2006RUS

The Battle of Rorkes Drift is without doubt one of the most famous battles during the background within the British army. It was around this little mission station along the border of Zululand and Natal where a few thousand Zulu warriors attacked a garrison of no more than 140 British soldiers. The soldiers fought for their lives through the night and by morning, the Zulu warriors had retired back to Zululand. The top award for gallantry while in the British Army is the Victoria Cross and the action at Rorkes Drift saw twelve VCs awarded, greater than in any other single action in the past.

The fight was portrayed in the Stanley Baker movie “Zulu” and one of several leading characters who acted heroically at Rorkes Drift, in the end didn’t get a Victoria Cross. Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne was instead awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal that is ranked 2nd behind the Victoria Cross. In addition, Bourne was also offered a commission but he declined. Being the eighth son in their household, there was no money available and this was a time when wealth was used to buy commissions for officers within the British Army.

Of course, Bourne became a career soldier and a good one as well. Immediately following South Africa, he was posted to India and Burma before finally earning his commission 11 years on from the Battle of Rorkes Drift. He finally retired from the British Army in 1907. Only 7 years later, The First World War broke out and Bourne re-enlisted in the army. By the conclusion of the Great War in 1918, he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and was made an OBE. Bourne left the military again, this time around forever.

Because of the actor who played the part of Bourne in the film Zulu, the majority of people presumed Frank Bourne to have been middle aged during the time of the Battle of Rorkes Drift however in truth he was merely 24 years old.

After the finish of The First World War, Bourne lived in retirement in Beckenham, South London and he was the last survivor of the battle to pass away at the age of 91 on 8th May 1945, the very day World War II in Europe came to an end.

Even though he didn’t receive the Victoria Cross, CSM Frank Bourne was one of the most famous men who saw action at Rorkes Drift.

George Washington Farewell Address is much discussed piece by George Washington. Everybody knows that George Washington is the 1st president of United States of America. He is really a wonderful patriot of America. He is affectionately referred to as as The father of United States of America’. First he served America as a General of continental army. He played an active role in fighting with England to attain independence. After America got freedom from the clutches of England he became the initial president of the new country. He served the nation two terms. He is a fantastic general, a excellent president. He is also very close to the persons of America.

The speech was initial appeared in a magazine referred to as American Every day Advertiser September, 1796. The date is nineteenth. The magazine belonged to David Claypool. That means more than two centuries ago the speech was made public. Later George Washington Farewell Address is printed in a Boston Paper called The Chronicle. The Chronicle is co owned by Isaac Larkin and Thomas Adams

The paper was pro Republican Party. The draft of the speech was first prepared with the support of James Madison in the year 1792. It was planned as a farewell address by Washington after his first term of presidency

As Washington’s retirement did not happen then, the draft was put aside. It really is said that Washington gave the draft to Alexander Hamilton for revision. Everybody knows that George Washington is the 1st president of United States of America.

Washington expressed his desire to retire from active political life. By the time he served America for forty five years. George Washington Farewell Address praises the federal system of governing America. It gives excellent significance to unity. It is not in favor of party system. Washington was quite much positive that party system will lead to corruption. It drives residence the importance of moral values and religion. George Washington Farewell Address gives valuable advice on economic policies also. It says that taxes need to be convenient and pleasant. It adds that state debt must be limited. Washington isn’t really especially encouraging in forming lengthy standing friendship with foreign countries. He never encouraged making military all powerful. People of America read and attempt to follow various suggestions given by George Washington even as on today. They feel that his words have ever lasting appeal.

Jim Herrera has been happily creating websites for several years. You might want to see his most recent article to do with farewell address george washington.

If someone were to ask you the question, “What is Labor Day?” could you really answer it? I doubt many of us really know anything about the holiday other than the fact that it is the first Monday in September and is the official end of summer. It used to signal the beginning of the new school year, but with more schools returning to classes in middle or late August that is no longer the case, though the beaches and other summer activities continue throughout Labor Day weekend.

The Labor Day celebration and its recognition as the national holiday has been a hundred year old tradition. What started out as just a labor union event later came to symbolize the ending of summer and the beginning of fall. All of this began in the year 1882 in New York; it was when Knights of Columbus members decided to acknowledge the citizen workers and wanted other people to appreciate the contributions of the working class towards society. The organization arranged for a huge procession honoring the working class citizens later in 1884. The Knights chose the month of September, with the first Monday of the month to hold the procession and all the other celebrations thereafter. That was how Labor Day came to be celebrated every first Monday of September.

