Marxist mythology - Britons lived the good life while blacks suffered

A  wooden naval sailing ship running before the wind was an awe-inspiring sight. Those standing and admiring the view from the shore were seldom aware of the arduous conditions that met sailors aboard these vessels.  The windblown warships were in use from the 16th century until about seventy years after the Battle of Trafalgar which took place in 1805.

The captain appointed to any large vessel had to find his own crew.  He would send teams of hardened sailors called press gangs ashore after dark to capture unwary men for the long voyage ahead.  First the gangs would visit taverns for drunks who were easy to kidnap.  A simple trick was to drop a coin into a man's beer.  It was not until he finished the drink that he could see the coin. At that point the press-gang men would insist that having accepted the King's shilling he was now in the service of the Royal Navy.  Being tricked in this way meant more than a trip of short duration.   Any crew member would be away from home for months, and sometimes years.

Dockside workers and watermen often risked being taken into service against their will, but a knowledge of the sea wasn't an essential requirement when a captain was desperate to find a crew.  Men of all trades were dragged to the ships and firmly cracked over the head with a cudgel if they dared to protest.  Around a third of the crews pressed into service were landsmen.

Press gangs would try to lure merchant sailors into the Royal Navy with promises of higher wages, rum and a share of the prize money from captured enemy ships.   Like the landsmen,  they mostly had to be taken into service against their will.  Many merchant sailors were  snatched from their ships as soon as they moored after a long voyage, and before they had received their pay.  Added to those pressed into service were villains and criminals sent by Lord Mayors or Sheriffs  in a bid to remove undesirables from their streets.  Some criminals who had been condemned to death were given the choice of being hung or of going to sea.  Many would view both options as a death sentence.

Most merchant seamen viewed the Royal Navy with dread.  It was this fear and loathing which sent many merchant sailors into service with American ships. In the war of 1812 a number of such conscripts fought for the Americans against the British.

Naval lieutenants would often lead a press gang.   Being defenders of this country, they had a strong sense of patriotism and would see that any undesirable foreigner they found was removed and sent to sea.   So efficient were these teams that at one time one-eighth of the number of men serving in His Majesty's ships were foreigners. 

Once aboard many men never survived the voyages they were sent on.  Their lives were considered cheap by the authorities who regarded them as being easily replaceable.   Storms, gales and enormous waves were a constant threat.  Rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa was a particularly dangerous passage.   In the Atlantic ocean men would spend days in cold and damp conditions making life aboard ship unhealthy.  It was common for men to become ill from eating bad food that had been stored for months.  Sailors told  how they removed maggots from their biscuits as they ate them.

Conditions below decks where the midshipmen slept were foul. These sailors messes were dark and dirty.  Men were crammed into an area generally no more than 5feet 6inches deep where the smell of rancid butter and putrid cheese, amongst other things, filled the air.

On any ship the Captain was in total command. Throughout history probably no other class of men held such power over their subordinates.  In order to maintain discipline, punishment was severe, usually by means of floggings which were often meted out for the most minor transgressions.  The Captain, if he disliked a man, could break him and put him in continual misery.  It was not unknown for a Captain to instill a mutiny and then hang as many men from the yard arm as he saw fit.

The most nimble and skilled men were picked as "topmen" and given the task of furling and tying the topsails.  This tricky manoeuvre was often carried out during severe weather conditions in high wind and drenching rain, with the ship rolling.   The "topmen" would then later have to re-climb the great height and untie the topmast sails again and see that they were set.  No matter how speedily the operation was carried out, some Captains would take a delight in flogging the last man down.  Flogging was administered by a cat-o'-nine tails which would tear flesh from a man's back.

One blow from the cat would draw blood from wherever the knots hit. Twelve strikes delivered with full force would leave the back positively raw and sickly to look at. Yet three dozen lashes was a common number.  For striking an officer, or trying to escape,  the miscreant could be "flogged around the fleet."  This consisted of being first flogged aboard his own ship and then rowed to all the other ships in the convoy, maybe six or seven, and repeatedly flogged on each vessel.  The victims of such floggings would be left with a back which resembled putrifying liver.     

One of the penalties for falling asleep while on watch was to be strung windward from the rigging, with arms and legs spread so that the salty, often freezing seawater would continually douse the victim. Men would be left for hours in such a position.  

However brutal some Captains were, no crew wanted weak leadership, it was vital that every man knew his job thoroughly and would run into action immediately the call was given.  Some crews had great respect for their Captain and would each give a shilling towards buying him a silver plate as a keepsake at the end of the voyage.

