Ferranti

Ferranti is a company dealing with power products, control systems and war mongering.

Curious - why do you mention Ferranti as war mongering?

I can't think of any other reason to manufacture missile guidance systems. They could be innocent giant party poppers.

Well... personally, I'd rather have missiles with guidance systems than without.

Missile guidance systems are a weapon of peace, it is other parties that make them necisary, bullets are a weapon used to maintain social order and personal freedoms we in the United States take very very seriously, my ancestors are from Prussia, history provides a clear path from France to Prussia to colonial puritans that came to America to have religious and personal freedom, I see nothing wrong with building weapons for defense and if necisary using them in a aggressive manner that promotes Democracy and" Freedom from the other side."

there are a lot of companies that manufacture and provide jobs in research and engineering that have spinoffs into private sector quality of life materials and devices.

Seriously folks peace is only possible through the ability to defend it and willingness to follow through making that happen.
Mitch

Guest is correct. Ever heard the phrase "peace through superior firepower"? If your enemies are terrified of your response to an attack they won't attack you. Simple as that.

Tell that to the parents of the dead in wars the US have escalated since WW2!

Britain has lost too many troops to American "Gung Ho" tactics.

Friendly fire! My friend's son died because of your attitude.

No wonder you hide behind the cloak of a "Guest" you're not a guest at my table!

Get real Tony!

A lot more less their lives from kissing the back sides of the bad guys!

You really did pick the right tag line!

I seem to recall we saved your worthess butts during WW2 And WE were the ones that kept the soviets at bay when they started making overtures to take over europe. You should be kissing our arse. When the Arabs take over your *****hole, don't come running to us to save your bacon again.

Your friend's son more than likely screwed up and crossed somebody's muzzle. Stupidity is usually fatal in warfare.

Rosarch,

You do have a friendly way with words!

We needed each other during WW2.

We (the UK) started in September 1939.

We were alone for years until Pearl Harbour and you thought that you should join in. December 1941. Shortly after this, you stepped up to the plate and initially entered your production capacity - solid solution, you were outside bombing range!

We had to survive the Battle of Britain and the resultant bombardment outlined below. We were alone whilst we were bombarded by Hitler by plane, by V1 Rockets and V2 rockets virtually until the end. The battle of Britain had to be won by the young inexperienced pilots who were up in the sky fighting for their lives and our survival, day in day out, sometimes 5 or 6 times a day.

For some of the time our peoples were enduring tremendous hardship as thousands of houses and factories were destroyed and thousands and thousands of civilians were killed, maimed and injured. My own house was bombed by Incendiary, my parents were doing war work, and my bed got a direct hit, I am quite pleased that I was evacuated at the time!

I, as a young child, was evacuated for hundreds of miles to unfamiliar homes to be brought up by strangers as were tens of thousands of others. Many of us travelled with lables around our necks and were taken in by folks who were not neccesarily in a position to look after children, but we survived and much worse was going on back in London , in Bristol, in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham etc

At the same time our armies were fighting in Greece on one front, in Egypt , Libya and Italy on another front. We also had an army awaiting an expected invasion from France. Following having to leave France with our troops.

In addition we had armies fighting in India, Malaysia, and other Far East territories. We, of course, had many major naval losses at this time in this arena.

For details, please read Winston Churchill's The Second World War written shortly after the events closed in 1945. I do not have the big picture of all of the battles that were going on but read Winny! He was the guy in charge!

So do not let us fight over a mission accomplished together all those years ago. We have much to be proud about.

Sleepy

You were not exactly alone Sleepy. Canada was there. My father was flying for the RCAF against the Germans when the U.S.A. was still selling guns to both sides and trying to pick the winner so they would know which side to join.

Apothicus,

I replied to you yesterday, (seems to have got lost - but I do have keyboard troubles these days, (a new super sensitive keyboard which will have to be replaced!) acknowledging the commitments of all the ANZAC warriors [Australia, New Zealand and Canada] as well as those from Poland and the Commonwealth. Thank you to every single one of those, largely, volunteers. If it wasn't for them many of us would not be here today. Thank You, Thank You. I met many of these in later life and one of the Polish Airmen actually came to work for me - now that was an experience - a brilliant guy!

