Somebody’s got to take a stand. (Hat tip: BlawBlaw)
Bandstand veterans send yobs packing
(Filed: 07/07/2006)
A gang of youths who tried to ruin a pensioners’ open-air concert were beaten back and fled when faced by a “Dad’s Army” armed with walking sticks.
More than 30 youngsters, aged between 18 and 25, yelled obscenities at the brass band and kicked footballs at the conductor while terrorising the 300-strong elderly audience, which included Second World War veterans.
But a battalion of 20 pensioners, moved by a rendition of the theme from The Great Escape, rose from their deck chairs and formed a front line of attack. Wielding walking sticks, they advanced towards the enemy.
The youths lost ground and eventually turned on their heels and fled.
Yesterday former RAF pilot Les Brown, 78, who served in Egypt during the Second World War, said: “We got so fed up with these little toe-rags, that some of us decided to stop them.
“The Great Escape music came on and I looked round and caught glimpses of other people, who were obviously thinking the same as me. The next thing I knew I was standing up and marching towards them along with lots of others.
“It felt like I was back in the war again. But we were a determined lot. We might be old but these youngsters didn’t stand a chance in hell.”
The showdown flared in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on Sunday as the youths spilled out of pubs after watching the World Cup.
Steve Rice, the chairman and tuba player with Bristol’s Redland Wind Band, said: “We simply wanted to make people happy with some nice music, but these hooligans weren’t interested in that. They wanted to cause trouble and were very drunk and aggressive.”
Can we deploy them to Caledonia?
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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