75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain

Welcome back to the Randomizer!

You know what I haven’t done in a while? Something about History, since my Christmas special just seven months ago. Oh dear I can only apologise. Let’s turn back 75 years ago to 1940, and the Battle of Britain.

June 1940. France along with Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg has fallen to Nazi Germany in only six weeks, and now Germany has conquered most of Western Europe. All the way from the Pyrenees to Warsaw, they created a makeshift empire that could have made the Italians jealous (and probably did), and changed the old saying to, ‘All roads lead to Berlin’. There was one tiny problem: A country that lay just opposite the English Channel, called ‘Great Britain’.

Only this one country was all what remained behind of the Allies fighting against the Nazi Blitzkreig, with Winston Churchill leading the helm in the fight against them. A voicebox who, after the  British Expeditionary Force and some French soldiers retreated to Dunkirk, and evacuated over a week back to Britain, said “What General Weygand has called The Battle of France is over…The Battle of Britain is about to begin”.

Despite Hitler at first believing that Britain would sue for peace, plans were drawn up to invade this little island code-named ‘Operation: Sealion’. It soon became a battle for supremacy of the air, the only campaign in the world to be fought in such a manner. The Luftwaffe with as much air power as they could muster flew over to bomb cities, airfields and shipping alike. But they were met with three letters: R, A and F, intent on defending Great Britain at all costs, despite being just like the Luftwaffe the only ones capable of defeating them.

For over three months, British Hurricanes and Spitfires fought the German Heinkels and Messerschmitts for control of the air, as the Germans switched tactics every now and then to different bombing targets, with the British airfields taking the brunt of it. On 15^th September, the British surprised the Germans as they flew over to bomb London and neighbouring towns, and effectively sent the Luftwaffe scattering through different directions in and around the skies. ‘Battle of Britain Day’ was the effective end for Hitler to postpone his invasion plans, and first real defeat in the war.

The Battle of Britain stands out amongst the campaigns of World War II as our greatest tests of defence, and most likely seen around the world as our final hurrah in a war despite other victories to come. The romantic nature of the young pilots dogfighting against the imposing threat of the Nazi Blitzkrieg as they came to destroy our mountains green (apologies for the Jerusalem pun). So how did the RAF defeat the Luftwaffe?

Despite the romance on the front of it, The Battle of Britain was on closer inspection not so ‘plucky’ as we see it. In fact, that is what I’m going to talk about today. Looking into different aspects, I can try and paint a picture that has admittedly been talked about in historical circles over again. Speaking of painting pictures, I will be including different artworks and photos from the time to illustrate how people viewed the war, and how the airmen possibly viewed themselves.

'An Aerial Battle' by Francis Dodd

So be like that cat and stare into the impeding air-trails about how the Battle of Britain was won.

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…Or maybe change one word of that question: How the Battle of Britain was LOST.

After France was conquered, the German navy (Kriegsmarine) were the only ones whom had any sort of plan for an invasion of Britain. ‘Sort of’ because neither part of the German Army, Navy or Air force had any sort of planning ready for such an invasion. They really believed Britain would need to surrender to them in a bid of hopelessness. When we didn’t, Hitler finally took interest in the idea and the army had their own invasion plans, and became derisive of the navy’s plan. Both sides agreed that air superiority was vital to the invasion being a success, and dumped the problem onto Herman Goering, Commander of the Luftwaffe. Pessamistic of the chances of success in an invasion, he was convinced that the Luftwaffe by itself could knock Britain out of the war.

'Ja ja mein fuhrer, we'll be eating our Christmas dinner in London!'

Eventually a plan was formulated during the battle itself, after many arguments between army and navy: 9 divisions of 200,000 men would land in areas between Folkestone and Brighton, supported by two airborne divisions. Either side were not happy at the result. The army believed the fleet too small, and the navy thought the size too big to protect. Though both still relied on the Luftwaffe to knock out the RAF, which itself was not happy about the pressure of planning despite Goering’s optimism.

