The Pareto Principle (see below) is often referred to as the 80:20 rule, or the law of the significant few. 80% of outputs come from 20% of the inputs. For example, 20% of customers generate 80% of sales. 80% of complaints come from 20% of recurring issues. It is a widely observed principle. Sometimes the…
All posts by Keith Stanley
Where it happened
Whilst writing ‘Tangible reminders’, I realised that I have not covered the story of the final flight of Wellington Z1410 in any detail. (See ‘VE Day – Patrick’s perspective’ for a brief summary.) On 29th May 1942, as a demonstration of its growing strength, RAF Bomber Command launched the first of the ‘Thousand Bomber Raids’.…
Waltham or Grimsby
I covered the journeys of Patrick’s son-in-law Les Dunn in “More heartbreak for Patrick”. The journeys of Patrick’s son William, known as Bill, have some similarities and almost as many differences. Bill enlisted on 19th July 1940. His entire time in the RAF was spent in England, apart from one month spent at a Gunnery…
Tangible reminders
The human memory is both wonderful and fragile. We can recall distant events in remarkable detail. We can also forget where we put the house keys the day before. A tangible reminder of an event or a person can be a powerful aid to memory. When family history research reveals a connection to RAF service…
Time in the Reserves
As a Section B reserve, Patrick received a retainer of 3 shillings and 6 pence (3s 6d) per week. This is roughly equivalent to £25 in today’s terms. He could only be called upon in the event of a general mobilisation. He was required to attend an annual training camp of three to four weeks.…
National Memorial Arboretum
The National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) at Alrewas in Staffordshire covers 150 acres of land. It is well worth a visit. There are over 400 memorials as well as 25,000 trees. It was officially opened in 2001, but planting had started in 1996. I visited, once more, in November 2025. The main purpose of the visit…
Shells
Some, perhaps most, of the statistics in WW1 are difficult to comprehend. With the wisdom of hindsight, it is easy to say that things should have been done differently. Of course they should. In the words of the Spanish American philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. Politicians…
DNA Ethnicity update – October 2025
Ancestry recently updated its estimates of the regions from which I (and everyone else) hail. As the volume of data increases, the overall picture should become clearer. They are certainly attempting a greater degree of granulation than seen on previous iterations. The estimates from 2020 suggested that I had a significant amount of Scot in…
We will remember them
I recently visited the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln. The site is spectacular, being on a hill with a clear view across to Lincoln Cathedral. Surrounding the Memorial Spire, there are 271 panels containing the names of all the Bomber Command casualties from the Second World War (pictured below). That is nearly 58,000…
Where are the Benson trees?
The name Benson has appeared in my research before. (see ‘Kane cluster’ and ‘Able to find Kane’) Jane Kane was the mother of George Benson who was born in Ireland in (approximately) 1816. I have followed the Kane name via DNA and the published trees of those linked to me. There appear to be connections…