We want our England back.

[cubix]

If the flag of St George has racist undertones then maybe they should eradicate racism.

[J@mes]

They can **** right off cant they

 

You dont hear about us going to their country and not likeing there flag :(

 

 

Trouble is, IF it even is true you will find that 99.9% of non british don't actually give a ****, but some overpaid pile of **** sat behind his/her council desk thinks it's a good idea.

[Beardo]

St George was Turkish anyway :(

[alexr]

But was the dragon English ? :(

 

The nationality of the Saint is not really the issue. The issue is the lack of a common English identity, or at least one that they can be proud of. if the Flag acts as a symbol of that identity then great. Perhaps it will act as a focus for the pride in themselves that the English appear to have lost.

[RossEM]

Don't know if anyone agrees, but the only time I notice a real, genuine outpouring of national pride from the general public is when England play footie - I'm not one to shout too much about having pride in my country but heck, there are so many other things we should be proud of - pick anything from the NHS to the invention of the telescope. Maybe not our firearms laws though, eh.

[Glensman]

Don't know if anyone agrees, but the only time I notice a real, genuine outpouring of national pride from the general public is when England play footie - I'm not one to shout too much about having pride in my country but heck, there are so many other things we should be proud of - pick anything from the NHS to the invention of the telescope. Maybe not our firearms laws though, eh.

 

 

NHS is Def something to be proud of.

[dieseldogg]

i would be happy with the concept of the NHS

BUT absolutly NOT its well funded but currently sloppy inefficient uncaring slovenly execution

jat

M

PS

English? bitter consumed at an English pub is something to be proud of

Followed by a proper English curry

[Jay]

the original english (anglo saxon) flag was the white dragon maybe we should fly it next to the union flag.

[Iaindp]

Bit of a fag-end in the powder-keg this one

 

I think Arnhem & Mons had their fair share of Scots, Welsh & Irish catching lead for King & Country.

 

 

 

I was in Arnhem / Nimajen at the weekend on the Battlefield tour. I don't remember seeing the gravestones of any of the Welsh / Irish regiments specifically, but almost all regiments seemed to have been represented so it's inconceivable to think that there were no Welsh / Irish regiments there.

 

The Scots regiments were definately there, the KOSB (Kings Own Scottish Borderers) being one example.

 

Colonel John Frost (2nd Para Brigade) was an Arnhem hero who joned the Parachute regiment from his parent Scottish Regiment, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), so whilst the Irish / Welsh / Scots regiments may not have been, (but almost certainly were) there, the "British" regiments (Paras, Borderers etc etc) were well represented by all UK and Irish squaddies. I personally had an uncle who fought with 2 Para in Arnhem and he was from Belfast.

 

The War Graves commission do a sterling job of maintaining the memory of the guys who fell in Arnhem. The locals, even more so. They are clearly full of gratitude for what the British Airbourne divisions did out there and this is displayed proudly, thougout the region.

 

Continuing the theme of the flag, the memorials to the British out in Arnhem are maintained to pristine condition by the local population. This includes the immaculate presentation of the Union flag, from houses, monuments and official buildings where it is proudly flown alongside the Dutch flag.

 

By contrast, the flag flying from the P&O ferry on the way back was filthy, torn and tangled.

 

Seeing the battlefields and monuments and from talking to Dutch people who were caught up in the fighting, I was made to feel immensely proud of being English and British.

 

I think some of the idiots who make these absurd decisions about where we can and can't fly our National flag(s) under the guise of "racism" should be dragged to places to Arnhem see how other "races" are so proud to be flying our flags in their countries and what it means to them.

 

Those guys fought and died so that we would have the right to our own Nationalities for some local council official to wave away their efforts to satisfy their local voters?? The world's gone ****g mad!

[Ozzy Fudd]

I was in Arnhem / Nimajen at the weekend on the Battlefield tour. I don't remember seeing the gravestones of any of the Welsh / Irish regiments specifically, but almost all regiments seemed to have been represented so it's inconceivable to think that there were no Welsh / Irish regiments there.

 

The Scots regiments were definately there, the KOSB (Kings Own Scottish Borderers) being one example.

 

Colonel John Frost (2nd Para Brigade) was an Arnhem hero who joned the Parachute regiment from his parent Scottish Regiment, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), so whilst the Irish / Welsh / Scots regiments may not have been, (but almost certainly were) there, the "British" regiments (Paras, Borderers etc etc) were well represented by all UK and Irish squaddies. I personally had an uncle who fought with 2 Para in Arnhem and he was from Belfast.

 

my great uncle was in arnheim. if i remember rightly he started off in the 10th (?) Ulster Rifles which was then transferred over to the airborne division, so there would have been quite a few ulster/irish lads there, although probably fighting as airborne and not their original regiments

[Iaindp]

my great uncle was in arnheim. if i remember rightly he started off in the 10th (?) Ulster Rifles which was then transferred over to the airborne division, so there would have been quite a few ulster/irish lads there, although probably fighting as airborne and not their original regiments

 

 

MMmm depends where he was babby. There were two aspects to the battle. Operation Market (The Airborne part) and Operation Garden, was the ground force. Together, they were called Operation Market Garden. If he jumped in or went by glider, you're right, he would have been part of the Airbourne Army. If he drove up through France and Belgium, he may have been one of the guys stuck around Overloon / Nimajen etc. As the Ulster Rifles were an infantry division, I reckon he would have been airborne. Do you have any other information on where he was, which unit he was attached to etc etc?

