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AFGHANISTAN
at a time of peace
A 1955 journey to the Boharak plain in a veteran Land Rover
£22 plus P&P
"At Cambridge towards the end of 1954 memories of fourteen months as a soldier on the edge of the Sahara still
lingered. With teenage experience of India I had seen too much of the World to settle to University
work. National Service, still advocated by some, can disrupt professional studies.
I learnt that a fellow student, Oliver Rudston de Baer, was planning an overland journey to then peaceful
Afghanistan during the 1955 Summer vacation. Oliver wanted some-one who was familiar with the
workings of motor cars and was prepared to spend time seeking transport. The thought of return to
vistas similar to pre-Gadaffi Libya enhanced a dreary English winter.
In 1955 Afghanistan was in the middle of King Zahir Shah’s forty year peaceful rule of that mountainous
country which is larger than France. Zahir had been appointed, aged 19, in 1933 after his well-liked
father, Nadir, had been assassinated. Nadir had only been appointed in 1929 when Amanullah had
sought exile in Italy. His fellow-countrymen had disliked his attempts at modernisation following his
trips to Europe."
Aerocar A Portsmouth venture, embraced by an Indian Maharajah 9781912821181 Against the backdrop of war and the break-up of the British Empire, this book explores how a team of British entrepreneurs battled to develop a commercially viable aircraft for the post-war years.
Lionel Balfour and his colleague, Francis Luxmoore, sought to develop a radical aeroplane to challenge the cumbersome pre-war aircraft that were available in the 1930s. With convenience and comfort in mind, the Aerocar prototype G-AGTG was tested and orders started rolling in. All they needed to do was finance it. Using previously unseen documents, and notes from his father’s archives, Christopher Balfour tells the story of this very British endeavour. available at the Aviation bookshop https://www.aviation-bookshop.com and also available on amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk
Incipient privilege followed by a tangled upbringing stimulated constant questioning. This has hopefully led to a little understanding. 7 Balfour brothers from Fife who travelled the World after 1850 and other relatives. Artists. Engineers. Entrepreneurs. Merchants. Musicians. Pacifist. Philosophers. Politician.Sailors. Soldiers. Suffragette.
- Meon Valley war and death. Isle of Wight, Petersfield and Portsmouth ventures.
- Getting over Eton. Engineering or Establishment?
- Class and school divisions. Considerate or coercive welfare. Less inequality.
- Value of face to face Career and Employment Service later privatised.
- The idea of an Unconditional Basic Income for all citizens.
- Importance of Politics. Party difficulties. Conservative ‘One Nation’ Policies in the 1970’s
- Accepting Mercedes, etc, and the loss of the British owned industry. The price for defeating Hitler Afghanistan and Libya sixty years ago. Then peaceful countries.
Available at £20 from P&G Wells at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
11 College Street, Winchester, SO23 9LZ
and the author at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
25, Clausentum Road, St Cross, WINCHESTER SO23 9QE
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