The Tale of a Railway Carriage

Armistice day is upon us, the day to look back and give thanks and honour those that have laid down their lives in the service of their country during and since The Great War.  

The 11th November 1918 was the day that two opposing sides met on the outskirts  of Compiègne in the forest of Rethondes to finally end the bloody conflict that later became known as the First World War.  This was the site of an artillary railway emplacement chosen because it could accomodate two trains and it was discreetly hiden within the forest away from prying eyes.  The French and British arrived on early in the morning of 8th November in a train that formed a mobile headquarters complete with a restaurant car and office.  The Germans arrived a little later at 7:00am in much grander fashion, their train including a carriage that had been designed and built for Emperor Napoleon III and still bearing his crest.  For three days the negotiations continued until at 05:30am on the 11th November the Germans eventually signed the Armistice document in a converted restaurant car owned by the Wagon Lits Company; wagon number 2419D.  By 11:00am all hostilities ceased.

Monument to the liberation of Alsace and Lorraine

I could write at great length about any number of topics at this point but, and some of you may find this strange, I've chosen to look a little deeper into the fate of wagon number 2419D.  2419D was built in 1913 just a year before the war began and was owned by the Wagon Lits Company, the same people who ran the Orient Express.  The wagon was coverted to a mobile office which made it ideal for the armistice negotiations.  After the Great War 2419D was put back into service as a regular restaurant car and operated as such until being placed in the courtyard of the Invalides in Paris, the resting place of Napoleon.  In 1927 the carriage was restored using money provided by the American Arthur Fleming and returned to the forest of Rethondes where it was placed in a purpose built shelter.  A number of artifacts were obtained from those who had been involved in the signing of the Armistice and the car was refurbished to same condition as in 1918.  The carriage became part of a grand memorial at the site of the German defeat.  At the entrance to the memorial stand a monument depicting the German Imperial Eagle slain by a mighty sword with the inscription "To the heroic soldiers of France Defenders of Country and of Right Glorious liberators of Alsace and Lorraine".   Inscribed flagstones in the ground at the center of the memorial read "Here on 11 November 1918 the criminal pride of the German Empire was brought low, vanquished by the free peoples whom it had sought to enslave".  In 1937 a statue of the French general Foch, who presided over the signing of the Armistice, was unveiled at the memorial site with Foch attending the unveiling ceremony.

Just two years later war broke out across Europe again and in 1940 the Germans managed what they had failed to do in 1914-1918 and captured Paris forcing the French to sue for peace.  For Hitler, who had fought in the trenches during the Great War, the signing of the Armistice was seen as a betrayal and a humiliation to the German people.  He ordered that wagon 2419D should be taken from it's protective shelter and placed in the exact spot the the agreement had been signed.  Inside the carriage Hitler himself presented the terms of surrender to the French delegation and within 15 minutes the whole process was complete.  2419D was taken away to Berlin, a kind of war trophy, and the memorial site was destroyed.  The statue of the now dead Foch was left in place so that he could look down upon the destruction as a symbol of his countries defeat.

There are two versions of what happened to 2419D in the closing stages of the war.  One tale tells us that it was destroyed in a British bombing raid of the German capital in 1944.  The other says that once it was clear to Hitler that Germany would be defeated that he ordered the destruction of the wagon in case it was used again to humiliate his beloved Germany.  Whatever happened the carriage no longer exists however the memorial in Resthonds was restored and a replacement carriage (2439D) built at the same time as the original was placed there.

For the Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

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.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon

UK Death Penalty

The Last Working Gallows in the UK

For those of you in the UK I'm going to ask you a simple question, most won't know the answer but some may think they know the answer.  

Question:  The last person to be sentenced to death and hanged was back in 1964, but what year was capital punishment abolished in the UK?


Answer:  Some of you may think it was 1969, which is correct as far as murder is concerned but surprisingly it wasn't until the 9th November 1998 that capital punishment was abolished for all crimes.

Following the abolition of the death penalty for murder, the House of Commons held a vote every year until 1997 to decide whether to restore the death penalty. The restoration vote was won, but the death penalty still remained for other crimes as follows:

1. Causing a fire or explosion in a naval dockyard, ship, magazine or warehouse (until 1971);
2. Espionage (until 1981);
3. Piracy with violence (until 1998);
4. Treason (until 1998); and
5. Certain military offences under the jurisdiction of the armed forces. Until 1998 the death penalty was still enforceable for the following six offences:
   • serious misconduct in action;
   • assisting the enemy;
   • obstructing operations;
   • giving false air signals;
   • mutiny or incitement to mutiny; and
   • failure to suppress a mutiny with intent to assist the enemy.

