Flyby PC

I missed that UKW. It is pretty shocking. I'm trying to see the funny side, but it is a shocking disgrace when you think about it. What's really amazing is the quality. It's not even convincing CGI. I've seen games look much more realistic than that. Gotta love YouTube. They're taking the *!"* already. It'll take years for the ITV to live it down. [YouTube] [\YouTube]

Don't show it to ITV. They might think it's real and it'll be on the 10 O'clock News. The Red Baron Lives! http://www.bbc.co.uk...reland-15082177 :rofl: When P4 comes out, perhaps we'd better inform ITV, ..... just in case. I can't believe this was an error. It smells more like a "I bet nobody notices" prank which somebody noticed. No wonder reporters don't reveal their sources. [Youtube] [\Youtube]

Just an update: This picture isn't the DC-1. It is a DC-2. The DC-1 has six windows, the DC-2 has 7. Count them, you count six. However, if you look closely behind the man sitting on the wing, you can just about see the ghost of a square shape which can only be the 7th window. To quote from an expert- "The letter behind the "AG" doesn't seem to be an "N" - the slope of the letter looks more like an "A", and indeed, EC-AGA was a Douglas DC-2, which paid a visit to Malta on 20 November 1938, while taking Republican officials to Ankara in Turkey, for the funeral of Kemal Atatürk". Job done. Mystery solved.

Just watched the program on TV called 20th Century Battlefields with Dan Snow about the Battle of Amiens in August 1918. I was surprised when he mentioned the British General Rawlinson launching the newly formed RAF to support the allied offensive with some 600 planes! Further to that but not mentioned in the program, I've also read the French put close to 1000 aircraft into the air. He didn't breakdown the figure, as in how many aircraft in the air at any one time and spread over what kind of area, but all the same, that is a lot of aircraft supporting the offensive, and must have been quite a spectacle to witness. A very positive spectacle for the Entente forces, but utterly miserable for the Germans. I just had no idea such volumes of aircraft were used. I read about the 1000 bomber raids of WW2 thinking this was a record.

Kaiser Wilhem II described the BEF in 1914 as Sir John Frenches' contemptible little army. The Tommies were delighted to rise to the challenge and revelled in the name the Old Contemptibles, even forming reunions and veterans associations called the Old Contemptibles. Later in WW2, the British forces fighting hard in Italy were referred to D-Day Dodgers by Lady Astor, the first women MP at Westminster. The words caused a lot of offence, but then the same spirit rose among those brothers in arms who counsidered it a priviledge to fight shoulder to shoulder with other "D-Day Dodgers". Astor also warned people to aware of men with white crows feet. This being a referrence to the sun tans around the eyes and creases which don't catch the sun as people squint in the sunlights. The barbed comments were a reference to British troops in the far East, and there is speculation Lady Aster was left a little prejudiced after one such soldier left her daughter either pregnant or with a 'dose' of something unpleasant. Despite being the first women MP, she was prominant in the appeasement policy before WW2, bigotted aganst catholics and jews, and after her remarks about the troops, Astor was quietly dropped by the Tories after 1945 as a loose cannon and something of a liability. Plus, after the Battle of France, and the humiliation of Singapore, and the early reverses in the desert against Rommel, confidence wasn't high in the old British Tommy, but with the exception of Singapore perhaps, the British troops then and now are some of the finest you will find anywhere. Edit - Then there is the reluctance of the Americans in North Africa, Italy, and D-Day to acknowledge the British contribution to the war, despite the Brits holding the line against much more potent and determined enemy forces and despite British Tommies having saving the US forces from annhiliation at Kesserine. There was also the bitter recriminations against Montgomery and his forces for their contribution at the Battle of the Bulge. The US generals were livid that Montgomery was trying to steal the thunder of a gallant and hard won US victory, but to quote Hasso Von Manteuffel, commander of the 5th Pazer Army, "The operations of the American 1st Army had developed into a series of individual holding actions. Montgomery's contribution to restoring the situation was that he turned a series of isolated actions into a coherent battle fought according to a clear and definite plan. It was his refusal to engage in premature and piecemeal counter-attacks which enabled the Americans to gather their reserves and frustrate the German attempts to extend their breakthrough". The thing with the Americans I can perhaps forgive because Monty was not the best self publicist, but Monty also had the confidence and adoration of the British army behind him too.

