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Post by Les on Aug 14, 2006 14:04:38 GMT
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Post by trueseeker on Sept 16, 2006 10:05:40 GMT
Sent today to local newspaper in Belfast this morning. In reply to Newsletter report 15 September 2006 on Victoria Cross recipient Charles Lucas of Poyntzpass Co Armagh being included in the new Royal mail pack of six stamps to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the VC I wish to comment. Congratulations to Royal Mail and the British establishment for at long last managing to get one Irish VC's name out of 168 Irish born recipients correct this time. In 13 May 1945 the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made the following statement in his one of his infamous war speechs 'When I think of these days I think also of other episodes and personalities. I think of Lieutenant-Commander Esmonde, VC, or Lance-Corporal Kenneally, VC, and Captain Fegen, VC, and other Irish heroes that I could easily recite, and then I must confess that bitterness by Britain against the Irish race dies in my heart. I can only pray that in years which I shall not see the shame will be forgotten and the glories will endure, and that the peoples of the British Isles as of the British Commonwealth of Nations will walk together in mutual comprehension and forgiveness'. Lieutenant Cdr Esmond VC was born 1 March 1909 Thurgoland Wortley Yorkshire John Patrick Kenneally VC was born 15 March 1921 Birmingham Captain Fogarty Fegen VC was born 8 October 1891 Southsea Hampshire All three VC heroes above were English and not Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross. Unfortunately the prime minister's researcher believed all VC heroes with Irish names or had relatives who were Irish must be Irish themselves. Which is totally incorrect. List of English Recipients of the Victoria Cross en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_Victoria_Cross_recipientsList of Irish Recipients of the Victoria Cross. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Winners_of_the_Victoria_CrossGeorge |
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Post by Les on Sept 16, 2006 10:24:11 GMT
I totally agree George. It seems there's no need to have been born there or have Irish relatives, but only needed to know an Irishman and that made you Irish too!
If you get a reply from the paper, please feel free to pop it on here.
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Post by trueseeker on Sept 16, 2006 11:46:48 GMT
Agreed Les, but what if you dont have a drop of Irish blood in your veins, and Winston Churchill tries to pan you off as a fully blooded Paddy in the House of Commons. I bet the Royal mail wont think of striking a stamp on John Patrick Kenneally VC . Read on: "John Patrick Kenneally was an assumed name. He was the illegitimate son of a wealthy Jewish textile manufacturer in Manchester. His mother was an 18-year-old un-married daughter of a Birmingham pharmacist, who was disowned by her family. She changed her name to Jackson, and had her son christened Leslie. He was brought up in one of the roughest areas of Birmingham, where he learnt to live by his wits and fists, if need be; and where his mother earned enough as a lady's hairdresser and a high-class prostitute to give him a good education at King Edward's, Birmingham. He proved himself a fine athlete, and as his autobiography, Kenneally VC, shows, he acquired a love for the Army through the Cadets. When war broke out in 1939, he had already joined the TA as a Gunner. Transferred to the Honourable Artillery Company, he overstayed his leave and found himself serving a spell of detention in Wellington Barracks guardroom in the charge of the Irish Guards. Struck by their high standards, he wanted to transfer to them. The Gunners refused his application, and so he deserted, joining a gang of rough Irish building labourers, whose leader purloined for him an identity card and national insurance number, belonging to an Irishman, John Patrick Kenneally, who had returned home. Armed with this new identity, he enlisted in the Irish Guards - no questions asked - and by March 1943 he was sailing with the 1st Battalion for Tunisia. A month later he was making his name in the epic action on the "Bou". With no Irish blood in his veins, and being half-Jewish, John Kenneally, as he was to be known for the rest of his life, was to become one of the most loyal of Irish Guardsmen." www.mishalov.com/Kenneally.html |
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Post by Les on Sept 22, 2006 6:48:10 GMT
The stamps came out yesterday (and I'm getting mine tomorrow from the Post Office ;D ). If there's a non-UK based member that would like a set, let me know and I'll arrange to puchase a few more sets over the coming weeks.
The value of the stamps is £3.36...... but as yet I don't know if there's a little more for the "presentation pack" version.
If you're interested, let me know.
Les
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