The Luftwaffe itself seemed wholly unprepared and untrained for a complete air battle. Adolf Galland, former Luftwaffe Squadron Pilot, believed that “the plan was not serious…and our preparations were about ridiculous”. In the past, ‘Bliztkrieg’ tactics had worked because of the close knit support everyone in the army, mechanical and air gave together on land in quick movements before encircling the enemy. Emphasis: ON LAND. NOT SEA. Unless Germany had some means of transporting across sea with magical means like they seem to do in every video game, no clue was given. Nor f***s for that matter.

In addition, the Luftwaffe was more or less based in France for most of the duration of the battle. Nothing wrong with that except a limit in fuel, because then they could only stay in a limited range of targets including London with a small load of bombs anyway, and the fighter escorts that went along could only really stay for 10 minutes to half an hour. The RAF could easily refuel and re-join the dogfights if necessary. Plus, the use of radar in the RAF helped defend Britain greatly because then they could move quickly into position and attack the Luftwaffe fast. Those factors presented big issues for Goering in general, as well as himself.

Goering’s change in tactics only worked properly in one respect. The Luftwaffe had originally attacked merchant conveys and the harbours in the south of England. Dover became a particular target, soon becoming called ‘Hellfire Corner’ as bombers attempted to destroy the ships close by, with not so much particular success except to impress BBC news reporters at the scene. Seriously, check out Charles Gardner on Youtube, there should be a clip.

On August 13^th, Goering switched his targets to the airfields and radar stations to destroy RAF Fighter Command. Despite maintaining significant damage against the airfields and stations, inflicting over 100 casualties and wounded in the last week of August and first week of September, bringing down 6 key airfields and destroying 500 fighters quicker than they could be produced, and knocking Fighter Command almost to its knees, Goering believed the fighter planes were still hampering his forces. He changed tactics again, to attack London. It would be the end of preparation for Operation Sea-Lion.

It would also be his costly mistake for being a daft bugger. In doing so, partially influenced by the fact that Berlin was bombed by the RAF in the second-to-last week of August, Goering would give the RAF an opportunity to regain their strength in fighters and pilots as the Luftwaffe began ‘The Blitz’ on Londoners. In one week, London burned and Goering gathered that opposition had been wiped out, regardless of resistance still being maintained somewhat by pilots fighting the onslaught.

 

'Good moaning Brotoin. Would you luke your oggs fred or scombled?'

On the 15^th September, the Luftwaffe launched a two wave attack of 250 bombers each to bomb London, expecting hardly any opposition. The RAF surprised them and the replacement Hurricanes and Spitfires broke the formations apart, shooting down 61 planes and forcing the bombers to drop their bombs far and wide, making their impact less harmful to London. Many Londoners watched the battle unfold in the skies, and were probably all too happy to tell the Germans to piss off while doing so.

 

Two days later, Hitler realised the unattainability of the situation and postponed Operation Sea-Lion, even having doubts beforehand of any realistic chance of invading Britain.  For Britain, it was now a case of defending London from the bombers in night-time, which the fighters couldn’t easily do. But the threat of invasion was over for the moment. Britain remained on high alert until 1941, Churchill hearing reports that landing craft had been dismantled in Holland and secretly decided that invasion was no longer impossible. Whatever the case, The Battle of Britain was won.

'Hmm I guess it's true. They really don't like it up them'

 

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Let’s talk about the RAF side of things now, and how Britain managed to fend off the Germans in all.

During the capitulation of France and the Low Countries (Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg), and even before that during the Spanish Civil War, Germany was using aerial bombing to devastating effect on military targets and civilians, creating a psychological effect to create panic among people as they fled from the planes. Such tactics had been used before during World War I, though with the addition of the ‘Trumpets of Jericho’ to the Stuka Bombers, it created a more damaging mindset.

That hadn’t gone unnoticed by Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding, Head of Fighter Command, and he was busily creating an efficient radar system in an attempt to keep the Germans at bay, provided he had enough planes from the capitulation of France. Eventually an effective system was created. A chain of radio stations with observational posts moved information along to Fighter Command, who passed the important information onto group headquarters, who could then scramble pilots into the air to the relevant positions on the maps. That make sense? I hope it bloody did, because I can sort of understand it myself! Radar was the effective weapon the British had up their sleeves. Without it, their defensive methods would have been less efficient if it were standing to see any planes approaching, and more prone to attacks regardless of resources on the German side.

