Posted on 05/03/2025 4:15:57 PM PDT by Rummyfan
John "Paddy" Hemingway, the last surviving pilot who flew in the Battle of Britain, died in March of this year. He was 105. Hemingway was forced to bail out of his aircraft four times – three times in England and a fourth over enemy territory in Italy, where locals helped him get back to Allied lines. He said that his "biggest regret was the loss of friends, in particular that of Richard 'Dickie' Lee in August 1940.“
The last living witnesses to World War Two are leaving us and taking a shared memory of its history with them. If you believe this millennial representative, young people should know as little about the conflict as possible as it's harmful to their mental health. And like all history beyond the visible horizon of the present day, what most people will know about that war by the time its centenary rolls around will come almost entirely from movies and television.
(There are books, of course, but I'm not imagining the world will be less post-literate in fifteen years.)
The best recent depictions of the war – my subjective list includes Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Saving Private Ryan, Dunkirk, Das Boot, Greyhound and Letters from Iwo Jima – were mostly made with veterans advising on historical accuracy and mostly being heard. This wasn't always the case: for at least two decades following the war, when veterans were still thick on the ground, historical accuracy was frequently sacrificed in the interest of adventure, drama, comedy or romance.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
ping
The Longest Day
LOL!
“The climax of A Walk in the Sun was ridiculous.”
The part I hated was the sobbing Italians surrendering. It must have been a wartime sterotype because they used it in “Sahara”. It was stupid as the Italians were brave fighters too. Don’t underesimate the enemy.
In Westminster Abbey, the place in England where kings and heroes are laid to rest, they have stain glass windows depicting the Battle of Britain.
I saw ‘The Thin Red Line’ and was bored stiff. How do you make a war movie boring? They succeeded with me.
“The Story of GI Joe” always makes me cry. It was very well done.
I also like”Battle of Britain” and “Battlefield” (Though I thought Van Johnson was totally mis cast).
My father was AAF stationed in Britain and also was at the Bulge...so he told me many stories. Those films measure up pretty well to his recollections
That’s Ian McShane, who played the lead villain in HBO’s magnificent series, “Deadwood.”
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