[Iaindp]

my great uncle was in arnheim. if i remember rightly he started off in the 10th (?) Ulster Rifles which was then transferred over to the airborne division, so there would have been quite a few ulster/irish lads there, although probably fighting as airborne and not their original regiments

 

Babby - Just having another quick look, your Uncle may have been part of the 1st Royal Ulster Rifles in which case he would have become part of the 1st Airbourne Brigade in 1941 and would have jumped or glidered into Arnhem. Do you know where else he was during the war e.g. Sicily?

[alexr]

I think the English should be proud.

 

Proud of their tolerance of other cultures, their ability to assimilate the best of other cultures, their fairness and sense of natural justice, their need to stand up for the suppressed and their ability to embrace change. The professionalism displayed by our armed forces regardless of what the politicians do to them combined with the support in the general population for the Gurkhas and the respect shown to the dead returning from Afghanistan as well as that shown to the antiwar protestor in parliament square shows what both the English and the British are capable of

 

We should also feel saddened by some of the less palatable aspects of our psyche. Lying politicians that lead us into unjust wars, or seek short term political advantage out of personal tragedy. Casual and often unthinking racism. Football hooliganism. antisocial yobbish behavior. Alcohol fueled violence. The behavior of British youth abroad. But these are a minority of the English and British population. Unfortunately they are also the bit that the media concentrate on.

 

If you are constantly told that you have nothing to be proud about then you will not be proud of anything.

 

So for God, Harry and St George get out there and fly the flag.

[Aled]

NHS: One of the main instigators of the NHS wa Aneurin Bevan unless i'm mistaken he was Welsh (he's related to my Mam) not English

 

However as a British invention the NHS is something to be proud of.

Cheers

Aled

 

ps Tongue in cheek :blink:

[Ferret Master]

Something to be proud of?

 

Definitely our armed forces. :blink:

 

FM

[Edward]

Something to be proud of?

 

Definitely our armed forces. :blink:

 

FM

[Ozzy Fudd]

MMmm depends where he was babby. There were two aspects to the battle. Operation Market (The Airborne part) and Operation Garden, was the ground force. Together, they were called Operation Market Garden. If he jumped in or went by glider, you're right, he would have been part of the Airbourne Army. If he drove up through France and Belgium, he may have been one of the guys stuck around Overloon / Nimajen etc. As the Ulster Rifles were an infantry division, I reckon he would have been airborne. Do you have any other information on where he was, which unit he was attached to etc etc?

 

 

Babby - Just having another quick look, your Uncle may have been part of the 1st Royal Ulster Rifles in which case he would have become part of the 1st Airbourne Brigade in 1941 and would have jumped or glidered into Arnhem. Do you know where else he was during the war e.g. Sicily?

 

sorry just saw this again. the only person he ever spoke to about it was my dad (he was ex airborne too so they got on quite well). i dont know much tbh, tho i should. he was a sergeant, started off in ulster rifles before going airborne, tho for some reason i thought he was 6th and not 1st? i know he was definitely in gliders, and i know he was in italy/sicily because i can remember someone saying how he jumped over a wall and heard bullets whizzing past his hip, only to find out that the 3ft wall he jumped over was one of those stepped hillside gardens that you see over there, so ended up falling 20+ feet. oh and he was he was in arnheim itself, he had to swim the river on the last day to avoid capture.

 

apart from that the only other thing i know is how he ended up in the glass house for punching an officer... :blink:

Edited September 3, 2009 by babbyc1000

[Bagsy]

I think the English should be proud.

 

Proud of their tolerance of other cultures, their ability to assimilate the best of other cultures, their fairness and sense of natural justice, their need to stand up for the suppressed and their ability to embrace change. The professionalism displayed by our armed forces regardless of what the politicians do to them combined with the support in the general population for the Gurkhas and the respect shown to the dead returning from Afghanistan as well as that shown to the antiwar protestor in parliament square shows what both the English and the British are capable of

 

We should also feel saddened by some of the less palatable aspects of our psyche. Lying politicians that lead us into unjust wars, or seek short term political advantage out of personal tragedy. Casual and often unthinking racism. Football hooliganism. antisocial yobbish behavior. Alcohol fueled violence. The behavior of British youth abroad. But these are a minority of the English and British population. Unfortunately they are also the bit that the media concentrate on.

 

If you are constantly told that you have nothing to be proud about then you will not be proud of anything.

 

So for God, Harry and St George get out there and fly the flag.

 

Nicely said :blink:

[Diceman]

[*]The Union Jack / red, white & blue is the BRITISH flag (but none of the Welsh flag features in it for some reason).

 

The Union Flag was created when England, Scotland and Ireland were unified. Wales, as an existing principality of England at the time of unification, was represented in the St George Cross along with England.

[stevethevanman]

Good Rhyme, :blink:

 

Steve

[Raja Clavata]

Yep, top post alexr :blink:

[alexr]

Thanks Raja. by the way Nice Foxes taken with Elivis earlier