 

'I wonder if I turn that knob this way, I will get Glenn Miller...

As I’ve said in the last section, The British had home advantage. If in the midst of battle they were running out of fuel or damaged in anyway, they can simply land back at base and get themselves fixed up before quickly flying back into the fight once more. The airfields too were not easily knocked out, easily repairable themselves and up and running in no time, before the kettle would be boiled no doubt. Plus the production of planes, 100 every week, helped Dowding regather his forces together to fight back after fighting in France.

But the British lacked many big issues too. One was air-sea rescue. Their preparations for as such were woeful at best. Consisting of hopes that cross channel boats would see the pilot and rescue them from the cold water, or a lifeboat would do the same if none were available. Even in summer, the Channel is freezing cold and the RAF clothing did nothing to help protect the airmen from freezing outright. With life jackets as well, there was the risk of being injured or in shock. Because of the pilots lost at sea, rescue operations were switched to local naval authorities on 22^nd August, with Fighter Command lending planes to help look for them. Overall, 200 pilots were lost as sea, with no proper air-sea rescue formed until a year later.

Another major issue was the tactics they used. They flew in tight vic (V) formations of three planes in four sections, with only the squadron leader able to see the Germans ahead while the others kept station. Because this left squadrons vulnerable to attack, Fight Command knew the weaknesses well, but didn’t change tactics because inexperienced pilots were not well trained, and it was felt they needed strong leadership to keep them in formation. Front line pilots used a compromise where they used looser formations, with the inexperienced pilots behind and above to increase observation and protection from behind. It wasn’t any better since the pilots were still shot down without the others knowing they were even under attack.

One tactic used to the best effect was by Group Commander Keith Park, who commanded the south east of England. He would dispatch individual groups to attack bombers continuously, and break the German formations apart. Once they did, those groups would take down the stragglers one by one, and engage the front of the bombers, which was not always achieved. In the midst of battle, Hurricanes and Spitfires would accidentally usually swap places in attacking bombers (Hurricanes’s job) and the fighter escorts (Spitfire’s job). As I mentioned, it didn’t stop the casualty list rising, especially during the last week in August and first week in September as the Germans attacked the airfields and stations maddeningly.

 

 

Retaliation soon ensued from Britain, not in the form of fighters, but bombers themselves. When a German bomber, possibly unintentionally, dropped its load over central London, Winston Churchill ordered a return strike on Berlin, duly delivered in 24 hours by over 70 to 80 craft…and hardly any damage was done. Avoiding the flak of anti-aircraft guns, they dropped their loads in different places, from fields to residential areas, with little casualties in tow. The planes themselves were not damaged either. It did embarrass Goering and Hitler who, when the raids continued, promised at one of his rallies to raze cities to the ground. Thus giving Britain a great advantage in refreshing itself as ‘The Blitz’ began, and led to the ‘Battle of Britain Day’ a week later, when 61 German planes were brought down. Whoops.

 

'They came, they saw, they scurried'

With that loss, the Luftwaffe could not command control of the air from that day onwards, and subsequently Hitler postponed Operation Sea-Lion, but continued to bomb London during the night-time for 76 days afterwards. Britain would sigh relief for now and laugh at their lucky escape for the most part, even in the face of the Nazis bombs dropping on them. The German army had their first loss, and Britain stood tall.

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To sum up, it is clearer now how the battle was won and lost.

Effectively, the Luftwaffe shot themselves in the foot when it came to the end. They were very close to pulling off a great feat against Britain, but Goering believed otherwise, that the RAF were still fighting back in great force and to destroy the industrial cities and break the morale of Britain. Despite as such, they simply could not break Britain down. It’s debated, among historians, if the invasion could have been pulled off in the first place. It’s possible that even if the Luftwaffe had continued the tactic of destroying the RAF stations and airfields though their resources were limited, the Kriegsmarine were more pessimistic about their own chances of defeating the Royal Navy, due to the loss of many of their ships during a preceding campaign in Norway.

