Saturday, November 25, 2006

Dancing Jesus

Dancing Jesus

little albert

little albert

Touching words from Alexander Litvinenko

I can't comment on the details of the story, as I know so little about it, but I was touched by the words of Alexander Litvinenko quoted by the ubiquitous Wikipedia:-

I would like to thank many people. My doctors, nurses and hospital staff who are doing all they can for me, the British police who are pursuing my case with vigour and professionalism and are watching over me and my family.

I would like to thank the British government for taking me under their care. I am honoured to be a British citizen.

I would like to thank the British public for their messages of support and for the interest they have shown in my plight.

I thank my wife Marina, who has stood by me. My love for her and our son knows no bounds.
But as I lie here I can distinctly hear the beatings of wings of the angel of death.

I may be able to give him the slip but I have to say my legs do not run as fast as I would like.

I think, therefore, that this may be the time to say one or two things to the person responsible for my present condition.

You may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price. You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed.

You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilised value.

You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilised men and women.

You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life.

May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people.

read the full story Here

Monday, November 13, 2006

Famous, Again.....

A very spooky site has sprung up:-

Rate My Teachers.co.uk

Where you, the pupil, can rate your teacher anonymously. I , of course, have NO bad comments.
(I don't have any good ones, either :) )

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Walter Pool Terry (cont)

Walter Pool Terry b. Leeds 1889
married Rubina Rodgers (b. Port Talbot) 1911
produced Ronald Terry 1912
twins Charles & George Terry 1914
enlisted Welsh Regiment WW1
Gassed in France, returned to Mumbles, and was nursed by Ruby
Died 10/03/1919, Mumbles
with ronnie aged 7, Charlie & George aged 5 ish
was bourne on a gun carriage, horse drawn,
down Woodville road,
and interred in Oystermouth Cemetry, Mumbles 1919
not recognised as a war casualty until armistice day, 2006,
87 years later
in the presence of 4 of his grandchildren
3 of his Great Grandchildren (moi - one)
and one of his Great, Great grandchildren (Dylan)

or maybe

2/6th (Glamorgan) Battalion
Formed at Swansea, December 1914. Absorbed by the 2/5th Royal Welsh Fusiliers in November 1915.

but dont think so

The Welsh Regiment




1/6th (Glamorgan) Battalion
August 1914 : in Swansea. Part of South Wales Brigade, which was Army Troops, unallocated to a Division. 29 October 1914 : landed at (Le) Havre and moved to Lines of Communication. 5 July 1915 : attached to 84th Brigade, 28th Division. 23 October 1915 : transferred to 3rd Brigade, 1st Division. 15 May 1916 : became Pioneer Bn. to 1st Division.

84th Brigade
1st Bn, the Welsh (joined December 1914)
1/6th (Glamorgan) Bn, the Welsh (joined July1915, left October 1915)


1st Division
Divisional Troops
1/6th (Glamorgan) Bn, the Welsh (joined as Pioneers May 1916)

took part in
The Battle of Albert (first phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916)
The Battle of Bazentin (second phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916)
The Battle of Pozieres (third phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916)
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette (sixth phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916)
The Battle of Morval (seventh phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916)
The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line
The Division was warned to prepare for an operation along the Belgian coast in Summer 1917 and several mobile units were attached in readiness. The operation was cancelled when the initial assaults in the Third Battle of Ypres failed to progress as expected.
The Second Battle of Passchendaele (eighth phase of the Third Battle of Ypres)
The Battle of Estaires (first phase of the Battles of the Lys) (2nd Brigade)
The Battle of Hazebrouck (third phase of the Battles of the Lys) (3rd Brigade)
The Battle of Bethune (sixth phase of the Battles of the Lys)
The Battle of Drocourt-Queant (second phase of the Second Battles of Arras 1918)
The Battle of Epehy (second phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line)
The Battle of the St Quentin Canal (fourth phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line)
The Battle of Beaurevoir (fifth phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line) (3rd Brigade)
The Battle of the Selle
The Battle of the Sambre
In the above action, the Division fought the Passage of the Sambre-Oise Canal.




The Battle of the Somme

1st July - 18th November 1916
One of the most important campaigns in which the British Army has ever been engaged, the dogged fighting on the Somme has shaped modern memory of the First World War.

Why did the British Army attack on the Somme in 1916? >> See why, in detail
The offensive campaign of 1916 - initially conceived to be a war-winning simultaneous strike on three fronts by all Allies with maximum force - came down to a few Divisions of the British Army attacking on ground not of their choosing and where there was no possibility of strategic gain.

