Henning Wehn's Rant About 'The War' | QI

[@CharlieQuartz]

I’ve never seen the context of that “German baby” joke and I’m so glad I did now. Henning Wehn’s rant was brilliant lol

[@kurtsudheim825]

Since they'd ask heard the joke before, & so were struggling to say it with a straight face, & deciding he should say which bit, it didn't cine odd as well, I feel, although maybe that's just cause I've heard it before

[@ventactics]

I've never heard the joke, but I've heard the same story. It was about Einstein's childhood. Pretty sure I heard it on Qi or no such thing as a fish

[@iangascoigne8231]

@Gunner Susie Pardon?

[@adamwest1222]

@Gunner Susie that’s quite a thing to throw out there. I mean, I can name a few days where they wouldn’t; June 6th, 1944 for the kick off…are you talking about their first heady months of methamphetamine-fuelled Blitzkreig maybe?

[@adamwest1222]

@Gunner Susie, with all due respect, your comment has absolutely no connection to your previous point, nor to my reply. It also seemed loaded with a bit of venom, whereas my comment was simply inviting debate. Have you confused me with someone else? It would seem that the art of discussion is certainly not the ‘winner’ here…

[@lhfirex]

This joke/rant is pretty funny, but I think my favorite one is Henning on Cats Does Countdown after the Brexit vote. He says after the vote he's been lucky enough to hide out in someone's attic, and "who knows, maybe I'll even get a book out of it."

[@NoYouAreNotDreaming]

damn shots fired!! hahahahaha

[@TheMijman]

God that was good

[@DukeOfKidderminster]

Did Rachel Riley drag him over the coals for that?

[@AlwaysBolttheBird]

He specifically said a Jewish family was hiding him. Made it so much better

[@canoli72]

Life imitates art.

[@user-cm9sf7vs5h]

"You were nothing but a drain on British resources" - Probably the best insult ever 😂

[@kashiichan]

"you were nothing but a drain on British resources" I died

[@BuildinWings]

That's the line that makes the whole rant so much funnier. Wehn's not on the side of his country's old-guard fascists. He's annoyed that the people who take credit for beating them were toddlers.

[@billythedog-309]

Did an amanuensis medium write this?

[@adamwest1222]

@@billythedog-309 Billy the dog’s friend: Here, Billy. I bet you 20 quid you can’t get a load of people to look up the word ‘amanuensis’ all at once. Billy: Challenge accepted…

[@MrDaiseymay]

@@BuildinWings HE'D BEEN WAITING AGES TO USE THAN ONE.

[@budte]

Henning was exactly the right person to deliver the German baby joke punchline.

[@nobodyuknow4911]

There is a rumor, but it may be a dastardly lie, that once upon a time, Henning was once a German baby! ^_^

[@simonchilli2088]

@@nobodyuknow4911 Presumably Germany wasn't satisfactory as he moved to England😀. Like Siegfried Bettmann Triumph motor cycle chap and Hans Wilsdorf Rolex watch chap.

[@rsr789]

@@simonchilli2088 But then Wilsdorf moved to Switzerland, and stayed there.

[@Technobabylon]

@@nobodyuknow4911 Strange if true

[@zbr76]

Henning's got a point about the septuagenarians and octogenarians that take pride. And this episode was ten years ago! Only people who are 95+ have a reason to do so, and that's if they served. I think David Mitchell said it best in 2009. "When a 75-year-old said 'he didn't fight a war for the likes of you', he's right. He was evacuated for the likes of us".

[@BigBlack81]

That David Mitchell quote is savage. And true. XD

[@terrortorn]

@@BigBlack81 Really have you ever met someone who was a child during the war and claimed otherwise? The exact opposite of savage and true I would have thought.

[@terrortorn]

@@blitzwing1 The freedom which was bought by that generation needs to be remembered and preserved only dickheads virtue signal otherwise.

[@Norrie_Rugger]

@@terrortorn Will they take credit for slaughtering native peoples, across the world too. I love how the UK claims to have been a small nation standing up to a large oppressor, as the head of the largest empire the world has ever seen.