Thanks for your input, Apothicus.

Sleepy

We had also been selling you guys guns and armamants and stuff for pennies on the dollar for several years before the official outbreak of hostilities. If it wasn't for our sea lift and naval power, you guys would have been pushed off the Dover cliffs by the Germans. We also rebuilt Europe and Japan after it was all over and done with with OUR tax dollars and the American people got very little in return for that charity. The Europeans and the Japanese made the mess, and we paid to clean it up. You guys also got rid of the guy who knew how to handle Hitler and replaced him with a guy who'se apparent purpose in life was to kiss Hitler's arse to lead the country, At least y'all were smart enough to show Chaimberlain the door and bring back Churchill when the fecal matter hit the rotary oscillator. The UK should be an object lesson in the results of appeasement, but for some reason, much of the UK and all of Europe has forgotten that lesson. Mad men cannot be appeased. There is no compromise possible with them. And unfortunately, insanity is still with us today, it has just moved elsewhere. And much of today's problems with the Middle East stem directly from British Colonialism. The bit that confuses me is how did anger towards the Brits get shifted to the US. I suppose because it is because we supported Israel for years (not that we support them much anymore, but again we're working on that.) which ironically the Brits were behind the creation of.

Rosarch

I am not going to get into a slanging match with you.

End of.

Sleepy

You have such bad manners and multiple errors of fact/knowledge in your post, that it is difficult to see where to start to answer your biased/racist/incorrect/unfriendly comments.......

Suffice to say, if your country hadn't eventually joined the war (please a big thank you to the Japanese Emperor and his army/navy chiefs for giving you Guys a big jab in the backside), a victorious Germany would have just rolled over the USA after hostilities were finished in Europe as the remaining Armies of the UK/commonwealth would have been forced to fight for Germany.......in some manner......like kill the families if you don't fight for Germany example....

They would have used Canada as the take off point to show you how a world war can be brought home to the family........

The USA would have stood NO CHANCE!

You would still be sitting there with a small armed peacetime force, ringing up the war profits with the UK and dominions on your cash registers....... Easy meat for a tried and tested German war machine, fully active since 1936 in Spain!!

Also you are simply too rude and you are not thinking "out of the box", nor do you appear to have read a history book NOT written in the USA, or was it just an over dose of Hollywood fantasy? or both?

How idiotic can anyone possibly ever get?

If you bought yourself the 6 volumes of the 2nd World War by W.Churchill (and read them all!!), you could improve your knowledge of facts of that time by about 10,000%.

Also, certain selected American books tell it like it was, but mainly written between 1945 and 1970 only.....later books came (maybe!) from Hollywood writers with no personal experience....

I am a UK member of CR4 if you hadn't already guessed......I have read the 6 books of WSC and many more, though thank God, I was too young to serve in that war, though I have served in others since!!!

From Wikipedia:

Germany invaded France, invaded Belgium, invaded the Netherlands, and invaded Luxembourg on 10 May 1940, the same day Neville Chamberlain resigned as British Prime Minister.^[55] The Netherlands and Belgium were overrun using blitzkrieg tactics in a few days and weeks, respectively.^[56] The French fortified Maginot Line was circumvented by a flanking movement through the thickly wooded Ardennes region,^[55] mistakenly perceived by French planners as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles.^[57] British troops were forced to evacuate the continent at Dunkirk, abandoning their heavy equipment by the end of the month. On 10 June, Italy invaded France, declaring war on both France and the United Kingdom;^[58] twelve days later France surrendered and was soon divided into German and Italian occupation zones,^[59] and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime. On 3 July, the British attacked the French fleet in Algeria to prevent its possible seizure by Germany.^[60]

With France neutralized, Germany began an air superiority campaign over Britain (the Battle of Britain) to prepare for an invasion.^[61] The campaign failed, and the invasion plans were cancelled by September. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy, using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic.^[62] Italy began operations in the Mediterranean, initiating a siege of Malta in June, conquering British Somaliland in August, and making an incursion into British-held Egypt in September 1940. Japan increased its blockade of China in September by seizing several bases in the northern part of the now-isolated French Indochina.^[63]

The Battle of Britain ended the German advance in Western Europe.

