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Original poster

Do you know when WW2 started....if so, you know more than some of the Apprentice candidates?

57 replies

chomalungma · 31/10/2019 18:41

DS was quite shocked last night when watching it. They had to get an Alice in Wonderland book that was printed before WW2 started.

I know it was a long time ago - but it did shape the world, especially modern Europe.

Do you know when WW2 is said to have started 'officially' in Europe?

OP posts:
butterybiscuitbasic · 31/10/2019 18:51

It was woeful... I’ll be honest and say that I’m never sure on exact date but know it’s September 1939 until may 1945 - however over time have forgotten the days of the month (wouldn’t have stopped me getting the bloody books thoug)

palmaviolet66 · 31/10/2019 18:51

No idea 🙈

Original poster
chomalungma · 31/10/2019 18:54

I thought that the way it was mentioned would be that one time would make a mistake and get a book that they thought was pre WW2 but wasn't.

OP posts:
CoolCarrie · 31/10/2019 18:58

What a bunch of absolute idiots! what are schools teaching now? I am shocked by that, even if they didn’t know the date, surely they would know the month. They bloody should know Especially as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the start of WW2 ,1 st September 1939 , and it ended in Europe VE Day 8 May 1945; and VJ Day was September 2 1945. I am a history geek!

CoolCarrie · 31/10/2019 19:00

So much for Lest We Forget if people don’t know ffs

Uponreflection · 31/10/2019 19:01

It most definitely is taught in schools. I bet their history teachers are horrified.

LondonBus38 · 31/10/2019 19:05

Sorry, but I don't believe for one moment they didn't know. It came across as an act - faux naivete.

No idea why they would want to come across like that but it was if they were trying to out stupid one another.

Jinglejanglefish · 31/10/2019 19:07

It was shocking that they didn't even know the year

CuteOrangeElephant · 31/10/2019 19:09

The Dutch always talk about the war starting in 1940 and ending on the 5th of May 1945 so it really depends on your perspective too.

That answer would have been a lot a lot better than what the apprentice lot answered...

TSSDNCOP · 31/10/2019 19:10

I didn’t watch it but DS(12) did and was dumbfounded. That said, I cannot watch The Apprentice anymore because of the level of stupid. It’s like Love Island in reeeeeeaaaaally tight stupid suits.

Pepperpot99 · 31/10/2019 19:11

They are so thick aren't they? and plastic looking too, like they are shaped out of wax. Yeuch.

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 31/10/2019 19:12

But they did know it was World War Two and not world war eleven? That’s something I suppose. Just as well they didn’t ask who the PM was.

Bluerussian · 31/10/2019 19:12

Yes I know but my parents and my in laws lived through WW2 so I would. I have a cousin and a good older friend who were both born in 1939 - my cousin is now eighty, bless and I see her fairly often. My friend is German but even though she was a tiny tot, she remembers horrible things about the war and her dad lost a leg on the Russian front.

It's a fact that many of us who were born a few years after WW2 got very fed up of hearing about it. I can remember eyes rolling whenever it came up. Well children are like that and it is right that we leave things behind but still it is good to a few details.

I've learned a lot in recent times about America, before and after Pearl Harbour; it sort of completed my WW2 education on one level but there is much more.

It must have been horrible to live through the blitz, always fearing for your life and the lives of your loved ones. The Vietnam war was terrible, so many lives lost and young men maimed, we weren't involved thanks to Harold Wilson but it was still very present at the time.

TSSDNCOP · 31/10/2019 19:13

Google tells me the Dutch were neutral until the Germans invaded them in May 1940, which explains their start date. I am imagine they were also extremely pissed off.

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 31/10/2019 19:16

As they say - parents generation worried about world war, our generation worried about nuclear wipeout (and save the whales) - this generation panicks about WiFi signal dropping and misgendering... (yes I know we all are concerned about global warming but that’s not a generational a thing).

june2007 · 31/10/2019 19:16

Couldn,t believe none of them in one of the groups knew. One had a vague idea of 1945 but wasn,t sure if that was the start or end. Also surprised none knew what a morter board was. Considering I am sure some of them went to uni.

Passthecherrycoke · 31/10/2019 19:16

I’m afraid I don’t know the year either. I wasn’t taught anything about WW2 at school so that’s not new (and obviously the apprentice contestants aren’t young anyway)

My grandparent used to tell me stories about the war and they were brilliant. They lived through the blitz

LeekMunchingSheepShagger · 31/10/2019 19:17

They are shockingly thick in general though, aren't they?

Just asked my dc about ww2. The 11 year old knows, the 9 year old doesn't.

scarecrowfeet · 31/10/2019 19:17

I know the exact dates as GB declared war on my birthday, and VE Day is DH's. Total history geek here !

TSSDNCOP · 31/10/2019 19:35

Can it really be the case that WW2 is not taught in schools? And even if that is the case, is it possible not to know the dates from just watching TV and films?

scarecrowfeet · 31/10/2019 19:36

It is taught in schools. The dates are also on every war memorial in the country

TSSDNCOP · 31/10/2019 19:36

I mean the dates as years rather than the explicit days/months.

TSSDNCOP · 31/10/2019 19:37

Well yes that’s my reasoning scare but I wonder if I’m wrong somehow?

ForalltheSaints · 31/10/2019 19:37

I work with someone who had never heard of the Bayeux Tapestry, which surprised me.

Some people are lousy with remembering dates, which puts them off reading about or studying history.

Original poster
chomalungma · 31/10/2019 19:40

Well - it's the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2 next year.

I wonder if we'll have spam sandwiches?

OP posts:
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