Don’t Do It!

 JOURNAL

Legend ~ Did it or Did it Not Happen?

“EYES ONLY Eisenhower to Marshall 19 January 1945 As times goes on there is an accumulation of evidence that we should constantly seek younger men in relatively high positions…”

— General Eisenhower to General Marshall in EYES ONLY by Andrew Dawson

Looking again at this book, I am brought up with a jolt. Where have all the great men and women gone? What is the mindset of a nation that sees no wrong in putting a discredited president back into the White House? What is the mindset of the politicians who are allowing this to be a distinct and very repugnant possibility?

I will, therefore, say that which people prefer not to hear. Many people will lose their lives if they do that which reason, common-sense, knowledge and wisdom are collectively screaming from the rooftops…

DON’T DO IT!

Kenneth .T. Webb
25 January 2024

Introduction

A legend usually has elements of truth, elements of truth and myth being confused by past chroniclers.

Why so?

In Modernity, we take written documents, misunderstand the content and then misquote the record. Myth or half-truth quietly and quickly becomes the whole truth, indisputable fact.

But let us not wrinkle our noses, furrow our brows and pass judgment on our ancestors or, indeed, our immediate past relatives.

We all do it without exception and, in most cases, without illicit motive.

Part I

I will watch a documentary. If I segment this into the 26 letters of the alphabet, I've seen all 26 parts. I recall them vividly. I even remember the exact turns of phrase used by the presenters.

Yet, when I watch it again, I discover that the 26 components are at most ten. The exact turns of phrase are often not present at all or, at most, a variation of what I have then honed on the anvil.

Somehow, my brain has computed the other sixteen parts. All 26 parts become the whole. These are then conveyed in totality verbally and in written form.

The myth is born. For a time, our ability to record events on camera checked this to a degree. But evidentially, lawyers soon found the loopholes they are trained to seek out and use to counter the presented fact!

Part II

Then, we question authenticity. Because our minds cannot compute unspeakable horror - for example, The Holocaust - we dismiss what is evident as either myth or conspiracy theory. With the advent of sophisticated artificial intelligence, we can produce photographic evidence that, quite simply, must be the real thing!

On an AI program that I use, if I want to produce a realistic piece of engineering, it will give me variations on a theme. Even the untrained eye can see the errors.

But when I use the same program to create images of people or animals – indeed any living thing on land, in the air or beneath the waves – I cannot see how what and who I am looking at is not a natural person, not a real living thing.

A good example is the excellent study entitled EYES ONLY The Top Secret Correspondence Between MARSHALL and EISENHOWER by Andrew Rawson.

It dovetails perfectly with this journal, even though I read Rawson's introduction to his book after writing this article.

EYES ONLY

by Andrew Rawson

“Some historians stick to the facts, while others endeavour to increase the tension or interest in an event with speculation.”

— Andrew Rawson In EYES ONLY Introduction page 12 (published by Spellmount , History Press (2012)

The author gives an example of the apparent mutual contempt in the relationship between Eisenhower and General Montgomery, the 21st Army Group's British commander. However, the author makes the following observation by way of illustration:

“However, the cables reproduced in this book give us an insight into the true nature of the professional relationship between these two men when they dealt with important strategic matters without the distortion of a historian’s speculation”

— Andrew Rawson - ibid

 Part III

But it is not just the armchair historian. The author reminds us that the "media were repeatedly stirring up issues".

The author then makes this very important deliberation:

“Over time, some of these press speculations, repeated again and again, became cast in historical stone. ”

— Andrew Rawson - ibid

 He also observes the incredible pressure placed upon men and women in high command when he observes that "we can never fully understand what it is like to bear the pressures of decisions such as these ".

Part IV 

That is the main point of this article, even though I did not have it in mind when I penned it.

I always wonder how the general public presumes that they understand the complexity and the pressure placed upon a Prime Minister, a Secretary of State or a government minister. Instead, we insist that our kitchen table approach is indeed the perspective occupied by these great offices of state. There is, of course, one notable exception where a man did certainly relegate one of the highest offices of state in the world to a level below the kitchen table. It frightens me that millions of his countrymen believe even now that he is the 'greatest' leader his country has ever had in 247 years of history.

First reviewed on 16 September 2023
All Rights Reserved

LIVERPOOL

© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb

Author Note

I deliberately quote the opening sentence from a cable dated 19 January 1945.

My mother’s brother was killed in action over Germany on the night of 16-17 January 1945, and I grew up with the oft-repeated phrase that the operation had been unnecessary as the war was almost over. Paris had been liberated almost five months earlier on 25 August 1944, and sometimes parts of the British civilian population might slip into thinking that it was all over bar the shouting!

Reading the Cables in conjunction with the Lord Alanbrooke War Diaries Field Marshal and the Memoirs of Baron Arthur Harris, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, leaves me in no doubt that the war was now at its fiercest.

Over the years, I learned to “zip it!”. Now, is NOT the time to “zip it!”