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| Britain |
| Noel Coward : undercover agent |
| 2007-11-09 |
| article at link The secret missives During the last ‘war to end wars’ I’m conscious that I made little or no contribution. This time I am determined to play as much of a part as the powers-that-be allow me” writing to Winston Churchill in 1939 “If I ran away and refused to have anything to do with the war and lived comfortably in Hollywood . . . I should be ashamed to the end of my days” to his mother, Violet, in 1941 “I snooped around a good deal and flapped my ears . . . The Nazi propaganda . . . is very strong but is falling on the stoniest of stony ground” reporting from Switzerland in 1938 to Sir Robert Vansittart, of the Foreign Office “The pre-war past died on the day when Mr Neville Chamberlain returned with such gay insouciance” writing in 1938 “I have encountered a number of people who appear sceptical of Britain’s ability to . . . overcome the extreme challenges we presently face. I have tried to convince them that, though we may inhabit a small island, we never have been or ever shall be a small people” assessing the mood in Hollywood in 1940 “I am a trifle saddened by the behaviour of many of my actor countrymen of military age who scuttled off with such inelegant haste” on British actors who were perceived to have betrayed their country by going to America |
| Posted by:classer |
| #4 Britian has sunk down a ways since I was there. You have to read the comments and suggested slogans in this Times solicitation of 5 Words to Describe Britishness. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-11-09 10:18 |
| #3 EE. Eurabian Emirate. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-11-09 09:31 |
| #2 "...we never have been or ever shall be a small people..." I'm afraid he may have been overly sanquine. The Socialist rot has dug deep and I doubt that there will "always be an England". I give them 5 - 10 years max before they are completely subsumed by the EU. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2007-11-09 09:24 |
| #1 Leslie Howard (Ashley in Gone with the Wind) did some work for British secret service. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-11-09 03:09 |