I'm sure the colourful text about Robert the Bruce is the Lanercost chronicle, but I can't fnd the actual text.... Edit: No, it's not the Lanercost chronicle. Where did I read it? How annoying... Nope, just can't find it. Bruce was on a small pony which flitted out the way as the armoured knight charged, and Bruce hit de Bohun so hard he was split from the crown of his head to the breast bone, so hard indeed that Bruce had smashed his battle axe. The clash was seen by both armies, greatly fortifying the Scots, and unsettling the English in equal measure. When Bruce trotted back to his army, he was criticised for taking such risks, but Bruce merely expressed frustration that he had broken his battle axe. It isn't just a tale, it was was well witnessed, and actually happened. It always tickles me when I watch the All Blacks doing their Haka as their prelude to battle.... thay have no idea.

Definitely not. On the eve of Bannockburn, Sir Henry de Bohun, nephew of the Earl of Hereford, mounted in full armour, spotted Robert the Bruce isolated from his troops and charged him. Bruce was also mounted, but without armour, carrying only a battle axe. As Bohun charged, Bruce side stepped the charge, stood up in the stirrups, and cleaved Bohun's head in two. I need to find it, but there's a brilliant version of the story about it, saying the Bruce's horse 'skitted to the side like a deer' or something like it. I'll need to track that down. It's boy's own stuff!! A quick google isn't finding it. It is true however that Bruce did take to the field at Falkirk on the English side when Wallace was defeated, but Bruce definitely was not a man you would want to trifle with.

There's another twist too. Robert the Bruce murdered John Comyn because both had claims on the Scottish throne, but Comyn had a better claim to the Scottish throne than Bruce did. John Comyn had a son however, also called John, whom, on hearing the news of his fathers murder, Edward I at once spirited away to England to keep safe from harm. (I believe there might even have been some connection by blood, but remote). The young John Comyn remained in England for the next 8 years until 1314, when he returned to Scotland and took to field of Bannockburn with the English, and against Bruce now the King of Scotland. The very Bruce who had murdered his father and seized 'his' throne. Sadly, that's where his fairy tale ended. John Comyn the younger, did not survive the day but was slain during the famous Battle of Bannockburn.

I've always had the impression that the German soldiers felt betrayed and sold out by the Armistace. The pressure and necessity to stop the fighting came from events at the rear and back in Germany. It was this sense of betrayal, which added to humiliation of the Versailles Treaty, provoked much of the instability in Germany after the war. I can take my hat off to the recognised quality of the German soldier, but I also have a soft spot for the much maligned British Tommy. A good number of those were the real deal too.

I think that's York Captaine Vengeur, and you have to use a bow and arrow. I'm a Scot, I've seen York. I don't have any problem with this law. (I jest, York is beautful place). And on the subject of the Auld Alliance, a lot of people do think this began with Bonnie Prince Charlie, but it actually began waaaay back to the 13th Century, probably as far back as whenever Scotland and France recognised a common enemy in England. It started out as a formal treaty signed between a puppet Scottish king and Philip IV of France. Against who ? I hear you cry. It's that man again, you guessed it, Edward I of England. The puppet Scottish king, John Bailliol, was actually put on the throne by Edward I, and known as Toom Tabard - 'Empty Shirt'. It was also his nephew, John Comyn, who Robert the Bruce murdered in his quest to become king, and co-incidentally, Comyn while a patriot, was one of the Scottish nobles charged by Edward I to hunt down and hand over William Wallace. Wallace was subsequently betrayed. There is no direct link back to Comyn, but if he could of, he would of. I like history. Edit: Incidentally, I'm not too hot on the Normans, but as I understand it, the Normans originally were Vikings. The 'Nor' Men were invaders from the North, who invaded France, and settled there, - in Normandy. The Normans are Vikings with a subtle hint of garlic.

This was Wales. I think I can see where you went wrong. Now if you HAD promised to raise an army to march on London....