[@whitetroutchannel]

@@Norrie_Rugger irelands protestant population since 1922, talk to no-one about oppresive empires when irelands as guilty as the next and now flooded out with africans instead

[@lycian123]

My wife is German and we went with her sister to see Henning at a theatre off Leicester Square. My sister-in-law started to berate Henning about the 1966 World Cup. He replied ‘I wasn’t even fucking born then’. Brilliant act and took a lot of time afterwards to talk to people when we left.

[@Chris-mf1rm]

I like his response to “2 world wars and 1 World Cup”. “To my knowledge the Inited States has never won the World Cup

[@TomFynn]

@@Chris-mf1rm I think the perfect response to “2 world wars and 1 World Cup” is: What would you prefer? “2 world wars and 1 World Cup” or “No world wars and 4 World Cups”?

[@thomasbernecky2078]

I'm still laughing at the joke, and may have damaged myself? I also like the story of the German on holiday in France. He got pulled over by a police officer. The police officer started asking him some questions, "Name?" "Wolfgang Klaus" "Age?" "36" "Occupation?" "No, just visiting." Thanks.

[@nirfz]

🤣 thanks a lot, haven't laughed that much for a while!

[@scipioafricanus5871]

There must be a joke about getting to the beaches before the German tourists.

[@cnrspiller3549]

Not heard that. V funny

[@lancer525]

This one wins the Internet...

[@stevevasta]

🤣🤣🤣!

[@Sunshine-zm1fx]

I wish Henning Wehn was more popular in these kinds of shows. I'd love to see him again.

[@just-tess]

does WILTY not count??

[@NickC-Ohio]

The German baby joke collab truly was a beautiful little moment in QI history 😂😁

[@BumMcFluff]

It wasn't really a collaboration, it was Davies trying to keep the attention on himself as usual.

[@cijmo]

My dad was one who always went on about the war. They lived just outside of Glasgow, his grandparents ran a restaurant so they got twice the rations that everyone else did. They had chickens, they had two milk cows, they were better off than so many other people AND...half way through the war, he was evacuated to live with family in Wales! He was 9 when the war ended. Nothing in his very being had anything to do with how the war went.

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

One of my mother's favourite phrases when she's had one of her little catastrophes is "I was born in 1935, why don't you blame me for the Second World War as well?"

[@cijmo]

@The SuperBike Tour But for the fact that one ran a restaurant and the other was in a concentration camp.

[@cijmo]

@The SuperBike Tour And...that influenced the outcome of the war...how? (Dad also "went to sea" in 1950. He WAS at sea for 20 years but he finished college first. He didn't finish college when he was 15. Legend in his own mind.)

[@cijmo]

@The SuperBike Tour You are 100% missing my point.

[@Jaxsf1]

Being sent away from your parents during wartime is certainly a sacrifice even if your dad was more fortunate in other areas. Would you send your kids away now? How would you feel? How would they feel?

[@dielaughing73]

My new boss is German, and so far he has been quite3 sparing with his praise. He has pointed out all the flaws in my work and I have accepted it in good faith, but finally on Christmas eve he told me he was satisfied with my output (with certain caveats) and I was very pleased to hear that. But I have also known the heights of Teutonic enthusiasm - years ago two German brothers let me know my placement of a particular load (under their watchful eye) was 'almost perfect'. I knew then that was as good as it gets.

[@SStoj]

I often receive praise from German brothers regarding the placement of my loads too

[@AdamBattersby-s8k]

Are you a Nazi sympathiser?

[@KarstenOkk]

Calling 10 year olds a "drain on the country's resources" during wartime is the most German thing to say.

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

Sadly it seems that saying the same in peace time has become the standard in Britain, judging by the current government 🙁

[@robertlower6212]

So right!

[@grantm6514]

Why, are all Germans accountants?

[@dirkdisselpuff7938]

@@grantm6514 No so many Accountans, Just brutaly effectiv and honest.

[@BassandoForte]

What..?? So you expect 10 year olds to fight..?? 🤣🤣 What a typical Brexiteer with victorian Rose tinted glasses thing to say... 🤣

[@paulbromley6687]

I think Henning has now officially become a national treasure I’m just not sure whether it’s a British or a German one.

