Flt Sgt Copping's P-40 From The Egyptian Desert

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11 years 10 months

Posts: 52

all is quiet, no one to date has asked the wp of the place where the bones are, after a meeting in Cairo with the authorities farce everything is back in silence........

this statement refers to the meeting held with the Egyptian police after the mandate of the British Embassy.

The inter-university cooperation instead progressing well

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19 years 11 months

Posts: 258

Many thanks for the update qattara a little good news at least!

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11 years 10 months

Posts: 52

my and our hope is to give an identity to the bones of the desert, Germans or Italians belonging to the Commonwealth.
However, we are wordless to the attitude taken towards us, as if we were charlatans and profiteers, but we do not earn anything from this story, or rather we spend our money and we put our reputation ....

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19 years 11 months

Posts: 258

Quattara, some of the things that have been said on this forum regarding you and your colleagues efforts have been frankly embarrassing. What I can assure you is that the family of Dennis Copping greatly appreciate those efforts!

Seconded.

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11 years 10 months

Posts: 52

we are in contact and for us it is the best award

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12 years 5 months

Posts: 797

Predictable Response.

Pat1968;- 'I am not sure this post even deserves a response. You clearly have never served in the military and lost a colleague and friend. I can assure you if you had you wouldn't suggest that showing concern for the family of a fallen serviceman is childish.'

Wrong on all counts. So much for 'clearly'....:rolleyes: As for the last point, obviously, I made no such assertion.

Whilst several people here seem to be trying to outdo each other in the righteous-indignation/moral-high-ground stakes, my basic point is that linking the Copping issue to the rescue of the a/c is simply childishly poor logic. And, yes, if the a/c's in a container somewhere secure now, great, at least it's protected.

Identifying remains is a wholly separate issue. Generally, the UK state/MOD has a pretty good record for dealing with it's fallen service personnel and the upkeep of it's cemeteries etc. If they seem to be dragging their feet, perhaps they have good reasons..... If the authorites have new information - one presumes they'll tell the family first, rather than an open internet forum...

As for the assertions in parts of this thread that the passage of time is irrelevant - well, that's obviously unrealistic. There is an inevitable loss of urgency after seventy-one years, frankly, it's pointless pretending otherwise. It's also illogical to suggest that recognising these realities by any party - infers in anyway any disrespect for the dead - or their descendants.

I don’t think that pompous moralizing automatically equates with showing either dignity or respect, but then again, millions watch ‘reality TV’ these days, so maybe I’m just old-hat.

I sincerely hope that the remains found are Copping, so that the lad can buried with some dignity. If they are not his remains what then...?

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24 years 2 months

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Childishly poor logic ?? The aircraft is in the middle of a remote desert -getting there has cost a lot of money -the human remains are a very short distance away but are not recovered ! I don't think your logic is going to gel with many people!

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19 years 11 months

Posts: 1,988

ummm.......

Can somebody explain to me why there seems to be an continuing embargo on free discussion about the proposed final destination of the airframe when this appears to have been openly discussed elsewhere for a number of months now?

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11 years 10 months

Posts: 52

I am Italian, and the problem affects me only as the discoverer well as a human being, but you realize that you are all kidding?
you busy writing posts, open forum, to ask your political opinions, and meanwhile as the ancient Greeks said ... panta rei!!

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 10,168

Despite some of the comments on here Quattara you have earned my utmost respect as being the only one/group that has the full intention of bringing a closure for the family and recovering any or all remains found of Dennis.

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19 years 9 months

Posts: 1,777

Can somebody explain to me why there seems to be an continuing embargo on free discussion about the proposed final destination of the airframe when this appears to have been openly discussed elsewhere for a number of months now?

That is slightly disquieting that the fate of Sgt Copping and the ultimate destination of the a/c is being openly advertised and discussed over the pond, yet there is an official black-out here. I suspect the cold hand of politics is involved.

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19 years 11 months

Posts: 1,988

but to what end?

'Generally, the UK state/MOD has a pretty good record for dealing with it's fallen service personnel and the upkeep of it's cemeteries etc.

Whilst the MOD probably has a good record for dealing with current fallen service personnel it has neither the resources nor the inclination to proactively deal with casualties from old wars. It will, however, deal with such cases reactively when historic cases come to light.

In the case of Flt Sgt Copping his location in Egypt is a serious hindrance. It is not, however, an impossibility - although the criticism, really, of the authorities in this case has been largely with the diplomatic end of the British chain in Cairo. Failings at that end would appear to have been what resulted in the family being formally notified that the discovered remains were not those of Flt Sgt Copping and were 400 years old. Due to the diligence and suspicions of certain members of this forum the incorrect nature of this information was uncovered and the MOD had to admit to the family that, in fact, the remains had not been examined or tested. In short, they could not say after all whether the remains were those of Flt Sgt Copping or not, or whether they were indeed 400 years old. Whilst (perhaps) an isolated incident it is hardly redolent of a "pretty good record when dealing with its fallen service personnel".

As to the matter of the upkeep of cemeteries, this is outside the scope of the MOD and is solely a Commonwealth War Graves Commission responsibility. In respect of this and other cases the CWGC is beyond reproach, acts according to its Royal Charter and is not funded from the Defence budget. Additionaly, the CWGC does not of course have a remit for the discovery or recovery of fallen casualties.

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13 years

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Would the poster who refers to Flt Sgt Copping as "Copping" consider adding his rank or forename to his posts in future.

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24 years 2 months

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And are we no longer supposed to refer to Bader as "Bader", or Galland as "Galland"?

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13 years

Posts: 2,841

And are we no longer supposed to refer to Bader as "Bader", or Galland as "Galland"?

You can do what you like but it just seems to me that in a delicate thread dealing with someone who probably died a horrible death in our defence a little respect would be nice.

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19 years 9 months

Posts: 1,777

but to what end?

I suspect due to the current instability of the political situation in Egypt.

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21 years

Posts: 1,746

I suspect due to the current instability of the political situation in Egypt.

It didn't seem to hinder the RAFM expedition.
When I read the lengths the USA goes to recover their missing from Vietnam, Cambodia etc I despair of our MOD.
mmitch.