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Re-writing HistoryWinners of wars and dictators have always altered history to suite their own purposes - often the losers cannot give their version through being dead (or inviting death) at the time. Following this practice Hollywood has never been slow to change events to show Americans in a more suitable light - films such as Objective Burma just after the war were lambasted in this country for showing that the Americans won the war without any help. Tobruk had Rock Hudson turning a British defeat into an American victory (but at least he was up the front for once). Now we have the release of U579 which has the Americans capturing the enigma machine and hence winning the war (again). Based on a true story, loosely as per normal, the Americans did capture an enigma - but only in 1944 by which time the British had captured no less than 13 machines and broken the code. the first machine having been captured from U571 some year earlier and the code having been broken at Bletchley park. So perhaps its about time that the mighty British film industry (snorts of derision at this juncture) retaliated and began to tell American history the correct way? For a start there's the great film "Burn the White House" when Hugh Grant leads a Napoleonic army of 1812 to capture Washington. Then there is the thin red line at Gettysburg when British riflemen held the little Round Top (thereby turning the war in favour of the Union) or how the Indians were outnumbered at Little Big Horn but were successfully advised by one of Victoria's most able commanders (Sir Harry Flashman). Come to think of it - have the Americans actually won any battles? Commander Note: To be objective the Americans won the War of Independence, and I think every battle in the American Civil War had a US victory. |