[@ArtyMars]

International 😅❤️ Australia loves him too 🇦🇺

[@kaidrache2395]

Sharing is caring ;)

[@colkent2193]

Just like the monarchy...

[@cuewizchris]

@@ArtyMars Oddly enough, in Germany hardly anyone knows him.

[@ArtyMars]

@@cuewizchris I’m not surprised Germany doesn’t have a very big comedy scene 😂

[@CaptainAmaziiing]

"Every ten year old British kid was effectively fighting for the Germans." Fookin genius.

[@EnoVarma]

The one counter argument would be that the kids gave the Brits a reason to fight.

[@OriginalPiMan]

@@EnoVarma The counter argument is that every German kid too young to fight was helping Britain win the war.

[@EnoVarma]

@@OriginalPiMan Huh. So, the first step in winning a war is to kill your own offspring. Get rid of the dead weight.

[@nosuchthingasshould4175]

@@OriginalPiMan Hitler jugend.

[@MeppyMan]

@@nosuchthingasshould4175 I watched that documentary called Jojo Rabbit about the Hitler Youth.

[@kinggimped]

That is a brilliant joke at the end of that rant. He's such an interesting comedian

[@roberttill3787]

Henning when is just brilliant. He uses his accent and country for maximum laughs, and usually at the expense of the English, but is so funny as he does it!

[@jameswhite-aldworth2804]

Henning's brilliant. His joke about becoming British on Live at the Apollo has me in tears

[@austinreid5032]

Henning is the very reason i watch some programs. Very clever man

[@blue_tree_meadow]

Henning is brilliant, I love his sense of humour. 😁❤

[@stuartkseels]

Henning's wee rant at the end was hilarious!

[@anthonyjones8160]

"effectively... Effectively!"

[@idleonlooker1078]

Steven's "You got to admire his guts" killed me!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@alexandermccarthy]

Absolute genius! And the German baby joke was genuinely hilarious!

[@janemiller9841]

Henning is hilarious and to the point. Shame there aren’t more like him in the uk comedy scene.

[@martinbrandom2654]

I suppose being a comedian in a country without a sense of humour is a disadvantage. I can see why he came over here.

[@scipioafricanus5871]

@@martinbrandom2654 Henning Wehn must have cited reason for emigrating a lack of comedic opportunity...

[@oliveroshea5765]

@@martinbrandom2654 crap. You don’t think German people have a sense of humour? The average German is funnier than most UK comedians

[@jamesrussel1133]

Love Henning, so much unique wit he imparts in his second language. Such a likeable guy.

[@gleneth]

Henning is such a good guest. Brilliant comedian

[@boing615]

Jimmy Carr introducing Henning on cats Does Countdown, "in 2015 Henning did a nationwide tour of Britain, the following year we voted to leave the EU....."

[@catmadwoman6317]

And Henning took it in good fun.

[@papasmurfette007]

He got his own back when he displayed the World Cup...

[@harrybarrow6222]

Henning Wehn is an international treasure. I love his humour. (I say this even though he said I was a drain on British resources during the war.) 🤣🤣🤣

[@papasmurfette007]

Agreed! As for people like you (and my parents) being a 'drain on British resources', it is of course true and always is in war. But at least the 1940s weren't like medieval times. A quite common practice during city sieges was to kick the women, children and old men out of the city and let them starve to death or be slaughtered by the besiegers...

[@grf15]

I'd heard the German joke a few times. I had never seen this part. Henning has his moments, and this was one of the best.

[@marythurlow9132]

I love Henning Wehn. He puts things into perspective.

[@aaronachnid]

The only real reason I listen back to Unbelievable Truth is because of Henning. He's just so spot on with his humour and knows just how much he can push the more... controversial.. topics. Love 'im!

[@SquirrelNutkins]

My fav radio show!

[@daveylaney6644]

And he was invented by Jesus.

[@lilymarinovic1644]

@@daveylaney6644 along with everything else. Always slightly disappointed when he does a spot on TUT without claiming something was invented by Jesus...

[@MisterItchy]

Oh my goodness! Henning is so wonderfully funny!

[@rev.rachel]

Laughing out loud in a public study space at uni because of that 10 year old British kids joke XDD

[@Optix747]

My personal favorite is from Cats Does Countdown where something about Hitler and the war comes up and Henning goes: " He was Austrian, he had nothing to do with us".

