This Is Going To Be An Intro Of Two Parts
Firstly, I have to begin with the capitalised Mosquito, because otherwise the Facebook twod mods, who have their sense of humour removed as a contractual obligation, would dive in and begin removing shizzle. I have appealed all three of their removals, to absolutely no reply, so they probably out-sourced their HR functions to First Bus. Art!
Yes, the De Havilland Mosquito, one of the most versatile British aircraft of the Second Unpleasantness. Here you see it in 'D-Day' livery, the black and white stripes intended to cut down on misidentification, which lingered on long months after D-Day. You can also see the underwing rockets, and the cannon and machine guns in the nose.
You can dismiss Conrad's ravings as being those of a jingoistic Brit, so allow me to wheel on Chris, of "Military Aviation History", whom is not only a Teuton himself, but who looked at the most-mentioned Allied aircraft of the Second Unpleasantness in a lexicographical statistical analysis. Art!
Mossie comes up trumps, as do her Merlin engines. Chris does a breakdown of why the Luftwaffe's big shots were unhappily discussing a British aircraft in awed and worried tones. I may come back to this because, after all, this is an Intro of two halves.
The Mosquito was dangerous for several reasons. Firstly, it's airframe was made nearly completely of wood (usually birch), which meant it was lightweight and, thanks to careful assembly, verrrry robust. One of them came home from a raid over Holland, carrying half a chimney with it, because RAF pilots took the order 'rooftop height' very seriously. Art!
One and a half wings? Practically intact!
When you then hung a pair of whacking big Merlin engines on said lightweight frame, the resultant aircraft went like stink. Stop me if I get too technical. Another thing that made it dangerous was it's 'bite', because all the guns were packed into the nose. Art!
There was no problem here with trying to get guns to converge on a target, you simply lined up and let fly, and with forty 20 m.m. cannon shells and 64 .303 machine gun bullets every second, what you hit turned to aerial confetti.
Dangerous!
ANYWAY we must away to the infinitely smaller mosquito, uncapitalised, known as 'Anopheles', which has been as deadly as the Mosquito, capitalised, and for far longer. You see, I've been reading the "Medical Matters' chapter in Janet MacDonald's "Supplying The British Army In The Second World War", where she makes the very valid point that sickness saw more British & Commonwealth soldiers hors de combat than did combat itself. Mosquitoes were a vector for malaria above all others, plus dengue fever, typhus, leichmaniosis, brucellosis, trachoma and rabies. I know, I know, I've not heard of some of those, either. Art!
From "The War Illustrated", in the Burma theatre of war. In upper port a drainage channel has been cut to dry out swamp areas that act as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. At upper starboard a Chinese soldier is being trained in how to use an insecticide sprayer. At bottom port a can is dropping timed releases of oil into water, which will float on the surface and asphyxiate mosquito larvae. At bottom starboard medical staff are testing if or how badly a tropical pool is infested with mosquitoes, prefatory to taking measures.
An interesting factoid Ol' Janey puts forth are the statistics for malaria sufferers in the Burma theatre: in 1942 there were 1,850 admissions per 1,000 men, a skewing due to many having malaria more than once. By 1945, thanks to control measure and mepacrine, this was reduced to 500 per 1,000. There are no statistics for the Japanese, apart from every single one of them having malaria, and their medical staff being advised to kill sick soldiers who wouldn't recover quickly. Egad! Art?
The malaria mosquito problem wasn't restricted to the tropic climes of Burma, either. The photographs you see above are from Italy, where the Pontine Marshes near Anzio had been malarial for millennia. Not when the Allies arrived! You can see more DDT being sprayed to massacre mosquito larvae, and (barely visible) protective mask and gauntlets on a sentry, and soldiers at bottom being inculcated with How To Avoid Being Bitten. It was better to be sweaty than roll up sleeves or trousers and thus get malaria. Art!
 |
| Pondering a puddle pre-prophylaxis |
Enough of flies!
Just A Placeholder For Now
Conrad came across a random Facebook promo yesteryon, which immediately struck a chord in terms of history and geography. Art!
This is the Standedge Tunnel, which carries a canal beneath the Pennines for three and a half miles. It is the UK's highest, longest and deepest tunnel, carved out of the living rock by sweating navvies a couple of centuries ago. Yes, it is still open, yes it is traversable and in fact it's a minor tourist attraction in it's own right. Being cooped up claustrophobically for hours may not appeal to some of you, but there are others who'd find it a hoot.
A view unencumbered by boat. It's only wide enough for a single canal boat, so how did they avoid two-way traffic problems?
Come In, Bob Shaw, All Is Forgiven
For those of you unaware, Bob Shaw was an apparently dour Ulsterman who made a living writing sci-fi way back when. His stolid appearance was disproved by his eminently un-serious 'Serious Talks About Science Fiction' performances at conventions.
ANYWAY one of Bob's more intriguing ideas was 'Slow glass', this being a type of glass that essentially records what images fall upon one side, and, depending on the thickness of the glass, may take years or decades to reach the other side and display. Art!
Subtle yet evocative
Bear this The Consequence Of An Act Coming Much Later in mind. Art!
Looks as stolid and unremarkable as a bank manager, doesn't he? Which is quite apt, as meet Dmitry Romaev, head of the Otkritie Bank of Modern-day Mordor. Dmitry left Ruffia in a hurry four years ago, and the full picture of above might indicate more fully why he felt compelled to travel abroad. Art!
Yes, that would explain the sudden wanderlust, wouldn't it? By the way, when he stole that money it was at a rate of ₽75 to the dollar, so he collared about $40 million, whereas today he'd only get about $30 million, so he struck whilst the iron was hot indeed.
What's curious and Other Days Other Eyes about this is the schedule for his offence. Art!
2016/2017: theft occurred
2020: Dmitry Romaev left Russia
2023: Case was opened against Romaev
2024: Moscow court arrest him in absentia
So, is it credible that it took SEVEN YEARS to discover that THREE BILLION RUBLES were missing, along with Dmitry? I had heard Tsarist and Bolshevik bureaucracy was surpassingly slow, but this makes treacle exhibit all the speed of lightning.
More Point And Laugh At The Little Tsar's Expense
Let me inform you that various grandees from across the globe are attending the BRICS summit in Kazan, Ruffia. This is a faintly desperate attempt by Bloaty Gas Tout to show that Ruffia Stronk, that sanctions don't work, that the ruble is mighty amongst currencies, and to impress Saudi Arabia. Art!
Ah, yes, about that - BRICS stands for "Brazil, Ruffia, India, China & South Africa". These are the primary pillars of an organisation that will destroy the dollar, pummel the pound, end the Euro, etcetera etcetera.
Except the Brazilian President can't attend due to head trauma. The Cuban president can't attend thanks to Cuba being without power for four days. China and India soldiers are beating the tar out of each other on their disputed border with medieval weapons, the South African economy is worse than the Ruffian one and -
Saudi Arabia declined to attend.
Conrad, in his alter ego as a mild-mannered admin worker, had to stick his oar in. Art!
More Mosquito Mange
Art!
No, it's not smoke or tornadoes or dust devils. Those are swarms of mosquitoes in Modern-day Mordor, caused thanks to the extensive flooding there, where dams have failed repeatedly. It's almost as if the money needed to repair them had been squandered elsewhere. Dmitry Romaev, are you reading this, you villain!
Finally -
Fun and games with our work IT. This is what happens when you purchase it from Pyongyang People Products at a bargain basement price, I'm telling you.
No comments:
Post a Comment