 

'Hallo Luffy. Gut luck with the raids'

'Ja...Danke Marine' 

But the British were close to losing through their own means too, despite how they tried to counter their own useless tactics against the en-mass of bombers and fighters, and of course through the Germans attacking the airfields and radar stations. It was partly through pure luck that most likely saved Britain from being invaded thanks to the German bombing raids, and in September the British army had recovered some armed divisions along the coast in case of invasion. I don’t mean to take away from the victory at all. The British were prepared to fight in many ways, Radar being the major factors in helping see the threat come their way. But sometimes in war a good bit of Luck does go a long way, even where you wouldn’t probably want it to go.

 

Especially if you had a Spitfire.

Many historians believe that perhaps the planning really wasn’t that serious, that Hitler was simply planning on intimidating the British to surrender. On doing this blog, I’m not sure that really would be the case. If Hitler was really dancing around if to invade Britain, surely that would have come up in conversation somewhere between him and his generals. Of course he did grow wary of the idea of invading Britain as early as August 13^th, and postponed the idea two days after ‘Battle of Britain Day’, eventually abandoning it later on when planning to invade Russia.

In the end, despite the inexperience, tactics and lucky escapes, The Battle of Britain showed that there WAS one country who could be the bastion of hope against the Nazi Blitzkrieg. Allied soldiers from France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Irish etc, all came together in this one place to show that they would never surrender to the Germans at any cost. This was a country that would have more likely have to have been destroyed entirely, rather than sue for peace. Many pilots gave their lives to defend their freedom, homeland or not, to make a stand against Hitler and would not be moved out willingly or by force, and succeeded at doing that. This was the true start of where the line was, in that blue sky above Britain. Hear me out, I’m sound patriotic! I am happy I have managed to do this article, because it makes my understanding of it a little clearer. This isn’t just about history, this is about WHO we can be, and WHO we owe our own freedoms too.

I will end with this simple quote from Winston Churchill: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”

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That’s it for this month. Next month’s may come sooner or later, depending on various situations ahead.

Randomizer out!

I am Dracula, and I welcome you to my house....

Welome back to the Randomizer!

Now for this month, I was considering to do one subject I had never really covered before: A sport article, namely football. I would have talked about a few issues with the sport at the moment, and if something can be done to sort that out in the short, and long, run. Examples will have included the current ongoing crisis at FIFA, why some teams are bigger than others, racism, money played to players, it’s a pretty lengthy list. One that might incur the wrath (and annoying superiority) of my brother.

Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances, that’s going to be on the back-burner for the moment, and might need some considerable research to start with. For this month, I have decided to talk about one man, whom many of you will know passed away on the morning of the 7^th June, but his death was only announced last week for privacy reason. Even in death, he needs no introduction whatsoever, but I will give him one because frankly, he deserves it. Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, Justin Bieber fans…………………Christopher Lee.

What hasn’t been said about the world famous actor? Peter Jackson (director of the Middle-Earth Sagas) called him: “in every sense, a man of the world; well-versed in art, politics, literature, history and science”. Tim Burton: “He was the last of his kind – a true legend – who I’m fortunate enough to have called a friend. George Lucas: “A great British Actor of the old-school. A true link to cinema’s past and a real gentleman”.

In many ways, it feels like we suffered the loss of a family member, someone whom many of us have never met but had a great fondness for. From some of the films I have seen of him, and some of the backstage videos from various sources, he was one of the most incredible actors of many generations and one of the nicest people to walk the face of the Earth. I’d even go as far to say that he was one of my teenage heroes, watching him for the first time in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Even though he turned out to be one of the main villains (as was most of his career), he left a big impression on me. I was admired with him then I was with most of the other characters in the whole series! I even wanted his staff, which sadly I never could get because it was so expensive then. Boo.

For this month, let us come together and celebrate the life of a man who had lived over 200 lives (including his own), by reading up 10 interesting facts about him. I’m quite a listing person it seems! In this case I think it’s acceptable. I’ll try not to include some of the obvious ones that some will know, like how many times he’s played the Count Dracula (who’d just kill Edward Cullen on the spot. No question, he just would), being the tallest actor to live, and having the original bromance with close friend Peter Cushing, though I don’t think he’d use that word himself. Maybe…inseperable companion. But I digress. Let’s bask in the awesomeness that is Christopher Lee.