[@VeeSeven700]

His gestures during the end of his rant are very apt 😂

[@more-reasons6655]

You know when someone is passionate about their arguement if the finger point comes out 😏😂

[@androidemulator6952]

Was careful to keep arm horizontal... not a degree higher ! ') :) Basil Fawlty would be proud..

[@janmulcahy1458]

That joke about the German baby is just like my brother who didn't speak until about age six. One day my father said to him "why do you never speak?" And he said "because I can't talk properly yet"!😄

[@kidaria1333]

cute :)

[@grease_monkey6078]

I always love when clive knows he is going to lose points with obvious answers. what a trooper

[@peterclarke7240]

Yep, Clive doing the panel-show equivalent of manfully throwing himself onto QI hand grenades, and David Mitchell's futile attempts to defeat the elves through sheer bloody-minded pedantic attrition are always highlights for me. 😂

[@garulusglandarius6126]

Got tickets to see Henning live soon, can’t wait 👍🤣😂

[@Clayton-S.]

Superb! QI tomfoolery at it's very best!

[@Leornianæfre]

Henning is not only an absolutely brilliant and intelligent comedian but he is also right almost every time. I’d love to see him back as a guest at some point. He’s also brilliant on HIGNFY and Question Time. Also the joke is one of my favourite moments from one of my favourite episodes of QI.

[@Szaam]

He actually raised a perfectly valid point. In Britain we used to associate all old people with the war ("The War" of course) long after it made any sense to. Fortunately it seems to have stopped now, but by god did we drag it out. He definitely had a lot of balls to say that on British TV (even after all these years, the emotions about the war are still there), but I think anyone who was in his shoes at the time would have felt obliged to say SOMETHING.

[@rickybuhl3176]

So, on to the French... lol

[@rosemarylusty8045]

What's that line at the end of "Hamlet". The evil men do lives on long after they are gone. (?). Old people had survived the horror but not the trauma. Just take one look at film of the front-end loaders shovelling the corpses into pits just at one liberated camp. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

[@beth12svist]

@@rosemarylusty8045 As true as your point is on general terms, I think you completely missed the point being made here.

[@DaveDexterMusic]

It definitely hasn't stopped. It's been a central core of pro-brexit "we handled ww2 and we can handle this" rhetoric

[@userofthetube2701]

@DaveDexterMusic From the images on the wall of one prominent Brexiteer, you'd get the impression that maybe he'd been a fighter ace during the war. But actually, the guy is only old enough that his contribution to the war effort could have been nothing more than watching reruns of Battle of Britain. And I just got the sense that because he never got the chance to have a go at Jerry in his Spitfire, he compensates by being a **** to foreigners.

[@calumhughes2778]

I have seen a lot of high quality QI and that might be the best I’ve seen

[@harrybarrow6222]

I love Henning Wehn’s humour. (PS I was a drain on British resources during “The War”)

[@mickavoidant4780]

I do like Henning's war jokes, even those making fun of us British.

[@theradgegadgie6352]

He's a Jerry who not only has a sense of humour, he's got a British Army sense of humour! I love him.

[@Warrigt]

Jokes? Those were 100% factual statements spoken in outrage!

[@mickavoidant4780]

@@Warrigt I was talking about the jokes he tells in his standup.

[@aussieintexas61]

@@Warrigt have you heard of being comedic. 100% factual statements spoken in outrage! its hennings persona on every show and stage ( but i wouldnt call henning 'outraged ' ? hahaha ) . like the delivery of the great sean lock and lesser lewis white to name a few. ..

[@BassandoForte]

We have the ability to laugh at ourselves - Unlike all the former colonies who seem to think corporate communism is the way to go - Thank their hick God a few more intelligent people voted in 2020 though... 🤣

[@ValeriePallaoro]

ohmygod ... ohmygod ... Please, please, please, let Henning talk on the war again!! That's so hilarious, ironic and accurate. Just Brilliant!! That relay joke was a stroke of brilliance though; tag team comedy is the funnest thing!! Let's get Alan and Henning on the road - that'll make a good set of videos!

