This gun was fired at the French and Spanish, not 'red' or 'blue' forces
"A re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar is not an opportunity for "French-bashing", says the Royal Navy.
Instead of the British taking on a French/Spanish fleet at next month's event to mark the battle's bicentenary a "red" force will take on a "blue"...
BBC: Battle must not 'bash' French"
Bloody hell. This is terrible; not only is this an example of political correctness gone mad, its turned me into some harrumphing purple face little Englander who uses phrases like "this an example of political correctness gone mad". In my defence, I'll admit to having an Admiral Nelson (the most famous son of Norfolk) portrait and two reproduction Royal Navy recruiting posters ("If you love your country and king, damn the pope, and hate the French.." as one starts) hanging in my house, fond childhood memories of touring Nelson's flagship HMS Victory on multiple occasions, and a habit of talking or typing Patrick O'Brien style dialogue around grand sporting events. Bollocks to them; they lost, we won. You don't see me blubbing every July 4th, do you?
2 comments:
I really don't know where to start. First of all, I always thought the battle of Trafalgar was fought on October 21st? Why on earth have they moved it to June?
Secondly, I always thought of Nelson as 'Admiral, Lord Nelson' not 'Lord Admiral Nelson' that doesn't seem right.
Third, it's a complete load of cobblers. It's like getting rid of bombproof red telephone boxes for no reason whatsoever and the recent british trend towards abolishing fun in all it's mysterious forms. Christ? Am I becoming a Boris Johnsonesque Tory?
a) June, so as not to offend the French. I think they should celebrate the liberation of Paris in January, so as not to offend the Germans.
b) A warm reminder that we British do not regard the military as the definition of our nation, hence the confusion over rank and title placement (although it is a bit dim: nobody I hope would write Mister Captain Mainwaring, for example).
c) I blame pointless (as opposed to reformist) modernism. Its like when the Post Office decided to become "Consignia". Look how well that went.
d) This is specifically the kind of harmless, no downside issue that people like Boris were invented for.
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