Similarly, the Socialist Party held a celebration in honor of the working class on May 1st, a date that became known as May Day. It was celebrated by both Socialists and Communists, thus in the United States, the first Monday in September was selected in order to disassociate itself from any identification with Communism.

In the late 1800’s, labor unions lobbied to make Labor Day an official holiday of the nation. The states of Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, and New York were the first to declare, in 1887, Labor Day as their state holiday. Later in 1894, Congress finally approved the law and officially declared it a national holiday.

At present, industrialized countries like Canada, Australia, and America all celebrate Labor Day, though they may differ with the actual dates of celebration. While the origins have somehow blurred in the Unites States, European countries stay faithful to the spirit of the holiday and continue to celebrate and honor the working class during Labor Day.

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In order to win the presidency in America, candidates must stir up the religious fervor of the voters (gay marriage/civil union) and then vocally (and in some cases visually) wear your (new) Evangelical beliefs on your sleeve. It used to be candidate vs. candidate, then party vs. party, big business vs. the common (wo)man, platform vs. platform, then region vs. region, but now none of that matters as a new America has emerged, an America in which the majority with a religious manifest rules the minority with a secular agenda.

Throughout history, wars all over the world have usually stemmed from religious conflicts. Think of the persecution and murder of millions of Jews by the Nazi regime, the power struggle of different religious groups in Iraq and Yugoslavia, the conflict between the English and Irish people 800 years ago, and the genocide in Africa. In America, we see the same situation happening. Religion is gaining the upper hand. The separation of the state and the church has become a hot topic of debate. In the future, if you’re not part of the majority, you will most likely find yourself in the same situation, fearful and uncertain, like others who were the minority found themselves years before. Conversion to another faith will become widespread and people will do this because they want to be included with the majority, doing as they are told, acting like Bruce Schwartz puppets on stage. Think of missionaries like sales people, going house-to-house and telling everyone that theirs is the “right” way.

The First Amendment of our Constitution is nothing more than words printed on paper. It is through the actions of the people supporting it that give it its powers. But with the country being as fragmented as it is in these times, can it still maintain its support? Or will there be changes, tipping the balance into a right-wing governance? While there is no certainty yet, many fear that it will happen in this 21st century if we are to consider the main issues that brought about the results of the 2004 presidential elections.

In the presidential election of 2004, 82% of the voters said that their main concern was moral (religious) beliefs. That was more than the economy, education, the environment, terrorism, energy, and the war in Iraq. It was the number one concern in America; the basis of most people’s decision on who gets their vote. Does that make any sense when our country is filled with so many more pressing ills right now? However, in reference to it, and give it its due process, one must ask: Whatever happened to ‘live and let live?’ Whatever happened to tolerance? Whatever happened to ‘love thy brother?’ What has happened to America, the land of the free to live our lives as free, consenting adults and pursue our forefathers’ foresighted decree of ’separation of church and state?’

Ask yourself this: Why are we required to swear to tell the truth on the Bible while in court but the Ten Commandments is not worthy to be put on view in our federal buildings? What is in store for our future? Time will tell, along with the actions of the President.

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Rorke’s Drift can be found 46 kilometres southeast of Dundee and is the place of without doubt one of the most celebrated struggles from the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879. The scenery in the vicinity of Rorke’s Drift is unspoilt and restful. Irishman James Rorke initially set up a trading stop just about 1 mile from the drift (crossing point) on the Buffalo River and had been known to the Zulu warriors as KwaJimu (Jim’s place). Later, a mission station had been set up by the Reverend Otto Witt from the Swedish Missionary Society. Witt built a small church, mission house and livestock kraal at the base of a rugged mountain which in turn he named Oskarberg.

Lord Chelmsford, had ‘taken control of’ Rorke’s Drift just before his traversing of the Buffalo River. He employed the house as an infirmary and the chapel for a storage facility. Throughout the combat it was utilised as a medical facility. The defence of the mission station of Rorke’s Drift followed the British Army’s loss at the Battle of Isandlwana earlier on the morning of 22nd January 1879. The awesome Zulu attack on Rorke’s Drift came tremendously near to defeating the tiny garrison, and the British defiance is regarded as one of history’s most admired defences. The 11 Victoria Crosses given for valour at Rorke’s Drift remain more than for any other military action of all time.

