Iain,

Just a minor point. It was the Yanks who paid for all those Russian arms.

John Dendy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Iain Stuart" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 02, 2004 6:13 AM
Subject: Re: history films


> Paul,
>
> I couldn't resist making some form of comment to the list but you will
> appreciated there is a grain of truth in my comment.
>
> But to comment on your posting, it very much depends on where you sit. In
> Australia we complain about our treatment by the Brits in WWI and WWII and
> the Yanks in WWII. Truth be told in WWII the Russians probably won the war
> and certainly had the best tanks and artillery and infantry weapons. They
> also had some very interesting strategic thinking (in particular the
> development of operational level warfare) which was quite different from
> that of the Allies.
>
> In short it is our national myths that we are talking about.
>
> What did you think of two men in a trench, a great example of military
> archaeology?
>
> yours
>
> Iain Stuart
>
> [log in to unmask]
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "paul courtney" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 11:16 PM
> Subject: history films
>
>
> In regard to the recent thread on films there was a piece in the
Independent
> on Sunday today in which Simon Thurley, head of English Heritage attacked
> Holywood history films
> http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=546798
>
> I think he was a little unfair on Segeant Ryan for not portraying British
> involvement in Normandy as British and American soldiers mostly fought in
> their own sectors- to the relief of many British soldiers whose war
diaries
> reveal they thought American friendly fire was dangerous as the Germans
> (Ammunition was regarded as expensive and not to be wasted in the British
> army, my grandad went over the trenches in the Somme with six bullets and
> one of those was unofficial, and killed six men that day but he was a
> genuine Lincolnshire poacher). I also think the criticism made in the
states
> over the German TV series Heimat a few years back not showing
concentration
> camps was silly as it was about the experiences of an ordinary German
> family. This and its post-war set sequel Heimat 2 are among the best
> historical films ever and Heimat 1 explains a lot about the popularity of
> Nazism. Heimat 3 is due soon. I saw the Thirteenth Warrior the other night
> on TV and thought it actually made a good job of its historical setting
> despite being an outright fantasy plus it had a muslim hero. One of my
> worries about Hollywood is not just rewriting history (I am sure a film
> showing the Americans winning Stalingrad is only prevented by the fact the
> Russians still have a nuclear arsenal ) but the underlying racism of many
> such films. Hollywood dehumanisation of
> Muslims/Arabs/English/French/Russians like the 1930s racist schools of
> Germany and Japan is not a joke and I am sure has real consequences in the
> modern world (I will say no more).
>
> paul courtney
> leicester
> UK