# World War Two finally comes to an end on 29 Dec 2006



## vonGarvin (29 Dec 2006)

Well, not the war, but the UK's payment to Canada and the United States:
*Britain to pay back last WW2 loans*​LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Britain said it will on Friday pay back the final installments of loans taken out at the end of World War Two to finance vital reconstruction.
The payments of $83.25 million to the United States and $22.7 million to Canada will close the final chapter of the war and mean that in total the country has paid close to twice what it borrowed in 1945 and 1946.
"This week we finally honor in full our commitments to the U.S. and Canada for the support they gave us 60 years ago," Treasury minister Ed Balls said on Thursday.
"It was vital support which helped Britain defeat Nazi Germany and secure peace and prosperity in the post-war period. We honor our commitments to them now as they honored their commitments to us all those years ago," he added.
Britain borrowed a total of $4.3 billion from the United States in 1945, followed in 1946 by a loan of $1.2 billion from Canada -- both at an interest rate of just two percent.
During World War Two, the United States effectively gave Britain billions of dollars worth of goods under the lend-lease program.
But that abruptly ended in September 1945 despite the fact Britain was on its knees economically after six years of warfare.
Despite the heavily discounted rate of interest on the loans, in the intervening years Britain has failed to make any payments on six occasions because of balance of payments problems -- in 1956, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1976.
To date the country has paid a total of $7.5 billion to the United States and $2 billion to Canada.
The Treasury noted that there were still World War One debts owed to and by Britain, but that no action had been taken on either count since U.S. President Herbert Hoover declared a moratorium in 1931 during the Great Depression.

Source:  http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/12/29/britain.warloans.reut/index.html


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## RHFC_piper (29 Dec 2006)

One war paid off... Maybe we can put Afghanistan on Lay-away.  ;D


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## vonGarvin (29 Dec 2006)

[rant]
We'd win it if we put 1/10th the effort into this war that we put into the last.  And no, I don't mean men, women and bullets.  I mean NATIONAL effort.

[/rant]


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## Mike Baker (29 Dec 2006)

Hauptmann Scharlachrot said:
			
		

> [rant]
> We'd win it if we put 1/10th the effort into this war that we put into the last.  And no, I don't mean men, women and bullets.  I mean NATIONAL effort.
> 
> [/rant]


+1 Garvin! err, I mean, Hauptmann Scharlachrot


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## vonGarvin (29 Dec 2006)

Michael Baker said:
			
		

> +1 Garvin! err, I mean, Hauptmann Scharlachrot


Garvin?  That ass?  How DARE you compare me to him!


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## Mike Baker (29 Dec 2006)

Hauptmann Scharlachrot said:
			
		

> Garvin?  That ***?  How DARE you compare me to him!


I feel free to do what I want to do, just as Infanteer has done here http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/55183.45.html


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## vonGarvin (29 Dec 2006)

Thanks


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## time expired (30 Dec 2006)

Good news, what most people do not know is that Britain entered WW2 still in dept from WW1 so
it was basically fighting the war on credit. After the war ended the ungratfull b§&?$stards voted 
Winnie C out of power and put the Socialists in power they then nationalized everything in sight
from steel industry to , believe it or not, the trucking industry:. this led to the demise of British
industry and the end of Britain as a world power.This also the led to the rise of an allpowerfull
labour union movement that held the country in its evil grip until Maggie Thatcher took them on and
smashed them.This lead to thousands of Brit.exservicemen finding themselves worse off than they were before the war
and a large number of them,my parents included thank God,left for Australia,Canada,and New Zeeland.
    So what does this extra money mean to Britain? basically nothing ,it will be spent on the National
Health Scheme,socialism is too deeply entrenched to change and Britain will continue on its inevitable
downward spiral.
    Excuse the rant but it seemed like a good opertunity to get it off my chest.  
                       Regards


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## nowhere_man (3 Jan 2007)

time expired said:
			
		

> Good news, what most people do not know is that Britain entered WW2 still in dept from WW1 so
> it was basically fighting the war on credit. After the war ended the ungratfull b§&?$stards voted
> Winnie C out of power and put the Socialists in power they then nationalized everything in sight
> from steel industry to , believe it or not, the trucking industry:. this led to the demise of British
> ...



But as you will remember Winston Chirchill did become a peactime priminister he won the next election or the one after.


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## vonGarvin (3 Jan 2007)

Am I the only one who finds it ironic (to say the least) that Great Britain went to war to defeat a National Socialist nation(Germany) and then, promptly after winning that war, went nationalist on everything under socialist programs?


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## Infantry_wannabe (4 Jan 2007)

I hope you're the only one.


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## time expired (5 Jan 2007)

HAUPTMAN S
 Am I to assume this is a play on words?.
                     Regards


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## vonGarvin (5 Jan 2007)

time expired said:
			
		

> HAUPTMAN S
> Am I to assume this is a play on words?.
> Regards


I never play. 
And it's "Hauptmann", not "Hauptman".

