Waiting to board my Emirates flight to Dubai….. When I sent out the details of my flight on #illridewithyou I didn’t quite expect this many women in hajibs to turn up in response to my offer. Even some who look like they work as hosties!  Still if it is my protection they need, then as a Man of Empire…..

Seriously though, Linda and I were overseas during the Cronulla riots in 2005. We were both ashamed to know that we were citizens of a country that had spawned this hatred. The number of times I’ve been tearful reading #illridewithyou posts restores my faith in Australians. Heading overseas it is a completely different feeling to that of 2005.

There are plenty of others in history who have refused to bow to terror.  King Christian X gets all the credit for riding around Copenhagen wearing the yellow star during the Nazi occupation – his 1943 version of #illridewithyou. Although wearing the Star of David or the yellow J was something he would definitely have done if asked – he never actually did those things, the story is an urban myth. He did show Danes by his daily ride without bodyguards that, despite the Nazi invasion, none of their values had changed.

What did happen throughout Denmark though is just as heartening. For the historians or for those who are looking for acts of courage look up the story of Georg Duckwitz.  Ordinary Danes stepped up in a big way. Out of more than 6000 Jews in Copenhagen the Nazis only found 202 on the night of the big roundup in 1943. German-born Georg was the hero, along with the neighbours and friends of Jewish families. King Christian X set the example – not through the mythical wearing of the Star of David but though his many other acts of resistance to the Nazi terror. Georg and others followed their King’s lead.

It is possible to fight fear through kind acts. The Danes -including Georg Duckwitz, – and Aussies Rachael Jacobs and @sirtessa have shown us how it’s done. My heroes.

Better let you go Farquar