The moment Lord Chelmsford, the commander-in-chief of the British military in Natal, moved into Zululand on 11th January 1879, he set up camp on the other side of the Buffalo river, 16km to the east, under the mountain peak at Isandhlwana. Three columns invaded Zululand, from the Lower Tugela, Rorke’s Drift and Utrecht respectively, their main objective being Ulundi, the Royal capital of the Zulus. On 9th January 1879 the central column under Lord Chelmsford arrived and made camp at Rorke’s Drift.

At day break on 22nd January 1879, the main Zulu impi assaulted the British camp at Isandlwana. Lord Chelmsford had taken some of his force off in an alternative course seeking the Zulu army. Hopelessly outnumbered, the British and indigenous forces were wiped out by the Zulu warriors and only approximately fifty men escape with their lives. The rest of the thousand strong force were killed. Later on that day, over 4,000 zulu warriors led by Dabulamanzi assaulted the small garrison of the 24th Regiment at Rorke’s Drift. These Zulu warriors had missed out on the fighting at Isandlwana and needed to prove themselves in war. Cetshwayo had clearly ordered his warriors not to cross the Buffalo River which was the border by Natal and Zululand. Inspite of this order, the Zulus took the rifles off the corpses of the British dead and headed to Rorke’s Drift. It was manned by 97 fit troops, housed 36 wounded, 14 helpful natives, 5 officers and 2 lieutenants, one of which was new to the region. The Battle of Isandlwana was arguably the most humiliating defeat in British colonial heritage and merely hours later on, at Rorke’s Drift, 139 British soldiers successfully defended their position against an extreme attack by more than 4,000 warriors.

What is usually disregarded is that the Battle at Rorke’s Drift could have resulted in an identical terrible way as Isandlawana, except for just one essential factor: Rorke’s Drift was a depot, which means the British soldiers who fought there were able to count on a near limitless source of ammo. It’s believed that between 20,000 and 25,000 rounds were fired during the defence of Rorke’s Drift, the overwhelming majority of the rounds having missed their targets altogether so that, conservatively speaking, every 25th round fired by the defenders at Rorke’s Drift led to an ultimate Zulu death, and each and every 50th round was a kill shot. The British knew the Zulus were coming nevertheless they decided to stand and fight. Wounded men would certainly had to have been placed onto wagons and Zulu warriors would quickly have found them in the open. Instead, they decided to fight on ground of their choosing.

On top of having numbers that smashed a force 5 times stronger hours earlier, the Zulu warriors now had the Martini-Henry rifles taken off the British dead, giving them an even greater edge over the British.

Henry Hook plus 5 other privates were instructed on the afternoon of 22nd January to defend around 30 people unable to be moved away from the temporary hospital at Rorke’s Drift . Defensive lines were constructed between the 2 structures and the hospital and the store room. Within this perimeter, an inner line of defence was built joining together the two complexes and this proved significant in the battle. The Zulu warriors attacked the hospital setting fire to the roofing. Hook and others battled for several hours, physically hacking through walls and gradually getting nearly all out of the hospital and over to the inner defensive line near the store. Wave upon wave of Zulu warriors with spears and rifles crashed into the makeshift lines of defence at Rorke’s Drift. The battles raged through the night but in the morning the British defences still held firm and the Zulus eventually pulled back.

Immediately after seeing the aftermath of Isandlwana, Chelmsford believed that Rorke’s Drift had fallen and only the sound of cheering from the garrison convinced him otherwise. eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the men of Rorke’s Drift. Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne was amongst five men to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the rare honour of a commission. However, his military pay was his only source of income had he believed he could not financially afford to become an officer which means declined the commission. Fittingly, he was the last survivor of Rorke’s Drift to pass away on 8th May 1945 and VE Day. Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Edward Bourne OBE, DCM was 91 years old.

The action at Rorkes Drift is one of the most well known in British army history and is just part of an amazing story.

For the duration of The Great War, the historic Belgium market town of Ypres was in a strategically critical position near to the British front lines and it is one of the most infamous parts of the Western Front from the awful fighting that happened here.

The city itself ended up being in the middle of the Ypres Salient, a piece of the front line protruding towards German lines. Historically, Ypres can certainly be traced back to the 12th century. In the face of decades of fighting and occupation, the town grew but with the outbreak of The First World War, it was under German occupation.

The 1st Battle of Ypres tin October and November 1914 saw Britain and her Allies capture the town from the German Army and irrespective of vicious fighting around Ypres until finally the war concluded in 1918, the Germans did not recapture Ypres.

