I have been to Sunderland twice over this weekend. There was a time when I possessed several suits which I could wear according to mood an occasion. The wearing of suit with a tie achieves a different reaction from people, especially as one gets older. These day I only possess one wearable suit and recently I noticed that because of a longer leg length than usual it had become frayed and unsightly. Since the closure of the only cleaners in the town the journey to Sunderland has become necessary and this time I decided to ask if it was possible to repair the damage. The combination of cleaning, repairing and adding a permanent crease cost as much as a pair of new trousers but well worth it as part of a suit.
After depositing the trousers at the cleaners I made my way to the main post office counter service in Sunderland and had a pleasant surprise. The post office is always very busy and despite over a dozen stations, one can stand for five to ten minutes in the monster queue. On this visit the queuing area had been replaced by three areas of leather armchair style seats providing 24 places. On arrival you take a ticket, choosing which of the three services you require and then take a seat and wait for your number to be called although there is an Argos style screen. He seats are every comfortable and this is a public service development which merits commendation.
Yesterday the weather was dreadful with a cold biting and blustery wind, accompanied by occasional bouts of drizzle and as a consequence I took the car to dentist rather than walk, fortunately finding a car parking space outside the health centre. I had to fold the repaired trousers for the trip through Sunderland to car park and then tried to journey home with them slung over the front passenger seat, unsuccessfully. The day was retrieved by an excellent supermarket shop because I arrived just as assistants were making available items which had reached their final display date for a third of the usual price. The bargains included three whole trout and several fillets and three cartons of chicken breasts. There was also an interesting addition in the freezer cabinets with the arrival and an Indian and Chinese meal for two. The Indian meal includes only two main dishes but the Chinese three, with a side dish. At £4 each this will make a great feast for one. Later I realised I made a mistake and left too much of the fish unfrozen to eat twice in the week, only to forget the eat by date had been reached. I therefore had to consume a double fish portion for the evening meal. I am not a great fan of fish without batter or a sauce at the best of times but I managed. Waste not, want not, as is said.
I also saw the Never so Few with Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida miscast in roles which required less well known actors. Other included Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. The film is said to have been based on the USA operation 101 fighting in Burma during World War 2 designated 101 attracts my attention and the campaign in Burma has always seemed to me one oft he most difficult and heroic of the war. One of my wartime memories was the arrival of the telegram announcing that death of one of the two sons of the eldest aunt oft he family and with whom I lived until a young man and who continued to live with my birth and care mothers until her death. He is buried in that part of Asia.
The most famous of the films is the Bridge over the River Kwai and its sequel, both about the railway line. China Girl 1942 was also shown again within the past decade( and is set in China and Burma with Giene Tierney, George Montgomery and Victor Mclaglen. A Yank on the Burma Road 1942. Bombs over Burma was made in 1943 and is about attempts to sabotage a main supply road. I have no recollection of seeing Rookies in Burma also made in 1943. Objective Burma I have seen again within the past decade and features Errol Flynn (1945) and also Three came Home 1950 was shown recently on a satellite channel. I also remember a film called The Purple Plan 1954 not have no image of its contents. I have seen The Burmese Harp, an important film made by the Japanese director Kon Ichikawa in 1956 and gives their perspective. I do not remember seeing the 1958 film The Wind cannot Read or the latest made film in 2001 with Robert Carlyle and Kiefer Sutherland said to be about the construction of the Burma railway-To end all wars. There is one other important film which I will refer to shortly.
I first return to Never so Few which is the least convincing of those I remember, mainly because it has so many high profile stars with Frank and Gina and I can find no supporting information to back the main story which is that the group of Kachins led by Frank crossed the border into mainland China to attack a warlord who had attacked them only to find they had been given authority by the local government to attack and loot using weapons and supplies which the US had provided the Chinese. The find the identification tags of a number of US soldier and after one of the closest comrades of Frank is killed, he orders the execution of all the prisoners. Understandably he is in trouble when he returns having been ordered not to cross the border, to release the prisoners and to destroy the documentary evidence, the latter as the means for him to apologise and be discharged on medical grounds after the stress of the campaign. He refuses to cooperate and is supported by the General sent to sort out relations with the Chinese. He tells the representative to go tot eh proverbials claming to have a letter from the Nationalist leaders supporting his approach and annoying that the Nationalists will hold an inquiry.
Gina is in the film as the mistress of a powerful and wealthy bigwig able to move freely into India, Burma and China providing the allies with intelligence. She requires high maintenance but for some inexplicable reason takes a shine to the penniless Sinatra and abandons her more attractive and interesting lover. The films ends with them on honeymoon and Gina planning to become a housewife and mother!
The film is said to be based on the OSS 101Detachment about which I discovered an informative and accurate article, not on Wikipedia for once. The background for the decision to create a behind the enemy lines operation was the cutting of the road through Burma into China by the Japanese, preventing USA supplies and the creation of an airfield which threatened aircraft trying to provide China with the supplies. The special unit was intended to sabotage the airfield and the Japanese supply routes and was first led by Carl Eifler, a former policeman holding the rank of Colonel when he was discharged because of his injuries in 1943 After the war he took degrees in divinity and psychology and became a clinical psychologist. He died at the age of 96 in 2002.
