The PR Blog

I am a Christian Brothers College (CBC) old boy and attended a few of the colleges as a boarder. The brothers were dedicated, good and holy men, albeit harsh at times, but I received a good education, learned how to be tough and survive, and have no complaints. 

There was never any suggestion of sexual impropriety, and anyone caught indulging in, or even discussing such conduct, would have had their heads knocked off. When we had Saturday night pictures, a brother would stand by the projector and place his hand over the camera during any sexually suggestive or kissing scenes.

To have been sexually abused by a brother would have been unthinkable. Those were the Christian brothers.

Between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, more than a hundred thousand British children were sent overseas to countries like Canada, Australia, and other parts of the British Empire as part of what became known as the Home Children programme. This controversial migration scheme, which aimed to provide "better opportunities" for children in poverty, left a lasting imprint on the lives of those involved.

The Home Children programme began in the 1860s as a social experiment aimed at alleviating poverty in the crowded industrial cities of Britain. Many of these children, some as young as three, were either orphans or had been surrendered by impoverished families who could no longer care for them. The programme was supported by philanthropic organisations such as Dr. Thomas Barnardo's Homes and the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society, and was endorsed by the British government.

Other children were told that their parents had died when in fact that was not the case. As they were compulsorily shipped out of Britain, many of the children were deceived into believing their parents were dead, and that a more abundant life awaited them. Some were exploited as cheap agricultural labour, or denied proper shelter and education. It was common for Home Children to run away, sometimes finding a caring family or better working conditions.

Picture the scene. It is the ACME desert, Somewhere in the MIDDLE of nowhere.......... somewhere EAST of here ........

In a bizarre turn of events that left one desert dwelling mammal questioning his life choices, the notorious Roadrunner recently made a trip to the legendary Acme Shed with a shopping list that reads like something out of a mad scientist's handbook. On the menu: explosives. The target? Telephones, toilets, and televisions. Oh and a few pagers on the side. 

The beep-beep bandit strutted into Acme’s one-stop explosives shop, clacked his beak, and casually ordered “three bundles of TNT, two sticks of dynamite, and a side of nitroglycerin—hold the fuse.”

The Acme clerk, probably used to bizarre requests from desert-dwelling predators, didn’t even blink as the order was processed. Roadrunner grabbed his volatile goodies and zoomed out, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust and a confusing sales receipt.

As young folk, didn't some of us feel like rebels without a cause? 

I am coming up 70. In my era, some of us chose to follow Greenpeace. Others chose anti Vietnam war. Still others embraced the feminist ideology and some the allure of socialism and communism. For myself, I never really embraced a cause. I was too busy enjoying life. But I was always a bit of a black sheep. 

Terribly stubborn. Opinionated and very determined in my views on what was black or white or right from wrong. Poor Redhead still tries to rein me in but alas, she hasn't been successful thus far. At 92, you would think she would give up trying, but she tells me " I am still your mother. " 

Bugger. She is right of course but in all fairness, I do attribute good parenting to the fact that she now has three geriatric offspring who tend to be a pain in her arse because we won't do as we are told. Let me explain. 

The Battle of Britain ended on 15^th September, 1940 but the Blitz continued long after that.  Following the evacuation of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain a wealthy American living in London persuaded the government to form an RAF squadron composed entirely of Americans.

This is their story. 

When war broke out on 3^rd September, 1939 there was no mad rush of support for the causes espoused by Britain or for Poland and other occupied European countries. Americans were very much of a mind to remain out of any European war. There was no universal feeling of kinship towards Britain and there was, in fact, quite a lot of sympathetic support for Hitler.

The second most common language spoken in the USA at the time was German and to cap it all the Neutrality Act prevented any engagement, let alone involvement, by Americans with any belligerent country. That included Britain and France as well as Germany.

Amongst all that however, there was a core of sympathetic support for Britain and an eagerness by those who had learned how to fly to enter the fray. Among the various means of getting around the rigours of the Neutrality Act was to cross the border into Canada and proceed from there.