[Spridgets] Past present and future- no LBC

[Weslake1330]

Hi John,

A long time ago I was a member of our national Civil Defence Force (The
Royal Observer Corp) and we had our own siren but only tested it very
occasionally (I am often tempted to buy one on eBay but not sure if I
tested it the police would come and lock me up and take it away).  Once a
week we would spend time in our local small bunker and learn our tasks and
occasionally we would have exercises and practice them.  I left the Corp to
join the RAF and about a decade late the Corps was disbanded - members, who
were all unpaid volunteers first heard this news in many cases when they
read about it in a national newspaper.

Regards

Daniel

On Mon, 24 Feb 2025 at 23:25, John Farley <jmfarley61 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I was born in 1947, so lived through the Cold War and hiding under our
> desks in schools when the air raid tests were conducted.  I completely
> agree with Nory.
>
> On Mon, Feb 24, 2025 at 6:01 PM David G via Spridgets <
> spridgets at autox.team.net> wrote:
>
>> You are not alone in being baffled
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* Spridgets <spridgets-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of
>> Weslake1330 via Spridgets <spridgets at autox.team.net>
>> *Sent:* Monday, February 24, 2025 2:43 PM
>> *To:* Spridgets <spridgets at autox.team.net>
>>
>> *Subject:* [Spridgets] Past present and future- no LBC
>>
>> Hi List,
>>
>> I was born in the early 1960s in a rural part of the country and it seems
>> within walking distance of one of many nuclear missile stations here in
>> England.  It was too soon for ICBMs so America had our friendly assistance
>> in siting short range nuclear missiles in our country and within striking
>> range of the USSR - THOR (lots on YouTube and the internet about THOR).
>>
>> I was at school for the moon landings and only decades later visited the
>> place where Neil Armstrong's famous words  were first heard.  That place
>> was not the USA but a British crown territory where the signal was received
>> and then sent onto the USA.  The place was Ascension Island (at least one
>> good fiction book was based on the island...).
>>
>> I was an enlisted serviceman in the RAF where I saw one of the last b&w
>> photos of a Russian bear that had been live intercepted by a fighter from
>> my squadron.  About the same time I saw a piece of rubbish concrete that
>> arrived in the mail for a member of the squadron - it was a piece of the
>> Berlin wall.
>>
>> The world order changed, the cold war ended and the world seemed a safer
>> place and maybe for a while it was.  Terrorist attacks continued around the
>> world and in various countries and still do.  So I guess this is the
>> present.
>>
>> The future seems less safe and so I wanted to write this e-mail.  My
>> understanding is that lots of honest (not corrupt) and good countries are a
>> friend of the USA.  Also the good countries (think of NATO members as a
>> starting point) have the same common enemies as the USA does: Iran, North
>> Korea, China (Peoples Republic of China) and Russia.  However I guess Iran
>> and North Korea actually hate the USA and would like to nuke it and maybe
>> one day they will try to, but not bother with England/the UK or Europe or
>> maybe just not have enough missiles to try to do so.
>>
>> The Ukraine has been invaded in part by Russia and the only reason they
>> haven't been totally taken over is because they fought back and had help
>> and support from the USA and Europe.  The Ukraine might be on their last
>> legs but in a different way so is Russia and they have both paid a hefty
>> price to date.
>>
>> If you think back to my childhood where Europe was a willing buffer to
>> help keep the USSR at bay who targeted missiles (now ICBMs and sub
>> delivered) at the USA and Europe - it was a policy that worked.
>>
>> So what I don't understand is why the USA would now be so friendly to
>> Russia.  Call the Ukraine a European problem and you might be right.
>> However, why be wholly on Russia's side who are propped up by North Korea
>> who have undoubtedly gained money and most likely warfare expertise
>> (nuclear and missile technology)?  Once Russia have what they want and so
>> does North Korea, is the world a more dangerous place and is the USA less
>> safe from rogue states than ever before?
>>
>> Regards
>>
>>
>> Daniel
>> ------------------------
>>
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