No executions were carried out in the United Kingdom for any of the above offences after the abolition of the death penalty for murder but there still remained a working gallows at Wandsworth prison until 1994.  The gallows were tested every six months until 1992. This gallows is now housed in the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham.

Only 21 years later ...

On 9th November 1955 the United Nations disapproves of South Africa's apartheid politics.  On 9th November 1976 the United Nations General Assembly condemed apartheid.  Thus proving that it takes 21 years for the UN to go from "tut-tut" to "please stop" ... I wonder if parents could get away with waiting that long whilst raising their kids ?!?

Remember, remember the 5th of November

Well it's been a few days since my last entry here and this is something I really should have done four days ago.  To be honest I wasn't going to write about this particular subject as I sat there and thought everyone knows what happened on 5th November, everyone knows about bonfire night and the gunpowder plot.  But as I stood in front of the fire built just a few hours earlier and watched and listened to the distant and not too distant flashes and bangs of the fireworks let off in celebration I began to wonder what it was all about.  For most in Britain the gunpowder plot is one of the first lessons taught about history but I think that as it's learnt at such an early age most forget what it was actually about, I know I certainly have.  I asked a friend why we celebrate on 5th of November and the answer I got was one that most people would give "Because it's fun" and I totally agree but it did leave me with a few questions.

"Guy Fawkes Night originates from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed conspiracy by a group of provincial English Catholics to assassinate the Protestant King James I of England and replace him with a Catholic head of state. In the immediate aftermath of the arrest of Guy Fawkes, caught guarding a cache of explosives placed beneath the House of Lords, James's Council allowed the public to celebrate the king's survival with bonfires, so long as they were "without any danger or disorder", making 1605 the first year the plot's failure was celebrated. Days before the surviving conspirators were executed, in January 1606 Parliament passed the Observance of 5th November Act 1605, commonly known as the "Thanksgiving Act". It was proposed by a Puritan Member of Parliament, Edward Montagu, who suggested that the king's apparent deliverance by divine intervention deserved some measure of official recognition, and kept 5 November free as a day of thanksgiving while in theory making attendance at Church mandatory. A new form of service was also added to the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, for use on 5 November." ... Wikipedia

What actually happened, what are we commemorating?

King James I

This one seems to come down to religion and religious freedom.  Following many years of religious intolerance under the reign of queen Elizabeth I it was hoped that her successor James I would have more sympathy towards Catholicism.  Unfortunately this was not the case and in the year 1605 a group of Catholic radicals joined together and devised a plan to kill the king and install his nine year old daughter as the new monarch and Catholic head of state for England.  In all there were thirteen conspirators led by a man called Robert Catesby and their plan was simple, pack the cellar of the House of Lords with explosives and detonate them on the 5th November; the date of the annual State Opening of the English Parliament.  This would eliminate the king but also most of the attending lords some of whom were also Catholic.  A warning note was sent and intercepted and the plot revealed.  The cellars below the House of Lords were searched on 4th November and 36 large barrels of gunpowder were discovered along with the man tasked with guarding them, Guy Fawkes. 

Guy Fawkes

On that very night in 1605 the people of Canterbury lit a huge bonfire to celebrate the salvation of the king and it's a tradition that has stayed with us ever since.  In the first few years the celebrations were limited to sermons and the ringing of church bells on 5th November, few fires were lit.  Then over time the fires became the main event until we get to the present day where the 5th November just wouldn't be the same without a fire or two accompanied by fireworks and the occasional sound of the fire engines.  A popular part of the celebrations since the late 18th century is the burning of a guy, a representation of Guy Fawkes made from old cloths stuffed with newspaper and placed at the highest point of the bonfire.

Why is Guy Fawkes the most remembered and not Robert Catesby?

It wasn't always Guy Fawkes who was burnt on bonfires around Britain; in 1677 it was reported that at one celebration " ... with the burning of large bonfires, a large effigy of the pope—his belly filled with live cats "who squalled most hideously as soon as they felt the fire"—and two effigies of devils "whispering in his ear".".  The general anti-Catholic views of the English people were such that for many years the burning of the Pope on 5th November was common place.  Over time came more religious freedom and the burning of the Pope died out until by the 1790's it was common to see children on the streets of Britain in the run up to 5th November begging for small change with the effigy of Fawkes who would later be placed on the fire.  The question of why Guy Fawkes rather than the leader of the plot Robert Catesby seems to be unanswered.  But it is assumed that as Fawkes was the first to be captured, the first to be tortured and the first to be sentenced to death that he was the one that got all the attention making him the most notorious of the plotters.

