How Dumb Are The Americans ?

[Harleyman]

My best buddy showed me a picture he took of a black bear sitting in his yard eating from his pear tree, he took another one later of a mountain lion being harassed by his dog. In Connecticut!!!!. We drive in constant fear at night of hitting a deer, or worse still a moose. Luckily we don't have a lot of moose, but Maine, watch out. You might survive a deer strike, but it is by no means certain. As for a moose RIP. They don't care if you're not a "real American".

 

 

 

There are bears, mountain lions and coyotes running around in the mounatins near my home. A bear appearing in the neighbourhoods of the towns below those mountains isnt a rare occurrence. A big fat old fellow took a liking to someons back yard pool and came for a dip on two occasions before the Humane sociatey was called. He was sedated and returned to the mountains but a week later was back again in the pool. He became something of a celebrity and eventually they built a special compound for him at the Los Angeles zoo complete with a place to swim and he happily lived out the rest of his life there.

 

The odd coyote comes down at night also. Ate a neighbor's cat a few months back and only the head was left

 

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Takes a well aimed shot at spitoon, settles back in rocking chair, lights corn cob pipe and reaches for jug o'whusky

[Harleyman]

LMAO Harley.....It's not what they tell you, it's what they dont that counts. :hihi:

 

 

 

There was a demand for people in the building trades in Canada back then.

It was the land of opportunity for many Brits after WW2 and even into the 1960s when Britain was still feeling the lingering effects of austerit from that war

[USUK]

Sshhhh !! Dont talk about the war

[Harleyman]

You may well be right.

 

I’d also considered the possibility in the case of the six Highlanders that they may have met a pocket of deep rooted remaining Nazi resistance, possibly killed by an explosion, or more likely a vehicle going of a mountain pass down a ravine, a likely occurrence in icy conditions for victims late in the year.

 

But I will add some background.

 

I had never heard of Klagenfurt until three weeks before I went there.

 

I was never aware of the existence of a Commonwealth Cemetaries in the area, and would not have found that one, but for the fact I had to find the premises of Europacar in the town, to get them to look at an issue with a hire car.

 

It was only on leaving, that I noticed a sign pointing to the cemetery down a lane adjacent to their premises.

 

I certainly did not expect to find almost 600 British and Commonwealth graves in it, and bearing in mind the town is in a mountainous region of Austria, and the nearest coast would be Trieste at least 80 miles away, I certainly did not expect to find a grave of a seaman from WW1, and that of Michael Cister, the Galley Boy from the Eleonora Maersk, a tanker sunk off Crete in 1941.

 

He was 16 when his ship was sunk, and was one of eight survivors of a crew of twenty six. ( Fellow prisoners’ capture and journey to Austria are documented in Douglas Arthur’s book “Forty Men, Eight Horses” (unfortunately now out of print), the title deriving from the boards attached to the railway wagons on which they were transported to Austria through Yugoslavia , and describes their journey, suffering and the transit camps.)

 

His death at the age of 19 is attributed to the American air raid on the Wolfsburg POW camp website previously mentioned, although the date of his death is recorded as a date shortly after the raid.

 

I have visited numerous cemeteries, locations and memorials in my travels through Europe, and have only found Tyne Cot (the victims of Passchendaele) and Dachau more haunting than Klagenfurt.

 

After the initial pity for that young Galley Boy, and the suffering he must have gone through in his short life and for what; the next question raised was how he could have posed such a threat to the Germans, that he needed to be incarcerated as a POW.

 

By the time I left, that visit had raised many questions, a few of which have subsequently answered, but some others which I have shared with you here. The deaths may all indeed have been as a result of accidents, but there were a lot of them.

 

I will add some of the names as a tribute at a later date.

 

 

Interesting story. There was a lot of things that happened during the war that were not explained or for various reasons kept hidden for many years afterwards.

 

The Slapton Sands disaster in May 1944 and the Katyin Woods massacre in Poland were two that come to mind

 

Did you hear the story of major Martin, the Man Who Never Was?

 

If you've never done the Normandy Beaches tour I highly recommend it.

My wife and I did the tour in 1997. Her father was a D-day veteran, landed on Utah Beach on D-Day and she wanted him to go with us but he had no wish to see it again unlike many veterans who were there and still return from time to time.

