http://airminded.org/2006/05/24/propellors-and-propaganda/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=propellors-and-propaganda Airpower and British society, 1908-1941 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:36:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://airminded.org/2006/05/24/propellors-and-propaganda/comment-page-1/#comment-1896 Airminded · Sounds like a plan Thu, 27 Jul 2006 13:56:05 +0000 http://airminded.org/2006/05/24/propellors-and-propaganda/#comment-1896 [...] I’m preparing for my PhD confirmation, which means I’m nearly a year in. (Eeep!) This means giving a paper (done), writing a report justifying what I’ve done and plan to do, and appearing before a committee to discuss my report and progress. A cynical viewpoint would be that this is just a hoop-jumping-through exercise which is just something to get out of the way, but it’s actually very useful to be made to step back, consider the bigger picture of the overall thesis, and have to explain to somebody else what it is that I’m actually doing, and what I plan to do in future. [...] [...] I’m preparing for my PhD confirmation, which means I’m nearly a year in. (Eeep!) This means giving a paper (done), writing a report justifying what I’ve done and plan to do, and appearing before a committee to discuss my report and progress. A cynical viewpoint would be that this is just a hoop-jumping-through exercise which is just something to get out of the way, but it’s actually very useful to be made to step back, consider the bigger picture of the overall thesis, and have to explain to somebody else what it is that I’m actually doing, and what I plan to do in future. [...]

]]> http://airminded.org/2006/05/24/propellors-and-propaganda/comment-page-1/#comment-1132 Airminded · The Deepest Shelter in Town Wed, 31 May 2006 12:38:11 +0000 http://airminded.org/2006/05/24/propellors-and-propaganda/#comment-1132 [...] The talk went off pretty well, I think—at least I didn’t hear any snoring and got some good questions at the end. The best part was that “Four” Meaher (whose own paper on the political uses of the myth of the “great betrayal”—ie of Australia, by Britain, in 1941-2—was one of the highlights of the day for me) put me on to this hilarious song called “The Deepest Shelter in Town”, the lyrics of which are below. Googling, it turns out that it was sung by an English comedienne, Florence Desmond (whose first husband, incidentally, was one of the winners of the 1934 London to Melbourne Centenary Air Race, Tom Campbell Black). The reference to Herbert Morrison dates it to his early days at the Home Office (where he was responsible for air raid precautions), ie from October 1940—the height of the Blitz, which fits. [...] [...] The talk went off pretty well, I think—at least I didn’t hear any snoring and got some good questions at the end. The best part was that “Four” Meaher (whose own paper on the political uses of the myth of the “great betrayal”—ie of Australia, by Britain, in 1941-2—was one of the highlights of the day for me) put me on to this hilarious song called “The Deepest Shelter in Town”, the lyrics of which are below. Googling, it turns out that it was sung by an English comedienne, Florence Desmond (whose first husband, incidentally, was one of the winners of the 1934 London to Melbourne Centenary Air Race, Tom Campbell Black). The reference to Herbert Morrison dates it to his early days at the Home Office (where he was responsible for air raid precautions), ie from October 1940—the height of the Blitz, which fits. [...]

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