Do other countries celebrate on 5th November?
I got to thinking that as the British monarchy is also the monarchy in a number of Commonwealth countries around the world whether they also celebrate in the same way.  So here's a little round up of some of the countries and what they do or don't do -  

North America - Early colonists took with them a lot of traditions including bonfire night which became Pope Night, a decidedly anti-catholic celebration.  The tradition died out in the 1770's as ties with catholic France increased.


Canada - Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot are pretty unheard of throughout Canada.  However Guy Fawkes has been used as a mascot by Canadian military and police explosives technicians for the past two decades. 


Australia - Guy Fawkes night was regularly celebrated throughout Australia until the late 1970's when they introduced a fireworks ban.


New Zealand - Still celebrates with fireworks and bonfires but as there are calls for a fireworks ban here too it looks like Guy Fawkes nights days are numbered.


South Africa - Celebrations for Guy Fawkes night are still running strong in South Africa with many colourful fireworks displays across the country.


Please let me know if any of the above is incorrect or if you know of any other countries that celebrate.

Well What a Boring Day

I'm not sure what's going on today but nothing that's happened on 4th November to inspire me to write.  I'm not saying there isn't anything, just nothing that tickles my fancy.  For instance it was on this day in 1922 that Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen but talking about old mummies just doesn't float my boat.  Neither does the topic of artificial legs, something that was first patented on this day in 1846.  Even the births and deaths are just a little yawn-worthy.  Maybe with the exception of Alfred Heineken (yep that's THE Mr Heineken) in 1923 ... wow just a year after Tutankhamen was discovered ... I don't think there's a connection though!!

Tell me if I've missed something .....

Laika the Wonder Dog

After the death and destruction of my last two posts I thought maybe it was time to put something a little more uplifting in here.  Searching through the archives I discovered that in 1957 on 3rd November the first living creature soared through the skies and reached space aboard the Russian spacecraft Sputnik 2.  Laika was a stray female dog found roaming the streets of Moscow who underwent training with two other dogs and was eventually chosen as the most suitable candidate.  Until this time there was no way of knowing whether a living creature could survive the stresses put on the body during take-off.

 Despite what I said in my opening paragraph about an uplifting story it seems that few things in history end well.  Poor Laika was actually sent on a suicide mission, she never returned, she was never meant to return.  So as well as this day marking the achievement of mankind (well dogkind) conquering space it also marks the dubious occasion of seeing the first death in space.

But without Laika's sacrifice man would never have travelled to space, would never have landed on the moon.  These things probably don't mean a great deal to most of us, but think about it another way.  Without space flight there wouldn't be the same number of satelites that we now have ... no mobile communication, no satelite TV ... basically the technologies we have today, the things we take for granted most probably wouldn't be around today if it wasn't for Laika.   It took until April 2008 for Laika to recieve full recognition when a small monument in her honour was built near the military research facility in Moscow which prepared Laika's flight to space. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.

The Plight of Poland

On this day, the 2nd November, in 1939 Joseph Stalin officially annexed the eastern part of Poland into the Soviet Union.  Most people know that on 1st September 1939 Germany invaded Poland sparking the outbreak of World War 2 and the occupation of Poland by German forces lasting until early 1945.  What people tend to overlook is the involvement of the Soviet Union in Poland's downfall and the subsequent horrors that this downtrodden nation had to endure following direct orders from the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.  On the 23rd of August just days before the invasion of Poland the Soviets and the Nazis signed a none aggression pact.  The agreement included plans to create a new border between Germany and the Soviet Union with the line running almost through the center of Poland.  To secure the border the Soviets invaded eastern Poland just 17 days after the Nazis and only 10 days later the Polish nation effectively ceased to exist.  The western part of the country was officially annexed by Germany on 1st November and the eastern part annexed by the Soviets the following day.  The alliance and joint occupation of Poland with the Soviets was maintained by the Germans for the next 18 months or so until 22nd June 1941 when the Germans launched operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Despite their occupation the Polish armed forces in exile fought on gallantly; during the Battle of Britain the pilots of fighter command were joined by over 130 pilots of the Polish air force second only to the British pilots in numbers.  It is estimated that of all those serving with the allied forces the Poles were the fourth most prevalent and Polish units were some of the toughest and most feared by the enemy.
At home though things weren't going so well, the Germans and Soviets treating the local population atrociously.  That brings me to one of the worse cases of genocide ever to happen and be denied, the Katyn Massacre, the extermination of approximately 22,000 Polish officers, policemen and intellectuals.  These people were systematically exterminated under direct orders from Joseph Stalin typically with a bullet to the back of the head at very close range.