[@gubjorggisladottir3525]

There are so many people who used to be guests when Stephen was hosting... I miss most of them. Wish they will be on the panel in latter series (T-X)

[@jaidee9570]

I stopped watching QI shortly after Sandi took over the role of host. Nothing against her particularly, but the show changed from interesting guests being funny about interesting facts, to a show which mostly failed to be entertaining, whilst being biased towards women and feminist topics. I guess a gay man wasn't diverse enough for the BBC, it needed to be a gay woman, and as we see so often by the BBC, humour is only acceptable is it's approved by the minority and could only possibly offend men, sorry straight, white men.

[@jasonhare8540]

I've seen this episode a hundred times probably and just now noticed Sandy's cufflinks ... Nice 🤘🤘🤘

[@hoppinonabronzeleg9477]

Bless him! I saw him supporting Stewart Lee a lot of years ago. Stu came out and introduced him, very funny man, I don't blame him having a rant, he has thought about it, and wants his say!

[@dylvasey]

I remember seeing Henning years ago before he was well known and I thought then this guy is going to do well.

[@crispybits3765]

I never get bored of watching this. Brilliant.

[@scubasteve6135]

henning's button: dOn'T mEnTiOn zE wAr henning: and I took that personally

[@arturslunga4226]

I love how he immediately knows which joke they are talking about

[@B0dybagBen]

Hilarious. I love everytime he speaks about the war.

[@christopherdean1326]

I bet Henning is a really great bloke to have a drink with!

[@BOABModels]

How good must you be to be THAT funny in a second language? 😅

[@zyaicob]

well it's a German speaking English so maybe first-and-a-half language

[@kidaria1333]

in his case his accent is supporting it

[@chrischris4181]

love this guy. total class.

[@JoeBleasdaleReal]

“So when a present-day 80-something says: “I didn’t fight in a war for the likes of you!”, they’re actually right. They didn’t fight. They were probably evacuated for the likes of you.” - David Mitchell

[@thorne9790]

BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASDAAAAAAAAAALE

[@OVRLRD7]

On which show did david say this i can't seem to remember

[@joshhoare6291]

I had never heard that joke before and the delivery here is fantastic.

[@madgeniusmusic]

Henning always makes me laugh.

[@gerardmontgomery280]

"Like family Christmas, no one likes it but it's a tradition." Truer words where never spoken.

[@DanDownunda8888]

My whole extended family gave up Xmas celebrations a few years ago. We are more connected than ever. :)

[@geoffhalsey2184]

On the lighter side of WWII, my father, as a boy, had a really good collection of shrapnel, generously delivered nightly and due to the very long delay in repairing infrastructure after the war, I had a great time playing in the damaged building and the rubble.

[@TheMogregory]

Me too!

[@fatbass22]

I split my head open on a bomb site ,great places to play full of potential dangers it teaches you a lot,can you imagine the uproar if it was allowed today. Scarface 😊

[@Statalyzer]

@@fatbass22 I didn't read the word "site" at first :o

[@papasmurfette007]

My grandfather hid in his pantry (in Wimbledon) during a bombing raid. There was a very close one, and he ended up emerging from the pantry covered in flour and jam...

[@lizastarpeter4295]

"All I'm saying is: Keep an eye on them" - Richard Osman

[@benjaminmorris7159]

"They chose, once again, as their enemy: The World!" - Norm MacDonald

[@vasilip]

"They'll do it again!" -Sean Lock

[@David_Baxendale]

I've known a lot of people over the years from countries that were involved in the war, winners and losers, we in he UK are mostly the only ones who still go on about it (and of course the 1966 world cup).

[@adamwest1222]

I thoroughly respect your point but I’ll tell you right now Dave, not ‘everyone in the UK’ still go on about the 1966 World Cup. I think you’ll find there’s a modest percentage of us that are sick to the back teeth of hearing about it. Usually during every single f***ing football tournament since 1966…

[@saddoncarrs6963]

The UK has never won the world cup.

[@capcompass9298]

@@saddoncarrs6963 1966. Two World Wrs and one world cup.

