"I may be a bombastic, uncompromising leftie pillock, but I can't ever see the point of predicating arguments on falsehoods."

Really Steve? The Wheatcroft thing, IIRC one of the points under discussion was Alan Clark's "The Donkeys" and his use of the infamous and totally fictional quote attributed to an extremely senior German Staff Office in which he was supposed to have commented that the British Army were, "Lions led by Donkeys". The contention of both Keith A, myself and others, was that that was not true and no German officer ever said that, you and your pals were of the opinion that the quote was factual. After his book had been published and Clark was challenged on this supposed quote, Clark himself admitted that he had just made it up. Now if that is not predicating an argument on a falsehood then I do not know what is.