(PS: "Hauptmann Scharlachrot" is German for "Captain Scarlet")


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## time expired (8 Jan 2007)

Hauptmann Scharlachrot 
                                Much as I detest socialists I would not go so far as to compare British
socialism with Hitlers national socialism.While many NSDAP programs had a thin veneer of 
socialism they were mainly aimed at taking the wind out of the sails of  the communist led labour unions,
and did not in anyway detract Hitler from his main facist aims . The British Labour partys aims 
where more on the lines of the Communist party s programs, to eliminate the upper classes by 
nationalising all production and transport facilities,not good but still better than shooting them
all. This effectivly stopped all investment to industry as the government was broke and no one
else was interested in investing in nationalised industries. Some industries never recovered,auto,
coal ,steel and others are still suffering ,railways for example.
                             Regards


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## garb811 (8 Jan 2007)

Actually, WW 2 isn't quite over as Russia and Japan still haven't signed a formal peace treaty due to the ongoing dispute over the Kurils/Northern Territories...


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## rz350 (8 Jan 2007)

Hauptmann Scharlachrot said:
			
		

> [rant]
> We'd win it if we put 1/10th the effort into this war that we put into the last.  And no, I don't mean men, women and bullets.  I mean NATIONAL effort.
> 
> [/rant]



The last war? You mean the Kosovo air campaign? Somalia? Or Gulf War One? (I list all 3 since some people may not consider the first two to be "wars" so much as police actions or some BS...but I do consider them wars)

I should note that I really do know what you mean (WWII) and that I was just being a bit of grammer Nazi, since the last means the most recent, and WWII is not that.


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## vonGarvin (8 Jan 2007)

rz350 said:
			
		

> The last war? You mean the Kosovo air campaign? Somalia? Or Gulf War One? (I list all 3 since some people may not consider the first two to be "wars" so much as police actions or some BS...but I do consider them wars)
> 
> I should note that I really do know what you mean (WWII) and that I was just being a bit of *grammer * Nazi, since the last means the most recent, and WWII is not that.


Kosovo: air campaign, not a declared war.
Somalia: peace enforcement mission, not a declared war.
Gulf war one: not a declared war.
So, I'll amend my earlier post to read: the last war in which Canada participated as a declared belligerent.

How's that for pedantic?  

(and of course I'm sure you meant "grammar" nazi)


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## TN2IC (9 Jan 2007)

Hauptmann Scharlachrot said:
			
		

> World War Two finally comes to an end on 29 Dec 2006



Did some one tell Hitler?


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## vonGarvin (9 Jan 2007)

TN2IC said:
			
		

> Did some one tell Hitler?


I imagine that Stalin did: after all, didn't he get his brain?


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## rz350 (9 Jan 2007)

Hauptmann Scharlachrot said:
			
		

> Kosovo: air campaign, not a declared war.
> Somalia: peace enforcement mission, not a declared war.
> Gulf war one: not a declared war.
> So, I'll amend my earlier post to read: the last war in which Canada participated as a declared belligerent.
> ...



But since we did not recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, does that make it a war either? (And the war on terror is a not declared, legal war, as its not against a Nation State entity at all)...and now I'm just having fun. But I do get the spirit of your post, and I damnwell agree.


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## vonGarvin (10 Jan 2007)

But, remember, I didn't mention anything about any other war than WWII.  Having said that, I realise it was a collection of wars (Germany vs the Anglosphere, Germany v Russia, Japan v Anglosphere, etc etc).


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## Spr.Earl (12 Jan 2007)

time expired said:
			
		

> Good news, what most people do not know is that Britain entered WW2 still in dept from WW1 so
> it was basically fighting the war on credit. After the war ended the ungratfull b§&?$stards voted
> Winnie C out of power and put the Socialists in power they then nationalized everything in sight
> from steel industry to , believe it or not, the trucking industry:. this led to the demise of British
> ...



When I was born on June 2nd 1953 my perent's were given ration's card's for me,for milk and clothing and at the same time coal was still rationed yet Britain was still feeding Germany.
So who did win the War?


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## time expired (12 Jan 2007)

Spr.Earl
           Exactly, and Britain stayed on rationing 2 years after  Germany  dispensed with it.This was a
slap in the face to the British, particularly to the woman who had held the country together for 7years
while the menfolk were away in various parts of the world. I remember how angry my mother was
she was the driving force that convinced my father to emigrate and we did,to Canadas fair shores,
a very good move ,bless her heart.
                              Regards


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## bdog (14 Jan 2007)

Russia and Japan are still in a legal state of war however


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## vonGarvin (14 Jan 2007)

bdog said:
			
		

> Russia and Japan are still in a legal state of war however


[pedantic] The USSR and Japan were in a state of war.  Did Russia inherit the status of war when the USSR dissolved?  Also, does that mean that Ukraine is also at war with Japan?  Lithuania? [/pedantic]

(just curious)


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## bdog (14 Jan 2007)

It looks that way


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## garb811 (15 Jan 2007)

Hauptmann Scharlachrot said:
			
		

> [pedantic] The USSR and Japan were in a state of war.  Did Russia inherit the status of war when the USSR dissolved?  Also, does that mean that Ukraine is also at war with Japan?  Lithuania? [/pedantic]
> 
> (just curious)


Interesting question.  Russia did inherit the state of war with Japan. (CIA - The World Factbook -- Russia)  Regarding the other Former Soviet Republics, there is no indication that I can find that they did.  Even if they did, there is/was nothing stopping them signing a treaty since they have absolutely no control over the territories in question which is the sole issue, publicly at least, which is keeping Russia and Japan from signing.


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