However, during the four years of The First World War, Ypres suffered a fearful toll while four big battles took place about here. During the Second Battle of Ypres in April and May 1915, the Germans recaptured the high ground towards the east of Ypres. The area covered the village of Passchendaele.

In 1917, without doubt one of the most ferocious battles of the Great War happened. The Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele saw Britain and her Allies recapture the ridge though with a terrible cost. From July and November 1917, there was approximately half a million deaths and injuries on both sides and Ypres was nearly destroyed by German heavy guns.

The important Cloth Hall and most other buildings were destroyed and years of heritage were gone. In 1933, rebuilding began on the Cloth Hall and it was at long last completed in 1967 having been carefully reconstructed to bring back its heritage. Presently, the Cloth Hall in Ypres houses the In Flanders Fields Museum.

Throughout The First World War, the Menin Gate was simply an exit cut through the eastern ramparts of Ypres. A large number of soldiers would’ve marched via this exit along the way to the front lines. In 1927, the Menin Gate Memorial was unveiled. It commemorates the names of over 54,000 soldiers who sadly are still missing on the battlefields across the Ypres Salient and each night, the Last Post ceremony will take place here at 8pm by the grateful citizens of Ypres.

Throughout World War I, the Ypres Salient saw some of the worst action between 1914 and 1918.

More important than proving perfection on your parties side, is a willingness to seek out the mistakes and correct them; to improve; to monitor your integrity. In the face of the opposition bashing away and looking for any sign of weakness it is tempting to deny any fault at all, but it is still weak to ignore potential improvement. For a leader to inspire confidence, he must maintain a balance between claimed efficacy and a willingness to examine and adapt when changes will make a real impact; Not because the opposition is demanding apologies for not adhering to their views, when their only cause is your destruction, and only when reason makes a strong case.

Many are those who are so quick to put the blame on the president but are blind to their own faults and those who let their own party’s mistakes go unnoticed.

I’m reading 1776, a book written by David McCullough. In public, George Washington led by inspiring confidence and a positive outlook but in private he was greatly apprehensive of the Patriot Army and its success. When his army was defending New York City, he made a number of bad decisions; he divided his troops who were facing a more powerful force, he chose a bad leader for an important position, and he switched halfway through. Those changes he made only served to confuse his soldiers who were going to battle. He overlooked the importance of a lesser-known road in Long Island that the British army used to outflank the American soldiers.

Washington, fortunately, did not have to face a barrage of demands and questions from the opposition for his failures in battle afterwards. He did the best he could, learned from his mistakes, and improved on what they lacked to defeat the British who, at the time, was at its height of military power. He made several mistakes but it did not make him less qualified to do the task. Washington even admitted to congress that he felt he was not worthy of his job even after leading the army to success. The British made several mistakes as well but history would not be as we know it if George Washington was dismissed because of his miscalculations. Congress was well aware of his mistakes but they chose to believe in his leadership instead of highlighting his shortcomings to further their own political ambitions.

Nowadays, politicians will stop at nothing to put down their opponents, putting forth unverified facts and disregarding the potential damage it could do to the nation. The media help them along by their exaggerations, setting back the country’s progress. More people are now seeing though the deceptions of these unthinking politicians. We can tell who are those working for the good of the people and those who are only making superficial noise, being self serving and pampering to other politicians’ egos. If only they realize how they have lost their dignity and credibility to the insightful and perceptive public.

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All through The Great War, the slaughter over the fields of Flanders was on an awful scale with the majority of bodies never identified or recovered. On 11th November 1920, simultaneously ceremonies were held both in London and Paris to unveil tombs of unknown soldiers.

The tomb of the unknown soldier came to represent the loss sustained by the families of troops who died and their bodies were never identified or brought back. The unknown French soldier lies in the Arc de Triomphe in Paris while the unknown British soldier lies buried in Westminster Abbey between nobleman and statesmen.

The concept was initially thought of by a clergyman named Reverend David Railton. In 1916 in France, he had found a cross with the words “An Unknown British Soldier” written on it. 4 years later in 1920, Railton approached the Dean of Westminster indicating it may be acceptable to create a nationally recognised grave for an unknown soldier.

4 British servicemen were exhumed from Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres and taken to a chapel at St Pol, close to Arras. Each body was covered in a Union flag then one was selected by Brigadier General L J Wyatt. Wyatt had no idea where the soldiers had been taken from or their rank. The point was that the unknown soldier may perhaps have been anyone from a Private to a Colonel, a colonial manual worker to the son of an Earl.