(By the way, I bet many are saying he should be ‘Sir’ Christopher Lee instead. Problem is because he’s died, he no longer has a knighthood, therefore not part of the order. If anyone disagrees, I’ll send out the Warg Riders on you).

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1)      He has royal blood in him

Wouldn’t it be awesome if he was part of the royal family? He would’ve been one of the most awesome members in existence. Well…not OUR royal family at least. On his maternal side, he belonged to a house that extends back over one thousand years ago, back in the 8^th/9^th centuries, a house that contained the first ever Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemange. You read right, Christopher Lee was a direct descendent of one of the most successful Kings of all time. We should all bow now.

For those who don’t know, Charlemagne was THE emperor, uniting most of the kingdoms of Western Europe into one, and laying down the foundations for modern France and Germany. Thus, he was given the nickname ‘Father of Europe’. As information goes, reaching that far back and discovering you are directly descended from the ‘Father of Europe’ must have been quite the surprise, and induced a sense of pride. I’d would have thought Lee was proud of that himself as I will come to later on.

Not only that, his maternal ancestral family, The Carandinis, has the right to bear the Holy Roman Empire Coat of Arms, handed onto them by the 12^th century emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. Well at least 80-90% of it, but close enough anyway. So pretty much Lee rules us all, he had everything. Just imagine, he could have started a revolution to be King of Europe. But yet he chose to be an actor instead. Actually, I’m weighing up the options to what job would have been better. Maybe actor would have been the best move…acting being a king!

Best Job Ever (btw I know it's a portrait, but is it just me, or is there an air of similarity between the two?)

2)      He met Rasputin’s actual killers (allegedly)

Ok, take this with a pinch of salt because I’m not entirely sure this is 100% true. One night when Lee was sleeping in his coffin as a young vampire boy, his mother woke him up and said two people in black tie tuxedos were there, and he’d remember meeting them. The two people in particular were Prince Felix Yusopov and the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, who were involved in the conspiracy to kill the ‘Mad Monk’ Rasputin.

I take this with a pinch of salt because it’s such a surreal moment to think about, especially the point that he was a vampire as a boy. The point that it’s two co-conspirators involved with Rasputin’s death. It may not be so surprising perhaps through the connections surrounding Lee at that age, but still it’s a bizzare moment. Especially probably how it took forever to kill Rasputin in the first place, first pastries laced with cyanide, then being shot, came back to life, shot more times, and finally dumped into an ice hole, where presumably he drowned. Maybe Arnie would be good playing him? It’d be repeating his performance from the Terminator franchise, but still.

Lee didn’t remember the visit very well, and didn’t remember their faces. But in an odd twist many years later, he really played the part of Rasputin in one of the Hammer Horror Films in 1966. The film was noted for inaccuracies, but Lee understood why that was the case. Prince Yusopov was still alive then, and had threatened legal action whoever used his or his wife’s name in the film. In another strange twist reported by The Independent newspaper, Lee met Rasputin’s daughter, who said that he looked uncannily like her father in the film. Wonder if he took that as a compliment?

I told you I'll be back

3)      His interest in public executions

Be warned. If you have a nervous desposition with blood and other forms of bodily fluids, skip this part.

Later on in lifebefore the start of World War II, Lee was in Paris for a short time on holiday. On June 17^th, he heard of the lost appeal of murderer Eugen Weidmann, due for execution immediately. Perhaps in curiousity, Lee took the chance to see the murderer with a friend in tow. The execution wouldn’t be shot with rifles or hanging, it would be with perhaps one of the most prolific French symbols for generations: guillotine. It was the last time an execution was made public in France, for a riot began to spring up. Some people collected the blood with their hankerchiefs, while others threw handfuls of blood and spinal fluid around the place. It was a different time.

Now if this might not be macabre enough for your taste/disgust, there are pictures and even videos on YouTube of the event. Seeing the videos myself, they are astoundingly graphic, despite not even seeing Weidmann being executed. You don’t see blood, but you do see the guillotine drop and the body quickly moved into a makeshift casket. Lee himself is unrecognisable in either photos or video, though some have tried to spot him. Whether they found him or not is up for debate.