General William Peters took over the command from Eifler. Born in 1914 he only received his commission in 1938 becoming the unit’s operations and training officer before taking the command which he held until 1945 when he became the commander of all OSS operations in China south of the Yangtze river. After the war he joined the CIA. He then served in Vietnam and 1969 was ordered to investigate the My Lai Massacre. He recommended 24 people for court marshal for murder and for the cover up which was not what the politicians wanted to hear. He died comparatively young of at heart attack aged 69.
As mentioned the first task of Detachment 101 was sabotage but this was changed to guerrilla warfare with Captain William Wilkinson and four agents sent to contact the Kachins in the area. This task force built up to 700 when Wilkinson was succeeded by Commander Luce a Navy Doctor who had worked in the area gaining the support of the Kachins.
Another task group was led by Vincent Curl and developed into a 600 strong force. In total some 3000 guerrillas were recruited and deployed from 1943. The American operation worked alongside that of the British Colonel Orde Wingate whose Chindits raiders comprised Indian, Gurkha and Burmese troops and after the Quebec Conference it was agreed to a joint enterprise in preparation for the campaign to free Burma from the Japanese. The project was called GALAHAD and US General Stillwell persuaded Lord Mountbatten to place the combined force his under his control. The long range force was under the operational command of Frank Merrill and became known as Merrill’s Marauders.
Frank Merrill enlisted in the US army when only 19, in 1922 and attended West Point in 1929. In 1938 he became the Military attaché in Tokyo where he studied the Japanese language. He was then with General MacArthur’s staff in 1941. In under six months the joint force covered 750 miles through the harshest jungle, fighting five major engagements and engaging in combat 32 occasions. They suffered heavy casualties with in the last mission 272 killed 955 wounded and 980 evacuated for illness and disease. General Merrill himself suffered a heart attack with only 200 surviving intact. Out of the original combined force of 3000 only a combat effective 130 officers and men survived the campaign. After the war Merrill became a Commissioner of highways in New Hampshire but his health failed and he died in 1955 aged 52. Jeff Chandler played him in the film Merrill‘s Marauders about which I have not recollection but I suspect it was made to counter the impression given by Never So few. Towards the end of the were some 5500 Kachins in action against the Japanese.
Wikipedia states that the character played by Sinatra was based on Meredith Reynolds who after the war became Sheriff of Sangamon County in the State of Illinois. I cannot find further information about the man and how close his experience with the OSS followed that portrayed in the film. I guess I will have to live without ever knowing if any part of the film had a factual basis.
After depositing the trousers at the cleaners I made my way to the main post office counter service in Sunderland and had a pleasant surprise. The post office is always very busy and despite over a dozen stations, one can stand for five to ten minutes in the monster queue. On this visit the queuing area had been replaced by three areas of leather armchair style seats providing 24 places. On arrival you take a ticket, choosing which of the three services you require and then take a seat and wait for your number to be called although there is an Argos style screen. He seats are every comfortable and this is a public service development which merits commendation.
Yesterday the weather was dreadful with a cold biting and blustery wind, accompanied by occasional bouts of drizzle and as a consequence I took the car to dentist rather than walk, fortunately finding a car parking space outside the health centre. I had to fold the repaired trousers for the trip through Sunderland to car park and then tried to journey home with them slung over the front passenger seat, unsuccessfully. The day was retrieved by an excellent supermarket shop because I arrived just as assistants were making available items which had reached their final display date for a third of the usual price. The bargains included three whole trout and several fillets and three cartons of chicken breasts. There was also an interesting addition in the freezer cabinets with the arrival and an Indian and Chinese meal for two. The Indian meal includes only two main dishes but the Chinese three, with a side dish. At £4 each this will make a great feast for one. Later I realised I made a mistake and left too much of the fish unfrozen to eat twice in the week, only to forget the eat by date had been reached. I therefore had to consume a double fish portion for the evening meal. I am not a great fan of fish without batter or a sauce at the best of times but I managed. Waste not, want not, as is said.
I also saw the Never so Few with Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida miscast in roles which required less well known actors. Other included Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. The film is said to have been based on the USA operation 101 fighting in Burma during World War 2 designated 101 attracts my attention and the campaign in Burma has always seemed to me one oft he most difficult and heroic of the war. One of my wartime memories was the arrival of the telegram announcing that death of one of the two sons of the eldest aunt oft he family and with whom I lived until a young man and who continued to live with my birth and care mothers until her death. He is buried in that part of Asia.
