Britannia rules the waves no more.
And while I roll my eyes at PCness, I can't help but smile when the British humle themselves because...you know. Maybe we can invite those folks over to do a re-enactment of Saratoga. We promise to just keep it to red v. blue.
Are you pointing this out to get under my skin because of the Glorious Spurs Victory.
Der Tommisar,
Or Old Hickory's little brawl with Pakenham at N'awlins?
In all seriousness, Lord Nelson deserves better than this. So do all the men who died defending those wooden walls through four centuries of Europe's worst megalomaniacs.
Even if most were Protties.
Bravo, Dale! And spot-on, as usual.
I nominate you Chairman of the festivities commemorating the 65th anniversary of Operation Torch, another thrilling moment in French military history.
You might want to consider using national ID in that one, because it's hard to figure out who the "blue" and "red" forces are if they're both moving in the same direction.
Der Tommissar:
Actually, Brittania still rules the waves--she simply passed the fleet duties to her illegitimate daughter, the USN. Britain's naval customs have been preserved whole and entire in our Navy. When my Anglophilia is at a low ebb, I prefer to remind Brits of the Battle of the Capes.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages...ages/
h1320.html
Land defeats they can handle. Sea defeats are much harder to swallow, and naval defeats at the hands of the bloody French are intolerable.
Victor:
Nah. In fact, I'm at a loss to see the Spurs connection. Then again, I won't complete the course of antibiotics until Tuesday, so my brain may still be a tad overheated.
Richard:
Cornwallis surrendering at Yorktown is a particular favorite of mine, but Daniel Morgan whipping up on Banastre Tarleton at Cowpens is a very, very close second.
Ditto on the Royal Navy--for all of the flaws of the Empire she served, she has been a force for freedom and the right far more often than not. I think it was Ben Bova who wrote a short story about an America forced to battle a worldwide Napoleonic Empire in the 19th Century, one that followed from a British defeat at Trafalgar. Scary thought.
SAM:
Funny you should mention Torch--my very first model as a young child was the battleship U.S.S. Massachusetts. I still remember my befuddlement at reading that her only ship to ship combat was with the Vichy battleship Jean Bart, which made the tragically stupid and wholly unnecessary decision to take on the Massachusetts. All in all, I think 500 Americans died in combat against the Vichy during Torch.
There's be far more of an outcry if they tried to retell the '66 World Cup (Soccer) in polite tones.
From the article on Mers-el-Kebir:
Churchill noted to a colleague that the French at Oran finally fought "with all their vigour for the first time since the war broke out".
Ya gotsta love Winnie.
1/350
or
1/700?
"Actually, Brittania still rules the waves--she simply passed the fleet duties to her illegitimate daughter, the USN.
Thanks for the plug, Mr. Price. We who've worn the cracker jacks say "Bravo Zulu"!
Even if most were Protties.
I don't mind Protestants...overly much.
I'm just not an anglophile. Yes, that's a polite way of putting it; I'm not an anglophile.
So do all the men who died defending those wooden walls through four centuries of Europe's worst megalomaniacs.
Let's see....
Hitler...
Napoleon (and not the dork in the movie)
who else?
I think the Royal Navy is now down to about 35 surface warships. They rule the wave.
It's interesting the British choices on which historical events to be more politically sensitive. The clear naval victory at Trafalgar is reenacted, as it sounds, as something of a stalemate. Meanwhile, on Guy Fawkes Day one cannot find a straw in town for all the burning in effigy of straw man recreations of a fellow who was foiled in trying to kill King James I and Parliment for the persecution of Catholics. Guy Fawkes Day was once called "Popes Day" in the American colonies. Presumably the celebration fell out of favor with that crazy influx of half starved Irish Catholics fleeing yet another British persecution.
Alas, the gallant Horatio Nelson definitely wouldn't have approved the "re-enactment" of Trafalgar. He himself had a burning personal antagonism -- almost a hatred -- toward the French in general, and Napoleon in particular. Wellington, OTOH, admired Nap as a fellow soldier but disapproved of his vaulting ambitions... I agree totally with Ms. Anna tribe that PC makes "total fools of us." The French should get over it --- they lost!!!!!
Sorry -- the family name of Ms. Tribe was not capitalized ...now it is. Hope everyone in the US has a happy Fourth. We just had a rather subdued Canada Day.
Dale,
are you still alive?
has the Indian chief kidnapped you?
Where are you?
Commenting by HaloScan
