"The plane, Boss! The plane..!"

When Russia changed sides in the war in 1941 the airman was sent to England where he joined the RAF's Bomber Command and flew on 45 bombing runs over Nazi-occupied Europe.

On his last mission the Lancaster aircraft he was in was shot down in a ball of flames over France. He was the only one of the seven-man crew to parachute out of the blazing aircraft alive.

'Daily Mail' editor: "You, intern! Trawl the photo archives for Lancaster images, right away!"

*counts engines* *sighs* "Close enough. Who'll notice..?"

H/T: Stephen Brown via email

I Have New Respect For The 'Echo' Photo Editor...

...for finding a photo of a Staffie licking its chops to accompany this article!

Sunday Funnies...

As the Who sang: "Who are you...?"

The Curious Case Of The Sacked Tube Worker...

London Underground workers are to vote on whether to strike over the sacking of a colleague after an altercation with a fare dodger.

What type of 'altercation'? If you believe the Tube management's version, it seems to imply some sort of physical attack, unprovoked, by their staff:

Phil O’Hare, General Manager for the Jubilee line, said: “Following an appeal, the decision to dismiss our member of staff was upheld.

"Our investigation included reviewing extensive CCTV footage and we are confident that this footage completely contradicts the account of the individual in question.

"We are, therefore, satisfied that the conduct was not in line with the standards we expect.

"As part of the established disciplinary process, a senior level review of the case is now underway.

"We take a zero tolerance approach to violence against our staff and expect our employees to adhere to acceptable standards of conduct when dealing with our customers."

 Sounds serious. What's the opposing view?

Lee Cornell is a CSA at London Bridge with over 10 years exemplary service. He is a dedicated, honest and proactive member of staff. His crime was to go to assist a pregnant member of staff who had been physically assaulted by a fare evader. The person who abused and assaulted Kirsty Watts then punched Lee twice and stole his glasses.

Lee reacted to get his property back and prevent a further assault on him. He pushed him into a wall and when he got his property back he walked away. The fare evader continued to try and fight any other LUL staff who came near him. He even tried to head butt Lee Cornell again. Lee never reacted. He once again walked away.

LUL have summarily dismissed Lee. For "losing control"

 Hmmm...

3 members of staff were assaulted. The CCTV shows absolutely what the RMT are saying is true.

Someone is lying. The CCTV would appear to be key. Maybe TfL will release it, so we can all judge for ourselves?

I'd hate to find myself agreeing with strike action, for once in my life. But when you see stuff like this in the 'Express', you begin to wonder what's really going on here:

I also saw a report on Twitter (can't locate it now) that LuL were removing those 'do not assault our staff' posters. If true, this seems like a needless escalation.

Who was this fare evader? We aren't told of any arrest. Was he a protected species?

The Longest Pleasure Pier Money Sink In The World!

Southend Pier is set to get a £300,000 facelift with a new, larger entrance and reception area. The council has submitted an application to demolish the existing amusement arcade, which it owns, to the west of the pier.

Those awful cuts, remember? The ones squeezing councils, making them unable to pay for vital services?

Ann Holland, councillor responsible for culture, tourism and the economy, said: “The plans to redesign the entrance to the pier are our way of showing our intentions to improve one of Southend’s most iconic landmarks.

"...with you suckers', err, I mean council ratepayers' money..."

“By making these improvements, which are part of a continued and multimillion pound investment in the pier, we hope to make the entrance more attractive and appealing to visitors, and develop a sustainable income for years to come.”

You have got to be kidding me! What's 'sustainable' about this?

Post Title Of The Month

Al Jahom knows his Calendar well...

Quote Of The Month

Bill Sticker on dietary fads:

"As for Kale, it’s one of those things I was once persuaded, much against my good judgement, to eat. But honestly after one prickly mouthful found wasn’t worth the effort. I’d class it as one of those foods you only need to eat if there’s nothing else in the larder and every shop within a fifty mile radius has sold out and shut down for the next forty eight hours. Yes, it’s got minerals and vitamins, but so has a brick."

Post Of The Month

Tim Newman asks a very pertinent question....

She's Sorry She Got Caught...

Fiona Taylor, defending, told the court Peacock had been distressed during the birth and after the vet refused to put the puppies down she felt the only solution was to take matters into her own hands to prevent the mum becoming emotionally attached to her pups.

Miss Taylor said her client had an excellent record of caring for and training dogs, which included her winning awards at the world’s largest dog show, Crufts.

She added: ‘My client accepts that her actions were not the right actions that day and she is sorry.’

Sure, she's sorry now. They all are.

She wasn't sorry when she was harassing the vet surgery with phone calls giving them a blow by blow account of what she was doing, was she?

Sentencing her to two concurrent 12 week jail terms, suspended for 12 months, magistrate Dr Susan Dadlani said her previous good record of keeping animals meant they would not be disqualifying her from continuing to do so, despite what she had done.

Dr Dadlani said: ‘Over a number of years you have had many animals that you have looked after well. We are not going to disqualify you from keeping animals in the future.’

Ummm, what? I'm sure Peter Sutcliffe met a lot of prostitutes he didn't bludgeon to death before his murder spree too!

Peacock, who now has to use crutches to walk due to having multiple sclerosis, wept as she was ordered to pay £750 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

She's not capable of keeping animals by reason of disability, surely?

How Did I Know It'd Be A Staffie..?

Assistant fair manager Luke Thurston, 22, found himself in hot water when he sold his girlfriend Rosie's dog without her permission.

Mr Thurston attempted to get the Staffordshire Terrier back 24 hours after the sale - only to be accused of robbery after getting into a struggle with Bella's new owners in the living room of their home.

New owner Katrell Lovick received a cut to the arm and accused Mr Thurston of stabbing her.

But Mr Thurston insisted it was done by her own boyfriend as he struggle over the dog and Ms Lovick grabbed her back.

 *totally unshocked face*

Mr Thurston denies charges of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm. The trial continues.

The only one I feel sorry for is the puppy...