Latest news with #DouglasBader
The Citizen
09-05-2025
- General
- The Citizen
The big lesson to be learnt from World War II
My mother, aunts and uncles all had stories to tell about those years, one thing we learnt is that war benefits nobody but arms merchants. A woman walks past WWII-era artillery guns at the colonnade of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War at Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow on October 31, 2019. Picture: Alexander Nemenov / AFP Growing up, I could not avoid becoming swept up in the stories of World War II. My uncle from Cape Town was captured at Tobruk in Libya and spent four years in a German-prisoner-of-war (POW) camp; my father experienced the Blitz in London and signed up for four years with the Royal Air Force (RAF), mainly fighting against the Japanese. My mother, my aunts and uncles all had stories to tell about those years. Long before the advent of the Internet, I devoured all the books I could find about the war. I marvelled at British Battle of Britain hero Douglas Bader, who lost his legs in a flying accident in the 1930s, but went on to bully his way back into a cockpit, commanding RAF squadrons and later getting shot down and interned in a POW camp. I learned, too, about South African fighter pilot 'Sailor' Adolph Gysbert Malan, absorbing his experiences in the Battle of Britain and later over Europe, before finding out years later, that my mother had met him after the war when she was a volunteer for the 'Torch Commando' – a group of liberal whites who started one of the first fightbacks against apartheid. ALSO READ: Echoes of Nazism still haunt the modern world Even now, I can put together an accurate timeline of events both in Europe and in the Pacific theatre, but I have realised that the predominance of Western sources – newspapers, radio and movies – mean I had a slanted view of who did what in that conflict. Ignorant Americans like to tell the Brits and the French that 'if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French', implying they liberated Europe from Nazi control. And while the D-Day landings did mark a significant gain for the Allies, the fact that the Germans were now fighting on two fronts meant their days were numbered. In reality, it was the people of the Soviet Union – not only Russians, but Ukrainians and assorted other 'socialist republics' – who shed the most blood in the war and who played perhaps the decisive role in defeating Adolf Hitler. Without their resistance and ultimate victory at Stalingrad, the punishing massive tank battle at Kursk and their relentless drive from the east in 1944/45, it would have been far more difficult to bring Germany to its knees. ALSO READ: Indian WWII veteran, 97, wins pension battle That, of course, is not to discount the suffering and grit of the people of the rest of Europe – and the UK, particularly, which was heavily battered during the Luftwaffe air war campaign of 1940/41 – who have every right to mark the 80th anniversary of end of hostilities this week. The old alliances of the war years, though, are gone for good. It doesn't seem as though 'hands across the water', which encapsulated US-UK relations during the war, means as much now, given the bullying from the Trump White House. My father seldom talked about his experiences other than a comment once that 'war is a waste'. He always respected the suffering of my uncle whose time in a POW camp saw him lose all his toes and later, back in civvie street, when booze softened those memories, he lost his marriage and his health. My father said little when he saw me conscripted as a soldier, although he must have worried. When my son was born, I vowed I would never, as the Ballad of the Green Beret admonished, 'put silver wings on my son's chest'. If we learn only one thing from World War II, it should be that war benefits nobody but arms merchants. NOW READ: Love at any age: WWII veteran, 100, to wed in France
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pub has a 'real buzz' after helping set Guinness World Record
There is a "real buzz" at a pub in Martlesham as it has helped set a Guinness World Record. The Douglas Bader, in The Square in Martlesham Heath, has joined Heineken and 113 other pubs and breweries across the UK to set the a world record for the most people pulling a pint at exactly the same time. It was called the 'Big Pour' and took place on Monday, April 7. In just 10 seconds, the world-record attempt saw 114 pubs across the country pour pints of Heineken 0.0 and regular Heineken - simultaneously and in perfect sync. Harriet Coomber runs the Douglas Bader pub (Image: Sonya Duncan) Harriet Coomber, the landlady at the Douglas Bader, said: "I'm so proud to have been a part of this huge achievement for Heineken and excited to share the news with our lovely community here. "It's amazing to say I hold a World Record - it's brought a real buzz to the pub. I'm very excited to get our official plaque to display. " Harriet Coomber, the landlady, during 'The Big Pour' (Image: The Douglas Bader pub) This was made possible through online video technology, as 114 pub managers from Scotland to Surrey joined the Martlesham pub on a mass video call to pull their pints together in real time. It was all done under the eyes of an official Guinness World Records adjudicator. The 'Big Pour' was done to celebrate the installation of Heineken 0.0's 1,000th tap. Heineken said this is a milestone in making alcohol-free beer more accessible and offering choice for customer preferences. Harriet Coomber was delighted to be a world record holder (Image: The Douglas Bader pub) Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Star Pubs at Heineken UK, said: 'Part of the ritual of going to the pub is watching your pint being freshly poured from the tap- the tilt of the glass, the smooth cascade, and mouth watering anticipation of the first sip. The Douglas Bader pub in Martlesham (Image: The Douglas Bader Pub) "This draught experience is central to pub culture, and for non- alcoholic beer to become truly mainstream, it needs to be part of that experience. It needs to be poured from the tap like any other pint, not just another option in the fridge. "That's why we're committed to getting 0.0 on draught in pubs everywhere, because everyone deserves a proper pint, with or without alcohol.'
