How wrong can you be

Today I recieved a copy of the 1938 edition of Jane's All the Worlds Aircraft, I already have several later editions you see and I was fascinated to see this pre=WW2 edition.

Imagine how astonished I was to read editor CG Grey's foreword from Dec 1938, just three months after the Munich crisis.

C.G. Grey, December 1938

The last stages of producing this years issue of All the Worlds Aircraft were a trifle hampered by a political situation somewhat euphemistically called a crisis, which brought us to the edge of war about the end of September 1938.

Why anybody should have thought of going to war I cannot see, but there we were........snip......we are much closer to prolonged peace than we have been for many a year and consequently there is some prospect of a considerable leap forward in civil aviation in 1939 and 1940... and so it goes on

I suppose it illustrates that the beginning of the war that we look back on so matter of factly today really was a major shock of 9/11 proportions to the people of the day, still, what a wally eh?

[edit on 3-1-2006 by waynos]