Throughout this period, the neutral United States took measures to assist China and the Western Allies. In November 1939, the American Neutrality Act was amended to allow 'cash and carry' purchases by the Allies.^[64] In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased and, after the Japanese incursion into Indochina, the United States embargoed iron, steel and mechanical parts against Japan.^[65] In September, the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases.^[66] Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention into the conflict well into 1941.^[67]

At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact united Japan, Italy, and Germany to formalize the Axis Powers.^[68] The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country, with the exception of the Soviet Union, not in the war which attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three.^[69] During this time, the United States continued to support the United Kingdom and China by introducing the Lend-Lease policy authorizing the provision of materiel and other items^[70] and creating a security zone spanning roughly half of the Atlantic Ocean where the United States Navy protected British convoys.^[71] As a result, Germany and the United States found themselves engaged in sustained naval warfare in the North and Central Atlantic by October 1941, even though the United States remained officially neutral.^[72][73]

The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania joined the Tripartite Pact.^[74] These countries participated in the subsequent invasion of the USSR, with Romania making the largest contribution to recapture territory ceded to the USSR and pursue its leader Ion Antonescu's desire to combat communism.^[75] In October 1940, Italy invaded Greece but within days was repulsed and pushed back into Albania, where a stalemate soon occurred.^[76] In December 1940, British Commonwealth forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa.^[77] By early 1941, with Italian forces having been pushed back into Libya by the Commonwealth, Churchill ordered a dispatch of troops from Africa to bolster the Greeks.^[78] The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with the Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission by carrier attack at Taranto, and neutralising several more warships at Cape Matapan.^[79]

German paratroopers invading the Greek island of Crete, May 1941.

The Germans soon intervened to assist Italy. Hitler sent German forces to Libya in February, and by the end of March they had launched an offensive against the diminished Commonwealth forces.^[80] In under a month, Commonwealth forces were pushed back into Egypt with the exception of the besieged port of Tobruk.^[81] The Commonwealth attempted to dislodge Axis forces in May and again in June, but failed on both occasions.^[82] In early April, following Bulgaria's signing of the Tripartite Pact, the Germans intervened in the Balkans by invading Greece and Yugoslavia following a coup; here too they made rapid progress, eventually forcing the Allies to evacuate after Germany conquered the Greek island of Crete by the end of May.^[83]

The Allies did have some successes during this time. In the Middle East, Commonwealth forces first quashed a coup in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria,^[84] then, with the assistance of the Free French, invaded Syria and Lebanon to prevent further such occurrences.^[85] In the Atlantic, the British scored a much-needed public morale boost by sinking the German flagship Bismarck.^[86] Perhaps most importantly, during the Battle of Britain the Royal Air Force had successfully resisted the Luftwaffe's assault, and the German the bombing campaign largely ended in May 1941.^[87]

In Asia, despite several offensives by both sides, the war between China and Japan was stalemated by 1940. In order to increase pressure on China by blocking supply routes, and to better position Japanese forces in the event of a war with the Western powers, Japan had seized military control of southern Indochina^[88] In August of that year, Chinese communists launched an offensive in Central China; in retaliation, Japan instituted harsh measures (the Three Alls Policy) in occupied areas to reduce human and material resources for the communists.^[89] Continued antipathy between Chinese communist and nationalist forces culminated in armed clashes in January 1941, effectively ending their co-operation.^[90] With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia, the two powers signed the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941.^[91] By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, amassing forces on the Soviet border.^[92]

As you can see from the above, The US was not sitting on her duff doing nothing. we were selling arms, equipment and food to the UK as well as China, as well as deploying US naval assets to protect the shipments well before 1941. Further we were expanding our Military to meet a potential attack as well. This was during a time of economic crisis here in the US. If it were not for our fuel shipments, your RAF fighters would have been grounded and the Luftwaffe would have had free reign.