This might have spawned an interest, or perhaps developed, in Lee. In later years from what I’ve researched, he knew the names of every official executioner working in England from the mid-15^th century onwards. To be fair, being a vampire it’s not a surprise he would know all of them if they tried to kill him off. In those same years (not mid-15^th century onwards), he was friends with the executioner Albert Pierrepoint, and drank in his pub. Maybe he took a liking to him and decided not to kill him? Either way, it’s interesting.

You're too....interesting to be turned. So go on Mr Pierrepoint, tell me who was the favourite person you executed?

4)      His service in World War II

From different interviews, Lee always kept silent about his war service. More so with his later career in the last few years of World War II. But there are some things that are interesting to note. After the war broke out in England, Lee was working as an office clerk before deciding to bugger that job and volunteer in the army. More specifically the Finnish army, where the Finnish were fighting against the Russians who laid claim to their territory. However he never saw much action and came home to join the RAF. Again, he could not get far because he lacked the eyesight to fly an aircraft. So he became an intelligence officer instead, transferring to the North African Front.

There, he took part in various bombing raids and went behind enemy lines to sabotage the German Line, until the Germans surrendered in 1943. He then was part of the Allied Invasion of Italy, taking part in various operations, meeting his cousin in the outskirts of Rome, and climbing up Mt. Vesuvius on his time away from war. Vesuvius promptly erupted three days later. Which I’m sure had nothing to do with Lee whatsoever!

In the last few months of his service, Lee was transferred to the SAS, helping to hunt down Nazis who had absconded from existence. In one very memorable part behind the scenes for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson tried to show Lee how he was to be stabbed in the back. However, Lee stopped him on the spot, and asked ‘Have you any idea what kind of noise happens when a man is stabbed in the back?’. He said that because the breath is driven out of the body, you don’t make much of a sound. Jackson quietly dropped his directory duties for that one moment, and allowed Lee to proceed.

How did Lee know that? Well there’s one quote that’s stuck with me. AN interviewer tried to ask him about his time in the SAS. Lee said, ‘Can you keep a secret?’ ‘Yes’ said the interviewer enthusically. Lee responded simply, ‘So can I’.

The smile says it all.

5)      His first engagement

For many of us, our first engagement might hold a lot of special memories with your loved one. The rings, the endless chit-chat, the inevitable wedding/break-up, those memories stick with you forever, giving you a chance to understanding what you’re in for. For Lee, I can assume that experience must have been hell on earth, or willing to do what it takes.

He was engaged to a Swedish woman named Henriette Von Rosen in the late fifties. Not a problem with that, except for one thing: her dad, Court Frtiz Von Rosen. He distrusted Lee seemingly with a passion, because he asked Lee to do many things. First, to delay the wedding for a year. Second, to get London based friends to interview him with private detectives included. Third, Lee had to get references from other actors, which he duly obtained. Forth, meeting his fiance’s family which according to him was like a surrealist film, and felt like they were killing him with cream. Fifth and lastly, Lee had to get permission to marry…from the King of Sweden. The King of Sweden. Lila McPherson, this is a comedy film waiting to be made! You’d be happy to know he actually DID get permission from the king, meeting him on a film set some time earlier in his life.

However, this did not have a Hollywood ending. Lee broke off the engagement before the wedding himself out of concern for financial security, considering his career as an actor, feeling she ‘deserved better’. Von Rosen understood and they broke up. Lila, you fancy writing a script sometime?

It wasn’t all a sad ending. Lee met his now-widowed wife, Birgit Kroncke courtesy of a Danish friend and they soon married a couple years later, lasting up until Lee’s death. Sweet.

6)      He met J.R.R Tolkien

It may come as a passing notice that Lee was a big Tolkien fan. Worldwide Hobbit/Lord of the Rings fans will know that Lee was rather dedicated to Lord of the Rings, apparently reading the books every year before he died. He talked about how much he loved the series, calling it the greatest literacy achievement in his life. It must have been a bigger achievement to know, he actually met J.R.R. Tolkien himself by chance in the pub at Oxfordshire.

