I woke up in time for 'Thought for the Day' and posted today's prayer video link to WhatsApp. By the time I'd caught up with myself it was too late to go to the St John's Eucharist so I retrieved and edited the text for the Grace to say at the United Services Mess dinner tomorrow evening. I started preparing lunch early, then with time in hand, and wanting to be sure what I'd written was appropriate for the resumption of this veterans' dinner, the first since 2019, I caught the bus into town to visit the Mess building and consult Mess chairman Tony Lewis. Once I had his approval, I returned home to continue with lunch. A split pea stew was on the menu. Although it tasted fine, the split peas were undercooked. They would have been better after ten minutes in the pressure cooker. Ah well, we live and learn.
After lunch I listened again to Rachel's new recording, and wrote a few short verses for her to try speaking as a voiceover to accompany the music as an experiment. I wonder what she'll make of this? Then I started preparing next week's Morning Prayer video slideshow before realising I'd not yet recorded and edited the audio file, so I did that before going out for a walk as it was getting dark. After supper I watched the last episode of 'SAS Rogue' heroes.
A remarkable series about ruthless, determined, anarchic violent cut-throat characters directing all their energies to the strategic aim of defeating the Nazis, no matter what the cost. Although anachronistic, the desert warfare scenes depicted to a high octane punk rock sound track. Appropriate for rogue heroes. The SAS played a pivotal part in sabotaging Rommel's North African campaign, preventing his advance right through southern Europe. Their methods were unconventional, militarily speaking, resembling fast moving guerilla warfare, but better resourced.
Their leader Major David Stirling was captured and spent the rest of the war on active service as a POW in Colditz Castle, where he was instrumental in four escape attempts from the impregnable Saxon fortress, responsible for gathering intelligence and transmitting it by means of a secret radio. A remarkable patriotic warrior, of what would be considered far right persuasion today. In later life he was architect of a plan to launch a military takeover of the government if Britain's leadership ever fell in into what he thought of as the wrong hands. A minor media furore at the time, changing nothing. He died in 1990. I can't imagine him being anything other than a brexiteer, but how would he have coped with covid, or Boris, I wonder?
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