You appear to have forgotten that the British Commonwealth was fighting from day 1 in 1939, that did include Canada of course. DUUUUUHHHHHH!

Nobody in the UK or the commonwealth needs reminding of this, many brave Canadian people died serving the commonwealth!!! Many War Memorials in the UK stand today with names of such people on them.....

As did Australians, New Zealanders, Indians and many USA citizens whose conscience was so strong, they joined the British forces........

(Apologies to anyone that I may have missed out!!)

Please be so kind as to remember that the Brits kept WW2 running alone till the USA eventually joined in (technically speaking) on Dec.7th 1941, that was MORE than 2 years. ALONE......

The USA was not really truly "belligerent" till the end of 1942......that is not critic, its a fact.

The British Commonwealth had more men in the field in ALL theaters than the USA till early 1944 if I remember correctly......If you need it more factual, I will look up the exact date and numbers for you.....

I KNOW we did not want to do it without you Guys, and maybe we might not have prevailed alone, but please do not write us completely out of the war (as your Hollywood is inclined to do!!).

You are vying with TonyS for the maximum number of "Off Topic" points, I wonder why??????

Lets see how many I get for this post!!!

Remember all I want is the real and true fact. Nothing more, nothing less.....

The USA is and is/was a good friend of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, just as it should be.

Starting off with calling us "worthless butts" is also extremely rude and completely unneeded. It just demonstrates how much knowledge has been lost in the USA of what REALLY happened 70 odd years ago!!

We both have lost fine men and women in defense of the other's interests... that's what friends are for.

God may save the Queen, but we'll help defend her in the mean time, and we appreciate the gesture you have provided in-kind.

This is a crazy, mixed-up world and the US, Britian, and many others survive by facing these challenges together.

JavaHead

JavaHead.

Thanks for that, much appreciated as we appreciate the continuing efforts on the USA's behalf for our joint freedom.

When travelling, I often bump into groups of US soldiers travelling out to Iraq or Afghanistan and I always stop to talk to them, to thank them for their role and what they have done or are about to do. I have flown in Commercial transports with these guys and they have had many interesting things to say. They know why they are going, where they are going and so on. I am impressed with US soldiers generally.

They do a great job and we should all remember that,

Thanks Java Head

Sleepy

Absolutely agreed Sleepy. These men and women know exactly what they are doing and the risks involved in doing it. They aren't draftees who have no choice in the matter. They aren't "victims".

One of your countrymen put it best:

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. "

George Orwell

I thank every serviceman/woman I meet for their service. It was their sacrifice and the sacrifices of their bretheren that made and keeps this country the freest country on the planet (although that is steadily eroding of late, but we're working on that.) and the country that the rest of the world either covets/resents because we have been so much more successful than they have been, or looks to to save their bacon when their stupid policies/choices land them in sheep doo. Even our "poor" would be considered rich in most of the world, including the developed world. Much of our poor still manage to afford big screen TV's, iPhones, fancy cars, and satellite TV/Cable/Internet, and still be able to blow money on crack.

Being a present member of the US military and having been one since 1985, minus a short break in service for awhile, I have had to travel overseas on numerious occasions. And, I must say I have always felt welcome in Britian.

Regardless of how the majority of the world may feel about Americans and how cautious I may have to be traveling in other parts of the world, whether it's for holiday, industrial business, or government business... when I'm in England, and its surrounding areas, I am able to relax a little knowing that I am amongst friends.

Sure, we have had our dissagreements in the past... you know that whole Independence thing... but at the end of the day we are familly and I have been welcomed and made to feel at home while within the boundries of your shores.

Thanks.

You have a record, for the maximum off topic points that I have ever seen.

This should tell you something!

If it helps, I feel that a) you don't understand how wars are prevented and b) you did not understand several good posts from other CR4 members....

Have a great day in spite of me......(and MANY others!!)

Ferranti also made domestic radios and components. Their most famous product was the "Ferranti Fireball". The radio in question would sit in the showroom among other radios for sale. If it had not been switched on for some time, there was a good chance that, when switched on for a demonstration, it would immediately flash and catch fire, hence the name.