Leaderboard

And in fact I'm not an Oldham boy - we were brought up in Bramhall and Woodford, tho' antecedents on both sides, with Irish and Cornish added in, have roots in Manchester back to Victorian times; the old man and my maternal Grandpa were both in the rag trade. Indeed, David Hague, mentioned above, had a cotton mill in Oldham (sold in the 60s).

And this last one is I think taken on a training camp on Salisbury Plain. Not sure of the date ... early 60s, I'd guess. You'll need a magnifying glass! The old man is three to the right from the feller with the stick on **his** right. I think to **His** right is David Hague, who was his adjutant at the time, and still with us - I'm hoping to see him and his wife in a month or two.

And this I suspect vial the local paper in Oldham, Whitsun Wakes parade

And this is him in 1940, before going on active service.

I'm not sure I have any good ones of his TA days, but I'll have a poke around! As kids, dad used to take us to the barracks at time at weekends; sometimes we went out in the Centurions on the range as "supplementary" crew! Wonderful for a young lad. I can also recall going to a Whitsun Wakes parade in Oldham which feature the regiment and tanks - we were stashed up with the Mayor and co. on the steps of the Town Hall. I know the old man was devoted to the TA and very proud of being C/O. In charge when the Regimental Colours were presented to HRH Queen Elizabeth - here's a picture I do have to hand (not in great shape) - he's on the left.

Welcome to the forum Jeremy, nice to hear from a fellow Oldhamer have you any photo's of your old man in uniform you could post.

Looks good, could you take a photo of the liner markings for me Tom, sorry to take so long replying been down in Plymouth and Wiltshire since last Thursday.

Wow that's some serious wear and tear! Thanks

After the war ended, Austria was divided up into 4 Allied zones, the city of Vienna was also divided into zones or sectors. In the early postwar years there was poverty and the black market, criminality and shortages as well as the Allied Military Government ruling over the land. The central figure is Harry Lime, an American petty criminal very much involved in large scale black market dealing and organised crime. To evade his persuers he fakes his own death as an accident in which another person is killed and buried under Lime's identity. Lime's friend, an American author and journalist, has just arrived in Vienna, but too late. The start of an exciting and intriguing thriller, the film ends with a final pursuit through the underworld of Vienna, ending with Lime dying for a second time. A classic film of the 1950s with Orson Welles in the rôle of Harry Lime. Original German text. The original film seems to have vanished again, here is a trailer I found:

An alpine cottage scene with Zither player, Altaussee, Steiermark, pre 1850

and here is the theme replayed, composed by Anton Karras