Hi Ronald…when you visit France, which part would that be then …???
Folk’s attitudes can vary widely from region to region… as in any country.
Did you know Paul Turner?
Don’t believe so, I was mostly Waddington
I lived in the Tarn for 15 years and I knew a few people with that attitude. I also met a lot, many more, who didn’t have it! I have to say I have scanned the posts and can’t find anything “odious”.
I have two French neighbours who are as old as I am, both decorated for their military service in Algeria during the colonial wars. Both have great respect for arabs and despise the French administration for its colonial suppression of self-determination, and the lives squandered in pursuing it.
One of them, my next-door neighbour, mourns his fallen comrades but does not attend the parades held locally to commemorate the war. He took a bullet himself.
I put more store on the testimony of first-hand witnesses to and participants in war than those who observe the fray from 30,000 feet above it.
Thank you
We have many folk in our Commune, who lived/suffered through the Algerien War… a dark blot on France’s past… in the eyes of most of them.
But every 19th March… some of them (not all) gather at the Mairie and march to the Memorial, flags flying… names of the dead are read aloud…
They are commemorating the Cease-fire… certainly NOT the War…
The Ancien Combattants, FNACA now in their 80’s and 90’s talk about what happened and what it was like.
No-one glories in it… they talk of fallen comrades… friend being set against friend… Frenchman against Frenchman…
OH and I have attended for the last 20 years…we were invited on the first occasion and have done so voluntarily ever since… as a mark of respect.
How other folk react… is up to them… we are all different… and no-one knows what goes on in another’s mind… or what/how another has suffered.
All this is so that it shall not/may not happen again… that something good might come out of the carnage…(if such is indeed possible).
Be interested to know your views on the Battle of Britton and the ‘participants’ who flew and maintained those amazing aircraft - My Father was in 11 Squadron towards the end of WWII and shortly thereafter when it was posted to Japan. He described to me, first hand, the devastation in Nagasaki and Hiroshima supported with photographs he took with his very first camera. A wasteland laid bare and an adversary on it’s knees - I don’t think he ever got over what he saw there.
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What I failed to mention was my last job, that of an arms controller, when I personally witnessed the destruction of hundreds of guns, tanks, and aircraft.
We former enemies got on well whilst doing it, drank a lot of vodka and felt that we were doing some good in the world.
Pity that this initiative seems to have faltered today.
As far as your last snide remark about valueing the opinion of those on the ground as opposed to that of us flyboys, watch the film Eye in the sky and know that one of my relatives will soon be on the ground in Afghanistan.
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Oh my… It seemed as if I was holding my breath for the whole 6 months that my nephew was in Afghanistan (volunteer medic)… he got through unscathed but definitely not that same youngster as when he left UK…
Fingers crossed for your relative…
Raymond I hope no harm befalls your relative in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been the crucible of foreign wars since the 1700s because of its strategic importance to foreign powers, not because the Afghans take war against their neighbours.
President George Bush Jr ordered all-out offensive on the dubious pretext that Afghans were responsible for 9/11 when 15 of the 19 assassins were Saudi Arabians, two were from the Emirates, one from Egypt and one from Lebanon. None were Afghans. Bin Laden took refuge there, while his family who lived in America were reportedlygiven safe-passage back to Saudi Arabia by the Bush administration in the 9/11 aftermath.
Your relative, who is no doubt brave and well-intentioned, may be a pawn in this dirty imperialist game of thrones, like the thousands of other American, British and other sons and husbands who, in my opinion, have died in a vain and blood-drenched cause, like so many earlier ones: war-for-war’s sake, to oil the wheels of the imperial-militaristic war-machine, the politicians’ real-life shoot-em-up game.
I hope he/she comes home safe, Raymond, a wiser and sadder individual person} maybe, but safe and not mentally or physically scarred for life, like so many veterans before them, duped (as I see it) by clever men with clean hands, fine pensions, medals, gongs and titles.
My views may be odious to you, or to others, but I do not hate you nor do I hate your views. But I strongly disagree with them, and shall assert my right to express them.
PLEASE could somebody put a stop to this awful and highly inappropriate tirade…
Bush said in front of live TV-camera ‘Look, I had to do something’.
So much for justice.
Everyone who voluntarily participated does not earn any respect.
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Simon, you sound disgruntled mate - I take it the golf course is snowed under ?
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Hi Peter - the golf course is definitely snowed under - bugger! But… we’re popping over the border for a few days to get a fix! The temperatures are always 6-10 degrees higher, and the skies clearer on the South side of the Pyrenees at this time of year!
But me disgruntled? Never Peter 
! I just can’t abide sanctimonious, conscientious objectors putting down the armed forces either past or present. Makes me sick to the stomach.
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Yes, I know what you mean mate but hey, we are all entitled to an opinion however odious it may be to us !
Nice course at Albi and no snow about either. The course where I used to be Greenkeeper has just closed down due to lack of money etc. It’s sad to see it when I think of the blood sweated on the course over fifteen years !
C’est la vie je suppose ?
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Couldn’t agree more Peter but that means I’m allowed to disagree and express mine as well. I’m allowed to state it if I find it odious. There is a huge difference between an opinion and deliberately setting out to upset people. It seems to me that, currently, some posters are pretty much ‘untouchable’.
So sorry to hear about your old course - our Head Greenkeeper has a great blog about all the work carried out over the year - an enormous amount especially when you consider we’re the only EcoGolf course in France. Total respect for the professionalism and knowledge of greenkeepers and ground-staff. I will definitely check out Albi - never played there - thanks 
Completely off topic - Our Greenkeeper recently became a pro and is now part of a young dynamic team doing wonderful things on the course. Last summer the Director of Golf introduced a Robot greenkeeper. It cuts perfect lines up and down the fairways and stops when approached or senses a ball nearby. I can’t wait for the new model, perhaps it will serve ice cold beer and baguettes☺. Never played at Albi either but Falgos and Saint Cyprien are great favourites where we spent many happy years.
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We do thread drift here. Don’t worry about it
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LOVE Falgos - maybe a golf discussion / thread??
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