Favorite movie quote

[bristol scout]

Originally Posted by Pete Hill

There is still a BIG controversy down here amongst Australian historians and many have questioned the accuracy of the film. Indeed, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, despite being a vast source of historical archives, will no longer assist historians or researchers seeking material on the subject of the execution of Morant and Hancock. Indeed Australia's involvement in the Boer War (along with the Korean War) remains our forgotten conflict and we have yet to really see a major published history of the part we played in that event. We prefer to view Gallipoli as this nation's baptism of fire because it lends itself more readily to legend and myth-making and can be remembered as a 'cleaner' conflict without the controversy that surrounds the Boer War.

Pete

Hi Pete,

You are right on all points---especially Gallipoli being fogged with "legend and myth making".

As near the truth is this letter from Churchill's younger brother Jack, serving on Gen. Hamiltons staff-

"Fierce fighting has continued and the result has been most dissapointing. Progress has been made-but at heavy cost, and where we hoped to gain miles we have advanced a few yards. It has become siege warfare again as in France.

Trenches and wire beautifully covered by machine gun fire are the order of the day. Terrific artillery fire against invulnerable trenches and then attempts to make frontal attacks in the face of awful musketry fire, are the only tactics that can be employed...we shall have to fight every yard and to do this we must have lots more men"

The deadlock, in other words, had been transferred--and to a much more, logistics wise, inconvenient and inhospitable arena---thus--

Out of 410,000 British and Empire troops (and 79,000 French) no fewer than 213,980 British casualties (145,154 to disease--with dysentry heading the list, diarrhoea next then enteric fever) give the lie to people like the prime minister Asquith who thought how lucky they were to escape the horrors of Flanders and instead be sent to "The gorgeous East"...

As Fuller would, rightly I feel, say of all such "strategies of evasion" (as he called them) -

"What they were unable to appreciate was, that should another locality be found in which the enemy's resistance was less formidable than on the Western Front, it could only be a matter of time before the same tactical conditions prevailed. It was the bullet, spade and wire which were the enemy on every front, and their geographical locations were purely incidental"

'The Conduct Of War'---J.F.C.Fuller

Dave.

[bristol scout]

"What the master does and what he intends are as different as white Knight to black Bishop"

Dave.

[pepperman42]

Lloyd Bridges at his best (approx). " Son I've been on hundreds of missions and been shot down on every one, infact I dont know how to land an airplane"

[Pete Hill]

"If I thought my hair knew what my brain was thinking, I'd shave it off and wear a wig."

Or

"This Wellington fights war in a new way. He fights sitting on his ass. Well, we'll just have to move him off it.."

Pete

[Pete Hill]

You are right on all points---especially Gallipoli being fogged with "legend and myth making".

Don't get me started. The topic of the myths surrounding Gallipoli would require its own thread. But whilst we're on the topic of movies, the 1981film 'Gallipoli' was accused of promoting a popular myth, namely that it was a British officer who ordered the attacks at the 'Nek' to continue despite the fact that the first two waves of Australian dismounted Light-Horsemen had been cut to pieces in seconds. Actually the film doesn't. The film does show that the officer concerned who gave the fatal order was actually an Australian. The film just happened to find an Australian actor who had a very old-fashioned upper-class Australian accent which modern viewers could easily mistake as English. And mistake they did....in droves. So now the myth that it was a cold-blooded Pommy who gave the order and caused another two waves of Anzacs to be butchered has firmly taken hold in popular imagination.

Such is the danger with taking liberties with historical facts. Movies are now the sole source of historical knowledge for many people and they may take them at face-value. I was in my early twenties when I first saw 'Braveheart' and so for several years I thought William Wallace had invaded and sacked the city of York. Imagine my surprise when I finally got round to reading a book about the topic and finding out the real Wallace never even went near the place!

Pete.

[bristol scout]

Or that EDWARD 1st. (the Longshanks) 'Hammer of the Scots' was a "PAGAN"-----though he was "Cruel". Would'nt be a King in those day's if he had'nt been.

Braveheart---Patriot---films which allow Mel Gibson full reign for a bit of anti-British (or English) propaganda, which would'nt be at all the slightest bother were it not for your correct observation that they are often taken at face value...

Never mind though,

Dave.

[bristol scout]

Originally Posted by Pete Hill

"If I thought my hair knew what my brain was thinking, I'd shave it off and wear a wig."

Or

"This Wellington fights war in a new way. He fights sitting on his ass. Well, we'll just have to move him off it.."

Pete

Napoleon forgot English history a bit---to his cost.

William the conqueror could have said the same (we only lost at Hastings because we had Won at Stamford Bridge a few weeks earlier) as the English army in 1066 stood resolutely on the defensive.

The same could be said for Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt---moving an English army off it's 'ass' (would Napoleon really have said "ass" in battle has never been an easy undertaking..

Dave.

[R Pope]

Don't recall the name of the movie, Charles Bronson is captured by a Turk officer and they are riding across the desert. The Turk is making a big deal of some ruins, goading Charley about "The cradle of civilization" and how the Western people were still living in caves when these edifices were built.
Bronson sizes up the ruins and drawls, "Nice. But what have you done...lately?"
Still cracks me up!

[bristol scout]

I like that.

Dave.

[Ginger.]

Corporal!

Sir!

And where do you think you're taking those vultures?

Officer to the mess, Sir. NCOs to the Guard Room.

Like hell you are! They made this mess. Let them clean it up!

What about the Officer, Sir?

Give him a bloody shovel!