Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Fri Jan 17, 2014 12:49 pm  

Mintball wrote:

No 'Schweinhund!', which is entirely made-up German?

Stand-Offish wrote:

What no schnell, Gott and himmel?
I'm sure Valhalla used to creep in there too, though Norse in origin.
The Germans were always going to Valhalla!

I do recall those, now you mention them.

DaveO wrote:

No. My one was "Commando" which wasn't just about Commando's! A big treat for me on holiday in Cornwall which we did for several years was to be given 50p to go and buy one from the local newsagents. I read them from cover to cover several times over.

Also read Commando, though Battle and Charley's War were my favourite by some distance. 2000AD was another, Rogue Trooper and Dredd. There were so many comics around in those days - Warlord, Eagle, Beezer, Beano, Dandy, Roy of the Rovers, Topper, Scorcher, etc - and I've got a box full in my mother's loft somewhere I should dig out. Pretty sure most of the original UK Transformers comics are in there.

[Bullseye]

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Fri Jan 17, 2014 1:23 pm  

Good post Cronus. I also enjoyed Charley's War in Battle. I never thought it glamorised war in any way and was superior to anything else of that genre. As a kid if I wanted something with a bit more excitement than Whizzer & Chips it was ideal and like you learned a lot from it.

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:56 pm  

Cronus wrote:

The only German language I recall from war comics was 'Achtung!' - though of course it depends which comics you read.

My choice was Battle Weekly, and more specifically Charley's War, which to this day remains unsurpassed as the definitive war comic. Could you imagine allowing a child of, say, 7 years old to read something like that today? As a young lad I loved the violence and dramatic imagery of the drawings, yet distinctly recall appreciating the futility, waste and desperation of it all. Pat Mills drew upon the historical record and wrote his plots around actual events of WW1 (such as the oft-forgotten Étaples Mutiny) whilst Joe Colquhoun produced images I found stunning and did my best to emulate for many years. I can still draw a damn good Charley's War Tommy or battle scene today.

The Germans were often portrayed as ruthless bloodthirsty killers, but just as often as men no different to the Tommies, with the same banter and songs and desires. It was unashamedly pro-British, but then it was a British comic for British boys, what else do you expect?

I've always remembered the issue which saw Charley and Sergeant 'Ole Bill' sent to the Russian Front, and the feeling of sadness that they had done their bit and survived the Western Front, yet now had to suffer the conditions Colquhoun portrayed so brilliantly.

It was brutal and dark and unforgiving, yet witty and light and historically close to the mark (I knew about mustard gas, the Somme, the dangers of munitions factories, the executions of deserters, the 'Old Contemptibles', the plight of the 'War Horses', tanks and much more from a very early age). I've never forgotten it, and I'm glad it formed part of my childhood.

Wow impressive images, what era are they from, certainly nothing like that around when ah wor nobbut a lad although the artists style is very reminscent of the 1960s bubblegum card series of "American Civil War" and the "Mars Attacks" cards (no not the film) of which there was talk of banning some of them because they were so "graphic", us kids couldn't get enough of them

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:37 pm  

JerryChicken wrote:

Wow impressive images, what era are they from, certainly nothing like that around when ah wor nobbut a lad although the artists style is very reminscent of the 1960s bubblegum card series of "American Civil War" and the "Mars Attacks" cards (no not the film) of which there was talk of banning some of them because they were so "graphic", us kids couldn't get enough of them

Seems Charley's War ran from 1979 - 1985, probably had every issue over those years. I think it was repeated several years later and touched up with a bit of colour though I always preferred the original B&W images. Googling these images certainly brings back pangs of memory.

Bullseye wrote:

Good post Cronus. I also enjoyed Charley's War in Battle. I never thought it glamorised war in any way and was superior to anything else of that genre. As a kid if I wanted something with a bit more excitement than Whizzer & Chips it was ideal and like you learned a lot from it.

Absolutely. It's easy for people to assume these comics glamorised war - and indeed some did, but not in this case. Even as a very young boy I was left in no doubt there was nothing glamorous about WW1 or war in general (Charley's War also took in WWII up to about 1940). It was gritty and brutal and sent a very clear message.

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Fri Jan 17, 2014 10:13 pm  

The comic books I remember best were A5 size and fitted nicely into a pocket of my school blazer.
In black and white mainly.
They were like little books in thickness.
Late fifties early sixties.

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Sat Jan 18, 2014 2:32 pm  

I remember Commando, although I've no memory of how I managed to get hold of them – not because ours was a pacifist household, but as a girl they were not on my allowed reading list.

Mind, some years later, with my mother censoring my teenage reading matter, anything where there was the remotest risk of S.E.X. being mentioned was verboten, but books about war were entirely acceptable (from Alistair MacLean to things like Reach for the Sky). Come to think of it, I had Biggles too, rather earlier.

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Sun Jan 19, 2014 1:29 pm  

Ever since learning about WW2 in Primary School (i'm 28 now) i've been intrigued by it, films, books,documentaries,games, you name it. I always found the Eastern Front to be more fascinating though, Stalingrad (the 1993 film) is one of my favourite films, and i refuse to watch the English-dubbed version as it takes away from it IMO.

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:15 pm  

100% Wire wrote:

Ever since learning about WW2 in Primary School (i'm 28 now) i've been intrigued by it, films, books,documentaries,games, you name it. I always found the Eastern Front to be more fascinating though, Stalingrad (the 1993 film) is one of my favourite films, and i refuse to watch the English-dubbed version as it takes away from it IMO.

Stalingrad is a battle that has fascinated me for a long time. Even on the astounding scale of the Eastern Front, Stalingrad is unique in its violence and nature.

The development of 'Rattenkrieg' - Rat War. Stalin's order 227 - 'Not a step back'. The tanks rolling off the tractor factory production line straight into battle. The fight over 'Pavlov's House' and the grain elevator. The growing use of snipers and their duels. The complete annihilation of the 13th Guards Rifle Division (10,000 men) in 2-3 days in the mind-numbing slaughter on Mamayev Kurgan (where the huge Motherland memorial stands today). Hitler's refusal to allow retreat. The chaos of the airfield. The encirclement and the 'kessel', and the near break-through of the relieving Panzer force. The harshness of the Russian winter and the poor German winter equipment. Paulus' surrender and the fate of the surviving 6th.

Antony Beevor's 'Stalingrad' is a great book on the subject - the numbers and facts he provides are staggering. His 'Berlin: The Downfall 1945' is also worth a read and I'd also recommend 'Moscow 1941' by Rodric Braithwaite.

Stalingrad 1993 can be found on YT by searching 'Stalingrad (1993)-ganzer Film in HD deutsch/german'.

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:44 pm  

Hitler's promotion of Paulus to Generalfieldmarschall did not have thw desired effect.
No German of that rank had ever surrendered on a battlefield.
He did, the day after promotion.

Re: WWI - Paxman v Cameron : Sun Jan 19, 2014 9:51 pm  

WIZEB wrote:

Hitler's promotion of Paulus to Generalfieldmarschall did not have thw desired effect.
No German of that rank had ever surrendered on a battlefield.
He did, the day after promotion.

If they had not been at the end of a tenuous supply line, they would have wiped the floor with the Russians.
A defeat of a great army.
Luckily for all of us.