World War II Photos That Most Have Never Seen (Part 1)

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From Horizon Times at: 

https://www.horizontimes.com/worldwide/world-war-two

Fascinating photographs, some of which have been posted in Bytes before. 

Further instalments to come. 

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Worthless Money 

Leading up to World War II, Germany was suffering from severe hyperinflation. The result was widespread as the nation’s currency became as useless as straw. Here children stack hundreds of bills that are worthless. Adolf Hitler would use this rocky time to launch his anti-Semitic propaganda campaign against the Jews. 

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Hermann Goering’s Collection 

Following the end of the war, many Nazis’ private art collections were discovered by the Allies. These art pieces and artifacts actually belonged to various art museums throughout France and other countries too. This is Hermann Goering’s stashed stolen art collection. 

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Seeing The Truth 

After the war many German soldiers claimed that they didn’t know of the atrocities being carried out around them. Here you can see German soldiers watching footage taken from concentration camps run by the Nazis. Some of these soldiers can’t handle the images they’re seeing. 

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Young Soldiers 

Just before the fall of Berlin, Hitler ordered the arming of women and children to fight the city’s last battle. Clearly you can see that not everyone was prepared for this flawed strategy. A young German boy weeps after being captured by the Allies. 

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Saving Civilians 

An American soldier helps a Japanese woman and her baby emerge from their hiding place. The Japanese emperor had ordered his citizens to take their own lives instead of being captured. Japanese propaganda instilled fear in Japanese citizens, telling them that the Americans were rapists and murderers. 

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Reversing The Roles 

This Jewish concentration camp survivor never thought this day would ever occur. Following the liberation of the death and concentration camps by the Allies, many Nazis fled but many were captured too. This powerful image shows a newly-freed man with the upper hand. 

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Hungarian Mini Tanks 

There’s no question that war initiates a technology boost. These Hungarian mini tanks were a new and innovative adaptation to what war could be. Their effectiveness wasn’t great, though. 

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Homeless Japanese Citizens 

Following the massive destruction of Japanese cities during World War II, the citizens were the ones who suffered most. Here you can see men trying to get their lives started again, even though they’re homeless and without anything. 

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Hitler’s Retreat 

This epic photograph shows Hitler’s famous retreat up in the hills of Berchtesgaden. American planes fly over the ruins of one of his estates, but this one was bombed to oblivion. 

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Female Tank Commander 

There weren’t many female officers in the Soviet Army, but Aleksandra Samusenko was one of them. She successfully led her crew safely out of ambush during the Battle of Kursk when her commander was killed. 

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Quote for the Day

 

Poetry Spot

I have previously made the point that whether it be art, film or literature, oftentime something that is looked down on by the literati but popular with the public is also more enjoyable. What would you rather watch: Citizen Kane or the Blues Brothers? Read: Jayne Eyre or Catch-22? 

Writer William Faulkner, writing about writing, once famously said ““The writer’s only responsibility is to his art. He will be completely ruthless if he is a good one… If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the Ode on a Grecian Urn is worth any number of old ladies.” Whilst I recognise Faulkner's commitment to commitment, I don’t share his passion for Ode on a Grecian Urn. As the saying goes: “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like” – that is all ye know on earth, and all you need to know. 

I posted a Benny Hill parody poem a few days back. 

According to Wikipedia: 

Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (1924 – 1992) was an English comedian and actor, best remembered for his television programme The Benny Hill Show, an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque, and double entendre in a format that included live comedy and filmed segments with Hill at the focus of almost every segment. 

Hill was a prominent figure in British culture for nearly four decades. His show proved to be one of the great success stories of television comedy and was among the most-watched programmes in the UK with the audience peaking at more than 21 million in 1971. The Benny Hill Show was also exported to 97 countries around the world. 

In keeping with my comments above - popularity v perceived quality – here is another Benny Hill poem . . 

You can see Benny Hill perform it by clicking on the following link: 

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=robq8_7drsc

THE OLD FIDDLER 

by 

Benny Hill 

'Twas market day in the village, 

And the crowds 'round the stalls was quite dense, 

But what caught my eye was a stall piled high 

With musical instruments. 

And up to the stall came a little old man, 

His clothes was all tattered and thin, 

But his face come alight when his eyeballs caught sight 

Of a beautiful old violin. 

He held it up to the dealer saying, 

"How much is this one then?" 

He replied, "That's a Stradivarius, my man, 

That'll cost you four pound ten." 

"I can't afford that," sighed the little old man 

And a lump come into my throat, 

I was feeling quite flush, and so I stuffed

In his hand a brand new ten-shilling note. 

A crowd had gathered behind us 

So I quickly went 'round with his hat, 

When I finished I found I'd collected five pounds 

So I took my ten shillings back. 

