Hmmmm......

Not THAT secret then?

LMAO!

18th November 1945

Belsen Trial.

A report was made regarding the completion of the Belsen Trial the day before. Joseph Kramer and Irma Grese, the monarchs of Belsen were two of the people hanged for Nazi concentration camp crimes. Nine other concentration staff members were also hanged on the same day.

A Mass Grave at Bergen-Belsen.

18th November 1906

Born today - British engineer and inventor Sir Alec Issigonis born in Turkey. Pioneer of the the economic family motor car with his design for the Morris Minor in 1948. In 1959 designs the Mini Minor - more than 1,000,000 'Minis' are made between 1960 and 2000.

Fun weekend - Part 2.

Even the Boris and Molly enjoyed the weekend.....

Fun weekend!!!!

Well I got back late Sunday afternoon, the weekend was so much fun, for each stage of the weekend we positioned our Foden 6x6 Recovery Vehicle in the position we thought would get the best photos, and most opportunity to assist shall we say the less competent drivers...... and we werent dissappointed.

The banter of course was all in good humour, especially when we had to rescue our Dutch friends on two occasions in a matter of 100 meters, they nearly made it a 3rd, but just managed to keep going.

Julian Beever - Pavement Picasso 8

This.....

...and this.....

...will be my home for the weekend.

I will be on standby this weekend for a motor rally that is on, just in case anyone gets stuck in the mud, or God forbid, has an accident.

My camera will be at the ready all weekend.

11th November 1940

Flying from HMS Illustrious, British aircraft attack the Italian fleet at Taranto. Codenamed Operation Judgment, the attack on Taranto was designed to cripple the Italian fleet and permit the re-supply of British forces in North Africa. Led by Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham and Vice Admiral Lumley Lyster, the British task force located the bulk of the Italian fleet in port at Taranto. Launching 21 Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers on the night of November 11, the British caught the Italians by surprise. In the attack, the planes managed to sink one battleship and heavily damage two more, halving the Italian battleship fleet. A heavy cruiser was also damaged. Following the battle, the Italians withdrew their remaining ships to safer anchorages. The raid was heavily studied by the Japanese during their planning for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

11th November 1918

At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. Germany, bereft of manpower, supplies and food, signs an armistice agreement with the Allies. The war left 9 million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, some 6 million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure. The First World War led to the fall of the imperial dynasties of Russia, Germany, Turkey and Austria-Hungary, and spurred the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles officially ended the conflict, but its punitive terms destabilized Europe and laid the groundwork for the Second World War.

11th Hour, 11th Day, 11th Month.

At the going down of the sun, we shall remember them.

Todays music....

I Vow To Thee My Country.

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,

Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love:

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;

The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,

The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,

Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.

Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,

And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.

I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,

I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,

Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

And her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace.

This weekend....

Todays song....

7th November 1980

Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen

(March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980)

McQueen died at the age of 50 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, following an operation to remove or reduce a metastatic tumor in his stomach. He had been diagnosed with mesothelioma (a type of cancer associated with asbestos exposure) in December 1979, and had traveled to Playas de Rosarito, Baja California in July 1980 for unconventional treatment after U.S. doctors advised him that they could do nothing to prolong his life. Controversy arose over McQueen's Mexican trip, because McQueen sought a very non-traditional treatment that used coffee enemas, frequent shampoos, injection of live cells from cows and sheep, massage, and laetrile, a supposedly "natural" anti-cancer drug available in Mexico but not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. McQueen was treated by William Donald Kelley, whose only medical license had been (until it was revoked in 1976) for orthodontistry. Kelley's methods (both medical and promotional) created a sensation in both the traditional and tabloid press when it became known that McQueen was a patient. Despite metastasis of the cancer to much of McQueen's body, Kelley publicly announced that McQueen would be completely cured and return to normal life. However, McQueen's condition worsened and a "huge" tumor developed in his stomach. In late October, 1980, McQueen flew to Ciudad Juarez to have the five-pound abdominal tumor removed, despite the warnings of his U.S. doctors that the tumor was inoperable and that his heart would not withstand the surgery. McQueen died of cardiac arrest one day after the operation. Shortly before his death, McQueen had given a medical interview in which he blamed his condition on asbestos exposure. While McQueen felt that asbestos used in movie soundstage insulation and race-drivers' protective suits and helmets could have been involved, he believed his illness was a direct result of massive exposure while removing asbestos lagging from pipes aboard a troop ship during his time in the Marines.
McQueen was cremated, and his ashes spread in the Pacific Ocean.
Posthumously, McQueen remains one of the most popular stars, and his estate limits the licensing of his image to avoid the commercial oversaturation experienced by some other deceased celebrities. McQueen's personality and trademark rights are managed by Corbis Corporation. In 1999, McQueen was posthumously inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

7th November 1940

Four months after its completion, strong winds gusting to 35 MPH break the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State, U.S.A. spectacularly causing the bridge to fall to the bottom of Puget Sound .

Julian Beever - Pavement Picasso 7

Remember, remember......

...the 5th of November. Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

Guy Fawkes Night commemorates a foiled attempt by Guy Fawkes and a group of English Catholics to blow-up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, in protest against King James I. Roman Catholic Guy Fawkes and several of his co-conspirators are arrested in London when guards discover them planting 30 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar underneath the Houses of Parliament.

All are later executed for treason.

Each year on November 5th, effigies of Guy Fawkes are burnt on bonfires throughout England, and fireworks are set-off to celebrate the failure of this plot.

Tonight....

I know its not Guy Fawkes night until tomorrow, but Im taking my nieces to the firework display at the local rugby club tonight. Should be really good fun.

Im also going to the display tomorrow night at the Police Headquarters in Durham.

4th November 1942

The German army goes into full retreat after suffering a comprehensive defeat by the British at the battle of El Alamein in Egypt.

Julian Beever - Pavement Picasso 6

Julian Beever - Pavement Picasso 5

3rd November 1957

The Soviet Union launches the first animal into space, a dog named Laika, aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft. Laika, part Siberian husky, lived as a stray on the Moscow streets before being enlisted into the Soviet space program. Laika survived for several days as a passenger in the USSR’s second artificial Earth satellite, kept alive by a sophisticated life-support system. Electrodes attached to her body provided scientists on the ground with important information about the biological effects of space travel. She died after the batteries of her life-support system ran down. At least a dozen more Russian dogs were launched into space in preparation for the first manned Soviet space mission, and at least five of these dogs died in flight. On 12th April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. He orbited the Earth once before landing safely in the USSR.