MovieChat Forums > Red Ensign (1934) Discussion > My Scottish ancestry requires this quest...

My Scottish ancestry requires this question

posted 14 years ago by alicecbr
3 replies | jump to latest

Sometime in the 1700s, the Copelands, my ancestors, came over from Scotland.
This movie was therefore great for me to see, since I grew up in Birmingham, al, the Pittsburgh of the South. I have seen these same steel mills shown in this movie, and in Newport news, Va. watched my father go off to design the ships that gave us victory in WWII.

So I want to know more about the men who built the ships in Scotland.
Was this kind of chicanery normal? The sins of forgery and lying on one hand, and the espionage and sabotage of the shipyard on another.

But the ships got built. Interesting. And quite a contrast to the utter corruption we now have on Wall Street that is destroying our country with no one to stop it.

"He who swaps his liberty for the promise of 'security' deserves neither." Ben Franklin

[–] Steve Crook 13 years ago

The chicanery, forgery and lying was added as a dramatic device for the film. I doubt very much that it was normal behaviour.

There were lots of documentaries made in Britain before and during WWII. I expect some of these will give a more realistic picture of shipbuilding in Britain. Or use Google to find a few articles about it, either in general terms or for some more personal experiences of it.

Glasgow, Newcastle & Belfast were the main centres of shipbuilding in Britain.

Steve

[–] alicecbr 13 years ago

Interesting how similar those shipyard scenes and steel building factory was to the ones I knew in Newport News, Va. and Birmingham, Al. as a child. And knowing my ancestry was involved in shipbuilding in Glascow, then Daddy turns out to design battle ships, and I turn out to design ship safety software for onboard missiles..
"He who swaps his liberty for the promise of 'security' deserves neither." Ben Franklin

[–] Steve Crook 13 years ago

There are only so many ways you can build ships

It reminds me of when some people are amazed that our ancient ancestors built pyramids in Egypt and they also built them in Mexico - even though there was no communication between them. Was it the little green men in their flying saucers that visited both continents? Or was it that the Egyptians and the Mexicans both discovered that when you heap stones on top of each other they tend to form a pyramid shape and that if you're going to make a pyramid it's best to make it with the pointy end at the top

Steve