Last night, as there was no football to stimulate the mind, I wandered round to the museum to hear a talk on Krystyna Skarbek by a local author Clare Mulley. It seems this was a well to do Polish lass who was a bit of an adventure seeker. When the Germans invaded she was in South Africa for reasons I forget and made her way to London and offered herself for spy work. The British of course had no women in such roles and espionage and behind the lines work was considered somewhat dangerous for wee lassies early in the war. Later when things were organised several women died, often horribly, for work behind the lines in France.
Eventually Krystyna got work via the Polish forces and spent some time gathering information and boyfriends along the way, I told you she was adventurous, predatory possibly one said. She worked in dangerous situations in Europe with a husband/boyfriend I forget which there were lots, and only by feigning TB did she manage to get the Germans to throw both of them out. Their escape across Europe led them to Cairo where the British considered her a German double agent! Lifes like that.
Later from London she entered France and worked alongside several others annoying the Germans before and after D-Day.
She was awarded many medals including a George Cross, the highest civilian award for bravery, an OBE and the Croix de Guerre plus the usual things. Not bad for a wee lassie. She also ended up with two husbands, several men and lots of associations. As the Soviet KGB also knew about her she was of no use after the war to the British spy network so she was dumped. She was also refused British citizenship, something this continues today where such folks are concerned, but eventually settled under one of her many names in London.
Here however an angry boyfriend stabbed her to death and ended her life in 1952. A somewhat sad end to a woman of adventure and er, romance.
The talk was interesting even though the acoustics are not great and my hearing failures meant I missed much of it. I would have bought the book but through no fault of my own I ended up washing the cups!
Before the thunder & lightning returned this morning I headed East into the sun on my rusty old bike and made my way around town in an effort to get fit. I got stiff knees and aching back so this fitness idea is working. However the weight is creeping up rather than falling and later today as I visited the Turkish Market that appeared the other day for the second time and came home with a large bag of Mediterranean sweet cakes I wondered why? You know what I refer to? The Middle East sweet cakes stuffed with healthy things and wrapped in greasy unhealthy stuff? I love them and rarely see them so I bought too many the other day and foolishly ate them! I may need to ride the bike to Inverness to lose the weight I am putting on today!
However I managed to buy the black cord jacket I have been looking for since three years ago for £12 in an expensive charity shop. This idea of smartening myself up appears to be working. Now I look like a poor man's Jeremy Clarkson but without the talent!
Good news however football has returned for a while. Are you not all glad?
Well it worked! Farage told them what they wished to hear, Boris scared them with talk of millions of immigrants and the people who read the 'Sun,' 'Daily Express' & 'Daily Mail' fell for it. Now everyone with an Irish ancestor is applying for an Irish passport so they can travel in Europe, buisnessmen will have to fill reams of paper to visit EU nations, young folks are unable to work in EU as they are no longer part of it and even today some nations will not exchange the pounds in tourists pockets because they do not know hos stable the Pound actually is. Well done Boris!
Interestingly the people who will discuss the leaving strategy have excluded Nigel Farage the rabblerouser who led from the front with his lies. Poor thing how I feel for him!
We now have a 'lame duck' Prime Minister who will not do anything to help the Brexit folks who have cost him his job, he cannot bring in legislation as he has no control over his party, the main contenders for his job, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Theresa May are collecting friends and stabbing each other in the back as we speak, well they are stabbing Boris as no Conservative member really wishes him as leader. George Osborne however has disappeared altogether, where is he? His faulty handling of the economy, his high handed approach to the nation and his failing budgets mean few Tories will vote for him. The Labour Party is divided and the lack of leadership worrying, The Lib-dems mean nothing and only the Scots nationalists have a clue what to do.
Another independence vote is on the cards soon. Just see how many companies cross the border and settle in Edinburgh then! In Ireland even those who wish to remain 'British' and looking for Irish passports, and the Belfast government has no choice but to discuss unity with Dublin. Europe on one hand laughs, on the other is afraid others will wish to join England.
All is amiss and if Putin wishes to invade now is the time!
5 comments:
There will be much turmoil until the dust settles...let's hope it settles sooner than later. The horses have bolted...
When we lived in France we knew a few people who had really been in the Resistance - as opposed to those who discovered their bottle after the Allies had taken France. I still have the privately printed books detailing the work and the fate of many of those brave people from that area. I can tell you, no trick cyclist would have chosen any of them given how they were described, but they did the job and frequently suffered dreadfully for their beliefs.
Mother was in the ATS and at one point was making radios used by the French and Dutch Resistance. When we lived in France she was moved to tears by hearing the stories attached to those radios sent out by Lysander aircraft onto cleared strips in the fields...and was - for the only known time in her life - rendered speechless by the award of a medal for her work.
Needless to say the football has well restored her powers of speech and improved her lung power.
Lee, Not quite. It might be Cameron has played a good one and put the responsibility of an actual pull out to Boris. He wishes to avoid that responsibility and infighting behind the scenes is under way. It's not over yet.
Fly, Fantastic for your mum! Those resistance folks did something special.
I'm waiting for anyone to start talking about punishing these bloody people instead of mkaing Boris Prime minister and Gove his deputy! And Iain Duncan Smith has been rather quiet since he said that the slogan on the Brexit bus couldn't possibly be taken as an offer to give money to the NHS, and actually he didn't have the power although he'd love to have it.
Now where's my picture of a lion holding its head....
Jenny, Unfortunately the Leave campaign sold the lion to the private sector.
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