The most famous of the films is the Bridge over the River Kwai and its sequel, both about the railway line. China Girl 1942 was also shown again within the past decade( and is set in China and Burma with Giene Tierney, George Montgomery and Victor Mclaglen. A Yank on the Burma Road 1942. Bombs over Burma was made in 1943 and is about attempts to sabotage a main supply road. I have no recollection of seeing Rookies in Burma also made in 1943. Objective Burma I have seen again within the past decade and features Errol Flynn (1945) and also Three came Home 1950 was shown recently on a satellite channel. I also remember a film called The Purple Plan 1954 not have no image of its contents. I have seen The Burmese Harp, an important film made by the Japanese director Kon Ichikawa in 1956 and gives their perspective. I do not remember seeing the 1958 film The Wind cannot Read or the latest made film in 2001 with Robert Carlyle and Kiefer Sutherland said to be about the construction of the Burma railway-To end all wars. There is one other important film which I will refer to shortly.
I first return to Never so Few which is the least convincing of those I remember, mainly because it has so many high profile stars with Frank and Gina and I can find no supporting information to back the main story which is that the group of Kachins led by Frank crossed the border into mainland China to attack a warlord who had attacked them only to find they had been given authority by the local government to attack and loot using weapons and supplies which the US had provided the Chinese. The find the identification tags of a number of US soldier and after one of the closest comrades of Frank is killed, he orders the execution of all the prisoners. Understandably he is in trouble when he returns having been ordered not to cross the border, to release the prisoners and to destroy the documentary evidence, the latter as the means for him to apologise and be discharged on medical grounds after the stress of the campaign. He refuses to cooperate and is supported by the General sent to sort out relations with the Chinese. He tells the representative to go tot eh proverbials claming to have a letter from the Nationalist leaders supporting his approach and annoying that the Nationalists will hold an inquiry.
Gina is in the film as the mistress of a powerful and wealthy bigwig able to move freely into India, Burma and China providing the allies with intelligence. She requires high maintenance but for some inexplicable reason takes a shine to the penniless Sinatra and abandons her more attractive and interesting lover. The films ends with them on honeymoon and Gina planning to become a housewife and mother!
The film is said to be based on the OSS 101Detachment about which I discovered an informative and accurate article, not on Wikipedia for once. The background for the decision to create a behind the enemy lines operation was the cutting of the road through Burma into China by the Japanese, preventing USA supplies and the creation of an airfield which threatened aircraft trying to provide China with the supplies. The special unit was intended to sabotage the airfield and the Japanese supply routes and was first led by Carl Eifler, a former policeman holding the rank of Colonel when he was discharged because of his injuries in 1943 After the war he took degrees in divinity and psychology and became a clinical psychologist. He died at the age of 96 in 2002.
General William Peters took over the command from Eifler. Born in 1914 he only received his commission in 1938 becoming the unit’s operations and training officer before taking the command which he held until 1945 when he became the commander of all OSS operations in China south of the Yangtze river. After the war he joined the CIA. He then served in Vietnam and 1969 was ordered to investigate the My Lai Massacre. He recommended 24 people for court marshal for murder and for the cover up which was not what the politicians wanted to hear. He died comparatively young of at heart attack aged 69.
As mentioned the first task of Detachment 101 was sabotage but this was changed to guerrilla warfare with Captain William Wilkinson and four agents sent to contact the Kachins in the area. This task force built up to 700 when Wilkinson was succeeded by Commander Luce a Navy Doctor who had worked in the area gaining the support of the Kachins.
Another task group was led by Vincent Curl and developed into a 600 strong force. In total some 3000 guerrillas were recruited and deployed from 1943. The American operation worked alongside that of the British Colonel Orde Wingate whose Chindits raiders comprised Indian, Gurkha and Burmese troops and after the Quebec Conference it was agreed to a joint enterprise in preparation for the campaign to free Burma from the Japanese. The project was called GALAHAD and US General Stillwell persuaded Lord Mountbatten to place the combined force his under his control. The long range force was under the operational command of Frank Merrill and became known as Merrill’s Marauders.
Frank Merrill enlisted in the US army when only 19, in 1922 and attended West Point in 1929. In 1938 he became the Military attaché in Tokyo where he studied the Japanese language. He was then with General MacArthur’s staff in 1941. In under six months the joint force covered 750 miles through the harshest jungle, fighting five major engagements and engaging in combat 32 occasions. They suffered heavy casualties with in the last mission 272 killed 955 wounded and 980 evacuated for illness and disease. General Merrill himself suffered a heart attack with only 200 surviving intact. Out of the original combined force of 3000 only a combat effective 130 officers and men survived the campaign. After the war Merrill became a Commissioner of highways in New Hampshire but his health failed and he died in 1955 aged 52. Jeff Chandler played him in the film Merrill‘s Marauders about which I have not recollection but I suspect it was made to counter the impression given by Never So few. Towards the end of the were some 5500 Kachins in action against the Japanese.
Wikipedia states that the character played by Sinatra was based on Meredith Reynolds who after the war became Sheriff of Sangamon County in the State of Illinois. I cannot find further information about the man and how close his experience with the OSS followed that portrayed in the film. I guess I will have to live without ever knowing if any part of the film had a factual basis.
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