Simon Bolivar's Blog

[Simon Bolivar]

So a few people have suggested I blog some of my stories & in fact Deano was the first, ref My Falklands story that I wrote two yrs ago. However at the time I couldn't figure out how to do it but this evening I think I finally sussed it out. Although due to poor comms I seem to have repeated my first post, if a mod could delete the first blog entry that would be great. Anyway as we have quite a few members who weren't around then & quite a few interested in history, planes & things military, I thought maybe it was worth collecting them together in the blog format. I will continue to publish epsiodes over the next few weeks & will be interested to hear your comments.

Once this series is done I will add my Cuban holiday, which despite beig a little out of date now, the main points of interest are still there & it would still be useful reading prior to taking a holiday of your own there.

[butternutsquashpie]

Good time for me to tune in to the forum!
Very nice Idea, Simon. We all enjoy your little tells and what not and these would definitely be interesting to read up! Good thing you're still creating new memories all the time, though So once you run out of past Cuban tales, there will be much more to come!!

[cigarmo]

Always love your stories Simon you tell them so well

[Simon Bolivar]

Cheers Jeremy & Mo, think you'll enjoy the story as it unflolds... I tried to keep it amusing as well as informative but no cheating & searching ahead of re-publication!

[Sean]

Same here always good to read mate even no i have never met you after your stories i feel like i have known you for years

[ValeTudoGuy]

Looking forward to it Simon! I know it's going to be good!

[Simon Bolivar]

Thanks Sean & Marc. I know we are getting into ancient history now but it's one thing to admire the sleek beauty of a warplane at an airshow, it's another to be buzzed by them in a war situation. Even more so when you know Hospital Ships were sunk by enemy action in the past & your Argentine patients are convinced their planes would fire upon a Red Cross protected ship if ordered to do so.

There are 23 Hospital ships recorded as being sunk in WW1, one on rocks, one pilot error, 7 by mines (remember this for later in my story) the rest by enemy action. 18 Allies ships & one German sunk HS Tabora, by HMS Vengenge & Challenge. There must be a story there but haven't been able to find any details on it. The most notorious sinking was the Llandovery Castle220px-Victory_bonds_(Llandovery_Castle).jpg as told here: Love the Matron's quote at the end. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMHS_Llandovery_Castle

[peanutpete]

Great idea Simon and for me your Falkland tales are one of the most memorable post on here


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[Simon Bolivar]

Cheers Pete, apprecaite that.

[SmokeyDave]

Engaging, insightful and thought provoking, a pleasure to read as always

[RickMG]

Loved the Falklands blog Simon. What an adventure. Is there going to be a part 3? Would love to know how the prisoners finally got home and if anyone ever kept in touch with them to see if they did get punished. Unanswered questions. Can't wait for the movie.

[Simon Bolivar]

Hi Rick, In answer to your question, yes there is a part 3 & many more! I'll try to publish approx Wed's & Sun's for the next few weeks. Many questions will be answered but some will be left to the imagination - as in real life we don't get all the loose ends tied up at the end of the movie. Be interested to hear your perspective, looking at the crisis from across the pond & what you thought of Regan's & the adminstrations reaction to it. I don't think I'll be ginving too much away by saying it could have turned into another Suez Crisis scenario for us Brit's but for Maggie's resolve.

[RickMG]

Simon, I'll be quite honest. The Falkland War flew by me as just a news story. 1982 was not a good year for me. I was 31/32, my mother passed away suddenly early that year and my business had a three month long strike that summer just about putting us out of business.

In other words, I barely remember anything about that year other than what was happening in my life directly to me. Sorry, can't give you my thoughts on it further than that but I'm sure others here from the U.S. (if any are old enough).

[Simon Bolivar]

That's no problem Rick, can see you had your hands full that year. Guess your story worked out OK though or your retiremnet would be so interesting! So check out my story & let us know what you think of the political situation as it unfolds, as you view it with fresh eyes.

[Simon Bolivar]

OK folks, busy day today as I am off the rig tomorrow; weather & choppers permitting. So I thought I'd post the next episode today so I can dip in & read your comments as that's about all the time I'l get. First problem the blog limit turns out to be 1,000 characters so I have had to split this chapter in half, post the second half later.
PS I know there were some spelling & grammatical errors in these stories but I am deliberatily not re-reading this before posting to blog. It was quite carthatic writing it but it got everything back to the surface for a long time & I don't want to get that back into it again so soon.