Well we gave the dealer the money 

And the old man so shabbily dressed, 

Picked up the violin, stuck it under his chin 

And he played like a man possessed. 

He played concertos, cantatas and fugues, 

And polkas and waltzes too, 

By composers like Johann Sebastian Bach... 

To mention only a few. 

He played waltzes by Strauss and Die Fledermaus, 

And Tales From the Vienna Wood, 

Then Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto, 

But he didn't play that quite so good. 

"Well done!" cried the crowd when he finished 

And they gently patted his head, 

But the excitement was too much for the little old man 

Who promptly fell down dead. 

Well we gave the dealer his fiddle 

And we took back our four pound ten, 

Then we picked up the old man and we laid him to rest 

In the cemetery down by the glen. 

But sometimes at night when the moon do shine bright, 

If I should happen to stray, 

Up over the hill, it seems that still 

I can hear the old man play. 

Yes the words of that popular song rings true, 

For though the old man is gone, 

Yes, although the song is ended, 

The melody lingers on.

Quote for the Day

Bernie Sanders’ eerily accurate prediction of Trump's premature 'victory' declaration a WEEK before the election, made during an interview with Jimmy Fallon on October 23. 2020: 

 

"You're going to have a situation, I suspect, in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, other states, where they are going to be receiving huge amounts of mail-in ballots. 

"They're not able—for bad reasons—to begin processing those ballots until Election Day or maybe when the polls close. That means you're going to have states dealing with perhaps millions of mail-in ballots." 

"Democrats are more likely to use mail-in ballots, Republicans are more likely to walk into polling booths on Election Day. It is likely that the first votes that will be counted will be those people who came in on Election Day. 

"It could well be [...] that at 10 o'clock on election night, Trump is winning in Michigan, he's winning in Pennsylvania, he's winning in Wisconsin and he gets on the television and he says: 'Thank you, Americans, for re-electing me. It's all over. Have a good day.' 

"But then the next day, and the day following, all of those mail-in ballots start getting counted and it turns out that Biden has won those states. At which point Trump says: 'See? I told you the whole thing was fraudulent. I told you those mail-in ballots were crooked. And, you know, we're not going to leave office.'"

 

Out and About in NSW: Maclean

Byter Robyn T sent me an email in which she expressed her enjoyment of old time and historical photographs. It occurred to me that having been posting about Sydney’ suburbs, with collections of old photographs, I have been overlooking the rich trove of rural and coastal New South Wales. Today’s post starts a new occasional series called Out and About in NSW. Because Robyn lives in Maclean, that is the first place featured. 

MACLEAN 

Location: 

Maclean is a town in Clarence Valley local government area in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, 658 km (409 mi) north of Sydney and 46 km (29 mi) north of Grafton. It is on the Clarence River and near the Pacific Highway. 

Name origin: 

The Maclean area was known as Rocky Mouth in the 1850s by reason of the rocks at the mouth of the river. It then became known as Big River. The township was officially laid out in 1862 and named after Alexander Grant McLean, the Surveyor-General who carried out the survey work. The spelling was, however, altered. In 1862 it officially became a town and was named Maclean. 

About: 

At the 2016 census, Maclean had a population of 2,628. 

Maclean is nestled at the base of Mt Maclean and the shoreline of the Clarence River where the river reunites after splitting around Woodford Island. A bridge connects Woodford Island to Maclean. During times of heavy rain the town is under threat of flooding by the surging waters of the river but it is now protected by a levee bank which runs beside River Street 

Maclean refers to itself as "The Scottish Town in Australia”, based on a large number of the early settlers in the valley having originally come from Scotland and that the town was named after a Scot. 

Since 1903 the town has held the Maclean Highland Gathering where pipe bands, caber tossing, wearing of kilts, a parade down the main street and highland dancing are part of the celebrations. The 2020 event was however cancelled for the first time in its history. 

The Maclean district is recognised as the southern limit of the Australian sugar crop. 

Gallery: 

The Maclean sign which greets visitors to the town. 

The stones in the cairn originated from many parts of Australia and Scotland, and are memorials to the contribution made to the settlement of Maclean by Scottish pioneers. 

The Chiefs' Tartan Poles commemorate the 14 chiefs who have ruled since 1894. Five poles form the St Andrew's cross. 

There are 240 tartan painted power poles in and around Maclean. 

Shark Creek bridge near Maclean, formerly part of the Pacific Highway 

River Street, the main street, with tartan telegraph posts and clan banners. 

The Mathieson tartan on the levee in the park beside the Clarence River. 

Timber buildings and brick buildings in the main street of Maclean. 

Post Office in the background and the Sugar Derrick sculpture at the end of the main street. 