On July 12th 1941 following the German invasion of the Soviet states the British and Soviets agreed to a mutual aid pact officially making the Soviet Union an allied nation in the fight against the Nazis.  In 1943 the bodies of those killed in the massacre were discovered and the German government announced the findings to the world.  The Soviets initially tried to blame the Germans for the massacre and continued to deny any involvement in the act until 1990, 51 years after the event.
This was not the only time that Stalin's orders cost the Poles dearly.  In August 1944, with the German army in retreat before an ever stronger Soviet onslaught the citizens of the Polish capital Warsaw rose up against their German occupiers.  They knew the Soviet forces were only miles away within easy reach of the city but help never arrived.  For two months the brave citizens of Warsaw fought on with help just a stones throw away but the Soviets chose not to offer the lifeline so badly needed.  By early October the uprising had been crushed by the Germans and it wasn't until 17th January 1945 that the Soviets liberated the city.

Forgotten History - Part One

In the UK in the last few years the war records for those who served in the first world war have been released into the public domain ... it has created a big surge in people wanting to find out what happened to their relatives during this time of conflict.  It has also helped to identify a lot of unknown graves and given families a sense of closure over their past and filled in blanks in a lot of peoples family history. 

Over the weekend I watched a repeat program on TV called "My Family At War" in which celebrities discover the history behind a member of their own family who served in the armed forces during the First World War.  The episode I watched had the Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark on as she wanted to find out what happened to her great uncle.  She found that her great uncle had joined the army within weeks of the war beginning in 1914 and completed his training.  He soon joined the machine gun regiment, in those days classified as an elite unit due to the damage they could cause the enemy.  The enemy also knew the damage caused and treated members of the machine gun regiment differently to those in other parts of the army.  If they were captured they were tortured and killed rather than sent to prison camps.  They could not stay in one firing position for long because as soon as they began firing the enemy would target them with everything they could throw at them.  Basically it was an even tougher job than regular units in the trenches of France and Belgium with a much lower life expectancy.

Despite many close shaves her great uncle survived through to the end of the war unharmed although he knew his chances were small ... Kirsty had letters from her great uncle to family members back home that showed how ready he was to accept death, some very moving examples.  So he was more than happy when the end came on 11th Nov 1918 and even more happy when the notice came through that he was to return to the UK on 26th November ...

Unfortunately he became ill the day before he was due to leave for home, he was one of the unfortunates who survived the war only to be struck with Spanish flu and he lost his life a few days later.

To put things in perspective the First World War took the lives of 15million combatants and civilians in the extreme and bloody circumstances.  To lose so many, mainly young men, was devastating to whole communities that must have taken decades to recover from.  I'm sure that if you were to look through the electoral registers in the UK for the early 1920's the number of households with only a woman and her children would tell the story far better than I can.  But is this just because of the casualties of war?

Obviously I had heard about the Spanish flu pandemic that followed the Great War, with recent cases of bird and swine flew the reporters always seem to report that the new outbreaks may be as bad as the Spanish flu pandemic.  The Spanish flu spread throughout the world between 1918 (during the last months of the war) and 1920.  It struck all, the young, the old, the healthy and the weak but what was unusual was that it mainly killed the strongest members of the population.  By some strange misfortune those with the strength to fight the disease did so with such vigour that it caused their bodies to give up and often led to death.  Those with weaker immune systems were able to ride the storm and pass through without the internal struggle of those with the strength to fight.  What is most shocking is the scale of death in a world already ravaged by the destruction of war.  Over three times as many people died from influenza during 1918-1920 than in the previous four years of war.  Conservative estimates put the figure at 50million with some estimates at almost double that.  It leaves me speechless in a way, we've all heard of the First World War, The Great War or The War to End All Wars ... most have probably heard of Spanish flu but to think that so many perished from one or two generations, that man could be so cruel and nature even crueler is almost inconceivable.  For so many to have survived such terrible hardship and daily fear and then be taken by natures will.