Article

2005-09-19 Britain

Charles unveils Battle of Britain memorial

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Posted by Steve White 2005-09-19 00:00|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Nice sculpture. Looks stylistically like a Thomas Hart Benton painting about the blitz in bronze.

Posted by imoyaro">imoyaro 2005-09-19 00:06|| 2005-09-19 00:06|| Front Page Top

#2 What? It's not in the shape of a swastika? What kind of memorial is it?

Posted by Robert Crawford">Robert Crawford 2005-09-19 07:19|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-09-19 07:19|| Front Page Top

#3 IMO the best memorial to the Few is the Battle of Britain Flight. The snarl of a Rolls Royce Merlin beats the mute testimony of bronze and granite

Posted by Cheaderhead 2005-09-19 09:31|| 2005-09-19 09:31|| Front Page Top

#4 "The Pre-Eagles

By David A. Johnson

THIS summer will mark fifty years since the Royal Air Force held off the Luftwaffe in what Britain remembers as its "finest hour." When they honor the airmen who won the Battle of Britain, Englishmen might well take note of a few Americans who fought even when the US would not.

In the summer of 1940, World War II had been under way for nearly a year. Hitler's Germany was triumphant. With Pearl Harbor more than one year away, the US was still neutral. It was a time, Winston Churchill later observed, when "the British people held the fort alone till those who hitherto had been half blind were half ready."

The RAF was alone, but some Americans did not remain neutral. The worst days of the Battle of Britain--from July 10 to September 15--saw a handful of US pilots fighting side by side with England's. They had found unusual ways to join RAF's Fighter Command, where all fought and some died.

At least twelve US pilots were active, perhaps many more. They destroyed at least fifteen German planes. Some names are known: Fiske of 601 Squadron; Donahue of 64 Squadron; Haviland of 151 Squadron; Leckrone of 616 Squadron; Mamedoff, Keough, and Tobin of 609 Squadron. In other cases, all that remains in war records are nicknames: "Tex" or "Uncle Sam."

They were an American vanguard. In RAF service, these Yanks predated even the famous, all-American Eagle Squadrons, the first of which was not formed until September 19. Even though they saw action in the desperate battles of July, August, and early September, they are now mostly forgotten because their presence was never acknowledged.

This was no accident; one of the US Neutrality Acts proscribed any US participation in the forces of a belligerent nation. The United States, being neutral, was determined to keep US citizens out of the war. Violators faced stiff criminal penalties of up to $20,000 in fines, ten years in prison, and loss of citizenship. For those joining the RAF, anonymity seemed the best protection."
http://www.afa.org/magazine/1990/0190eagles.asp

Hmm...undoubtedly part of Roosvelt's illegal war. /sarcasm off.

Posted by Chiger Shineng4673 2005-09-19 09:55|| 2005-09-19 09:55|| Front Page Top

#5 Article: When they honor the airmen who won the Battle of Britain, Englishmen might well take note of a few Americans who fought even when the US would not.

More of that old time religion. The reason the British fought was not because they were on some kind of crusade - they fought because they were attacked. The Dominions of Canada, Australia and New Zealand fought to fulfill their obligation to the British empire, of which they were part. Instead of invading Germany while the Huns were off attacking Poland, the Brits stood by with the French as the Poles were overrun.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2005-09-19 19:12|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2005-09-19 19:12|| Front Page Top

#6 nice shot RC - my thoughts exactly

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2005-09-19 20:40|| 2005-09-19 20:40|| Front Page Top

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