David Jordan

Yes. The Posey War, the Crazy Fakir rebellion, 1933 and the 1940 South Elmsall Challenge Cup (7-6 penalty shoot out against Frickley Colliery Juniors).

(I may have made some of that up)

I suspect that you'd have to ask her that question on Twitter...

As an aside, sadness of the case notwithstanding, I did like the 'file image of a dog's mouth' caption which must rank as one of the OM's greatest ever bits of lazy sub-editing...

Sheepdog Beatrice 'attacked man in Oxford city centre' Charges were dropped against a man accused of being in the control of a dangerous sheepdog called Beatrice.

Must confess I may have put 2+2 together and made 9.17984, but hadn't thought that it'd be anyone else when I first saw it.

www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1975859...

It was in that bastion of unimpeachable information the Oxford Mail (or one of the offshoots).

About 4/5 years ago, he was charged with not controlling his dog after it bit a man, but the CPS presented no evidence on the grounds of his ill-health; it was said there was no realistic prospect of his recovering sufficiently to face the court.

The full quote to Laski might've been even more of a killer...

“I can assure you there is widespread resentment in the Party at your activities and a period of silence on your part would be welcome.”

The Unbearable Lightness of Being John Malkovich

Could be another egregious failure to recognise Yes, Prime Minister was satire, not a 'how to' guide...

"If he fails, at least he's tried.
If he succeeds, he's a hero.
And if he doesn't come back, he won't be missed"

[From 'Bishop's Gambit' episode, YPM, Series 1]

Ahead of Beatrice Webb? Good heavens!

Clark started losing the room early & lost it a bit more after the story (quite possibly highly embellished) of playing FAC, using Predator feed to direct A-10s to attack a lone T-64 in a village & tying up a fair amount of airborne C4ISR in the process circulated...

If I may, also worth mentioning Clare Connor, his pilot; awarded an immediate DFC at the behest of Arthur Harris who, on seeing the Hampden, regarded it as a miracle he got the aircraft back. His aircraft damaged during a raid on 3 Nov 40 & ditched; he made it into his dinghy, but died of wounds.

Having said that, it appears to have the .303 MG turret alongside the driver's compartment, which suggests A9 (one turret either side of the driver; the A13 didn't have these)

IWM photo caption* (yes, I cheated) suggests an A9, although I'd not dispute the A13 mentioned either as a possibility

* www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Includes letter from 'Somewhere in England. Begins

Dear Dad,

As you'll see from the above, I'm not allowed to tell you that we're in Northampton...

Letters peter out once overseas, but I've pieced together stuff that I can remember (he died in '89) and fitting it with archival/reg histories. 2/2

I have a 'I must get round to writing all of this up' note in my research plans...

5DG uncle handed his memoirs to a museum in the Netherlands; I have a series of letters from 15/19KRH uncle to his father I've been planning to go through. Since 1989... 1/2

...Uncle driving lorry into/out of ambush. "CO said he didn't know you could handbrake turn a 3-tonner. Nor did I until that point, to be quite honest"

So those in them is my source of interest: tanks helped shape the people who helped shape me (apols for length - but you *did* ask...) END/

...finds mates v. keen to kill Germans post-Belsen. Army until late '46; legend (he highly doubted it & suspect rightly) that when ambushed while Regt in Palestine, it was Menachem Begin who initiated contact... 7/

15/19th KRH uncle - on leave 6-16 April 1945. 7 April: tank brewed up, all but 1 of his mates killed. 15 April. Regiment in vanguard of forces at Belsen liberation. 17 April. Returns. Presented with only intact part of his now-gone tank: the piece on which he'd painted my aunt's name, &... 6/

Uncle musing on this circa 2000: "Oddly, the French farmgirl didn't rate a mention in his MM citation or the newspaper report about it as far as I can remember..." 5/

... Uncle <sees CC approaching in his peripheral vision. Shouts crossly>: 'Where TF have you been you daft B___d?'

Crew Commander: "Er....' <uncle turns and looks at him. Sees 8 German prisoners and CC with 2x Panzerfaust, and collection of German small arms over his shoulder.>... 4/

...incident @ farmhouse where crew commander (CC) suddenly hops out to ask attractive French woman for directions and was taken to barn for, he thought, a er... passionate embrace. Returns looking sheepish 2 mins later... 3/

Second one 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards; Cromwell. Told amusing war stories. In reality, surviving war (Op BLACKCOCK in particular) near-miraculous given various scrapes, such as... 2/

They were an integral part of the lives of two much-admired uncles. First one 15/19th KRH (Cromwell, briefly Sherman, Cromwell and then Comet). 'Aggressive motoring holiday in Europe' August 1944-May 1945.... 1/

And, of course, the premise behind a whole Radio Four series (with brief TV spin off):

...DoD had c. 27,500 nuclear weapons in 1975, which maybe 'conveys a stronger message of readiness and resolve' than changing the name of a govt department because POTUS prefers the image/implication. Won't have Mr Putin or Mr Xi quaking in their expensive shoes, I suspect.... Fin/

...If of a certain age and a resident of, say, Hanoi or Baghdad or Panama City or Saint George's at the relevant times, you might contend that the US govt didn't exactly eschew offensive action under the DoD banner... On top of that... 2/

DoD was new - hasn't been a War Department since '47 when it ceased to exist as an entity. The National Security Act removed the Army Air Force from the WD, establishing the USAF. This change is almost akin to renaming DCMS the Ministry of Works (there is a linkage, but...)... 1/

If you'll forgive me for saying so, you missed the words 'really very, very good' out from between 'a' and 'book' in your first sentence there....

Isn't this the same sort of stunt that 'serial prankster' Dan Jarvis has claimed responsibility for in the past? 2 instances during football coverage - FA Cup match in 2023 & Euro '24 draw, I think. (Obvs. not the same Dan Jarvis as the Minister for Security...)