being quickly conquered by our vastly superior navy. As opposed to being invaded by British tourists a few decades later. I think Franco is fairly unique in history. He's probably the only fascist dictator that left his country in a very good position. Edited January 30 by Mandy Lifeboats Spelling mishsteaks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 22nd February 1797 A French invasion force of 1,400 troops are heading for Bristol. Sat nav not being what it is now, they land in Fishguard. On hearing of the invasion Jemima Nicholson marches out of town to meet them, armed with a pitchfork. She later returns with 12 prisoners. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted February 25 VT Supporter Share Posted February 25 It has passed into legend - and a Hollywood movie - that the first WWII USAAF bomber crew to reach 25 missions was that of the B-17 'Memphis Belle'. It wasn't. That honour was achieved by the crew of 'Hell's Angels'. But the word 'Hell' was deemed unacceptable by the moral arbiters of America, and so completely ignored by the media. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted February 25 Moderator Share Posted February 25 2 hours ago, mjmooney said: It has passed into legend - and a Hollywood movie - that the first WWII USAAF bomber crew to reach 25 missions was that of the B-17 'Memphis Belle'. It wasn't. That honour was achieved by the crew of 'Hell's Angels'. But the word 'Hell' was deemed unacceptable by the moral arbiters of America, and so completely ignored by the media. That’s not strictly true either. Hells Angels was the first in the European Theatre. Suzy-Q was the actual first but that was in the Pacific Theatre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted February 25 VT Supporter Share Posted February 25 7 minutes ago, bickster said: That’s not strictly true either. Hells Angels was the first in the European Theatre. Suzy-Q was the actual first but that was in the Pacific Theatre True. I should have said in Europe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted February 25 VT Supporter Share Posted February 25 On 02/10/2023 at 15:12, Xela said: Fascinating. Could watch all day. Just the peoples reactions. Looks like another world but the people are just the same as they are today. No obesity, ultra-clean streets, no one carrying food around, little in the way of pedestrian safety signs/lights, lack of morphological diversity, fewer people -- and even fewer pigeons at Trafalgar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy Lifeboats Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 (edited) The 1932 Emu War. In 1932 the Australian Government decided to conduct a cull of emus. They wanted to cull 20,000 in order to reduce damage to crops. They sent in the army with heavy machine guns. The army reported that emus were exceptionally difficult to hit once the first shot had been fired. Even when hit by several shots the emus just ran away. The army ran out of their alloted ammunition having killed only 986 emus. The cost of ammunition (10,000 shots fired) far outweighed any reduction in crop damage and the total number of emus remained the same. The emus won. Quote If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world. They can face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They are like Zulus whom even dum-dum bullets could not stop Edited February 26 by Mandy Lifeboats Added details 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted February 26 Moderator Share Posted February 26 10 hours ago, Mandy Lifeboats said: The 1932 Emu War. In 1932 the Australian Government decided to conduct a cull of emus. They wanted to cull 20,000 in order to reduce damage to crops. They sent in the army with heavy machine guns. The army reported that emus were exceptionally difficult to hit once the first shot had been fired. Even when hit by several shots the emus just ran away. The army ran out of their alloted ammunition having killed only 986 emus. The cost of ammunition (10,000 shots fired) far outweighed any reduction in crop damage and the total number of emus remained the same. The emus won. Emus are the dumbest birds. How the hell they (and I slightly paraphrase here) fought off the army with their bare beaks is a complete mystery. They’re amazing and the chicks are super cute humbugs, but Christ on a bike they are idiots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Can only assume the aussies are somehow keeping this secret from hollywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted February 26 Moderator Share Posted February 26 39 minutes ago, villa4europe said: Can only assume the aussies are somehow keeping this secret from hollywood Here’s a pic I took earlier. You can see the murderous intent, but not the idiocy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 its like the lion king when mustafa is teaching simba how to hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 21 hours ago, Mandy Lifeboats said: The 1932 Emu War. In 1932 the Australian Government decided to conduct a cull of emus. They wanted to cull 20,000 in order to reduce damage to crops. They sent in the army with heavy machine guns. The army reported that emus were exceptionally difficult to hit once the first shot had been fired. Even when hit by several shots the emus just ran away. The army ran out of their alloted ammunition having killed only 986 emus. The cost of ammunition (10,000 shots fired) far outweighed any reduction in crop damage and the total number of emus remained the same. The emus won. It always seems like Australia are fighting a perpetual war against invasive species on numerous fronts, whether they be cane toads, rabbits and whisper it, feral cats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 11 hours ago, blandy said: Christ on a bike they are idiots. Can't be as stupid as pheasants. They'll look you in the eye as you drive towards them, and then step in front of the car! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted February 26 VT Supporter Share Posted February 26 16 minutes ago, Xela said: Can't be as stupid as pheasants. They'll look you in the eye as you drive towards them, and then step in front of the car! They've probably decided that it's quicker and cleaner than being blasted with lead shot by toffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 found one of those social media accounts that gives day by day accounts of what was going on during WW2, focuses on the yank 4th armoured division, so like today he will post where they were on 28th feb 1945, they're about 50km from where i live so i sent him a message for some more info, they're about 3 weeks away from my town and he sent me a load of information about them setting up a small base here unfortunately the smaller villages where my in laws live was by a different division who dont seem to have a similar account but he pointed me in the direction of where to find some maps for them too 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 47 minutes ago, villa4europe said: found one of those social media accounts that gives day by day accounts of what was going on during WW2, focuses on the yank 4th armoured division, so like today he will post where they were on 28th feb 1945, they're about 50km from where i live so i sent him a message for some more info, they're about 3 weeks away from my town and he sent me a load of information about them setting up a small base here unfortunately the smaller villages where my in laws live was by a different division who dont seem to have a similar account but he pointed me in the direction of where to find some maps for them too I love finding little social media rabbit holes like that. It’s twitter for me, used sensibly it’s just a goldmine of other people’s research on their fave topics. I’m currently doing some very crude digitisation of some records for a band in the U.S. that have no physical copies of some stuff they put out in the 70’s so my brother is becoming their sort of amateur archivist and has unearthed vinyl they didn’t even know had been released! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 49 minutes ago, chrisp65 said: I love finding little social media rabbit holes like that. It’s twitter for me, used sensibly it’s just a goldmine of other people’s research on their fave topics. I’m currently doing some very crude digitisation of some records for a band in the U.S. that have no physical copies of some stuff they put out in the 70’s so my brother is becoming their sort of amateur archivist and has unearthed vinyl they didn’t even know had been released! He isn't Fannying about again is he? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 2 minutes ago, Seat68 said: He isn't Fannying about again is he? Very much so. Found two copies of an extended album track released as a single that they didn’t know about. Sent one across but it’s gone awol. So they’ve decided its too risky to send the other one. So the old ion digital turntable has been dusted down! I think @Xann would be very impressed with the quality recording you can achieve with a 45 year old vinyl single, a shitty bottom of the range stylus, and software that converts to .wav 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 With a nice record deck and a habit of digitising records it would be an A/D for the nice record deck for me. The proof of the pud is in the tasting, ultimately. You're content. Carry on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts