A different view on current affairs & history
Captain Gilbert Leonard (“Podgy”) McBride was a pilot in the South African Air Force and died in WW II on 3 July 1943, over Sicily, aged 23. This is his story as researched by Tony Leach.
Main picture: Captain Gilbert Leonard McBride
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Only one SS soldier believed that what Mengele and Auschwitz represented was inhumane. That was Hans Wilhelm Münch, the only physician whose commitment to the Hippocratic Oath proved stronger than the Reichswehreid [German Army Oath] and his commitment to the SS. In terms of this Oath, obedience to the Führer, the supreme commander, was unconditional, yet Münch survived.
Main picture: Hans Wilhelm Münch
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The most widely used photographs of German troops during WW2 reflect a martial disposition from the menacing Tiger tank to steely eyed troops firing MG42 machine guns. None of the photographs used below would ever appear in official histories of the war.
Even though they might reflect the humanity of the ordinary German soldier, this blog does not in any way endorse the behaviour of the Nazi regime or the German military forces.
Main picture: German soldier sharing water with a baby
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Main picture: Painting of AJ Montgomery of the 10th Hussars
Main picture: Eland 90 Armoured Car
One forever associates sights, smells and sounds with where one grows up. Sometimes they are pleasant and sometimes not so, but they all define our childhoods and underpin our lives in subconscious ways. The sound of the surf is one of my most pleasant memories as much as I’ll never forget the rotten sulphuric smell of the aptly named Smelly Creek at the shunting yards in Deal Party. But a distinctive sound that I oddly found soothing and comforting, probably because of its familiarity, was the otherwise harsh sound of Harvards flying lazily overhead, particularly on beautiful summer days. Being a boy and a WWII buff, that sound would always bring out the Biggles in me and get my pulse racing.
Main picture: The iconic North American AT-6 Harvard (Texan to Americans) resplendent in SAAF colours
Continue readingIn all respects, WW2 was a war of superlatives. From the number of people killed to the quantum of destruction of civilian property, it easily outranks all previous wars combined. Of all other wars, it was truly waged on an industrial scale.
This blog presents those statistics that will amaze, astonish and often make one reflect on why in the mid 20th century, man’s primal instinct was still to murder, annihilate and plunder.
Main picture: Only 20% of the males born in the Soviet Union in 1923 survived the war
The horrors of WW1 are unspeakable. Knowing that their chances of survival were minuscule once “going over the top”, unhinged many a Tommy. Even those who were terror stricken, had to face another enemy apart from their warped minds, a tribunal for desertion or failing to obey an order if they failed to display an appropriate martial ardour.
Such were the terrors of an inhumane war. To commemorate this suffering, Martin Galbavy has created a “tin” statue as a tribute to the soldier’s bravery, their torment & the suppression of their demons.
Main picture: The Rheinwiesenlager provided no protection from the elements together with meagre rations. This was a recipe for disaster on a large scale