The soldiers casket was sent to London and was delivered to Westminster Abbey in a horse drawn gun carriage. The cortege was accompanied by King George V and members of the Royal family. At Westminster Abbey, it was flanked by a guard of 100 winners of the Victoria Cross.

The coffin was positioned and covered with soil taken from the battlefields of The First World War. It was capped with a slab of black marble from Belgium and it is the only tombstone in Westminster Abbey which it is forbidden to walk.

Since then, plenty of other nations have committed similar tombs such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

World War I was reduced to a bloody stalemate which saw so many lives wasted. Few families in Great Britain were left unaffected.

Brandhoek Cemetery is the place Captain Noel Chavasse is buried. Captain Chavasse is one of merely 3 men to have been awarded Britain’s top award for valour, the Victoria Cross. In addition, he was also accorded the Military Cross. I’m currently reading through a book titled “In Foreign Fields” by Dan Collins and it is about troopers who have been accorded medals in Afghanistan and Iraq. When you understand what a soldier was required to achieve so as to be accorded an MC, it makes you understand what a brave man Capt Chavasse was particularly as he was a member of the Royal Medical Corps and never fired a shot throughout the conflict.

My next stop was close to the village of Passchendaele at the largest sized British Military Cemetery at Tynecot. Upwards of 12,000 troops are buried here. From Tynecot, you’ll be able to see for several miles everywhere over fields and it seems tough to think of the carnage that was there 90 years ago. The visitors centre provides a background of the area as the names of several of the dead and missing are put out calmly over speakers.

From Tynecot, I started to head back on the way to Ypres stopping at Hill 61 (Sanctuary Wood) on the way back. There’s a compact museum and a few conserved trenches . Throughout my trip, the climate wasn’t kind and while it had been nothing like as lousy as conditions would have been all through The Great War, the bottom of the trenches still looked quite awful. It cost a few Euros to get in and this was the first place I started to notice the effects of the notorious mud.

My next intended stop was the Hooge Crater. As previously in the day, I had a hard time trying to locate it although I did find a modest independent museum known as the Hooge Crater Museum which in fact had an intriguing assortment of artefacts such as a British Ambulance and a Victoria Cross. My sightseeing for the day was not complete as I still wanted to check out the popular Cloth Hall that was just about ruined (since totally reconstructed) and the Last Post ceremony which is carried out at 8pm every evening at the Menin Gate. I always find the Last Post extremely haunting and moving to hear. After it was finished, 2 wreaths were placed by young British soldiers and was followed by a recital from Laurence Binyon’s “For The Fallen”

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

The key part of most visits to Ypres is the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate every evening at 8 o’clock.

Although it was officially established in July 1940, the SOE (Special Operations Executive) had been created in 1938 with the combination of 3 current, top secret sections just after Germany annexed Austria. Churchill’s Secret Army was directed to “Set Europe Ablaze”.

SOE operatives were directed to various Nazi occupied countries to simultaneously cause destruction behind German lines and in addition start to locate local resistance groups they would likely work with once the occasion for invasion came. Theatres of Operation involved France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Abyssinia and the Far East.

As operatives operated deep in Nazi held territory and they were recruited from an assortment of social class and background. The key criteria was that the probable agent had exhaustive understanding of the land they would operate in and in a position to pass as a local of that country. For that reason, those with dual nationality were highly desirable.

The renowned plane used by the SOE in France was the Westland Lysander. It was a small aircraft which caused it to be a whole lot more tricky to watch and was robust enough to land on makeshift landing strips. It was used to ferry operatives to and from the United Kingdom together with collecting those who needed to be interviewed in London. Pilots who had been shot down were also frequently brought back to the United Kingdom by Lysander.

Amid the SOE group were also female agents and around 30% of the female operatives delivered into France from Section F, did not survive. The types of operations in each region were wide ranging. For example, in Poland, there was limited need to stir up the local population as there was already common hatred of the Nazis. This was in comparison to areas such as Vichy France where some locals worked with with the Germans and the probability of SOE operatives being betrayed was considerably increased.

For the period of World War II, the SOE had utilised about 13,000 people who directly helped or provided somewhere in the region of 1 million operatives.

The Special Operations Executive played a significant role during World War II primarily in Europe but in other parts of the world too.