h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dear Ron

It was great to receive a reply from you. I learnt to use the computer by the seat of my pants, perhaps you can help me in this I also have many old photos taken in Itly and Egypt how can I transfer them to to this site?

regards
Ray
(footslogger)

Dear Ray

Give me a day or so and I will come back to you with a step by step guide on putting pictures on this site.
The powers that be have made it pretty simple, what you need is a crash course in down-sizing your snaps so that they conform to the limit of 350x350 pixels or 70k as a maximum.

Whilst I am sorting this out, start writing and saving all your stories and deciding which pictures go with which stories.

In the meantime, keep well and keep taking the tablets !

Ron

Ray

Back earlier than I expected with my poor man's guide to downsizing.
Don't forget, any queries come back to me.

Step 1 Create a new folder and name it DOWNSIZED PHOTOS

Step 2 In your image editor select your first photo to downsize

Step 3 Select EDIT and then option DOWNSIZE IMAGE

Step 4 Down size the image until the pixel size is less than 350 x 350 pixels OR 70 k in size. If the image is oblong shaped then you could downsize it to 300 x 418 but providing you dont exceed the 70 k limit this is still OK

Step 5 Save the new image as , for example, Me on camel in Cairo, into the new DOWNSIZED PHOTOS folder

Step 6 In the CONTRIBUTE option, select ADD PICTURE and then BROWSE

Step 7 Select your DOWNSIZED PHOTOS folder and the selected photo

Step 8 Choose SUBMIT and you should then get a PICTURE ACCEPTED window pop up.

One point to watch for, make sure the photo title does NOT include an AMPERSAND, the system doesn't like that at all !

If any other contributor has any other help hints to offer Ray, please add them to this thread

Ron

Dear Ron WOW! That course you took must have been good. I shall print it out and then "Read,Learn and Inwardly Digest!"
I hope I don't get indigestion.
I was mentioning to wife about you and that you are, or were an East End lad. She is also from that part of the world, Wentworth Street to be exact, do you know it? How she met up with a character like me from Finchley
is an interesting story
Anyway many thanks for the help you are giving me I'll let you know how I make out.
Incentally if you are interested the temperature here today is a balmy -5c but bright and sunny and the snow is melting, soon be spring.(I hope)
Regards Ray

Hi Ray

Regards to your better half.

Tell her that anyone born within the sound of Bow Bells would HAVE to know Wentworth Street (better known as Petticoat Lane)and a large part of my boyhood days were spent in that area.

Just an after thought on submitting photos. If you follow my instructions but then still get a 'not acceptable' notice pop up, it's not you that's at fault but your picture that is still too large. Repeat the downsizing until it IS acceptable.

Best wishes

Ron

Hi Ron!

Thanks for the last bit of advice, I'm already to start, at least I will when my grandson comes here on the weekend to help me, he's a whiz at all this hi-tech stuff. Me! I'm just an ex- Professional Mechanical & Structural engineer.
Anyway if you don't hear from for a while you will know I am busy compiling my war experiences. This will take some time as like you I will have go back some years, 63 to be precise.
When you started did you just jot down things as they came to you and then edited them, or try to remember details in sequence?
On more personal note reading your family details has piqued mine and my wife's interest because in my wife's family she has cousins also Goldsteins,who were in the (and still are)the smoked salmon business.
Also as you are of that certain age we would like to know whether you were a jazz fan?
My wife's brother who unfortunately died recently was very well known in "The Lane" and in jazz circles, Tony Crombie, have you heard of him?
Look foward to hearing from you and hope I am not imposing on you too much
Regards
Ray

Dear Ray First, in answers to your personal queries. Sorry I'm not a Jazz fan, although I like the best in all forms of music, which certainly includes Jazz. I also have to say that I have no family connections in the Salmon industry so it's two no-nos there. Possible tips in preparing entries ? I thought it might be a good idea for both yourself (and other contributors)if I were to list below my own method, although I have to admit I started with an advantage. I already had an album that listed all of the places where I had been stationed plus two surviving diaries, namely 1944 and 1945, but even without this help I'm sure that you must have a good idea of where and when you were during your service years. This then, is how I set about making my own contributions. I started with a chronological list which I then posted as my personal page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/F1664630?thread=610972 At this stage I had no separate stories to link to the list but as I wrote more stories and had them accepted I added links to my personal page to make the stories more accessible. I then looked at this list and asked myself the following questions: 1. What do I remember about this place ? 2. What happened to me while I was there ? 3. Who was with me at the time ? 4. Do I have a photograph or a piece of memorabilia connected with the story. On this last point, I had to wait some six months before the site allowed photos but it was always in my mind that a photo would add interest and credence to the story. Using this criteria I finished up submitting around 40 odd stories (some might say very odd !) and along the way I have picked up some very good friends. Get writing.... dig up your photos and we will talk more as time goes on All good wishes Ron