How was the initial plan of attack developed? >> See the plan, in detail
There was disagreement between Commander-in-Chief and the Army commander who had to carry out the attack, about how it should be done. Haig's plan was to capture ground, breaking past the first enemy line and into the second enemy line on the first day. All possibilities to exploit enemy disorganisation should be grasped from then on. Yet at the same time, the army applied rigid, inflexible, tactics as regards the way their infantry should conduct the attack.

The immense preparation for battle >> See the preparations, in detail
The area chosen for battle was a quiet agricultural area, not well furnished with railways and roads capable of supporting supply to 400,000 men.

Which British units took part?
It is perhaps easier to say which ones did not. For of the 56 British Divisions at the time, no fewer than 53 went through the Somme in 1916; of the remainder another one fought at Fromelles in a Somme-related diversion.

What happened? >> See what happened, day by day
After a disastrous opening for the British attack, the Allied offensive pushed on yard by yard through a hot summer and came eventually halted as the mud of winter closed in. Little ground had been taken, but the German army had been mortally wounded.

Casualties
According to the British official history of the battle, total Allied casualties amounted to almost 630,000 and German around 660,000. British casualties reported by the Adjutant General were 419,654, of whom some 5% were missing at roll call but may have subsequently reported. Staggering figures, especially when taken alongside those at Verdun where fighting between French and German continued throughout 1916.

Ordinary Heroes
This site features the stories of ordinary soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme 1916:





More
KEEN
UTTING
ROBSON
FUREY
WYLES
CLAYTON


War Diaries
This site also features the daily war diaries of units that took part in the Battle of the Somme 1916:
168th Brigade RFA 8th Northumberland Fusiliers 18th West Yorkshire 2nd Royal Irish Regiment More

Who won?
It has been asserted by those of the "dunderhead generals / futile" school of thought that the Somme was conducted with little skill or imagination; that it went on too long; that it was a mere battle of attrition; that the Germans won by simply inflicting more casualties on the Allies than they suffered themselves; that it should not have taken place. Is this right?

The battlefields today >> Take a virtual tour of the 1916 Somme battlefields

Before and after the Somme
Actions in Spring 1916
Operations on the Ancre, 1917



All I can find out so far. Watch this space.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Lance Corporal WALTER POOL TERRY


In Memory of Lance Corporal WALTER POOL TERRY
266022,
6th Bn., Welsh Regiment
who died age 30
on 10 March 1919
Son of G P. Terry; husband of Ruby Terry, of 41, Woodville Rd., Mumbles, Swansea.
Remembered with honour
SWANSEA (OYSTERMOUTH) CEMETERY
Commemorated in perpetuity by
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
We Shall remember him

Friday, November 10, 2006

lego star wars, anyone?

lego star wars - one of the greatest creations of the new millennium

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Walter Poole Terry

Just a quick post to honour the memory of Walter Poole Terry, my Great Grandfather, gassed in France during The Great War.

Apparently, a new memorial to the fallen is being unveiled this saturday at Oystermouth, and my parents will go.

I can't remember being told much about him as a kid, just some shady mentions about him being gassed. Bizzarely enough, I was chatting to some of my Year 10 class just yesterday about the effects of Chlorine gas. I shall have to do some research about his life when my life returns to a more sensible pace.

some links: -

news.bbc.co.uk

poppies

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

More Uni Madness

Dear Colleagues and Students,

You are very warmly invited to the following Research Seminar this week in the English Department, which will include video and sound illustration.

Yours,
Steve Vine
(English Department)
Department of English
Seminar in Literature, Theory and Culture

Wednesday 18 October

Debi Withers

will talk on
Kate Bush and the Reclamation of the Red Shoes

Room 216, Keir Hardie Building,
4.00pm

Debi Withers studied for first degree in the English Department at Swansea, and for her MA in the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory, Cardiff University. She is currently researching her doctoral thesis on the career, music and lyrics of Kate Bush, provisionally entitled, "Kate Bush: Invocations, Performances and Transformations of the Feminine Subject". Debi's work draws on critical theory and musicology to understand the cultural significance of Kate Bush's career, and uses feminist, queer and postcolonial cultural studies to consider how Kate Bush's output illuminates pressing issues in contemporary society, history and culture. Her talk will include film, music video and sound illustration.


ALL WELCOME