This is the most warming news story that the cockles of my h. have seen in a long while. It seems that two sailors from HMS Manchester stole a life-sized plastic statue of Ronald McDonald and threw it into the harbour of Valparaiso, Chile.
Frankly, the only way I could be more pleased would be to learn that they'd attached a stolen policeman's helmet to it, before heaving it into the water.
But my swelling of national pride is subdued by the information that these good tars were caught, arraigned before the beak and fined an amount that the BBC describes as "£350" - although it seems more likely to me that the judge would have levied a sum in Chilean pesos. Back in the day, I would have hoped that two of the Senior Service should have been able to evade capture for a simple sculpture-napping.
Still, it's nice to know that British sailors are still trained to take the initiative, to correctly identify and neutralise the symbols of an enemy power in a neutral port, without sparking a major international incident. It makes one feel that one's taxes (which yes, one is still paying in the UK) aren't completely wasted.
Thanks to El Reg for the tip.
No comments:
Post a Comment