V-day

communistparty.jpg
 
lushd said:
They couldn't get oranges in the UK during the war. I have a vague idea that the marmalade was made from root vegetables. Sugar was in short supply too ...

Absolutely Donald... I believe carrot was a favourite! As Keith's Dad was in North Africa, I suspect that was where he sampled real orange marmalade - that was just about the only place there would have been plenty of fruit, not least from South Africa, which provided most of the food for the desert forces. A nice tin of government-issue marmalade in desert conditions sounds oh so tempting!

Cheers, Ian
 
But Ian - "Tin of Jam in Alexandria" would never have been a classic film starring John Mills, whereas "Ice Cold in Alex" definitely was.

My Grandmother told a very sad story about oranges and WWII. We're from Ireland and she lived in Wicklow (east coast). Someone found some oranges washed up on the beach and the family got very excited as they hadn't even seen one for years. The taste was disgusting because they had been in the sea too long. The really poignant bit was that several people probably died in the incident that put the fruit in the sea.

In Ireland, the war known as the "emergency" (never knew the Irish were into understatement, did you?). The Taoiseach (prime minister), Eamonn de Valera went to the German embassy the day after Hitler committed suicide and signed the book of condolences. Even now this is viewed as a highly controversial act, although he maintained he was doing what the head of neutral state should do.
 
Ah Donald, I can just see John Mills watching a great blob of peel roll down his can! And I think we can be sure that Antony Quayle would have been the only one in the party who knew how to make toast!

I'm not at all surprised about the oranges. I gather that in terms of rationing, people in Eire were very much worse off than in the UK. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the (future) Republic's story is how, despite official neutrality, tens of thousands of Irishmen joined the allied forces - including 7,000 Irish servicemen who deserted to join the British army - an astonishing statistic. I think that these "victory day" posts have been a valuable exercise. The theme which has stood out to me is perhaps that expressed in the actions of those Irishmen: that individuals do have a choice - that even when surrounded by evil, we can take another path, if we choose to pay the price. I have been especialy moved by Jesko's contributions and feel honoured to have learnt of his heroic Grandfather. As Ruben has eloquently said, such people are a beacon to the world.

Ian
 
Back
Top Bottom