On This Day ... in 627 & Others
King Edwin of Northumbria was converted to Christianity. It is one of the best-known set-pieces of Anglo-Saxon history, parodied in 1066 and All That as "one memorable occasion [when] a whole Kingdom was easily converted by a sparrow". A fuller account appears in Bede's eighth-century history, where Edwin has summoned a council to hear Paulinus, one of the monks sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great in 601, who arrived in Northumbria in 625. The pagan high-priest Coifi says basically "the old religion hasn't done me any good, so sure, let's try something new", and then an unnamed counsellor famously remarks
"It seems to me, King, that the present life of men compares to the time which is unknown to us rather like this: it's as if you were sitting with your retainers at a feast in the winter, and the fire was burning and warming your hall, and it was raining and snowing and storming outside. A sparrow comes and suddenly flies through the hall, in through one door and out through the other. Behold, in the time that it's inside, it is not touched by the winter's storm, but that is only the blink of an eye, the briefest moment, for it is at once back out into the winter. So this our life appears for a brief moment: what went before, or what will follow, we do not know. Therefore, if this new religion brings more certain knowledge, it is worth following."
As an argument, this is completely specious. The earlier pagan religion doubtless had its own explanations of what went before and what would come afterwards. But Bede, a Christian monk writing almost a hundred years after these events, was interested only in presenting the ultimate and inevitable triumph of Christianity, so it is unsurprising that after this argument the pagan high priest leaps on a stallion and rides forth to profane his heathen shrines. Edwin was baptized at York on Easter day (12 April) in 627, and he established a bishopric at York for Paulinus. (York did not become the second archbishopric until 735.)
King Edwin was killed in battle at Hatfield Chase (Hatfield near Doncaster)
by Penda, a Mercian chief. Penda was assisted in the battle by the Welsh under the leadership of the fierce Caedwalla. Osric, a possible successor to Edwin, was also killed in the battle and Edwin's son Edfrith surrendered to Penda
1876: The British polar expedition stopped 400 miles short of the North Pole, the farthest northern point reached to that date
1937: King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey
1917: In France, Lieutenant Moon of the 58th Australian Battalion led an attack on a German trench.
Despite being wounded in the advance, he pressed home the attack, and suffered a further wound fighting in the trench. Whilst organising the defence of the captured position, he suffered a further two severe wounds, and finally consented to medical treatment.
Elsewhere on the front, Private Dresser of the Yorkshire Regiment was dispatched with an urgent message from the battalion command post to a forward position. En route, Dresser suffered two serious wounds, but nevertheless continued on and, although very weak, managed to deliver his message.
Both Moon and Dresser received the Victoria Cross.
1940: Five Fairey Battle light bombers of 12 Squadron RAF were dispatched on an attack against a pair of bridges over the Albert Canal, across which the German forces were advancing. None of the five aircraft returned.
Two Battles, flown by Flying Officer Thomas and Pilot Officer Davy, headed for a bridge at Vroenhoven, which the Germans had defended with a heavy concentration of anti-aircraft guns. Thomas' was shot down and its three crew captured, while Davy's was badly damaged: he ordered his two crew members to bail out for safety, then struggled to return home, crash-landing short of base.
Meanwhile, Flying Officer Garland led three aircraft in a low-level attack on a bridge at Veldwezelt. They were also met with extremely heavy anti-aircraft fire. Garland's aircraft was shot down over the bridge; he died along with his observer, Sergeant Gray, and gunner, LAC Reynolds.
The second Battle, Pilot Officer McIntosh's, was set on fire, and forced to crash-land; its crew were captured.
The third Battle, flown by Sergeant Marland, fell in turn just after releasing its bombs; there were no survivors. The bridge had, however, suffered serious damage on the western end of the bridge, which was attributed to Garland's bombs. Garland and Gray were awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.
1941: A 'Tiger' convoy arrived in Alexandria, bearing 238 tanks and 43 Hurricanes for the 8th Army. The tanks include 135 Matildas, 82 of the new 2-pdr-gunned Mark VI Crusader cruiser tanks and 21 light tanks
1944: An advance in Italy by the 8th Punjab Regiment became pinned down by German machine-gun fire. Sepoy Kamal Ram managed to work his way round behind the German position, and mounted a lone attack on two German machine-gun nests, knocking them both out. He was then joined by a comrade, and together they eliminated a third machine-gun team, allowing the advance to continue. Kamal Ram received the Victoria Cross.
