WW2 - Falklands

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bluethrunthru

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anybody got any ideas why WW2 and the Falklands get all the attention? In between times we fought in Korea, Malaya,Suez. Borneo and Kenya to name but a few. Sadly WW2 veterans will be few and far between now but there will be many veterans from other conflicts who I fear get overlooked by the media. I know my Dad has always been bitter about a mate of his who went to to his National Service and lasted a week in Kenya before being killed.

this guy should be honoured.

 
Because the Falklands is well within living memory for lots of folk and WW2 was a fight for national survival fought by a huge conscript army.
 
I'm gonna say it's because WWII and the Falklands were both (technically) fought on British soil while the other wars you've mentioned weren't. Also because WWII is the most important event of the 20th century and because the Falklands happened in living memory for lot of people.
 
WWII was so vast to get your head round, it will always have an angle to captivate you. As for the the falklands & Northern Ireland troubles they were fought on home soil? and are on going and small enough in comparison to get our heads round
 
I sometimes wonder if the argies tried to take the Falklands in present day, would we be able to defend it? Or even have the will to do so?
What would public opinion be like if it happened?
I remember it clearly, it dominated the news, and there were a lot of casualties (RIP to them all)
Peace is a wonderful thing.
 
crublue1 said:
I sometimes wonder if the argies tried to take the Falklands in present day, would we be able to defend it? Or even have the will to do so?
What would public opinion be like if it happened?
I remember it clearly, it dominated the news, and there were a lot of casualties (RIP to them all)
Peace is a wonderful thing.
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I remember thinking what Thatcher did was fucking madness and I would urge young people not to go there and get burned, lose limbs or die a horrific painful death over some poxy islands.
 
Bill Walker said:
I remember thinking what Thatcher did was fucking madness and I would urge young people not to go there and get burned, lose limbs or die a horrific painful death over some poxy islands.
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Me too, and I was working for the mod at the time.
But I also saw it from the islanders point of view, who saw themselves as British, and still do.
We couldn't just abandon those folks.
But like you quite rightly point out, people had their lives changed immeasurably over it.
A difficult one for sure.
 
crublue1 said:
Me too, and I was working for the mod at the time.
But I also saw it from the islanders point of view, who saw themselves as British, and still do.
We couldn't just abandon those folks.
But like you quite rightly point out, people had their lives changed immeasurably over it.
A difficult one for sure.
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If they want to be British so badly offer them a free cruise to Britain.
 
Bill Walker said:
If they want to be British so badly offer them a free cruise to Britain.
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It's not so much that they want to be be "British so badly" I just think they want to live a quiet life without being bombed.
And as you know, you can't just pitch up in a small boat on British shores....
 
I think WW2 was a "clean," obviously justified war with an easy narrative from the Western perspective. Wars like Korea are hard to explain to the average person even if the cause was just, while colonial wars like Kenya and Malaya would frankly be considered mistakes by most today.

Not necessarily fair to the people who served, but you can understand why the media don't really touch them.
 
WT86 said:
I think WW2 was a "clean," obviously justified war with an easy narrative from the Western perspective. Wars like Korea are hard to explain to the average person even if the cause was just, while colonial wars like Kenya and Malaya would frankly be considered mistakes by most today.

Not necessarily fair to the people who served, but you can understand why the media don't really touch them.
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I've read several books on ww2 and I still don't truly understand all the goings on, it was very complicated. But despite all the tragic deaths, it was a fight worth fighting. I completely understand your first paragraph, nicely put.
I struggle with most of the wars since then.
It's easy to bury your head, or turn a blind eye. After all, its not me or my family affected.
Or it's just as easy to get angry, and let it affect you in a way that, apart from a humanitarian outlook, defies logic.
I hate any kind of conflict, it saddens me to see people that are enraged enough to deliberately cause harm on fellow human beings. I struggle with this.
I feel for the young as much as I respect my elders.
 
bluethrunthru said:
anybody got any ideas why WW2 and the Falklands get all the attention? In between times we fought in Korea, Malaya,Suez. Borneo and Kenya to name but a few. Sadly WW2 veterans will be few and far between now but there will be many veterans from other conflicts who I fear get overlooked by the media. I know my Dad has always been bitter about a mate of his who went to to his National Service and lasted a week in Kenya before being killed.

this guy should be honoured.

Click to expand...

Lots of veterans in campaigns from the past get overlooked.

My father fought in Africa and Italy during WW2, and his unit was wiped out in Italy in 1944. He was one of the few survivors

''No one remembers us' was a simple statement of fact he said while we were watching the 60th D-day celebrations on TV.

My girlfriend's father at that time fought in Korea, and no one remembers the sacrifices they made either.

I don't know why, maybe it's because there haven't been any films made about their struggles.
 
My guess would be TV coverage and Hollywood.
The Falklands was filmed for us all to watch live on BBC1 and ITV.
The Yanks filmed WW2 via Hollywood with themselves cast as the good guys for us to watch at the local cinema, with Roy Rogers and Trigger as the pre film showing
 
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