Today's "woke" generation lacks perspective

History lessons from their grandparents might help

In December 1940, U83 was launched in a German shipyard, and commissioned on February 8, 1941. Kapitanleutenant Gerhard Worisshoffer became commander and until March 4, 1943 U83 stalked the Mediteranean Sea, sinking Allied transport ships almost at will.

March 4, 1943 was a typical day for the U Boat, a day to relax with no merchant marine targets in the vicinity and the warmth of spring on the horizon. With low clouds and poor visibility in fog, the crew of U38 saw no risk in surfacing to recharge batteries and get some fresh air.

Sergeant Mick Jakimov was on a routine patrol flying Hudson V of No. 500 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. His crew included navigator Jock Joy, a soft-spoken family man from Scotland who post-war became a pharmacist in South End on Sea, Bunny Shirrifs, from New England, and Rod Blair, from Moose Creek, Ontario. Shirrifs and Blair both manned the Hudson’s guns, with Blair serving as the wireless operator as well. The crew had flown together for many hours in the previous few years and, uncharacteristically, had survived when the odds of survival for a year in their role was barely five percent. By March 1943, they had been to many funerals.

The Hudson and U-Boat paths crossed that day. Fifty men died. Most of them didn’t want to be there, but had families and quite ordinary lives until 1939 when World War II broke out. The U-Boat crew were not stereotypes of evil Nazi’s bent on world domination, just German citizens compelled (or even volunteering) to serve in the German war effort. The Hudson crew comprised a pilot from Australia, a Scot, a New Englander and a farm boy from Moose Creek.

Jakimov spotted the tell-tale wake of the U-Boat at 10:02 in the morning despite the poor visibility. The deck crew of the U-Boat spotted the Hudson. Jakimov made his first attack dropping three 100 pound A5 bombs without hitting the submarine while the submarine crew manned anti-aircraft guns firing at the Hudson and hoping to destroy it before it could complete its attack. The U-Boat made no effort to dive, instead taking evasive action while shooting at the Hudson, and Blair and Shirrifs, for their part, shooting back from the Hudson’s .303 calibre machine guns.

Jakimov’s second attack dropped three depth charges, and the crew of the Hudson could see smoke from the conning tower of the submarine. The crew of the submarine gathered in the aft end of the conning tower but soon found themselves in the water as the submarine sank into the sea.

The U-boat crew could be seen swimming in the oil slick where their ship had sunk so Jakimov ordered two dinghies dropped, but both sank on hitting the water. All fifty Germans died that day.

Blair described the encounter in an interview with the Cornwall paper:

Generation X has no idea what war is, gets bombarded with false narratives from government leaders who have no idea themselves, and find themselves taking sides on the Ukraine war or the war in Israel. Few of them have ever fired a gun or been the target of enemy fire. Their beliefs are either anti-Russian or pro-Israel or the reverse, not based on any direct knowledge of the history of either region or the underlying roots of the conflicts, but because being on one team or another gives meaning to their lives. Marching in a pro-Palestinian protest or railing about the colonialism of modern-day Russia makes them feel good about themselves.

Rod Blair was my Dad. He died in 2013 at the age of 98. He never spoke about the War. In 1943, Dad married my mother, a British widow whose husband - an Australian fighter pilot had been killed in combat. He married her December 20, 1944, one day after meeting her and her infant son (my older brother), since she was terrified by the constant bombing of London and wanted to get out of Europe.

Real courage is in short supply today. To combine compassion for others, including the enemy sailors whose ship you have just sunk, with the strength to do what is necessary to defend your country, is real courage. Generation X thinks it is carrying a poster and marching to protest something of which you lack knowledge or understanding. They would benefit from a few lessons in history.