Maclean's Court House (1891) beside the Clarence River. 

A boat moored at the town wharf on the Clarence River. 

The Macgregor tartan telegraph post outside the local Presbyterian Church. 

Sugar cane lines the sides of the road on the way into Maclean. 

River Street Maclean looking down river. The building to the left of the main building in this picture, which became the Boulevarde Cafe, burnt down in 2006. 

Tyler Photographic Studios, Maclean, 1910. A few of the buildings still remain. The nearest buildings were destroyed by fire on 27 Feb 2006. 

River Street, Maclean, 1948 flood 

Post Office and Mechanics Institute, Maclean, N.S.W. - very early 1900s

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Thought for the Day

 

Funny Friday

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So the election has been and gone but the outcome is not yet known. 

While we wait, here are some tension easers . . . 

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SOME HUMOUR: 

Waiting for election results is like waiting for a grade on a group project. 

I know I did my part right, but I am worried the rest of you screwed it up. 

________________ 

Kim Jong Un was sitting in his office wondering whom to irritate next when his telephone rang. 

"Hallo, Mr. Kim!", a heavily accented voice said. "This is Paddy down at the Harp Pub in County Sligo, Ireland. I am ringing to inform you that we are officially declaring war on you!" 

"Well, Paddy," Kim replied, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army?" 

"Right now," said Paddy, after a moment's calculation, "there is meself, me cousin Sean, me next door neighbour Seamus, and the entire dart team from the pub. That makes eight!" 

Kim paused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have one million men in my army waiting to move on my command." 

“Jesus" said Paddy. "I'll have to call you back!" 

Sure enough, the next day, Paddy called again. "Mr. Kim, the war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment!" 

"And what equipment would that be, Paddy?" Kim asked. "Well, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Murphy's farm tractor." 

Kim sighed. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 16,000 tanks and 14,000 armoured personnel carriers. Also, I've increased my army to one and a half million since we last spoke." 

"Holy shite!" said Paddy. "I'll get back to you." 

Sure enough, Paddy rang again the next day. "Mr. Kim, the war is still on! We have managed to get ourselves airborne! We've modified Harrigan's ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Shamrock Pub have joined us as well!" 

Kim was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 10,000 bombers and,10,000 fighter planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to TWO MILLION!" 

"Ah, bollocks!", said Paddy, "I'll have to ring you back." 

Sure enough, Paddy called again the next day. " G’ mornin' Mr. Kim! I am sorry to tell you that we have had to call off the war." 

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Kim "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Well," said Paddy, "we've all had a long chat over a lot of pints, and decided there's no feckin’ way we can feed two million prisoners." 

________________ 

This must be read (or thought) in a Sean Connery accent . . . 

James Bond walks into a bar and takes a seat next to a very attractive woman. He gives her a quick glance, and then casually looks at his watch for a moment. The woman notices this and asks, "Is your date running late?" 

"No," he replies, "Q has just given me this state-of-the-art watch. I was just testing it." 

The intrigued woman says, "A state-of-the-art watch? What's so special about it?" 

Bond explains, "It uses alpha waves to talk to me telepathically." 

The lady says, "What's it telling you now?" 

"Well, it says you're not wearing any panties." 

The woman giggles and replies, "Well it must be broken because I am wearing panties!" 

Bond smirks, taps his watch and says, "Bloody thing's an hour fast." 

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FROM THE VAULT: 

Sometimes hearing or reading an alternative version of a joke is like seeing a remake of a classic film. You think about whether it is better than the original, whether it is as good as or just different, whether it raises a laugh. . . 

The following item has been posted and reposted by me previously but it is not only topical but very funny, even if you are familiar with it. 

The item has a Jewish mother setting. The other version I came across has an Alabama context. 

Enjoy them both. 

________________ 

Version #1: 

Harry Goldberg is elected the first Jewish President of the United States. 

He is very proud and phones his mother in New York to invite her to the inauguration. 

Harry: “Momma, guess what! I've just been elected President, will you come to my inauguration?” 

Mother: “Harry! You know I hate trains. I can't face the journey all the way to Washington. Maybe next time.” 

Harry: “Momma! You will take no train. Air Force One will collect you. The journey will be over in 30 minutes. Come to my inauguration, please... “ 

Mother: “Harry, I hate hotels. The non-kosher food! Nahh, maybe next time.” 

Harry: “Momma!! You will stay in the White House, a kosher chef to yourself. PLEASE come.” 

Mother: “Harry! I have nothing to wear!” 

Harry: “I have someone on his way to take you to Macy's and Bloomingdale's to make you look perfect. You must come!!!” 

Mother: “Okay, okay, I will come.” 

