Taybird wrote:
<< ... It really brought home to me what courage and bravery had to be brought into play; when you compare that with some of today's young people of a similar age, how many would be found wanting?
He definitely represents an era of very different standards and expectations.>>
It's not the times but the environment - the young people of Rhodesia still had outstanding qualities as late as the '70s.
Like the earlier British generations, they had cultural and national identities - and pride in them.
WW2 was, in effect, fought against such values - you should not destroy one's cultural fabric without careful consideration of what you are going to replace it with. I suspect that there was very little discussion at the time as to whether we were going to abandon all forms of nationalism (indeed there was probably a lot of deception - for examples, the Russians being told that they were fighting a "Patriotic" war and Churchill warning of the threat to the British Empire) - too late now as you are too multi-cultural to define a national identity other than with practically meaningless soundbites. Just don't blame the young - your forebears left them in social limbo. Make the best of it by talking with other men as to what kind of community you want in future, what can be salvaged, etc - too late to cry over spilt milk.