Heh

 

This blast from the past from Gary Larson's The Far Side cartoon made me chuckle.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the comic's Web page.

Larson was a master of the incongruous.  The Far Side daily digest is on my must-read list of cartoons to enjoy regularly.

That cartoon also reminded me of a true story from World War II.  Admiral Cunningham and Admiral Somerville of the Royal Navy were good friends.  They sent each other witty, pithy signals from time to time whenever something amused them, or they had news to share.  One such occasion happened when Admiral Somerville, who'd already been knighted as a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1935, was promoted to Knight Commander of that Order in 1941 (i.e. a more senior grade of knighthood).  Admiral Cunningham promptly sent him this signal:  "Fancy that.  Twice a Knight and at your age!"

Fortunately, despite their relatively unarmored status compared to medieval knights, the German and Japanese dragons were unable to harm either Admiral during the war.  Both accumulated multiple orders of knighthood, with Cunningham becoming Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord (i.e. commanding the entire Royal Navy) later in the war.

Peter