I am very ashamed of this country at the moment and so the only reason to fight for it would be in respect of people who have lost their lives in doing so.
james.
I'd be a conscientious objector for sure. I'm not saying I would have had a solution to the problems in 1914 and 1945 but all I know is war is not it.
Me too. Although I doubt I'd actually have the courage to turn around and so "no, I don't believe this is the answer" if I was called up...
..too much of a coward.
I'd be a conscientious objector for sure. I'm not saying I would have had a solution to the problems in 1914 and 1945 but all I know is war is not it.
An alternative to war in 1945 would have been great, I think the problem was that the Nazis wouldn't take no for an answer.
Personally, if I was an eligible age in 1945, I firmly believe I would have volunteered to serve my country.
1939
That's what I meant, 1939 - 1945.
I signed up at 18 and came out at 39. I spent many happy years slotting terrorists and other assorted mit mots for Queen and Country. However two decades of loud bangs,beddycopters and wearing green pants have rendered me totally f*****g barking (ptsd and incipient Schizophrenia to the fore). So, no not again.
No way. War is wrong on all counts.
Interestingly, those MPs who served (Healey, Benn, Heath, Neave etc etc) were those who were the most anti-war of the lot.
As we now have a generation who didn't fight in real situations or do National Service, it's a bit more theoretical. And we have people who are perfectly happy to take us to war** based on poor information and a desire to please their allies, rather than slightly more authentic politicians who would exhaust every possible alternative before reluctantly bowing to the inevitable.
Put it this way, if someone who had actually served told me that war was, sadly, completely unavoidable, I might listen and feel more like agreeing to be conscripted. Paddy Ashdown, regardless of what you think of him politically, has credibility in this area in a way that Cameron & Clegg could never have.
**Yes, I do mean you, Tony Blair.
no
I'm the first bloke in my family* not to join up in the best part of two centuries. Mind you, I'm short-sighted & colour-blind - and so all-but-useless... although as a nurse, I suppose I could serve in a medical capacity.
1939: I [i]hope[/i] that I could have lived up to the example set by that generation - what alternative was there? Ruthless b'stard he may have been, but when you hear [url=
growl that we will defend this island, whatever the cost, you very much believe him. By contrast, Bliar will be famous for being a lying ****.
(*My great-grandfather was a Lt Colonel in the Royal Engineers [i]and[/i] half-German...).
