What a wonderful son I am

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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 3:11 pm

Well I am.

I take my mother out to stately homes and castles weekly and I discovered that it's possible to book specially to get to Bawdsey Manor which was a secret radar establishment she was stationed at during the Second World War.

She's not far off 90 but very sprightly and as poisonous as a rattlesnake to anyone without gloves Laughing

I got a taste of it when she reminded me that she was still covered by the Official Secrets Act and I mustn't joke about it, which is a bit of a shame 'cause I always pretend I think she was on the other side guiding in Messerschmitts. Laughing

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 3:14 pm

im a good son too, I havnt baited my mother into getting tattoos or filling in endless forms or safariing anywhere lately.

but seriously, I why wont you take me to see old castles and secret radars. I love that stuff.

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 4:13 pm

I'll tell my mother you offered. She's looking for a new son, but I warn you she doesn't go off in a huff - she goes off hissing. Laughing

The most fun I had was when I took her to Framlingham Castle and I insisted on getting photos the othere side of a mere and we ended up in a swamp up to our knees in mud. Laughing

It took her 6 months to get over that.

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 4:30 pm

oh yes you really are good to your 90 yr old mother, making her wade through a swamp and all. Suppose you told her that the mud was good for her complexion?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 6:12 pm

Quote:

I always pretend I think she was on the other side guiding in Messerschmitts.

Have you ever watched "Piece of Cake" from Masterpiece Theater with her?

I would love to hear her comments.

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 10:08 pm

^ was that the one that was on TV years ago? it was very good if so.

Bawdsey manor sounds very interesting, I may have to go and see it with some of my folks.

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 3:57 am

My mother is about to turn 91.
She served in the US Navy during WW2.

She sometimes asks me if I have her old uniforms.
I am afraid that she will try to re-enlist.

Smile

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 1:05 pm

Nailgunner - I believe that the radar station is open to the public but to get access to the manor itself you have to book, and it's only open certain times of the year.

We've started arguing already as she said it's on a promontory and it isn't, but it's easier just to grin Very Happy

and nod my head. If they have a swamp close by maybe I'll take her for another walk.

It's probably not that exciting to see, but it'll have memories for her. She's already told me about her war wound Shocked

- a bomb blast blew out the window glass and she got a one inch gash in her finger.

She was saying that apart from the top secret radar set up they used to attach incendiary devices to balloons and release them when the wind was blowing in the right direction. The Germans had rockets - and we sent back balloons with firecrackers attached - how much more British can you get ? I wonder how many French cows we set on fire ?
Laughing

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 3:31 pm

I think she may have meant the right direction for Scotland

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 4:40 pm

It's stories like these that make me realise 'Dad's Army' and 'Allo Allo' weren't that far of the mark... Shocked

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 5:01 pm

@GP

So, are you implying that you come by your "unusual" thinking by some act of nature?
I'd almost bet, she probably called you a couple more words to modify the "son" while in the swamp. Laughing

@Cougar - Occasionally >10 times funnier than you'd believe Wink

, but also many times worse than you can imagine Sad

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:43 pm

Mum wasn't fibbing

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/british-balloon-incendiary-t4665.html?s=c1de585793e37dede42a615dcff540ad&

Quote:

After a lengthy bureaucratic struggle between the Air Ministry and the Admiralty, the British Chiefs of Staff gave the go-ahead in September 1941 and a launch site was set up at Landguard Fort near Felixstowe in Suffolk. The first launches took place on 20 March 1942. Within days, the British were receiving reports of forest fires near Berlin and Tilsit in East Prussia.

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:46 pm

@ GP - it's a fantastic response. I'm still deeply in awe of the scale models of cities and cardboard cutout tanks they put out to deceive bomber crews. British ingenuity is something to be truly feared Very Happy

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 10:15 pm

I'm trying to figure out what goes on in someone's head at the moment he decides that 'launching' balloons from somewhere in the UK to crash in Germany could be a good idea. I'm also wondering how much such a person would care about the wellbeing of the Dutch?

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Did the Japanese not have a similar type of balloon bomb
Fugo?

@ Gomer, that's nice taking your mum out
Do you bring her home too or is it safari time for her?

Just joking, wish my kids would take me somewhere interesting.
A trip to the supermarket to fill up their fridges and cupboards doesnt count

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 10:55 pm

I think the Yanks had a plan to release tiny bats carrying firebombs in "The Pacific." They were frozen when released, woke up on the way down, swarmed around a little bit, then each set some poor civilian's house on fire when he/she landed. Or at least that was the theory. It was only tested once, but the stupid bats flew the wrong direction, and the amount of American property that was destroyed led them to abandon the idea.

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 1:52 pm

The Soviets used "dog mines" in the first year of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union* - basically dogs with explosives strapped to their backs were trained to run under tanks, and a protruding strut would be pushed down to set off the charge.

The problem was the the dogs couldn't be trained to discriminate between German and Soviet tanks, and in battle the dogs were prone to panic and run every which way.

*The official title of World War Two in the USSR, and it may still obtain (without the Soviet Union reference). The Russians and the Americans can both be parochial that way.

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 4:29 pm

^^

Poor dogs. (and bats, and cows)

I hate that when people decide to destroy each other they have to involve animals. I can understand that they want to minimise human casualties, but it's not the animals fault that they're fighting.

I could say more, but it's getting dangerously into politics territory and I like this thread so I'll shut up now!

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:56 pm

The US cancelled the "Bat Bomb" project when a more fantastic idea looked like it would work.

Something using uranium.

Bat Bomb : World War II's other Secret Weapon by Jack Couffer(1992) is an interesting book about the bat project.

Smile

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