Jump to content
Godot

The Ones That Got Away...

Recommended Posts

General Xiao Ke has died at the age of 102. He was a participant in the Long March. I wouldn't have thought there are too many survivors of that walk left alive.
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Looking for some stuff on Paul Madeley I came across the picture of Bruce Reynolds, the "Mr Big" of the Great Train Robbery. He doesn't look too clever.

Train-Robber-Bruce-Reynolds.jpg

 

Anyway it got me wondering how many others were left alive and it seems quite a few according to this article (although it's five years old). They may be worth watching.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[Edit The Daily Mail say that William Thomas was the last surviving participant of the Great Escape, so it looks as if they've all been rounded up now]

 

The Daily Mail is mistaken. There is one remaining survivor, Paul Royle, aged 94.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Royle would be a cert for obits and coverage, then.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Werner Franz appears to be still alive, only 14 when the Hindenburg crashed and burned and escaped virtually unscathed, since the water tank above him burst during the fire.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Les Munro, the last of the Dambusters, is worth watching. He might have made a unique pick in the DDP. He still might if he's still alive next year and this note has been nicely buried.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

While Obama's party might have been a bit costly at least he invited some worthy people such as surviving Tuskegee airmen. Whether any would get a UK obit is debatable but the older they get and the more their fame grows, you never know. Lee Archer is one of them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
No survivors here. A disaster in 1986 worse than the Titanic but I don't recall any headlines. Apparently not a night to remember.

It was in Africa. Hence, the number of deaths doesn't matter so much to the mainstream/Western media.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
No survivors here. A disaster in 1986 worse than the Titanic but I don't recall any headlines. Apparently not a night to remember.

It was in Africa. Hence, the number of deaths doesn't matter so much to the mainstream/Western media.

Oh yes, that must have been the reason. Thanks ever so much for pointing that out Corporal Jones. Just what the deathlist needs, another Professor of the bleeding obvious. :pop:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

At least half a dozen of the crew were so busy drinking they missed the boat. Best pints they ever sank.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The BBC are claiming that the last surviving Irish fighter of the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War has died. Now you'll excuse me for referring to wikipedia on this matter, but they suggest that there is another surviving Irishman who fought (Paddy Cochrane), and in all, there are roughly 35 people still alive who fought in the conflict of which over half are British!

 

Two things. Firstly, I'm amazed that British survivors currently outnumber Spanish ones by a ratio of nearly 5 to 1. And secondly, the most notable British survivor still alive is one Jack Jones. But not this one...

 

BAP_BBC_5202.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The BBC are claiming that the last surviving Irish fighter of the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War has died. Now you'll excuse me for referring to wikipedia on this matter, but they suggest that there is another surviving Irishman who fought (Paddy Cochrane), and in all, there are roughly 35 people still alive who fought in the conflict of which over half are British!

 

Two things. Firstly, I'm amazed that British survivors currently outnumber Spanish ones by a ratio of nearly 5 to 1. And secondly, the most notable British survivor still alive is one Jack Jones. But not this one...

 

The reason that the British survivors currently outnumber the Spanish ones is because the page was created by a bunch of Anglo-centric w**nkers who don't bother to do any more research than they can perform in English between felating themselves. That page is the epitome of what gives Wikipedia a bad name... original research by lazy English-speakers that completely misrepresent the facts.

 

And I saw that with all the love of a Wikipedia admin.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
And I saw that with all the love of a Wikipedia admin.

 

That reminds me, CP. I saw this mention of you a few days ago, in a not entirely accurate page about DL:

 

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Death_List

 

There is a WikiProject on Wikipedia about the World's Oldest People, and although its members are not Death List users, there has been a war between trusted admin Canadian Paul and the likes of Bart Versieck, a confused man from Belgium who appears to be interested in little other than women who are 110+ years old, and styles himself as "extremely sexy". Bart's friend, the longevity researcher Robert Young, was indef-blocked from Wikipedia for f@cking with the Wikipedia admins and their Nazi regime. Bart Versieck is soon on the verge of a permanent ban for repeatedly editing others' talk page messages even after many, many warnings.

 

Keeping on topic, The Sun have just done an interview with Rochus Misch, the last survivor of Hitler's bunker.

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman...icle2158743.ece

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
That reminds me, CP. I saw this mention of you a few days ago, in a not entirely accurate page about DL:

 

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Death_List

 

Wow, that page needs to be updated. Bart hasn't edited any articles since like, September.

 

Otherwise, I fully accept the honour of being DL's most prominent and well-known member. :unsure:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
One of the last survivors of the 1906 earthquake which shook San Francisco is dead at the age of 106. Herbert Hamrol credited his longevity to "wild women and good liquor," which is a line I've heard several times before. . .

Hamrol, thought to be THE LAST survivor of the earthquake must be turning in his grave as two more survivors have since come forward.

 

Two survivors? The race is on...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The race is indeed on, stuff to speculate upon:

 

Will either of the survivors live to see the NEXT great earthquake in the Bay Area?

 

Will Jade Goody or Big Brother go first?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Have just been watching the Band of Brothers series again, that, apart from portraying the Brits as blithering idiots or in minor support roles and sometimes both, is one of the best pieces of war drama ever made. I was looking up Easy Company on Wiki and there are quite a few still left alive. I think Richard Winters would get a UK obit.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Have just been watching the Band of Brothers series again, that, apart from portraying the Brits as blithering idiots or in minor support roles and sometimes both, is one of the best pieces of war drama ever made. I was looking up Easy Company on Wiki and there are quite a few still left alive. I think Richard Winters would get a UK obit.

 

The living ones I could find at first glance, ordered by birth. I'm not going to go in depth, this is just what I saw from the Wiki article for Band of Brothers. Anyone who has more can expand.

 

Frank Perconte (b. March 10 1917)

Richard Winters (b. January 21 1918)

Joseph A. Lesniewski (b. August 29 1920)

Lynn "Buck" Compton (b. December 31, 1921)

Donald Malarkey (b. 1921)

William Guarnere (b. April 28 1922)

Edward Heffron (b. May 16, 1923)

Darrell "Shifty" Powers (b. 1923)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Have just been watching the Band of Brothers series again, that, apart from portraying the Brits as blithering idiots or in minor support roles and sometimes both, is one of the best pieces of war drama ever made. I was looking up Easy Company on Wiki and there are quite a few still left alive. I think Richard Winters would get a UK obit.

 

The living ones I could find at first glance, ordered by birth. I'm not going to go in depth, this is just what I saw from the Wiki article for Band of Brothers. Anyone who has more can expand.

 

Frank Perconte (b. March 10 1917)

Richard Winters (b. January 21 1918)

Joseph A. Lesniewski (b. August 29 1920)

Lynn "Buck" Compton (b. December 31, 1921)

Donald Malarkey (b. 1921)

William Guarnere (b. April 28 1922)

Edward Heffron (b. May 16, 1923)

Darrell "Shifty" Powers (b. 1923)

 

I do as it happens & it's quite comprehensive, but the likes of Hubert Suerth Jr & co. aren't realistically going to get UK obits. James Alley died last year, John Martin in 2005 & neither got any real press mention.

 

Winters definitely will - Compton probably will for his post-Easy Company career, as well as his war-time links.

Guarnere... possible as he's high profile of the veterans. The rest... I doubt it.

 

Some of them are doing extremely well considering they are now all over 85.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×

Important Information

Your use of this forum is subject to our Terms of Use