Wednesday 5 August 2009

A judge in the Dambuster mode


Judge Ian Trigger and Guy Gibson's dog, Nigger.

I'll start today with a topical letter which I have received from John Waller who is a regular contributor to the Freedom Letters' Page.

He writes:

"When I visited the Royal Air Force Museum at RAF Scampton the other week, I was told that they had received a visit from the filmakers who are re-shooting the famous war film the "Dambusters". Apparently it is being made in New Zealand.

I was also told that the filmakers are agonising over the name of the dog that belonged to Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC.DSO.DFC (with bars), the Commanding Officer of 617 squadron which was based at Scampton.

As we all know it was a black Labrador called "Nigger"

In this more peaceful age when 52,000 young men are not being blown out of the sky by German Ack Ack or shot to pieces by Luftwaffe night fighters, people have time on their hands to think of such unimportant things as the changing of a dog's name!

I was incredulous when told this and asked what new name was being considered and was told "Trigger".

I was concerned at the anguish this could possibly cause to the very much loved Trigger in "Only Fools and Horses" or even to Roy Rogers' horse.

However, I did feel reassured after reading an article in the Daily Telegraph.

Under the headline - Immigration is a drain on the country - it reported that a judge addressing Liverpool Crown Court said that immigration contributed to the National Debt and that hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants were abusing Britain's border controls and were causing an enormous strain on Britain's resources - and the name of the Judge?

JUDGE TRIGGER!!

Therefore I heartily recommend that the dog's name is changed from "Nigger to Trigger" so that every time we hear it in future it will remind us of a brave judge who is not afraid to tell the truth."

John's spot on here and the subject matter is all the more relevant this morning as Judge Trigger is now being hauled across the coals for those remarks. See here.

Last night I watched a programme on ITV 4 called Spain - Paradise Lost.

It reported on Britons who have bought homes in Spain and in particular the 19 British families who brought new homes just outside Cantoria in the mountains of Almeria.

Apparently during Spain’s property boom it became common practise to build on rustic or green belt land, with the expectation that planning permission would be obtained from local town halls at a later date. 
But recently the powerful Regional Government has stepped in to crack down on this practise and is now is threatening to demolish up to 5,000 homes in the area, built without proper permission, including those in Cantoria.


Desperate Brits rally to save their homes from demolition.

Tina and I watched the programme because we are dealing with a request for assistance from a couple from Leyland who have asked Nick to help them in their predicament which is similar to that of the people in the programme. It will be reported on our MEP website for the North West when further investigations have been made.

The finishing touches are being put to our commemoration cards by graphic designer Charlie Whyte and I shall give you a first glimpse of them here later in the week.

Still in holiday mode and making plans for next year so I shall indulge myself for another few days. In the evening after our meal, which normally went on till 11.30, we always went to the L'Echoppe bar (below) to listen to ex-pat Tony King strutting his stuff. To one side there was a bustling, floodlit street market which went on until the early hours, behind where we were sitting there was the marina full of expensive boats and to the other side a row of restaurants.

The campsite was just a 100 yards away so when we had finished our final drink of the evening we could stagger home within a few minutes.


2 comments:

alanorei said...

Thanks, Martin

You will note via the link to Judge Trigger that Have Your Say is unavailable for this story.

Which of course says it all.

I hope the Party sends the judge a letter of support.

Anonymous said...

I fear that one judge's comments, like a swallow doesn't make a summer. I'm sceptical that he made them without the prior knowledge of his superiors and it may be that it is to fool us into believing that the judiciary isn't entirely corrupted with Common Purpose when in fact it is. Either that or he wants early retirement and his gold plated pension.

On the subject of Guy Gibson's black Labrador, I think Snigger is the most obvious choice for these pc times, which retains the name in full while injecting a touch of sarcasm with a single letter s at this blatant pc rewriting of history. It's the only letter that works whilst also retaining the original name in full along with the two syllables. The subtle change may even go unnoticed against the background noise of aeroplane engines, thus satisfying the purist historian and the lunatic left. The only other letter that might have been considered is u but the thought of the actor who will play Guy Gibson shouting, "Come here Unigger," even with the emphasis on the u (as in for example 'Unison') is likely to result in a cacophony of screams and howls from the usual mental illnesses and suspects.