Thanks for ALL of your comments on this issue.
I've been thinking about it non-stop since I received Colin's message this
morning. My previous opinion was pretty cut-and-dried, ie, that if something had
been for all intents and purposes abandoned by its previous owners - as for
instance, a plane which had crashed into the ocean - then the international
rules of salvage pretty much ruled. Now, I don't think much differently, but at
least with a bit of background thought.
Take these US Navy planes which keep "coming up", whether in Lake Michigan or
the open oceans. The Navy hadn't declared them as historical sites before, but
they laid claim to them immediately a private individual(s) spent the time and
money to bring them up. Interesting, isn't it? Coincidental? I think not. It's
because they can pressure their own citizens, by force of law, to work on their
behalf.
I'll give you another example. For the 55 years since the war's end, the Dutch
have been slowly draining and recovering the area we once knew as the Zuider
Zee, now called the Ijssel Meer. In a few years, it won't exist any more, a
tribute in truth to the magnificent spirit and drive of the Dutch people. The
fact remains, that in WW2, the Zuider Zee was a huge body of water which
accepted the remains of countless Allied aircraft and aircrew during the war.
One by one, the Dutch are retrieving those aircraft and the human remains
therein, thus ensuring that those self-same remains get an appropriate burial
with appropriate high military honours, and the families, closure.
Nothing could be of higher motivation, principle or execution.
You don't see the U.S. Army immediately seizing control over THESE aircraft, do
you? No. You don't see anyone suggesting to the Dutch that they leave the Ijssel
Meer full of water because of what that water contains, do you? No. The parties
who "own" these aircraft are just happy that all human remains are recovered and
identified. That any of the aircraft be immortalized as monuments to their Dead
is irrelevant. When was the last time the U.S. threatened the Dutch over a
recovered aircraft? Never. That's my point.
Likewise the RCAF Halifax which was pulled out of a Scandinavian lake a few
years back - from 700 ft of water - it's now undergoing cosmetic restoration in
Trenton, Ontario. No government seized THAT, did they, in spite of the fact that
almost all of the crew died following the original ditching? As a result,
sometime soon, the world will be able to view the ONLY Halibag in existence,
made more poignant by the fact that its last crew died almost to a man.
What about the Dutch museum at Overloon? EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE they have was
pulled off a battlefield close by... including many destroyed in combat, and
many of THOSE with documented loss-of-life. For example, their Churchill had hit
a tilt-rod mine, which gutted the entire interior and killed all crew except the
tank commander, who lost both legs. Just one of many examples.
I was there this past July. This tank (and all of the others, including the U.S.
Sherman with turret dislodged by internal detonation) are that much MORE
poignant BECAUSE of the men who died in them. Gazing upon them, touching their
surfaces, is a holy experience BECAUSE of what the represent, not in spite of.
Had any of our governments seized these - as the US Navy is wont to do with
aircraft, regardless of whether human remains are involved - you can be assured
that none of them would have ever again seen the light of day. And they would be
lost to us, the people who paid for them and who saw our sons die in them,
forever.
I'm sorry, but in my humble opinion, this ISN'T appropriate behaviour on the
part of an agency which exists purely at the behest and discretion of the
Taxpayer. This - ANY - government doesn't own ANYTHING. Government has no money
of its own... all belongs to the Taxpayer, who has by virtue of an agreed
tradtion, deems to LOAN a proportion of his wealth to the governing authority,
in order to perform certain, specific, public-related functions . In any
democratic society, government exists at and for the pleasure of, those it
purports to represent, and the moment it elects to oppress any element within
that electorate, for no other reason than "it" chooses to, it becomes a morally
invalid entity.
"Political correctness" seems to rule the governmental roost more than ever
these days. We should no more give back a trophy we won in a painful war (such
as the few German tanks left in existence in 'Allied" hands), than punish a
private citizen for daring to resurrect a long-forgotten artifact of that war.
SUCH hypocracy. It must be stopped, for by their very natures, governments will
NEVER - CAN never - be as efficient in remembering our heritage as can the men
and women it represents.
Just a few thoughts.
Regards,
Geoff Winnington-Ball
MAPLE LEAF UP! ==>
Zephyr, Ontario, Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maple Leaf Up - The Canadian Army Overseas in WW2
http://www.mapleleafup.org
<sunray@mapleleafup.org>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment
http://www.1cacr.org
<info@1cacr.org>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Demonware Restorations wrote:
> Certain militaries around the world have a lot to learn about
> 'Preservation', 'Respect' and 'Learning to quit when they are Ahead'....
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