After independence, Nehru appointed General Lockhart, British army personnel, as the chief of the Indian Army.
After a year, when the credibility of Gen. Lockhart was questioned, he resigned.
So, Nehru called a meeting along with the top security personnel and the leadership of the country.
He again wanted to appoint some British personnel as chief of the Indian army.
He said—
Since Gen. Lockhart is has resigned, we need to point a new army chief. And I think it is better to appoint a British man because we don’t have a capable and experienced Army man in our country.
His statement hurt the army people who were there. Of course, it would because there were many capable army officers sitting.
Then a brave, bold man stood up and said—
“We also don’t have a man enough experience to lead our nation. Shouldn’t we appoint someone from Britain as our prime minister?”
So, yeah, it was a tight, metaphoric slap for insulting the Indian Army Officers.
The man was Thakur Nathu Singh Rathore
He served as Division Commander in Burma during World War II, and he was a key person in India-Pakistan 1947 war.
In 1947, he was offered the position of Commander-in-chief of the Indian Army.
He declined the position saying—General K. M. Cariappa is my senior and more eligible than me; He should be the chief.
In 1951, he was appointed as the commander of the Eastern Army.
It’s December, the year 1941 is coming to a close as the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler, along with its Axis partners, declare war against the United States. There is about to be a dogfight in the skies, but it won’t be fought solely between Luftwaffe and P-51s. There is another battle going on in the European air.
Germany has found tremendous success using their radio intelligence to crack British naval ciphers, putting Churchill on his heels, and making the Allies more cautious than ever with their communication to the frontlines. To prevent any more leaks, the Allied forces dropped nearly 200,000 carrier pigeons into occupied territories, to communicate with soldiers and to gather intel directly from the combat zones.
The plan was a success. While not all flights carried valuable information, in fact only about 10% of the birds returned to England, the ones that did gave the allies key intel that allowed Britain to go on the offensive. Information such as bombing raids, troop positions, and even a country estate used by highly ranked Nazi commanders. All was going according to plan until the British soldiers spotted suspicious activity going on along the English coast.
Air Superiority
Just as the carrier pigeons were crossing over the English Channel, suddenly casts of peregrine falcons would swoop in, picking off the pigeons one by one. It was a slaughter, as the allies watched what could have been valuable intel fall to European waters by raptor carnage. Perhaps the most perplexing observation was that these predator birds had never been seen in numbers like this before.
It didn’t take long before rumors quickly floated around the London war rooms that the Nazis must have weaponized these falcons to patrol the coast of France, trained with only pigeon blood hunger.
It appeared the rumors were true, when mysterious birds of prey were found just west of Bournemouth, owned by suspected members of the fascist movement. The Nazis had adapted and quickly won the upper hand as the British remained clueless as to what their next move would be.
Hunting Nazi Birds
Sir David Petrie, Director General of MI5 at the time, had a somewhat taboo plan that may have just been crazy enough to work. MI5 organized a group of sharpshooters with a “license to kill” any predator birds they spotted interfering with their carrier pigeons off the English coast. It was officially called the Falcon Destruction Unit.
Thus the high-stakes bird hunting began. My vision of shooting birds over big water typically brings my mind to places like western coast, tucked in a boat blind leading heavy sea ducks at around 30 yards.
Picking off enemy-trained raptors, capable of diving over 240 miles per hour, all while feeling the pressure of protecting critical intel from falling—a far greater challenge than birds not working into my decoys, to be sure. Still, the sportsman in me wishes for a time machine just to spend one morning hunting with that group.
The program had its successes and failures. Eventually, it evolved into a counterattack unit, where the Allies would train their own groups of hawks and falcons to fight the Nazi birds.
To this day, MI5 claims that it is the only group they have given a license to kill. If the Falcon Destruction Unit ever does make a comeback, and they’re looking for recruits, I know a lot of people in Arkansas, Kansas, and Mississippi who will jump at the opportunity—including myself. Just so long as I can bring my A5 and some TSS 9 shot.
It won’t be passing constitutional carry anytime soon, but New York — particularly New York City — is seeing a surge in gun purchasesandjam-packed permit courses required by the state just for Gothamites to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Retailers are working overtime to quell anxious and worried residents of the nation’s largest city, even as those customers are shocked to realize they aren’t able to walk in, purchase a firearm, and leave with their new gun that same day. Or week. Or even month.
And who can blame them?
