In those halycon inter-war years (great depression/mass unemployment/soup kitchens etc) the use of the N word was part of common parlance in the UK, used primarily to describe a dark colour in clothing & other items of apparel. Indeed, a popular shoe polish of the day was thus labeled. It is not surprising, therefore, that Wg Cdr Gibson should have had a dog so named. The vast majority of the UK population had never even seen a coloured person in that era, unless they lived in a maritime port city. The arrival of the first coloured US troops during the D-Day build up came as a shock to many.
Enough of this PC tosh; does anybody know when I'm going to get to see this movie? Is it true that Mr Jackson is financing the airworthy restoration of Lincolnshire's taxi-only Lancaster?
I was passing through Steenbergen in Holland last year, & visited the grave of Gibson & his Nav (ashamed to say I can't recall his name). Their graves are in a civil cemetery in the town, and are beautifully tended; almost a shrine, in fact.
HB
Last edited by Halton Brat; 10th Jun 2011 at 16:31.