 

As I've said before I've never flown in a WW2 plane let alone piloted one but given the fact that there was little or no technology for spotting ground targets long before they visually appeared and flying at speeds of around 250 MPH mistakes were bound to be made from time to time.

 

Air drops often went wrong. Supplies of urgently needed food, medical supplies and ammunition for the besieged British paratroopers at Arnhem all ended up being dropped onto the German positions and the curses yelled at the the"Stupid RAF Brycreem Boys" by the British troops must have been loud and vocal

[Harleyman]

Well you certainly got that right :-)

 

 

 

According to my mother after the All Clear had sounded and she and I came back from the Anderson shelter into the kitchen where we slept on a mattress on the floor in case of another air raid there were more cockroaches scuttling for cover when she switched on the light than solders in the Chinese army

 

But given her situation and the desperate times cucarachas were one of the least of problems

[natjack]

According to my mother after the All Clear had sounded and she and I came back from the Anderson shelter into the kitchen where we slept on a mattress on the floor in case of another air raid there were more cockroaches scuttling for cover when she switched on the light than solders in the Chinese army

 

But given her situation and the desperate times cucarachas were one of the least of problems

Was that about the same time that people round Dolly Parton's area were living in the woods with a dozen kids in log cabins and pages of newspapers pasted on the walls instead of wallpaper? Bad times all over the world, I reckon. But easier for some people to make their way out of the situation than others.

 

I'm a lot younger than you and often feel I'd like to go round the world on more than a holiday, but I don't like the idea that people went off to make a better life for themselves abroad when times were harsh after their country had fought a war trying to protect the rest of Europe instead of sticking with it and helping it get back on its feet. It just doesn't sit well for me.

There was a demand for people in the building trades in Canada back then. It was the land of opportunity for many Brits after WW2 and even into the 1960s when Britain was still feeling the lingering effects of austerit from that war

[USUK]

Was that about the same time that people round Dolly Parton's area were living in the woods with a dozen kids in log cabins and pages of newspapers pasted on the walls instead of wallpaper? Bad times all over the world, I reckon. But easier for some people to make their way out of the situation than others.

 

I'm a lot younger than you and often feel I'd like to go round the world on more than a holiday, but I don't like the idea that people went off to make a better life for themselves abroad when times were harsh after their country had fought a war trying to protect the rest of Europe instead of sticking with it and helping it get back on its feet. It just doesn't sit well for me.

 

Now look what you've done Harley

[rubydazzler]

Didn't mean to make you look bad Ruby. Just making a point that the difference between one wage and two back then was significant especially throwing in the cost of bringing up a family. And yes, I was working two jobs (Tending bar at the Smithywood WMC)

You weren't making me look bad. For having a job and not having kids till I could afford them and a decent home to put them in? I was going to post an opinion about your situation that I realised would make certain people think I was being nasty, so I thought better of it.

 

I don't blame you for emigrating because you couldn't hack it over here, but you probably brought a lot of it on yourself by having children before you were in a situation to afford it? As you know from reading these boards, the received wisdom is that people shouldn't have kids if they dont have a decent home for or can't afford them. Not an opinion I always concur with, but hey-ho, many people do.

 

I'm very happy for you that your new life went well, but there's no need to validate it by slagging off your mother country like certain other people constantly do. People in UK enjoy going to the USA on holiday and many of us feel that we have a 'special relationship' with the USA, sadly maybe the Americans don't feel they have one with us these days? Even though we've supported your country through thick and thin. In witness, our soldiers bodies are being repatriated regularly, two more brought home today But whenever we need a favour in return, suddenly the door closes, it seems.

 

I think it's very disappointing, quite honestly.

[USUK]

Ruby. Ruby.

 

Yep shame on us for the "pill" not working for some unknown reason. AND you will not find one reference of me slagging of the Mother Country, and that goes for the other Ex Pats on here. I have not seen one single post from any of them saying good riddance to their homeland. Perhaps just to pompass asses !!!

 

Oh and regarding your comments on you Soldiers, and dont get on yer high horse on this one 'cause I only have the highest respect for the fighting forces of the free countries, BUT, the UK is not involved in the current wars to help the US as you seem to think. They are in it to protect their (your) need for the Oil.

 

And if you need any help with the IRA let us know.

[Classic Rock]

Please keep it friendly folks.