[@saddoncarrs6963]

@@capcompass9298 With regard to 1966, the fans flew union flags, but they were supporting the England football team. It was England that won the cup, not the UK. With regard to the two world wars, the UK did not win them. The UK played its part, but at the end of the day, it just happened to be on the winning side.

[@Thom-jj7yr]

@@saddoncarrs6963 Absolutely, it's almost blasphemous to say but we were the Darren Anderton of ww2, to make a footballer reference.

[@AnnabellaRedwood]

Henning is such a character. 😂😂😂 It's so easy to love him. ❤😊

[@zapkvr]

Sandy with "is there only one joke about a German baby". Priceless

[@justandy333]

I love that clip, 3 comedians falling over one another to tell the joke 🤣🤣🤣

[@zapkvr]

Im so delighted Henning got the gold cigar.

[@donaldcampbell3043]

I like the arm movements at the end too, reminded me of the little Austrian guy...

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

The one with the little moustache, who's in all those war films?

[@donaldcampbell3043]

@@zacmumblethunder7466 yeah the one with the Charlie Chaplin moustache

[@gregmichael8473]

Fortunately he used his left arm not the right. I'd like to think deliberately so, but given he was on the far end of the panel, it was probably the more natural arm to use.

[@Statalyzer]

@@gregmichael8473 Well if he's at the far end of the left, then he'd be more likely to have fought on the side of the Russians, not the Germans...

[@gregmichael8473]

@@Statalyzer Agreed but I avoided mentioning which end of the panel he was. He was on the left of the panel from their perspective, but on the right from the viewer's. Not sure which way it's referred to in the theater, as in Stage Left or Stage Right. Is it from the "actor's" ?

[@ModeratelyAmused]

all that was left was for him to shout "I will not stand for this"

[@kevinrussell2718]

I laughed like a drain when I saw this, because he's so right!

[@johnholland6842]

I love Henning's humour. We need to see a lot more of him. His tales of life in Germany are great.😅

[@markgregg5957]

Once upon a time I was working at one of the Palaces and an American asked me if it had been bombed in the war. I asked him if he meant Korea or Vietnam. He left.

[@philippepalmer2968]

it was at one of Henning's gigs that I went to few years ago when he came out with something which was close to the bone but funny.It went like this.On Christmas day,german families like to gather around the tv in the afternoon to watch The Great Capture

[@andmake-qg5bi]

As an American the birthday punches r not giving by teachers but normally parents and freinds

[@knealis76]

it's also not a tradition, but merely tomfoolery

[@Kirsten_is_cursed10]

Right!

[@Jono1982]

Can I give birthday punches to the teaches? I'll give them a few black eyes.

[@AlanCanon2222]

Yes: one swat for each year, as everyone counts up, then a super hard smack that's "And one to grow on!"

[@peterdunlop7691]

We had them at my Liverpool primary school in the 80s too. The “birthday bumps”: during morning assembly on your birthday you’d go to the front and the teacher would tug at your hair x times for each year and then 1 for good luck.

[@thekerrboxkids4794]

This video can be described by one word: Brilliant

[@2DaysAgoISawAVehicle]

Henning...just hilarious 😂

[@TallSilentGuy]

"Adolf Hitler? He was Austrian. Nothing to do with us!"

[@davidmurphy8364]

I loved when Jimmy Carr told him his grandfather “should have fought a bit harder”😂

[@itiscujo]

Henning is wonderful, and it's funny to me that Germans are always stereotyped as completely lacking a sense of humor when in fact I'm convinced that if there is a culture is really only funny by accident, it would be the french. Can you think of a french comedian? I certainly can't.

[@keelanmurphy9941]

Having known individuals from every corner of the patchwork quilt that is France, I would be very careful about making any generalisation about French people as a monolith. Bretons have a very dry and dark sense of humour that can be quite difficult to pick up on. Normans and Picards delight in double entendres and obscure referential humour. Occitanian and Gascon humour revolves around totally over the top and absurdist responses to the mundane and mundane responses to the absurd. I do recognize the lack of humour and self awareness that you're describing, don't get me wrong, but the word you're looking for is not "French", it's "Parisian".