Ray

A better link to my personal page is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/U520216

Ron

Thanks Ron!
I'm getting down to it, but unfortunately I something happened on my first effort, when I tried to retrieve it today nothing happened, message kept saying no folder exists, and I did give it a name, so I will have to start over again.
Can I save it on a floppy in my "A" drive and then transfer it to the site?
Forgive me for being seemingly so obtuse on this.
Regards
Ray

Ray
Tip No.1
When saving something, always write down the path that you've just used, e.g. c:/my documents/my stories/me and my b****y memory.doc
Tip No.2
If you are comfortable using your drive a: then by all means do so, even if it is going the longest way round.
Tip No.3
Get your grand-son to sit in with you for your first attempts, tell him to go slow (the hardest part) and write down the sequence that he takes.

Finally, remember, 60 years ago you helped to defeat what was probably the hardest opponent in the world, you're not going to let a stupid thing like a computer get the best of you, are you !!!

Best wishes

Ron

Hi Ron !

Well, I'm on my way, I don't know whether to write my account in narrative form or just as the thoughts come to mind, jot them down but just edit them in order of occurance as I am doing now.

I have reading all the chit chat that went on concerning the first battle of Cassino, (the RWK was transfered to the area for the 4 th and last battle) But what intrigued me was
all the arguments that went on by the various contributors regarding the ethics of bombing Germany, Dresden in particular and of course all the revisionist literature that has been published about the war that make it appear almost that it was our fault. I suppose it was in a way; the politicians giving in to Hitler.
As far as I was concerned and I am still of that opinion. The Germans started it, then came the Blitz and we retaliated with eventually ever increasing strength and as terrible as it can be, one doesn't win a war by pulling punches! and as a famous general once said: "War is Hell!"
I remember the Ardeatine Cave massacre, and the culpability of Kesslring in what happened. He was a good general as far as the military aspect went, but none of us squaddies has the same respect for him that Rommel had.
Anyway back to the drawing board
to try to remember what I was doing as a fifteen year old boy in 1939 until my forces career in 1942 and then on until my De-mob in 1947.
Regards
Ray

Dear Ray
It's good to read that you are getting yourself ready to contribute, any way with which you feel comfortable is going to be the right way.
In preparation for my own return to Cassino I have been catching up on researching the historical background to the four battles.

I went to the MOD site on Cassino, namely :http://www.mod.uk/aboutus/history/montecass60/montecass7.htm#british
and looked in vain for any mention of my Regiment.
I wrote to the MOD and received the following reply:

Dear Mr Goldstein,
Thank you for your email dated 22 January 2005 regarding the Monte Cassino 60th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet and your concern that the 49th Light Anti – Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery had not been included on page 18, which listed the units involved in the Battles for Monte Cassino. Your email has been passed to this branch of the Ministry of Defence and I have been asked to reply.
In truth, the task of compiling a complete list would not have been straightforward and the final version included only Royal Armoured Corps and Infantry regiments. The fact there was no specific mention to the Royal Artillery or other arms and Services was not in any way intended to suggest that their part in the battles for Monte Cassino were no less important.
As you may have seen from the Minister’s foreword, the series of booklets are intended to commemorate significant actions of the Second World War and at the same time act as a suitable educational tool for use in schools. Due to space limitations, the booklets can not to provide detailed campaign histories but instead try to blend details which interest veterans (especially those who took part in the relevant action) with information which it is hoped will assist students to understand veterans’ achievements and their sacrifices.
Yours sincerely
Mr.XXXXXXX

Not over happy with his reply I wrote back:

Dear Mr.XXXXXX

Thank you for your reply to my recent e-mail, as shown below.

Whilst appreciating your statement that 'due to space limitations, the booklets can not provide detailed campaign histories' to leave out en-bloc, as it were, a complete branch of the British Armed Forces, namely the Royal Artillery was, I felt, completely inexcusable and lacking in sensitivity.

By the same token ,the omission of other branches of the service such as the Royal Engineers, The Royal Army Medical Corps, The Royal Corps of Signals ( I could go on at great length here ) is to ignore the widely varied types of servicemen who served and died at Cassino.

I would hope that an addendum could be added to your otherwise excellent booklet to put this matter right.

Yours sincerely

Ron Goldstein, ex 49th Light Ack Ack Rgt. RA and, on the Regiment's disbandment in Dec 1944, ex 4th Queen's Own Hussars

Watch this space !