Gremlin munchers

[Mark Heaps]

Dad screwed up the sound on the Rolls Royce, likely blowing the sound module and whilst faultfinding at a distance, mum sent me this photo.
I loved it having done 22 years in REME, there is one trying to fix the vehicle, another on the hunt for the culprit who broke it.
The crocheted figures that mum does normally go to a Veteran at Ease charity shop to raise much needed funds for a very worthy cause.
These 2 did not reach the charity shop. They are mine but the charity will receive a suitable donation.

[Graham P Hough]

I love the gremlin and for a good cause. Have you been talking to my son, he has to sort out the mistakes I make too.

[Stephen White]

Ah the noble Gremlins. They have an illustrious and contentious history. Roald Dahl claimed authorship in one of his first books during WW2. Dahl was trained as a fighter pilot but managed to crash his P-40 before reaching his squadron in the Western Desert and never returned to flying. Quite a controversy arose when it emerged that a fellow pilot, a distinguished Battle of Britain ace, Flt Lt Douglas Bisgood, had actually given birth to the RAF Gremlins beforehand. As a result of the disputed authorship, a film proposed by Disney was canned. Gremlins at work? Gremlins were made famous in the RAF Flight Safety publication, Tee Emm, which featured a run of cartoons indicating the many ways in which the Gremlins could spoil a pilot's day.

stationoasis20191010_165850.jpg (85.1 KiB) Viewed 1959 times

[Mark Heaps]

Noble gremlins ??
They were irritating and annoying little ba...... illegitimate children.

[Stephen White]

Ah, you're forgetting PPPPPP. That's what sees off the little Bs.... Nevertheless, once you've seen off the Gremlins, there's still Murphy's law to get you and Sod's law, not to mention S*** Happens.

[Mark Heaps]

Stephen,
The gremlins are still at it and stole one of your "P"´s. Should be 7 but only 6 came through.

Mark

[Stephen White]

Really? Six Ps are sufficient for any man. Prior planning prevents pp performance. If you’ve had a surprise extra p, may I suggest a doctor? Enough of this.

[John Clarke]

Your absolutely right Stephen, Dahl, being well read, did hijack the term from an early poem. Still without them Spielburg wouldn't have been able to produce Jaw2 and the Goonies??????
The noble part was that Mick was happy to sacrifice himself to see the Stug safe..
Given time he may have considered another classic line from Spielburg. The last Crusade. "Choose wisely"
Well, I'll end it here with "I'll have a P please Bob"

[Simon Peck]

Unlike a Gremlin, I’m sorry for hijacking the thread! Pretty sure the originator of Gremlins is unsure to say the least. I didn’t know Dahl flew P40’s? He crash landed a Gloster Gladiator, moved to Hurricanes and is credited as being an ace. True that his flying career was very short however.

[Stephen White]

Simon, you’re quite right about P-40 - Desert Air Force got them later. Dahl was delivering a Gladiator. He makes two claims in Going Solo about not being given any conversion to type training for either the Gladiator or Hurricane. This was a bit of poetic license, he fails to mention that he was converted to the Gauntlet which was a precursor to the Gladiator and that he had a two week conversion to the Hurricane. It throws a measure of doubt about his other claims. He certainly didn’t achieve the five kills, generally associated with the term “ace”. His work in Washington was similarly embroidered for effect. But then if he wasn’t a master story teller, we wouldn’t have the wonderful works so many have enjoyed. Thanks for correcting my post. As to Gremlins, there was quite a controversy when Dahl published his book, with claims that the RAF use of the term originated with Douglas Bisgood, a fellow pilot on 80 Sqn.

[Mark Heaps]

Great info. Always willing to learn and expand my knowledge.
I was taught the 7 P´s
Prior Preperation & Planning Prevents P-P Performance.
That is why I thought the gremlins had stolen one of Stephen´s "P"s

Mark