« Previous · Home · Next »
WWII Moonbattery
By Lt Col P
For no reason at all, except that it's fairly amusing*, and that I suppose it illustrates that's there's nothing new under the sun, I'd like to share something I came across in John Masters's classic about the second Chindit campaign, The Road Past Mandalay. He and his brigade have just been forced to withdraw from their stronghold, "Blackpool," after a vicious fight against the Japanese deep inside Burma. Exhausted, soaked and hungry, they lie up for the night. Masters is about to go to sleep when a member of his comm section comes right up to him and says, "I think this campaign is a disgrace... I mean why we're here. To save the profits of the oil companies."
Pissed off, he wakes up.
"My head clears slightly as I listen. The oil companies insisted on the reconquest of Burma and bribed Churchill, Eden, and Atlee [a pinko if ever there was one] to commit troops to the job. That's why he and I are lying under a wet blanket at map reference 227105, in the monsoon rain among our wounded... The sergeant, I learn, was a member of the Communist Party in England before being called up, but not for very long. They threw him out on account of his extreme views. Damned good cipher sergeant though."
OK, a Chindit moonbat earned the right to be a moonbat . Today's garden variety hippy, who hasn't sacrificed a damn thing for his country, he's just a turd.
*The overall story is not, I must add, very amusing. Heroic and epic, and beautifully written, but not a comedy. It is indicative of Masters that he was able to take it in stride.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://op-for.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/660
Comments
Post a comment
Potential comment conditions listed here. Oh, and you may use basic HTML for formatting.
This might be one of the best war books ever written. I first read it when I lived in israel during the Yom Kippur War. It was given to me by an officer who knew a great deal about leadng men into battle. He had fought at The Chinese Farm. He said that Masters understood battle, understood command of men, understood supply lines, even understood paperwork! Great book. I've been meaning to blog about this masterpiece for years. Glad you've done it here on this fine blog.