In an interview with Cinefastique Online, he said: “I was very much in awe of him, as you can imagine, so I just said ‘How do you do?”. Imagine that, the great Christopher Lee going giddy at the knees to meet his literary hero. It’s like Mibs Bayliss meeting Hayley Williams in a cock-tail bar in London. I can imagine the screams would never stop. Anyway, Tolkien himself must have been impressed by Lee somehow, maybe because he was tall, for he gave him his blessing to play the role of Gandalf should there be a film series ever made.

Cut to many years later, and a young Peter Jackson added Lee to his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sadly because Lee was old by that time, at the age of 77 (roundabouts), his time to play Gandalf had passed. But there was another wizard role up for grabs: Saruman. As a Tolkien expert, and big experience in playing villains, he seemed well suited for that part. Imaging him playing Gandalf, he would have been great for the part, probably better then Ian McKellen! But because I’m rather indecisive, and might receive hate on Facebook, let them duke it out in a wizard’s duel. That will solve it!

I gave you the chance....swapping...our roles....but you, have elected, THE WAY OF....PAIN!!!!!

7)      His wide range of languages

Being a man of many travels, Lee would have picked up a number of languages along the way. I’d say that many of us now don’t necessarily speak another language. Apart from my obvious English, I can speak a little bit of French, German (Rammstein songs included), bit of Gaulish (admittedly from folk metal band Eluveitie’s song, ‘Slania’s Song’) and probably the entire script of the Star Wars films. If I can be bothered. Least I can one up Alice Beadle in that respect :P. How does Lee compare? He could speak: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and was moderately proficient in speaking Swedish, Russian and Greek. Well that shut me up.

Having learned a good deal of them, Lee would excel at using them, using German (and possibly French) all the more in his Nazi-hunting days and filming days. Interestingly with the film The Last Unicorn in 1982, not only did he do the voice work for that as King Haggard, he also did the German dub for it as the same character, along with dubbing in German again for the Danish 1986 film ‘Valhalla’. I think it’s showing off, but he’s allowed too. It’s Christopher Lee, dammit!

In a strange twist of fate, there is one language Lee probably couldn’t be bothered with after he finished his military service: Latin. Why is that strange? Veterans from the war were sent to university to teach the Classics (studying languages, philosophy, history etc, in Ancient Greece and Rome). Lee apparently felt his own Latin was too rusty and didn’t care for the enforced curfews. A meeting with his cousin led him in the direction that would dictate his life from then on: Acting. So partly because of his rustiness in Latin, it led him to have one of the most distinguished careers ever. Ok, maybe not that strange but you get my drift.

Bonjour, mein amigo. Potresti Som en flitzani krov?

8)      His possible unique trifecta

Again, take this with a pinch of salt because this can go either way, not just possibly being not true, but also while possibly true can be extended a little more. While shifting through Lee’s IMDB page for some interesting things to find (sad I know), there was one little tidbit that caught my utmost attention: ‘He is possibly the only actor in cinematic history to have achieved a unique trifecta. He has played a Star Wars villain (Count Dooku), a James Bond villain (Scaramanga), and a classic horror movie monster (Dracula, The Mummy, and Frankenstein’s Monster).

I guess if you really think about it, it is actually true. I can’t think of any other of the actors in those particular film series that have been involved in different specific films. The closest I think would be Peter Cushing, who starred as Baron Victor Von Frankenstein in the Hammer Horror Frankenstein film series, and in Star Wars as Grand Moff Tarkin, but not in a James Bond film. In addition, it’s probably would be more pronounce to call it a villain’s trifecta in a manner.

But when I say it can be expanded, it’s because he played Saruman in Lord of the Rings. So it’d be less of a trifecta, and more of a quad-fecta. If that’s not a word, I’ve just invented one right now. You must bow to me then. Anyway whatever the case, it might well be very true. I’m more inclined to believe that, considering the number of roles Lee played over the years. It might be a little bit of a surprise, but it still makes him one of the most awesome person to walk the face of the earth. 

Ha ha Peter.....ha ha

9)      One of his most important films

We all have our favourite specific films and characters that made a great impression on us. For Lee, it doesn’t go without saying that his overall favourite film was ‘The Wicker Man’. In fact, he wanted to be a part of that film so much, he was willing to do it for free so I’ve read. Not sure if that is true, but I’m sure someone will tell me otherwise. But the film he considered to be his best performance is a film we’ve never seen before, and that we should see it so he said. It is called simply, Jinnah.

