Talk:Nigel Leakey

Related with the other prominent Leakeys

Is Nigel Gray Leakey related to the other prominent Kenyan-British Leakeys: Louis Leakey, Mary Leakey, Richard Leakey? Seems plausible. --Ezeu 11:29, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Second cousin, but the article fixed that. It does not give any biographical details. He had a sister Agnes and it was his step-mother that the Mau Mau strangled in front of his father. His own mother had died.

Different account

I discovered some information I do not know what to do with and cannot find out without a minor research project, which I am not willing to undertake right now. I'm reading L. S. B. Leakey: by the Evidence:Memoirs, 1932-1951, Harcourt, Brace Jovanovitch, 1974, ISBN 0-15-149454-1, pp144-145.

It gives an account that does not quite contradict the one of this article but the implications are all totally different. It is a substantially different story. Moreover, Louis was an intelligence officer of that war and knew everything of note going on. Louis wrote this book in 1972. Now, you will not find this account in English on the Internet, but the other languages have it plastered all over the Internet.

Nigel was a sergeant-major, he says. The KAR was proceding northward "20 miles from the nearest enemy camp" without a thought that any enemies were anywhere in the vicinity. They came to a refreshing stream, stripped with permission and plunged in. Suddenly three enemy tanks appeared on the opposite bank and opened fire. I presume they were tanks from the counterattack in the battle of which the regiment knew nothing at all and was not previously involved in.

Nigel jumped out of the stream "stark-naked", leaped on the first tank, opened the hatch, grabbed an enemy pistol and shot everyone in the tank. He jumped down, leaped on the second tank, opened the hatch, but the occupants were ready. They dragged him in and he was never seen again. Fate unknown, presumed dead. The remaining tanks drove off.

What do you do with an alternative version from a credible source? My guess is, whatever version the author of the article used was cleaned up to make it look the way the public conceives it should have looked. In the halls of history and the annals of medal winners, you can't have naked men caught totally unprepared jumping up on tanks to shoot stupid tank crews with their own weapon, can you? How is the queen's government to present that to the expectations of society! They all have to be heroic in a totally conventional way. Nigel has to die in a great attack of a great battle storming the tank with a heroic band in full battle gear and falling (struck through the heart, no?). And apparently someone back there said he was a sergeant and no one since then has dared to promote him to sergeant-major.

So, if anyone cares to research this it might make a more interesting article and be more nearly the truth. Or, was Louis being a prevaricator for the sake of a funny story? It doesn't seem that he would be likely to take his second cousin's heroic death as the mere subject of a funny story. I think Louis was trying to tell us truth is stranger than fiction and there are more things in heaven and earth, etc. He was definitely a non-conformist.Dave 18:02, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

PS. The more I look at the current article the more suspect it becomes. In the article, Nigel knocks out one tank. How can that possibly be a critical loss of armor in the battle? At the Battle of Kursk, Russian aircraft knocked out rows of German tanks on the starting line of their next day's attack, and that was a critical loss of armor. When I started looking at these leakey article stubs I found them full of fairy tales. This article is starting to look like another one. It needs an accuracy tag, but as I am not taking it on, I'm not giving it one for the moment.Dave 11:23, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Dont be such a moron and compare this to Kursk (how can you!?)... learn some history man before you comment!

This act took part in the final stage of the East African Campaign, the Italians with what troops they had left (around 1/4 of what they started with) and had less then 100 tanks left with them.

If you go off what the award states and what the British Official history records, he disabled one tank and went after a second - possibly a 3rd which routed the rest of the squadron which was 6 tanks.

So he repels a counter attack made agaisnt his battalion with up to 6 tanks maybe 1 or 2 more ... disables one, prehaps a second and was either attacking the second or a third one when he was killed .... yes i think his deserves his VC and it doesnt sound like a micky mouse story .... jeez.

You do realise wittnesses have to have been there for him to get the thing? - 09/09/2007

Late reply. Better late than never. Quit calling me a moron, you moron. This is a pretty weak reply reinforced by emotionalism to make up for the credibility it lacks. It is almost not even worth considering but no one has done anything with the article yet and there is the public to consider. As a certain notable American admiral intelligently said before the congress of the United States on film, when some intelligence operatives attempted a verbal distraction on his behalf in now classical CIA style (they are trained in verbal distractions), disrespecting the government of the United States, "The American people, the American people." His subordinates took the hint from their smarter chief and desisted, but the whole thing was in full public view. Contrary to certain views held by certain militarists clandestine or otherwise we are not a bunch of morons and you would do best to remember that, whoever you are (as if we did not know). The admonition is wise but whether YOU are is open to question. By the way, you unintelligent intelligence moron, it is customary to sign your replies and to set them off with an indentation. Frankly you are tempting me to do this article but I'm busy on archaeology. As for whether I'm attacking you, you are attacking me. Don't ever call me a moron or anything else on WP again. It isn't good for "The American people, the American people."Dave (talk) 11:08, 28 February 2011 (UTC)