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So, tomorrow I'm teaching Airforce cadets English on the outskirts of Viterbo (Lazio) and meanwhile 37,000 people have to evacuate their homes in the city ​​​​​​be cause they have discovered an unexploded WW2 bomb that was dropped by an English plane... mention it/don't mention it during the lesson?? :p

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Tell them it was the Americans

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That happens in Terni quite often. I thought you were back in rainy Blighty now?

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Tell them this is what happens when you collaborate with the Germans or that GPS and Sat Nav systems are a lot better now :rofl: You might not have a choice as some bright cadet might ask Why did the Brits bomb Italy? Do you claim ignorance or tell them the truth and emphasize at least we missed the pizza shop whereas the Germans got proficient at bombing our chip shops.

But in all seriousness you can't joke about things like that these days so best say nowt and see what transpires tomorrow.

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Our Mayor said on Liberation day that back in 1944 he would have been fighting with the Axis.

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They only identified the bomb manufacturer.

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Yes I think that all that was said above is fair enough.

Someone else that I was talking to pointed out that the bomb hasn't actually been disarmed yet...so I now realise that I really, really shouldn't joke about it (hopefully nobody reading my OP will take my flippancy seriously).

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​​​​Not quite... some of Italy has rubbed off on me I think and I may be being a bit furbo ...but I couldn't possibly confirm or deny this ;-)

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Id mention it - tell them that its what the British have given to Italy. Italy on the other hand has given Britain gelato. Discuss.

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Have fun teaching English to the cadets! I guess you'll be able to decide whether to mention it or not once you've met the group.

I remember one of my former colleagues from Oz complaining about the history section of the Italian Air Force website. That was 4 years ago and I don't know if they have updated it since then, but those Italians seemed to hold distorted views about what actually happened in the 1940s. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the cadets still have troubles facing their past.

Let's not forget the Italians started out in the opposite camp in both world wars. We managed to get them to switch sides in 1915 by signing the Treaty of London. We gave them a good bash in 1944 with our own sacrifices. Britain and Commonwealth came together in the darkest hour. That said, Italy is now our friend and ally.

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Hmmm ..
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On the one hand WW2 is a bit like ancient history to me personally (given that even my grandfather was too young to serve in the forces) and I am sure it must be the same (or even more so) for the cadets. We might as well discuss Rome's invasion of Great Britain.

But on the other hand the way in which the history is told is important in the makeup of the modern identity of both countries. After all "Blitz Spirit" is also a foundation myth. And a dangerous one sometimes. But yes, the relationship between modern Italy and it's past is interesting and often a bit contradictory. And that also has it's dangers.
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I'd actually love to be teaching all this, but I think that I'd better stick to the grammar of Present Simple vs Present Continuous for today :cool:

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If you visit Kesselring's bunker at Monte Soratte (Sant Oreste) you can see some of the directions are still written in German. It brings it home that WW2 wasn't so long ago.

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My experience of working with European military officers (including Italians) is that they are not phased by such things - and most of them see humour in the situation.

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It's easy to teach English in totalitarian countries.

You teach the military officers the imperative. All they do is give orders.

You teach the police officers the interrogative. All they do is ask questions when they interrogate innocent people.

You teach the citizens the affirmative. All they do is say 'yes' when being interrogated or tortured.

You teach the politicians the negative. All they do is deny any wrongdoings.

Oh and don't forget to teach everybody a two-word slogan!

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Well that's true. I was exaggerating a bit and maybe didn't make my point clearly. I'll try again.

I don't believe my personal view comes from an absence of knowledge about WW2. In fact I probably know more than the average person (having studied and taught the subject), but I reject the notion of any personal connection to it.

I hear other British people talk about WW2 as if they have a close personal connection. Is that justified?

​​​​​​My opinion as follows:

Category 1- fair enough if you fought in/lived through WW2 (you'd probably be over 100 years old now, but okay it's possible).
Category 2- And okay it's fair enough if your mother/father/ older sibling etc fought in/lived through WW2 (but obviously less justified than category 1)
Category 3 - Also fair enough if your grandfather etc told you about WW2 (but again less than category 1 and 2)
Category 4 - getting quite tenuous if you have no family connection (or other direct connection) to anyone in the above categories. This category includes me
Category 5. - the many millions of British people alive today that are second (or subsequent) generation immigrant

I often hear people saying terms like "Our brave boys" , and then when you ask them it turns out they are either in category 4 or don't appreciate that they're rather thoughtlessly including all the category 4 and 5 people in their use of "we/us". And that can be a bit dangerous. It's funny because for the Boomers it was unfashionable to talk about WW2 in the 70s and 80s, but now it seems to be difficult for us to move forward. And also, sadly, the same people who keep talking about the war often don't seem to know much about it

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