Posted on 09/26/2010 6:17:37 PM PDT by naturalman1975
The little-known Battle of Graveney Marsh in the Second World War has finally been commemorated as the last military conflict to be fought on British soil.
The skirmish in the Kent countryside was between the men of the London Irish Rifles and the four-man crew of a downed German bomber.
The British servicemen, billeted in a pub at Seasalter, near Whitstable, sprung into action when the Junkers 88 landed on the nearby marshland.
The Germans opened fire with a machine gun and after a 20 minute fire-fight they finally surrendered.
The battle was hushed up at the time as the British didn't want word getting out that the new model Junkers plane had been captured intact for engineers to examine.
Most history book have Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at Culloden in 1746 as the last pitched battle fought on British soil but in fact it was at Graveney Marsh 194 years later.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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I wonder why the crew didn’t first attempt to destroy sensitive equipment?
Our Vietnam pilots that barely survived contact with the North Vietnamese villagers after being downed, must be a little envious of that treatment.
See post 4.
Ummmm. If it has a master zeroize button that I can press and declassify the AC, I'll do that with my dying breath. If I gotta use a sledge hammer, flashlight, and a TO, on the ground, in indian country, during a fire-fight.... maybe not so much.
/johnny
That the captain understood overheard, colloquial, spoken German is quite remarkable.
Although the article says there was no extraordinary heroism involved, I think there was.
The guy who went and grabbed the explosive charge before it went off displayed real courage.
A skirmish with small arms is not a "pitched battle." Does anyone know what words are supposed to mean?
I thought so too, I bet he told everyone to get away before he started removing it.
I am not really sure this qualifies as a land battle, but it is interesting. I am surprised that by implication the Germans never landed a raiding party in the UK during either World War.
In this Brave New PC World words mean just what the speaker/writer wishes them to mean or just what the reader/hearer wishes them to mean, no more no less.
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Post #4 sort of explained it. I know that in the case of ME-109 pilots, they had orders that depending on circumstances of the downing, they were to either save or destroy the clock. Something about the clock was evidently quite expensive to manufacture.
Roight mate, it means the next footie match between Arsenal and the 'otspurs! 'otspurs mate, apples and oranges!!11!1!
Why? Spend 2 weeks there or wherever, and (if a single man in barracks, not subject to growing into a plaster saint) you will learn a great deal of colloquial German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, or whatever.
Germans spend time in England. Englanders spend time in Germania. Have for centuries.
In more amazing news, Swedes spend holiday on the beaches in Spain.
/johnny
I like the entire idea that they were able to keep it quiet this long.
We’ve had a real change in paradigm since that point in time, with various operations and incidents being broadcast even when they are points of propaganda or tactical intel for the enemy.
I can’t see the benefit of publicizing alleged atrocities committed by one’s own troops in time of war. This kind of thing ought to be suppressed , at least until the end of hostilities. If any war crimes did occur and if any of the troops would need to be punished, that can be done discretely.
pitched battle (pcht)
n.
1. An intense battle fought in close contact by troops arranged in a predetermined formation.
2. A fiercely waged battle or struggle between opposing forces.
I’d say let in slide under the second meaning of the phrase.
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Although the article says there was no extraordinary heroism involved, I think there was.
The guy who went and grabbed the explosive charge before it went off displayed real courage.
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Yes. The dismissal of that action is odd in the age of bicycle helmets and radon warnings.
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