Inauguration day comes. Mother is on the front row, next to the Secretary of State. 

Harry is called up to become the next President. 

Mother digs the Secretary of State in the ribs and says, "Hey, you see that boy up there with his hand on the Tanakh? His brother is a doctor!" 

________________ 

Version #2: 

The United States has elected the first woman, from Alabama, as President. 

As her inauguration draws near, the President-Elect calls her father . . . 

'So, Daddy, I assume you will be coming to my inauguration?' 

'I don't think so. It's a 16 hour drive, your mother isn't as young as she used to be, and my arthritis is acting up again.' 

'Don't worry about it Daddy, I'll send Air Force One to pick you up and take you home. A limousine will pick you up at your door.' 

'I don't know. Everybody will be so fancy. What would your mother wear?' 

'Oh, Daddy', replies the President-Elect, 'I'll make sure she has a wonderful gown custom made by the best designer in Washington .' 

'Honey,' Dad complains, 'You know I can't eat those rich foods you and your friends like to eat.' 

The President-to-be responds, 'Don't worry Daddy. The entire affair is going to be handled by the best caterer in Washington , I'll ensure your meals are salt free Daddy, I really want you to come.' 

So Dad reluctantly agrees. At her inauguration, the first woman, from Alabama. is being sworn in as President of the United States. 

In the front row sit the new President's Dad and Mom. 

Dad leans over to the Supreme Court Justice sitting next to him and whispers, 'You see that woman over there with her hand on the Bible, becoming President of the United States .' 

The Justice whispers back, 'Yes I do.' 

Daddy says proudly, 'Her brother played football for the University of Alabama.’ 

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LIMERICK OF THE WEEK: 

This election is a bit of a mess 

And it’s causing a lot of distress. 

So I’ll go full throttle 

With the help of a bottle 

And drink ‘til I couldn’t care less. 

(Not one of mine). 

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GALLERY: 

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CORN CORNER: 

All this talk about hoping 2020 ends! 

Even though its cursed, we can't let it defeat us. That would mean 2021. 

________________ 

What's this about Trump having a premature congratulations? 

________________ 

In America, not voting for Trump is for-biden. 

________________ 

My girlfriend of five years is leaving me because I have acute marriage phobia, she asked if I understood what it meant for our relationship. 

I can't say that I do. 

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Quote for the Day

 

Another parody poem

From the Vault, 30/04.204: 

Wit Dorothy Parker once remarked on the poetry of Edgar A Guest: 

“I would rather fail my Wasserman test 

Then read the poetry of Edgar A Guest.” 

The Wasserman test was an antibody test for syphilis. 

(Once asked to put the word “horticulture” into a sentence and make it humorous, she said “You can lead a whore to culture but you can’t make her think.”) 

Here is one of Edgar Guest's poems with the parody following: 

IT COULDN'T BE DONE

By Edgar A Guest 

Somebody said that it couldn't be done, 

But he with a chuckle replied 

That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one 

Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried. 

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin 

On his face. If he worried he hid it. 

He started to sing as he tackled the thing 

That couldn't be done, and he did it. 

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that; 

At least no one ever has done it"; 

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat, 

And the first thing we knew he'd begun it. 

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, 

Without any doubting or quiddit*, 

He started to sing as he tackled the thing 

That couldn't be done, and he did it. 

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, 

There are thousands to prophesy failure; 

There are thousands to point out to you, one by one, 

The dangers that wait to assail you. 

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, 

Just take off your coat and go to it; 

Just start to sing as you tackle the thing 

That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.” 

* quibbling, equivocation 

The parody is by noted poet, author and philosopher Bennie Hill, a favourite of my father in law, Noel . . . 

THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE 

by Benny Hill 

They said that it could not be done, 

He said, "Just let me try." 

They said, "Other men have tried and failed," 

He answered, "But not I." 

They said, "It is impossible," 

He said, "There's no such word." 

He closed his mind, he closed his heart... 

To everything he heard. 

He said, "Within the heart of man, 

There is a tiny seed. 

It grows until it blossoms, 

It's called the will to succeed. 

Its roots are strength, its stem is hope, 

Its petals inspiration, 

Its thorns protect its strong green leaves, 

With grim determination. 

"Its stamens are its skills 

Which help to shape each plan, 

For there's nothing in the universe 

Beyond the scope of man." 

They thought that it could not be done,

Some even said they knew it, 

But he faced up to what could not be done... 

And he couldn't bloody do it!

Thought for the Day

 

Some life thoughts

I imagine that the last thing readers will want today is more election items. Honestly, I am trumped and bidened out, which is not to say that I won't be following the counting. So here is a non-Trump and non-Biden item . . .

Quote for the Day