And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Monday, March 23, 2026
Royal Army engineers sit and drink their tea on the edge of a bomb crater in the middle of London, 21 October 1940.
My Uncle Jim was a ‘Sapper’ of the Corps of Royal Engineers operating in London during the blitz of WW2. His outfit moved into Europe to fight the Nazis, and then onto the Malayan campaign against the Japanese. The word “sapper” originally referred to soldiers who dug saps—trenches used to approach enemy fortifications during siege warfare. Today, it means something much broader: a multi-skilled combat engineer and tradesperson who handles everything from infrastructure to explosives. Sapper is the equivalent rank of Private.
Their Corps motto 'Ubique and Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt' ("Everywhere" and "Where Right And Glory Lead.” Since 1716.
Suddenly the fractured edge collapses and the bomb claims 30 more silly victims.
ReplyDeleteI hope that was some strong tea!
ReplyDeletethe series UBX is worth watching....
ReplyDeleteMy Uncle Jim was a ‘Sapper’ of the Corps of Royal Engineers operating in London during the blitz of WW2. His outfit moved into Europe to fight the Nazis, and then onto the Malayan campaign against the Japanese. The word “sapper” originally referred to soldiers who dug saps—trenches used to approach enemy fortifications during siege warfare. Today, it means something much broader: a multi-skilled combat engineer and tradesperson who handles everything from infrastructure to explosives. Sapper is the equivalent rank of Private.
ReplyDeleteTheir Corps motto 'Ubique and Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt' ("Everywhere" and "Where Right And Glory Lead.” Since 1716.