26 days ago
At 10.45 AM, the family all trooped up the hill to what is known as the Cross, the heart of our village of Holt near Wrexham where the war memorial stands. My nine year old son Joshua knows about the World Wars and is, as I write, penning an essay plan for me on “for who was Dunkirk a disaster?” Even soon to be five Jaya is aware of something of our history as a nation and also as a family.
547 days ago
Of course the answer is “no.” Okay, troops following his orders killed up to 20,000 French civilians but nobody, that I am aware of, is suggesting that old Ike was guilty of a war crime. But here is the rub: Allied Forces did not text French civilians suggesting they leave areas near the Normandy beaches,they did not drop millions of leaflets warning them to scarper, the bombardment that proceeded the landings was not pin point accurate and targetted it was, as they say about Gaza “indiscriminate.”
1607 days ago
We can talk of awful fouls and the penalty curse but should not deny that Italy played better football and deserved to win the European Championship. No doubt many of us are still in denial on that matter today but the statistics do not lie. I say this as someone who came into the tournament not supporting England for a range of reasons but who was won over by the charm of the young squad and of the manager and by the way it seemed to unite and give joy to the whole country. All of those involved in England did their country proud. I shall now go back to supporting Northern Ireland, but in this tournament the match against the Hun was the key turning point for me.
