Dear Richardson
I won't labour the point and after this post will desist
from further comment - and I think you've already done that?
Might I respectfully suggest that as you and I may
contribute to the FOT list in future, it might be
appropriate to refine our submissions? I feel we should
point out to one reader in particular, that as a nation we
are proud to have an ability to laugh at ourselves - and to
take what others may see as derision, especially to those
who may now be dead, as part and parcel of our national
make-up. This is not speaking ill of the dead, for many of
them had exactly the self-same outlook in life and we both
know fullwell would not wish their survivors to moderate
their views as a result of their demise.
It is of course well-known that Mrs Shilling derived much
pleasure from her nickname and 'dined out' on it on many
occasions both during and after the war, until her own
mortality expired. Clearly, she had the maturity and the
ability to tell something against herself and this is to be
greatly admired in anyone. Sadly, there are too many people
in this world who lack that essential quality.
Broadly, I would say this accolade of which Mrs Shilling was
so proud reflects national stoicism of the sort endured in
this country during the blitzkrieg. The mistake you and I
made is that our views would probably not have been shared
by Mr. O'Driscoll's grandmother. It is worth querying
(sadly, hypothetically at this stage) how she might have
felt if she had been on the receiving end of umpteen tons of
high explosive and incendiary as a nightly distraction. By
example, I have just finished reading a now out of print
book by title "Moonlight Sonata" which describes the blitz
on Coventry in November 1940. Luftwaffe records discovered
by the Allies after the war confirm that between 7.0pm and
4.0am the following morning, it dropped 35,000 items of land
mines, high explosive and incendiary. It also used 127,000
rounds of high velocity tracer and cannon shell in low level
strafing attacks on a civilian population. Speaking from
personal experience in a later conflict of a similar but
much more modern type, I can say with conviction that there
are better things to do with one's evening leisure time.
While I am confident many of our now erstwhile peers are
forever in the debt of this American lady's valued
contribution to the manufacture of Liberty ships (many of
which incidentally were torpedoed on their maiden voyages) I
wonder if anyone ever explained to her in detail why she
found herself making them in the first place? Was it not
because our own shipyards had already been bombed to the
point of obliteration and were incapable of even moving the
rubble of smashed buildings and workshops? This of course
was a too regular nightly occurence until British technology
was able to find out how to deflect the FREYA radio beacons
in Denmark and France to different intersect points. As
history has recorded, the Germans were unaware of this and
one night of very heavy cloud, when thinking they were on
target for the port of Liverpool, most unfortunately went a
bit too far over the Irish Sea and dropped rather a lot of
bombs on Dublin which, by all accounts, was believed to be
in a neutral country. I would imagine the German High
Command had to dig deeply into its Book of Excuses to come
up with a plausible explanation.
So, in conclusion - you and I must reconsider our
terminologies because its clear someone just doesn't
understand important subtleties as we do. But as the French
are prone to say - "Vive la difference!"
Macartney
>Dear Fot,
>I wouldn't say that I was the ass on this list. In my home
we were taught
>to speak of women with respect, especially dead women, who
contributed to
>society in a significant way during wartime. In fact my
late grandmother
>worked as a welder in the shipyards during WWII building
the liberty
>ships that saved England's ass, and I'm absolutely sure
that she would
>have been appalled at the disrepect Mr. Richardson showed
for the
>deceased.
>Sincerely Yours,
>Kevin R. O'Driscoll, Ph.D.
>
>
>On Sun, 21 Nov 1999, Bill Babcock wrote:
>
>> Wow. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kevin O'Driscoll [mailto:ko3@columbia.edu]
>> Sent: Sunday, November 21, 1999 10:51 AM
>> To: Paul Richardson
>> Cc: fot@autox.team.net
>> Subject: Re: A reply for MR O'Driscoll
>>
>>
>>
>> Well then excuse me ... from your sexist list ...
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 20 Nov 1999, Paul Richardson wrote:
>>
>> > Kevin O'Driscoll opines that my WW2 anecdote on the
anti G fuel metering
>> > valve invented by Mrs Tilly Shilling smacks of an
'antiquated attitude.' I
>> > put it on the FOT list because I thought members would
appreciate a unique
>> > piece of engineering history. It contains unique
humour, whilst
>> > exemplifying the part that a brilliant member of the
fair sex played in
>> > preventing the loss of our pilot's lives. Tilly
Shilling also found the
>> > nickname of her invention by her Rolls colleagues
highly amusing - she had
>> > a keen sense of humour.
>> >
>> > You write, "Obviously Mrs Shilling is now posthumously
remembered as the
>> > engineer who won the Battle of Britain and bested the
engineers at Rolls."
>> > - Due to the general tone of your e-mail this could be
interpreted as
>> > disrespectful, sneering sarcasm. You could also have
saved yourself
>> further
>> > embarrassment by checking your history, because the
negative G problem was
>> > not solved until after the Battle of Britain. Tilly
Shilling, besides
>> being
>> > a brilliant engineer, was also a 'Lady' in the best
interpretation of that
>> > word. As such, she would never have interpreted any of
her work as
>> > bettering the Rolls engineers, who were her close
colleagues.
>> >
>> > I find your paragraphs on the vicissitudes and
marketing ploys of the
>> > London motor dealer and the Ford Motor Company on the
new DB7 Aston Martin
>> > have the depth and clarity of a shallow muddy puddle on
a foggy day, and
>> > wonder how you connect a 1999 marketing exercises with
a true 60 year old
>> > engineering story. You say in your last paragraph - to
quote you exactly -
>> >
>> > Sincerely
>> >
>> > Paul
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
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