I like the bacon one too, but the cat one is pretty funny too. The chap Klaatu42 has a great sense of humour.... "] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ltcWcwnPfY

Does a snuggie come with a quick release mechanism just in case the doorbell rings?

Thing is, when push comes to shove, it doesn't really matter. It's not as if I can turn up at Stenhousemuir and say "Hi, I'm home!", and expect to take possession of the place..... Hmmm, if only. Even if I did have ancestors dating back to the 2nd Century? Guess what, so did you. We all did. And it doesn't matter if the English say Berwick is in England, because everybody knows it really belongs to Scotland. It might be interesting to get a DNA report to really see what you're made of, but I'd need to hide the results or get hold of a marker pen to scribble out all the 'Made in England' bits. :lol: Just kidding UKW.

Just to continue the same theme, I grew up feeling less than Scottish because I also didn't have a Mc or Mac infront of my surname. My surname is Stenhouse, and doesn't sound very Scottish, but apparently it very much is, and it's also very, very old. Stenhouse, actually Stenhousemuir, (meaning the Moor of the stone house) is one of the earliest Scottish place names ever written down in Scotland back in the 12th C, (1180 to be precise), and the text refers to a place already being known as Stenhousemuir, so the name itself was even earlier. There are some who claim the name even has Pictish origins, but this is very doubtful. Both the Stone, stane, or sten, and the 'house or hus'' parts of the word have anglo-saxon origins, and geographically, Stenhousemuir was on the border of pictish territory. It's likely the name actually stems from one of the earliest stone build fortifications or dwellings ever built in Scotland, thus claiming the distinction of this moorland from any other moorland as the one with THE stone house rather than simply A stone house. That is to say, to be identified as the moor with the stone house implies this was the only moor with a stone house. Rather than pictish origin, it was likely contemporary with the picts, but a fortification to protect a settlement from raids by the picts. So who would be building the earliest stone buildings in Scotland before or around 10th 11th Century? I really don't know. Romans? Possibly, but you'd need to go back another 800 years or so to 300AD or thereabouts. Sound nuts? Well, there was a stone building built by the Romans around the 2nd Century called Arthur's O'on on the estate which became known as the Estate of Stenhouse. Undoubtedly an ancient landmark of distinction and national importance, it was demolished in the 18th Century. So THE moor with the 'stane hus' could actually mean my name, Stenhouse, goes all the way back to 2nd Century Scotland. So, who need's a Mc or Mac before their name eh? Bloody incomers. Coming over here, taking our jobs....

It's the names of places that get me, like the Devil's Beef Tub, a deep and well hidden bit of glen for hiding stolen herds of animals, near Moffat. To quote Sir Walter Scott, "It looks as if four hills were laying their heads together, to shut out daylight from the dark hollow space between them. A damned deep, black, blackguard-looking abyss of a hole it is". Err, well, that's one way of putting it, .......or more simply, you could hide your stolen cattle there. At least until people started marking such things on maps. The reivers: - "They were cruel,coarse savages, slaying each other like the beasts of the forest; and yet they were also poets who could express in the grand style the inexorable fate of the individual man and woman, the infinite pity for all cruel things which they none the less inflicted upon one another. It was not one ballad- maker alone but the whole cut throat population who felt this magnanimous sorrow, and the consoling charms of the highest poetry." George M Trevelyan (Historian). To be honest, I'm a Borderer born and bred, but I've never been that comfortable with the tales of the Reivers. How can you be proud of murderous criminal forefathers? How can you be an outlaw when there is no law?. You were as likely to lose your livestock and produce to a Scottish Army heading south as an English Army heading North, and suffer the corresponding scorched earth policy when the same army, or what was left of it, retreated. I didn't identify with the Reivers as a child because it got in the way of being Scottish. The Irony is, the culture of the Highlanders is everywhere in modern Scottish Iconography, but it was the Reiver's clans in the Borders who by and large repelled the Border raids and kept the English out while the culture of the young Scotland was being forged. This was Ye Olde Worlde Nomansland. I have often wondered what event or events in history set the precise line of the border between Scotland and England, (and Berwick is OURS by the way). Was it just a line on a map or some ancient boundary from pre-history? I don't actually know.

