Royal Albert Hall - 9 November - James Bl(o)unt
 

A truly moving performance tonight. Thank you, James, for making me cry.

This year there was a recognition of foreign and Commonwealth allies who fought in the same battles and campaigns as British forces.

I was most impressed at the appearance at the Albert Hall of Col. Gail Halvorsen USAF, age 99. He was the transport pilot who was known as "The Candy Bomber" during the Berlin Airlift.

I thought it was a nice touch.

As usual not that impressed by any of the singers, except for the old guy, the Korean veteran, whose name I missed. I was holding my breath thinking it was going to be a bit embarrassing but he was brilliant, singing The Boys of the Old Brigade.

TTN, the old boy is Colin Thakery. He won "Britain's Got Talent" earlier this year!

TTN, have to agree with you. This is supposed to be the British Legion Festival of Remembrance. It is becoming little by little the BBC Royal Variety Show. At least we were spared this year from the constant commentary from Hugh Edwards laboriously explaining the tradition of making an altar from the drums, or if he did I mercifully missed it. Great effort though by all involved, young and old, serving and retired. 75 years now since D-Day, Kohima and Imphal, and Monte Cassino, all remembered in this ceremony.

My feeling persists though, as a production it is altogether becoming too slick, and having actors dressing up as veterans is especially inappropriate. Just let them portray themselves, that is more than sufficient.

Chugalug2 I totally agree ... but lets not go back to Sqn Ldr Ralph Reader!

Labour Party Slogan
 

As a aside as I mostly do shopping on line and have it delivered I rarely go where the RBL set up stalls and so I had to make a specific sojourn out to obtain this year's Poppy

Also as all football matches had a Last Post and memorial over the last 2 weekends, neither of the games I went to had RBL outside the grounds offering Poppies

There appears to me less and less Poppies on show each year, except on live TV...example Cenotaph

There are plenty of poppies on sale, and the various RBL Branches do a lot of work to ensure they are in shops etc. If anything, I think there are more outlets selling them these days than 20 years ago.

With all these (justified) complaints about the televised ceremony, I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the dreadful messing about with The Last Post and Evening Hymn finale. That particular musical combination has raised a lump in my throat for more years than I care to remember. The traditional musical intermingling from trumpeters and military bands is unique in its natural harmony and to clutter it up with unnecessary choral accompaniment is little short of vandalism. Presumably dreamed up by some non-military wazzock who cannot stand music without some wailing vocal input. AWFUL, truly AWFUL!!

I gather that his Dad, Charlie, late AAC, is very seriously ill.

The "Few" are not the pilots of the Battle of Britain. If you read Churchill's speech, the "Few" are the "RAF Airmen" and include Fighter Command and Bomber Command. Its just that the term has become hijacked to mean just fighter pilots over the years.

The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and b~ their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. All hearts go out to the fighter pilots, whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes day after day; but we must never forget that all the time, night after night, month after month, our bomber squadrons travel far into Germany, find their targets in the darkness by the highest navigational skill, aim their attacks, often under the heaviest fire, often with serious loss, with deliberate careful discrimination, and inflict shattering blows upon the whole of the technical and war-making structure of the Nazi power. On no part of the Royal Air Force does the weight of the war fall more heavily than on the daylight bombers, who will play an invaluable part in the case of invasion and whose unflinching zeal it has been necessary in the meanwhile on numerous occasions to restrain.

We are able to verify the results of bombing military targets in Germany, not only by reports which reach us through many sources, but also, of course, by photography. I have no hesitation in saying that this process of bombing the military industries and communications of Germany and the air bases and storage depots from which we are attacked, which process will continue upon an ever-increasing scale until the end of the war, and may in another year attain dimensions hitherto undreamed of, affords one at least of the most certain, if not the shortest, of all the roads to victory. Even if the Nazi legions stood triumphant on the Black Sea, or indeed upon the Caspian, even if Hitler was at the gates of India, it would profit him nothing if at the same time the entire economic and scientific apparatus of German war power lay shattered and pulverized at home.

Capt Blunt
 

I thought Mr (Capt) Blunt's performance was outstanding and his new dit had many levels, especially considering his history. Poor old leona however.....
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Lest we forget https://navalairhistory.com/2017/09/...le-of-britain/

Jack

In our last village we had door to door, not here though.

And of course it bears remembering that more bomber command crew members died over Berlin in one night than all those (fighter) pilots that perished during the Battle of Britain.

Remember,

If those RAF,RN and Commonweath pilots had not fought, and won the Battle of Britain, the Bomber Command crews would not have had the opportunity to "apparently" win the War!