Only shown in Pakistan and a few selected cinemas back in 1999, the film entails the founder of Pakistan and his life in flashbacks after he has died. That’s all I can really say about it, though I did think at one point it’s kind of similar to Attenborough’s film Ghandi in respect. Nevertheless, Lee considered this film to be the best film he had ever acted in, by a very long way, noting it to be historically accurate as well.

Watching an questions & answers panel, Lee gives out an honest opinion that it wouldn’t be distributed, simply because Jinnah was a Muslim. That I can understand, but Lee continues pointing out that Jinnah was NOT a fundamentalist, NOT a terrorist, NOT a man who sent others to kill people and so on. Seriously his emphasis is on NOT, and there is truth in that. Certainly from what I’ve read, and covered back in my Persepolis article couple years ago to a point, those extremists are a minority. There’s definitely over a billion Muslims in the world, so compare that to the numbers of ISIS and other extremist groups. We have allowed them to define the term Muslim as evil, and foolish enough to go along with that, and I think Lee would agree with me on that.

Perhaps Jinnah is worth a view then, to see what it’s like.

It's the hat that made the film

10)   He loved his metal

Lee wasn’t always involved with the Heavy Metal scene to start with, for he came into it in the 90s when he gave his operatic baritone voice to the band Rhapsody of Fire, though he has sung on different film soundtracks before. But he was a big fan of the genre, enjoying the riveting Black Sabbath, and calling Tony Iommi ‘The father of metal’, to which Iommi said back Lee was the one who started it all himself, influencing him and others with his Hammer Horror turns. What other bands Lee liked I cannot say…though I hope Nightwish was part of his repertoire.

At the age of 88 back in 2010, Lee released his first heavy metal album, and bringing us back full circle, Charlemagne: By the Sword and Cross. In honesty, I have not heard this album, but from what I’ve heard of his singing, I wasn’t that impressed. I’m sorry, and no disrespect, but I didn’t think his voice carried very well. That’s my opinion anyway. Obviously the metal gods disagree, awarding Lee with the ‘Spirit of Metal’ award in that same year at the Metal Hammer awards. In 2013, he released another album again with Charlemagne as the main focus, Charlemagne: The Omens of Death, with an interesting bit of trivia of Richie Faulkner arranging the album, who is now guitarist with Judas Priest.

But that wasn’t the only focus in his short career as a Metal God. He also released Christmas songs under his banner, as well as a selection of covers under his wing released last year, his final reckoning. Yet he took great pleasure in surprising people, and I’d agree in saying he definitely succeeded in that, as he told Rolling Stone Magazine: “Heavy Metal has, since its very beginning, surprised in the best sense of the word, and people all over the world. To be involved in that, and to show people that even now I can surprise my audience, it’s very important”. Spoken like a true hobbit.

You can learn all there is to him, and yet even after 100 years....he can still surprise you.

So, in the end today, it still seems like Christopher Lee was a pretty awesome guy to know.

I can’t think of much else to say about the man. We all have our fondest memories of him in some capacity or other. I would have considered it a personal honour to have met him if that were possible. Of course that can never be the case now. What I can really is this: My fondest memories of him really came from Lord of the Rings, James Bond’s The Man with the Golden Gun, and more recent watching Hammer Horror’s Dracula, which his performance was startling, yet almost perfect. Now he has passed, I don’t have much of an excuse not to watch The Wicker Man now! It might be disrespectful to do so.

Yes. We have lost one of the greatest inspirations known to mankind only under two weeks ago. A very good actor, an interesting character to know, and a genuine person through and through. But what he has left behind is an enduring legacy. A life of well-received films throughout his career that will live forever, a fan-base that spans generations, and extraordinary events that came out of luck, survival, and sheer will to do what he could do.

Even in probably a thousand years from now, he might become just a name, but a name with meaning to everyone. Whether it be Dracula, Saruman, Scaramanga, Jinnah, even Death, he leaves behind a name that will be fondly remembered, for many years to come. So from the bottom of my heart…

Thank you Christopher Lee…thank you.

1922-2015

That is it for this month. Next month…whatever I feel like doing!

Randomizer, out.