You just have to look at the traditional Highland dress with it's sgian dubh, or 'black dagger'. It was called the black dagger, because it was secret and kept hidden, often under the arm, and used for self defense in an emergency. If you didn't trust your company, you kept it hidden. In modern highland dress, the sgian is removed from concealment and stuck into your sock as a mark of respect and trust that you were in the company of people you trusted. It's important to remember however, the Scots, especially the Highlanders were useful soldiers in the days of collonial empire building not merely for their fighting abilities, but many were also adept sailors who could navigate their way around land and waterways without getting lost, and also feed themselves from the land. I'm not so sure about absolute savagery. The Borders between Scotland and England suffered greatly during the Anglo Scottish wars, where the Borders were effectively a lawless place, and your defence relied more on local militia called the Reivers rather than any national army. You got Scottish Reviers and English ones, who'd steal each other's cattle, and raid each others settlements, and kidnap each other's lords and nobles for ransome. The Scots reivers were not above kidnapping a Scottish Lord, and the English likewise, and would even on some occassions exchange hostages with each other. The Borders developed it's own 'laws' and you've perhaps heard of Jeddart Justice? You'll understand the term reiver, as in when somebody is bereaved. I've lifted this from Wiki about the Armstrongs, one of the more famous Scottish Border Reiver families... 16th century The Armstrongs' relationship with subsequent Scottish kings was turbulent, to say the least. The most notorious event in this uneasy relationship occurred in 1530. John Armstrong, known in history as 'Gilnockie Johnie', was persuaded by a Royal writ of safe passage to attend a meeting at Caerlanrig with King James V who, unknown to Gilnockie, had the malicious intent to silence the rebellious Borderers. The ruse succeeded. Gilnockie and fifty of his followers were captured in direct violation of the safe conduct. A Royal order to hang them was issued, again in violation of James' own writ of safety, and despite several pleas for the King to be lenient in exchange for obedience, it was carried out. Defiant to the last, Gilnockie said these words directly to King James V: "I am but a fool to seek grace at a graceless face, but had I known you would have taken me this day, I would have lived in the Borders despite King Harry and you both." His defiance is commemorated and echoed in the soulful popular Border ballad, "Johnie Armstrong". The whole of Scotland would regret James V's betrayal of the Armstrongs, because his deceipt and betrayal of a truce greatly angered the whole Borders region, and no Armstrongs or like minded borderers would fight or assist James V army at the Battle of Solway Moss in 1542. A massive Scottish army was humiliated by a small force of English troops. With local knowledge which the Armstrongs had, the defeat, better described as a rout would never happened. It just goes to show how delicate and complicated a balancing act the history of Scotland can be.

Not so sure about Gibson's accent, (better than Christopher Lamert in Highlander right enough) but Mike Myres in Shrek? -Standing ovation for that! 10 out of 10.

You're absolutely right about Wallace, it's recorded he made a belt for his sword from the flayed flesh of Hugh de Cressingham, treasurer and tax collector for the English. I don't want to sound partisan about it, but I think it's curious to note however in the same chronciles which recorded it, Wallace wasn't condemned as a monster or savage for doing it, but the event is presented as a yardstick for the widespread hatred for de Cressingham. It isn't recorded as being such, but I can't help thinking that flaying the hide of a tax collector could have symbolic significance in a country where the population were being 'skinned alive' by taxes; but for me to say this when the contempory history doesn't is a step too far and IS me being partisan. I find with History, the best thing you can do is to know about, and don't be too hasty to judge it. Things are seldom that easy. You may have noticed, I'm not a fan of Edward I, but without his deeds, perhaps Scotland might never have had it's day at Bannockburn either. Take Scotland, (or England for that matter), as an example, who's to say this bleak and brutal history isn't the very thing which hardened the will of the people to forge these countries into the Nations and ultimately the Empire they subsequently did? I sometimes like Mel Gibson, Mad Max springs to mind, but not in Braveheart. When he's dating his wife in the beginning, she's a young lass of 16 or so and he looks about 50. I'm not surprised they have to hide their romance from her father even in days before shotguns. Gibson is old enough to be her father. I find it sad we now live in a world which elevates actors as our icons, instead of the trully great figures and heros which history singled out as remarkable. Edit: On the other hand, how many people, even in Scotland, wouldn't know who William Wallace was but for the Braveheart film? There was also a joke about Mel Gibson which I cannot remember properly, but it concerned an Australian playing a scot. Before Braveheart, Gibson was a heart throb, sex-symbol action man and all round good guy. After playing a Scot for a few weeks however, he turned into a foul mouthed, abusive, racist, sexist, anti-semitic alcoholic who hated the English.

