Previously on “War and peace”, from my great-grandfather Élie Martin to my great-uncle Philippe Onraët, an account of the family members who went to war, from the Chinese-French war of the 19th century to WWI… This post will deal with WWII onwards. (All images: family archives) 1939, Rwanda-Urundi, East Africa, my uncle Gérard Leclerc was…
Elie Martin (1843-1920), my great-grandfather on my father’s side. A graduate of the École Navale (French Naval Academy), he joined the service in 1862. Family lore says he fought – and defeated – the Black flags pirates in the Bay of Halong in Indochina, during the Chinese-French war (1881-1885). His Biography at the École Navale…
“Passengers waiting for a train to Poland in Lviv station (Ukraine), on the third day of the attack launched by Russian president Vladimir Putin. February 26.” L’Express. I normally only publish my own material. But since I’m a bit far from Ukraine, and propaganda is going on strong, I thought I would gather a few…
F is for Fighting R is for Resistance E is for Enlightenment E is for Entitlement D is for Don’t give up O is for Overcome… (We shall…) M is for My life, My choices. I am a child of the 50’s, raised in the 60’s and 70’s. Born in India (Pakistan) after the Partition.…
It’s a small booklet, bound in faded black cloth. A time-yellowed label bears a name written with a dip pen: Martin Cyril. My father’s name. Surname first as was and still is customary in France. It’s my father’s flight log in 1939-1940 at the beginning of WWII. My father, very dapper in his freshly cut…
March ’91. We’d relocated to Mexico a year before. I worked at an Ad agency, and had decided to “brush up” my scant German. (No relationship whatsoever). So I took classes at the Goethe Institüt. During breaks we talked between classmates. I told about my climb of Mont-Blanc in ’89. As it turned out, Manuel…
My mother is a tough Lady. She always tells us: “Don’t whine”. Uncle Joe is a CPA. We call him “Chief Joseph” to bug him. He grins: “I’m not a Nez-percé. I’m Umatilla.” I tease him: “Wasn’t your great-grandmother a Walla Walla?” My aunt works two jobs, but it doesn’t matter. (Don’t whine). Plus, they…
Congratulations to America. (And the world). TBH I ‘been worried sick for the past few weeks. Compliments to the American voters. Very best wishes to the Biden-Harris team. Loooots of work to do. 👍🏻
I never accepted arbitrary. At school. In the Army. (Don’t argue with the Captain). In student government. (I once was a Student Senator in another life.) At work. Even with abusive clients. Client is first but there are limits. Arbitrary is a common human behaviour. It must be fought at all cost. Thanks to Scottie…
If you recall, end of September, I presented the Financial Times’ analysis of polls for the upcoming election as well as Google Trends’ analysis. While polls tended to give Biden the lead, Google Trends gave Trump the lead. A month later, 2 days away from the election, more than 85 million people have already voted.…
Equinoxio 