The fatality rate was high among the ordinary seamen.  Many who did not die in action, shipwreck or fire expired from accidents, disease, punishment or through eating rotting food.  Engaging in battle with an enemy ship was a living hell. 

As the vessels came side by side the gun crews would fire their cannons as fast and furiously as they could, trying to inflict the greatest amount of damage to the wooden structure as possible. The noise of the cannons below decks was like thunder on the ear drums. Cannonballs from enemy fire would send large splintered chunks of timber flying which could scythe their way through rows of crew members.  On the uproll the enemy would aim at the masts and rigging, and as the side dipped with the roll, cannons would pound at the gun decks and below the waterline.  Anyone on deck, particularly officers, had to be watchful for snipers who could be situated at any level on enemy vessels.

As soon as the decision was made to attack an enemy vessel the surgeon and his assistants below deck would roll up their sleeves, clear the operating tables and lay out their instruments in readiness for the blood-soaked casualties that were bound to arrive.  The surgeon would expect a wide range of injuries from pieces of wood buried in eyes, limb-wounds, de-capitation and men so badly torn they were bleeding to death. If an amputation was necessary the patient would be given a swig of rum.  Then a leather gag would be placed in his mouth to bite on, as the surgeon began cutting the flesh, before sawing through the bone.  As the battle progressed dozens of men would be lying below decks with the most awful wounds, while the ship resounded and shook from cannon fire.

Despite the danger and discomfort of life at sea there were many sailors who considered doing nothing else.  It had for them become a way of life.  It was at times exhilerating and they became proud of the skills they developed. They were part of a team that was doing essential work, and life on land would often offer even less prospects than life at sea.  One had lodgings of a kind, there was food even if it was months old, and the life, if nothing else could be exciting.

Even while clear of action, disaster could come at any time in the form of a fire at sea or shipwreck from a sudden storm.

 

---

The facts that every child soon know
 

Life for many Britons during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was probably worse than that of many black slaves who were left to pick tea and cotton, in the sunshine, on the plantations.  So why do we allow Marxists to try and engender a guilt complex in children who are not aware of the facts?  During the period that Britons are supposed to show their guilt about, they were living in abject poverty and were in no position to exploit anyone.  Being able to survive through the week, for most Britons, was all they were capable of, slavery was an issue that few would even be aware of. 

Slavery is not the only issue which has no relevance to our children, yet is used to instill an unjustified sense of guilt.  

In recent years the "Holocaust" inquisitors have been busy trying to engender a feeling of guilt in British students.  For the benefit of those too young to know the facts, we had better set them out. 

Through the 1920's and '30's in Germany, Poland and Hungary, Jewish Marxists and Jewish financiers, through their own actions, had made their entire communities intensely disliked.  So enormous was the problem that Germany decided to take action to solve the issue.  The entry of German troops into Poland caused the British government to look at the situation more closely.

Historically, Britain had no links with Poland and Britain had no argument with Germany.  To intervene and go to war with Germany over an issue which did not concern us would have such damaging, worldwide consequences that it should have been ruled out of the question.   It was generally understood that the kind of war envisaged in Europe would be so costly that it would bankrupt Britain.  This would result in the United Kingdom being indebted to American financiers to a such a degree that it would lose control of its own affairs. 

In such a position Britain would be forced to forefeit its Empire, which for decades  had been a prime objective of American governments and the money-masters who dictated their policy.  Sir Oswald Mosley who had held a senior position in both the Conservative and Labour Parties had warned of the tragic consequences such a war would bring, and had publicly said so on many occasions in the years just preceding our declaration of war on Germany in 1939.

It was a powerful left-wing, Jewish lobby, together with its Marxist allies in Britain and America that managed to get the British government to go against the national interest and declare war in 1939, and the German people were perfectly well aware of it.  As German cities were being bombed by British warplanes and could see that they were losing the war, how do you think they viewed the Jews in their midst whom they blamed for their terrible plight?

Whatever your thoughts on the events that led to conflict, no one can dispute the fact that the decision to go to war in 1939 has resulted in Britain going from being a world leader with the largest empire the world had ever seen to a pauper state now virtually on a level with Poland.  Not only the British lost as a result of that war, millions of Asians and Africans who had lived in comparative comfort under colonial rule, have suffered enormously from the end of our Empire.   After having fought the Second-World-War to a large extent for Jewish interests, it is incredible that organisers of the "Holocaust" industry have the audacity to suggest that British children should in some way share in the guilt.  In fact it would not come amiss for the Chief Rabbi to make a public show of gratitude once a year to the British and their allies for the enormous sacrifices they have made on behalf of his people.

See also  Marxist will exploit any issue