The true story of William Wallace is the story of Scotland. The Braveheart film would have lost absolutely nothing of it's impact by portaying what really happened, but a fine opportunity was squandered. It overlooked too many big, big, events, and introduced any number of improbable, if not impossible features. The blue woad being only one. Edward 1 hated Scotland and became known as the hammer of the Scots, all because he covetted the kingdom for himself. He single handedly abused the trust placed in him to help an established independent Scotland find a new king after a Alexander III died without an heir, (well he did, but she died very young, and the bloodline ended). His plotting and manipulation was to be a blight on Scotland and destabilise the peace between Scotland and England for centuries to come. For an English regent bent on destroying Scotland having it absorbed as a region of England, Edward I's psychotic contempt for Scotland, (and Wallace), did more to form, unite and define the National identity of Scotland than anybody else save William Wallace himself. I'm not sure, but I actually wonder about Braveheart, and believe it or not, whether the truth was toned down unless it agitated the case for Scottish Independence. The status of Scotland is not a settled issue, and no pun intended, it takes a brave heart for someone to make a feature film in the minefield of Scotland's history. While much watered down, there is a modern parrallel with Margaret Thatcher, a narrow minded ardent Unionist, who's contempt for Scotland did more for the cause of Scottish Independence than decades of Nationalist politicians and a drum beating movie from Hollywood. To quote an extract from the Declaration of Arbroath... (A letter written to Pope and more or less a Declaration of Scottish Independence written 6th April 1320) The Most Holy Fathers your predecessors gave careful heed to these things and bestowed many favours and numerous privileges on this same kingdom and people, as being the special charge of the Blessed Peter's brother. Thus our nation under their protection did indeed live in freedom and peace up to the time when that mighty prince the King of the English, Edward, the father of the one who reigns today, when our kingdom had no head and our people harboured no malice or treachery and were then unused to wars or invasions, came in the guise of a friend and ally to harass them as an enemy. The deeds of cruelty, massacre, violence, pillage, arson, imprisoning prelates, burning down monasteries, robbing and killing monks and nuns, and yet other outrages without number which he committed against our people, sparing neither age nor sex, religion nor rank, no one could describe nor fully imagine unless he had seen them with his own eyes. Believe it or not, I'm trying to be neutral here. I happen to hold England and the English in high regard, but a walk through the history of these nations is not a pleasant stroll.

Yes, that's it Olham.

Yes. If only he'd died at the start of the film along with the true history. As a Scot, I can't say I'm proud to be English, but I can say I'm extremely proud that Edward 1 wasn't Scottish.

Some or all of that must be doctored footage, but it's difficult to be sure what you're looking at. The giveaways for some parts are you couldn't actually do that, and even if you could, you'd never have such a static viewpoint. But thanks Olham, I did enjoy it.

Wow. I mean Wow. And look at the airfields too! All the landing strips need now is a sweet young French popsie running towards the plane with a bacon roll in one hand and steaming hot cuppa in the other for the conquering hero's safe return to base. Husssa! Woof Woof! :drinks: I'm genuinely stunned fellas, can't wait for P4.

You know the stork emblem used by the French Escadrille des Cigognes? It always struck me as an odd thing put on the side of a fighter plane. If I'm honest, never really liked it. Where I work is beside a river, and I've been here for nearly 5 years now, and we have Herons flying overhead on a daily basis, remarkable mostly for the screeching rust gate sounds they make. You get used to them, and barely notice them. But just tonight, I saw two Herons flying side by side, and the sun just caught them right as they came in to land, and just as they passed my yard, suddenly that Stork on the side of those aircraft just made complete and total sense.