A Few Fact's of WW2... part 1

[dcunning30]

Interesting to ponder.

What would have happened in England if the Duke of Kent had survived?

What would have happened in the US if Joe Kennedy Jr. had survived.

[C]

Interesting to ponder.

What would have happened in England if the Duke of Kent had survived?

Very little different I suppose, just a few people inheriting their titles a little later...

[bbstackerf]

Pretty intresting stuff. Curious about something. Were there ever any recorded/reported instances of casualties from all that lead falling that didn't hit their mark? I mean aside from the obvious debris from aircraft that were shot down?

Keni

[Woodlouse2002]

Pretty intresting stuff. Curious about something. Were there ever any recorded/reported instances of casualties from all that lead falling that didn't hit their mark? I mean aside from the obvious debris from aircraft that were shot down?

Keni

Yes. Though I cannot name any off the top of my head.

[bbstackerf]

Thanks. I found a story about jews being hit by stray fire from a dog fight while they were in one of those trains taking them to a death camp.

Probably happened quite a bit.


keni

[Felix/FFDS]

Face it - what goes up, must come down....

heck, it happens even today... this year in Orlando, a young mother had her eye shot out by a celebrant's bullet  ....  she was he backyard, watching the fireworks when some stray bullet shot into the air by a  reveler struck her.  Will they ever find who?  Probably not...

[Ivan]

[quote]Face it - what goes up, must come down....

heck, it happens even today... this year in Orlando, a young mother had her eye shot out by a celebrant's bullet

[Souichiro]

Apperantly Prince Bernhard who was at the time in London as part of the Dutch Government and Royals in Exile, flew bombing missions in secret during the war.

Am not sure about the details

[dcunning30]

Pretty intresting stuff. Curious about something. Were there ever any recorded/reported instances of casualties from all that lead falling that didn't hit their mark? I mean aside from the obvious debris from aircraft that were shot down?

Keni

I'm currently reading a book about the 1st Battle of the Philippines Sea, better known as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, and it discusses that when Ozawa sent his attakers to Task Force 58, the AA folks threw up so much lead that some ships were hit by "friendly fire", even with a few deaths and several injuries.  And jittery AA gunners often shot at friendly fighters.  The aviators knew about this and did as much as they can to avoid AA range.

[Hagar]

Interesting to ponder.

What would have happened in England if the Duke of Kent had survived?

It might be more interesting to consider what might have happened had King Edward VIII not abdicated in 1936.

[C]

It might be more interesting to consider what might have happened had King Edward VIII not abdicated in 1936.

To be fair, I think his abdication was maybe the best thing in the long term. I think from a Royal point of view it could have been best received that he put his own personal interests before that of the nation. Margaret didn't all those years later with Gp Capt Peter Townsend, and she was not likely to be inheriting the throne.

[Hagar]

To be fair, I think his abdication was maybe the best thing in the long term. I think from a Royal point of view it could have been best received that he put his own personal interests before that of the nation.

I think you're right there. I've just been reading some articles suggesting there might have been more to it than is generally realised. The romance with Mrs Simpson could have been a very convenient way to get rid of him. Very interesting theory. http://www.etoile.co.uk/Columns/PandorasBox/050104.html

Margaret didn't all those years later with Gp Capt Peter Townsend, and she was not likely to be inheriting the throne.

I think that would have been tolerated if it hadn't been for what happened with her uncle. Very tragic as they really seemed suited to each other & it would hardly have made a difference.

[bbstackerf]

dc,

Back in '67 my father was transfered to Subic in the P. I. so we went over to live at the family compound (He's Filipino) just south of Manila. My dad told me stories about how the Japanese soldiers would make them prepare tea for them. He said they would spit, urinate in it and sometimes used  their worn socks as tea filters.

At the time('67) there was an old nipa hut (palm thatched roof) still in use by one of his brothers and his family. The ceiling was thin plywood and you could see bullet holes all over it.

We lived there a second time after he retired in '85. My youngest brother and his pals used to hunt for scrap metal to sell for gambling money (lil sh!t was only like 9 yrs old ). Any way one day they were rumaging around in the inner compound and came across a big hunk of metal. It was too heavy for them to cart off so one of them came up with the brilliant idea of building a fire to try and soften to so they could cut it. :-/

After a while with no success they gave up and left. Turns out it was an old bomb left over from when the Japanese used our compound for an ammo dump. Needless to say....

That morning I was awakend by a huge explosion. The metropol came and did a sweep to search for any remaining "big hunks of metal" and took them away.

To this day it's one of our favorite things to pick on him about.

Keni

[C]

I think that would have been tolerated if it hadn't been for what happened with her uncle. Very tragic as they really seemed suited to each other & it would hardly have made a difference.

It may have made a lot of difference to her life too. Indeed, without all that behind her all those years ago, she may still have been here now. Shame, but an excellent example of putting one's duty before one's self.

[Hagar]

To this day it's one of our favorite things to pick on him about.

Keni

Interesting story. Sounds like they were very lucky.
Kids, what would you do with 'em?

It may have made a lot of difference to her life too. Indeed, without all that behind her all those years ago, she may still have been here now. Shame, but an excellent example of putting one's duty before one's self.

I'm sure of that. He might have done but I don't think she ever got over it. If I remember correctly the public was on her side. The princess & the handsome war hero. It doesn't come more romantic than that. In the end I don't think she had much choice in the matter.

PS. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/31/newsid_3202000/3202307.stm