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Hi, Rusty!
Yes, and I certainly needed a lot of help!
"Sands of IWO JIMA" !!
I would have been here till the cows come home trying to solve that!
Thank you!
Now, how do I find it in Bradfords?
I have looked under the list of "Battles" - but it is not there?
And ....er........"till the cows come home"..... where does that come from?
It is obvious what it means , but do you know its origin?

HI there!

I was hoping that my newly purchased books would come to some use sooner or later -

'Till the cows come home', meaning 'for an indefinitely long time' dates from at least the 16th century. 'I warrant you you lay a'bed till the cows come home' wrote Jonathan Swift in 1738.

Mind you it does not really say for sure that Swift was the creator of the phrase or whether it was already a common expression in his days.

or from another source:

''Relatively modern amplifications of this one include 'till the cows come home in the morning' and 'till bell freezes over and the cows come skating home over the ice'

The original expression has meant 'a long long time' for a long long time, since about 1600, and the idea behind it is that cows take their own good time about coming home if they aren't driven - often until the next morning, when, with udders painfully swollen, they come home to be milked.''

Well done, Elle!
God, you are hard work today!
Well now, in my Bradfords it is listed under "Battles".
Sub-section "7 letters".
Between "Glencoe" and "Jericho". Iwo Jima!
I will leave the cows to get on with it, for my tea is ready.
I shall return!

Hello, Pigale!
I love the idea of the cows skittering home over the ice!
You have really brightened my afternoon!
I think your new books are a very good buy!

Hi, Rusty!
I hope you enjoyed your tea?
What did you have ?
We have just had sausage casserole with fried onions and tomatoes, red cabbage and boiled potatoes.
Delicious!
Now.... Iwo Jima is definitely NOT in my Bradford's list of battles!
There is nothing between "Glencoe" and "Jericho"!
Honestly!
I kid you not!
I have looked very carefully!
My Bradford's is the seventh edition?
But at least I have , with your help, "solved" the clue!
Eggheads is just starting......

Good evening, Elle!
I had the remnants of my casserole and a slab of Madeira for my tea and it was fine on this cold evening.
My Bradford's is the 8th edition.
Yes, you did well today!
The Times is a good crossword, so you should be pleased with you.
Had you not heard of Iwo Jima?
There is a famous and controversial picture of the US Marines raising the Stars and Stripes on Mount Suribachi, after they fought their way ashore on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. The battle was still going on when they raised the flag.
Not all the marines who raised the flag survived the battle.
After the war there was controversy over who raised the flag and which flag was raised!
It appears to be accepted now that the Stars and Stripes came from the USS Missoula.
There is lots on Google about it, and the mis-identification of one of the Marines.
Very interesting!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I had heard of Iwo Jima, but only dimly.
And I certainly didn't get the crossword clue.
(Although I can see the parsing now that you have explained it)
The fight for the island was because of its strategic position , that I do know.....
And I have read of the flag -raising photograph by Joe Rosenthal that won the Pulitzer prize.
But I didn't even know until today that there were in fact two actual flag raisings!
Nor did I know of the confusion as to the identity of the Marines pictured.
I am afraid my knowledge of the issue was / is very scanty.
You do know such a lot!
I am puzzled by the repeats of Eggheads that are often shown......
I have watched Eggheads religiously for yonks, and never (well, rarely) miss an episode!
Yet never once have I ever seen a supposed "repeat" before!
How can that be?

Hello, Elle!
Yes, there were two flag raisings.
One flag "may" have come from Pearl Harbor.
You will come to the raid on Pearl Harbor in your book.
I rarely watch Eggheads now.
I liked it a lot at first, but grew away from it.
I do not know about the repeats.
i think they record several shows in a day though.
Quite hard work!

Hey, Rusty!
How are you progressing with James Michener's life story?
My copy has still not arrived - despite my having ordered it before yours!
I heard from Amazon today, though, telling me that both "Return to Paradise" and "Tales of the South Pacific" have been dispatched.
They are due to arrive next Monday, November 28th.
Fingers crossed that they do so!
I have discovered that "Hawaii" has a very detailed genealogical chart at the back of the volume.
As the story unfolds, and become more convoluted, I am finding this chart invaluable!
The names of the principal characters appear in heavy print as opposed to those of minor characters in lighter type.
The chart is very useful to keep all straight in my head!
I wish I had "found" it earlier!
I wonder why it wasn't placed at the beginning of the book........
Maybe because it would give away too much of the "plot"?