Gun control politicians, long in control in the Empire State, have passed so many restrictions on law-abiding New Yorkers to exercise their constitutional rights that far too many simply give up out of frustration.
Those roadblocks, in essence, deny New Yorkers their ability to keep and bear arms and, at a time when many rush to licensed gun retailers, the backlogs and bottlenecks can be jarring — especially for first-time buyers. Erecting barriers to the exercise of Second Amendment rights to frustrate citizens into just giving up is the intent of this regulatory scheme.
City Residents Fearful
New York City has seen an explosion of applicants seeking to obtain the state’s required permission slip to exercise their Second Amendment rights since 2022. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Bruen decision, struck down New York state’s restrictive and subjective “may issue” permit scheme that left most New Yorkers out of options for protecting themselves, their property and their loved ones.
Even before that SCOTUS ruling, there had been a surge in riots, looting and crime during the coronavirus pandemic, police departments were defunded, and policies like cashless bail and soft-on-crime prosecutors like Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg let criminals back out on the streets with little or no punishment for their crimes. That does not even account for rising law enforcement retirements leaving the city increasingly vulnerable to criminal violence.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Gun permit applications are skyrocketing. Prior to the Bruen decision, on average, fewer than 100 law-abiding New York City residents each month applied for a permission slip to carry a firearm in the city for self-protection.
There was a surge during the coronavirus pandemic and a post-Bruen surge, with the monthly average reaching 600 before stabilizing at between 400 to 500 for a consistent stretch, according to data from the New York State Police Department. Following the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, the next month permit applications reached an all-time high at more than 1,270 — led by Jewish New Yorkers who decided to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Since then, an average of 700–800 permit applicants attempt the process each month, all just to exercise a God-given right enshrined in the Constitution.
Those millions of first-time gun owners have increasingly looked more like America, not just “old, pale and male” as previously caricatured. In New York’s case, that includes Jewish New Yorkers, African Americans, Hispanic and Asian Americans, lesbian and gay New Yorkers and more. And so long as they aren’t prohibited by law, owning a gun is their Constitutional right.
But New York still has in place restrictions that make it overly burdensome, time-consuming and difficult for law-abiding New Yorkers to purchase a firearm — a process that can take up to a year or longer.
That includes a rigorous firearm training and safety course despite the fact that “New York hasn’t standardized the classes beyond outlining a handful of topics to touch on.”
That makes it extremely difficult for would-be firearm purchasers to go to their neighborhood firearm retailer and go home with a safe and reliable self-defense tool.
In the case of Jewish New Yorkers who saw the city elect Mamdani as their next mayor, police officers choosing to retire because of it and who see a rise in antisemitic violence in the city with the world’s largest Jewish population outside of Israel, Second Amendment rights have a new appeal.
“It’s getting busy because of him,” longtime New York City gun safety instructor Lance Dashefsky recently told the New York Post, referring to Mayor-elect Mamdani. “We ain’t fleeing — we’re here to stay. We’re not victims anymore.”
“The NYPD is all retiring – we have to fight for ourselves,” added Michael Bergida, who opened a gun shop in Marine Park, Brooklyn, called Samson Armory.
Another New York City firearm instructor, Ross Den of Brooklyn, said anyone who was ever on the fence about getting a concealed carry weapon is no longer. “There are plenty of rabbis who carry – shul is where the greatest threat is,” Den told the Post, adding, “People are beginning to wake up and are now realizing they have to defend themselves and not rely on the cavalry to come save them.”
Industry Remains Top Ally
Despite the roadblocks erected to slow New Yorkers from exercising their constitutional rights, the firearm industry remains committed to ensuring those rights cannot be unconstitutionally infringed.
If New Yorkers — especially those in the city — are “gun curious,” they should visit their neighborhood firearm retailer and simply ask questions. They will find a welcoming and friendly environment with industry advocates who are there to help them learn, train and protect what matters most — their lives, their families and their homes and property.
“We are Jewish and we will protect ourselves – even if the mayor despises us,” a woman visiting a gun retailer told the Post. “We will have a say in our protection and not have to rely on others.”
The firearm industry steadfastly remains committed to being there by her side as well. The Second Amendment is there for all law-abiding Americans to protect themselves.
It’s December, the year 1941 is coming to a close as the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler, along with its Axis partners, declare war against the United States. There is about to be a dogfight in the skies, but it won’t be fought solely between Luftwaffe and P-51s. There is another battle going on in the European air.