[@jacksawild]

Charles De Gaul was a fucking joker

[@Lattamonsteri]

French comics were pretty funny x) but i never enjoyed french tv comedies and cartoons for some reason :S a matter of taste i think :P nick knatterton is still one of the funniest cartoons i know x)

[@Dave1507]

So you haven't heard of Louis de funes? okay then...

[@beeble2003]

Name a German comedian aside from Henning. Basically, we only know a handful of comedians from non-English-speaking countries. You can't conclude that one country is funnier than another just because you happen to know a German comedian who's come to the UK and done well, plus Sandi for Denmark and that's about it.

[@insanelyinsensitive4059]

My dad talks about the action he saw during the war and it was always the wife of soldier abroad while he was stationed here .

[@221b-Maker-Street]

A very telling wince from Alan there, at 0:45. 😔

[@samb1123]

My father was as young really as it was possible to have served in WWII at least in Canada. He turned 18 in 1944. He would have been 96 this May.

[@akhorahil6250]

To those that are unfamiliar with the American spanking on birthdays thing. They didn't beat you. They barely pat you. I never understood it. They ended the practice in schools sometime in the late 80's - early 90's. By the mid 90's even corporal punishment was over in schools.

[@matroska_5625]

"By the mid 90's even corporal punishment was over in schools." It still went on that long? That was decades after it ended in the UK. I was at school in the 80s and 90s and if a teacher even put his hands on you he'd be fired.

[@akhorahil6250]

@@matroska_5625 Yep. In my school district they stopped the practice in 1993. However in my State it's still technically legal. Basically your parents have to sign a letter to allow it to occur. This is onto of the school board allowing if, which doesn't happen anymore. If it's still happening anymore, it's in private school and with parental consent.

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

"My old school has banned capital punishment". "You mean corporal punishment." "No, it was a _very_ strict school."

[@TheMusicman1945]

out of curiosity from the first part of the video is that possibly where the term 'hazing' came from?

[@Drifty40]

Henning is brilliant, a German with a sense of humour.

[@BoredStiffGaming]

That goes with out saying, the germans are famous world wide for their amazing sense of humor

[@paulhenderson6388]

Only German ever to be funny

[@urviechalex9963]

There was and is some decent German comedy around. Very hard to translate or to bring into a non-German context, though. I wonder why that seems to be easier with British or French humour?

[@Skippy-id9yt]

@@BoredStiffGaming yeah Goebels and himmler were known as funny men

[@hugostiglitz6914]

Germans have a great sense of humour but it sometimes does not translate well.

[@frankryan2505]

"birthday digs" was definitely a thing when I was at school in the 80's 90's..

[@Trillock-hy1cf]

I call myself 'The end of the war celebration baby' because I was born in Dec.1945 when my parents (both in the RAF) came home on leave together. So I guess I was also a drain on resources from then on with food shortages in 1946 onwards......😀

[@jesuspobre88]

Henning is great. Love him to bits🎉

[@zed351]

Henning is a British national treasure.....

[@Erufailon86]

“Don’t mention the war!” Nice Fawlty Towers reference.

[@glenncheatham1320]

He is so good!!!🤣

[@ElanMorin]

this is the most hilarious clip ever clipped 😂

[@hopebgood]

For a vid that's obviously made for fun there are lots of weird "explanatory" comments by people taking this all waaay too seriously.

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

Like serious videos that attract jokes that are neither clever nor funny.

[@michaelmouse4024]

A friend from Germany plays a game when he comes to England which is how long before a taxi driver, shop keeper or whatever mentions the war to him after he arrives in the UK. The record for the longest period is 2hrs 45 minutes

[@atrumluminarium]

I mean... He's 100% right about this lol

[@DrCrabfingers]

If anyone doesn't know....'Henning Knows Best' is available on KZbin...this was his Radio 4 shows that started his career in the UK...extremely funny, very dry, and with some lovely German folk music thrown in....

[@davecooper3238]

I like Henning. Always good value for money.

[@kevinbennett7615]

If you like Henning, you need to listen to him on David Mitchell's Unbelievable Truth radio show. He's brilliant. There are loads of the shows on You Tube

[@Dim4323]

Dont mention the war

[@darthmarticusLFC]

Amazing how they co-delivered that joke.

[@assistantto007]

Henning is great!