A SUBJECT in the national media last week was the problem of casualties, whilst in a war situation, by so-called, ' friendly fire'. People who have not been in such a situation are always very ready to start blaming some other nation for slackness, carelessness or any other reason they can think of. But it is something which has always happened unfortunately, irrespective of which country is guilty, and the 'faster' that warfare progresses the more likely that it will happen.

Long ago when wars were fought in close-combat situations there was time to see and identify your enemy, and then things started speeding up as we reached the 1940s, However in the 1914-18 war it happened when close artillery support was called for, and range estimation wasn't as good as it might have been. Air support over the trenches during that period was a much slower affair than in the Second World War, for the aircraft would be doing probably about 80 or 90mph, maybe less, and the pilot could look over the side and see who was who. In the next conflict, however, airspeeds were over 300mph and thus the time to be able to check where the friends finished and the enemy started was drastically reduced.

In my own unit we solved the identity problem by cutting up coloured parachute material and making a 'neckerchief' which, like a bright scarf, was highly visible. The rocket-firing Typhoon pilots knew exactly where we were, as they roared closely overhead.

Then we move to more sophisticated conditions today, and aircraft speed increases into the 600mph range and identification time is reduced to milliseconds, despite all the instrumentation in use, and out of thousands of sorties there's always the chance that one can go wrong. A terrible situation for those involved.

* Sometimes I think of the difference in the way that country-born children are raised, as apart from the city dwellers. In 1939 when I left my own county regiment and went to a 'city' unit there were many obvious differences, and standards of upbringing. I came across lads who'd never used a face flannel in their lives, they thought it was 'sissy'. Most of them had blackheads! Many didn't even brush their teeth. The services were the best thing that ever happened to them, for it taught them many things, especially insofar as elementary hygiene was concerned, which their parents had never told them about.

There were many everyday differences, and the use of milk for a cuppa often makes me smile. A conversation on this subject might include the mention of going to the farm nearby and getting a jugful of milk, almost straight from the cow, so to speak, which seemed difficult to comprehend to some.

As for the city youth, I often used to wonder if some of them ever knew where milk came from, for to many of them it was a produce with which tea was made, and which their mothers sometimes ran short of, whereupon they were despatched to some local grocery. Outside would stand a coin machine, and a couple of pennies in the slot would produce a carton of milk and a cup of tea would be on the menu once again. I'm sure many of them never gave a thought as to how it got there.

* If we take notice of everything we read about what we should, or should not eat, we'd end up very confused. Recently I've read that wheat is not very good for us. Most of us have eaten wheat bread all our lives, so it can't be so bad. However, it would be nice to try something else for a change, but what is here? I can happily live on rye biscuits, but I wouldn't know where to get any rye bread - for you can't have a toasted biscuit can you?

Mary and Alf Dennis, who were my Aunt 'Polly' and Uncle Alf, were well known bakers and confectioners in Malton for very many years, up to the 20s. They had a little shop where Boyes shop now stands, and they made rye bread. This was famous locally, and folks came from all around especially for it. I only 'knew' my Aunt Polly after she had retired, so I never tasted rye bread nor did I ever tase any of her popular fruit cake, carefully iced by Alf decorated to requirements. I have a photo of her standing in her doorway, with a shop-window full of 'Victory' cakes to celebrate the end of the First World War. Is bread ever made from oats I wonder? 'Spect there's a recipe in my BeRo book. Must take a look.

* Just a thought: The fundamental cause in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. Bertrand Russell (1872-1970).

Updated: 11:32 Wednesday, September 11, 2002