On January 26, 1944, ObltzS Oskar Kusch, commander of U-154 was condemned to death by a military tribunal and executed on May 12, 1944, after being denounced by his former IWO for alleged "Wehrkraftzersetzung" (sedition and defeatism).
One of eleven politically motivated accusations against Kusch was that he had ordered a portrait of Hitler removed from the boat's officers' mess to a less conspicuous location with the commentary, "We are not in the business here of practicing idolatry."
In 1996 Kusch's legal record was finally wiped clean, and in 1998 the city of Kiel erected a memorial and renamed a street in his honour not far from the military range along the Kiel Canal where he had been shot 54 years before.
Kusch was one of only two U-boat commanders to be sentenced to death by German authorities, the other being Heinz Hirsacker of U-572 who was convicted of cowardice and committed suicide on April 24, 1943, shortly before his scheduled execution
1945: In Burma, a platoon of the 8th Gurkha Rifles came under attack, the Japanese outnumbering the defenders 10:1. Two grenades landed in the trench of Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung, but he threw both back at the enemy. However, when he picked up a third Japanese grenade, it exploded in his hand. He lost most of his right hand, and suffered appalling injuries down his right side. Nevertheless, he managed to load and fire his rifle with just his left hand, and fought on for four hours until the attack had been defeated. He received the Victoria Cross.
Also in the Far East, Corporal Mackey led a section of Australian Pioneers in an attack along a narrow ridge on Tarakan Island, Borneo. Unable to manoeuvre to a flank due to the terrain, the Australians were forced into a frontal assault. Mackey charged two positions in turn, including a machine-gun, and was killed fighting with the defenders of a third. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
1949: Soviets lifted the land blockade of West Berlin
1982: QE2 sailed from Southampton with 5 Infantry Brigade on board. Sir John Nott, the then Defence Secretary said that his most poignant memory of the crisis was talking to the dockyard workers at Portsmouth working flat out to get the Task Force to sea having recently announced that he was closing a major proportion of the dockyard resulting in many job losses.
"These poor men had their redundancy notices about a week before the Falklands invasion and they worked day and night over that weekend to get ships ready. Can you imagine what it was like knowing that they were losing their jobs? I talked to the dockyard workers and they knew I was responsible for putting them out of work. I always remember that they were restrained and polite and I thought it was wonderful that they didn't take advantage of the visit to abuse me. They put their shoulders to the wheel, and that was my abiding memory."
HMS Glasgow was hit by Argentine Skyhawks of FAA Grupo 5 off Port Stanley. She was struck by a 500lb bomb which passed through both sides of the hull without exploding. Four Argentine Skyhawks shot down
Glasgow alongside HMS Brilliant were on a "42-22" combo whereby Glasgow's Sea Dart long range missiles would complement Brilliant's short range Sea Wolf missiles on anti-aircraft attacks.
The ships attracted the attention of the Argentine Air Force when a wave of four A-4B Skyhawk jets of Grupo 5 attacked. Although Glasgow's Sea Dart system failed, Brilliant's Sea Wolf shot down 1st Lt Oscar Bustos (C-246) and Lt Jorge Ibarlucea (C-208) airplanes whilst Lt Mario Nivoli (C-206) crashed into the sea evading a missile. All three pilot died on the action.
When a second wave of Grupo 5 Skyhawks attacked, Sea Wolf also failed and the jets released three bombs, one of which damaged Glasgow, although it did not explode. On their returning flight Lt Gavazzi's Skyhawk (C-248) was shot down by friendly fire over Goose Green. His bomb passed clean through the aft end of Glasgows After Engine Room, damaging fuel systems and disabling the two Tyne cruise engines.
The exit hole was barely above the waterline on the port side and the ship's company worked hard fitting temporary repairs as she manoevred in a tight circle to keep the hole clear of the water. The ship returned home in a reversionary propulsion mode and was repaired in Portsmouth dockyard, returning to the South Atlantic in August 1982 when the conflict was already over.
HM Hospital Ship Uganda received her first casualties. The Queen Alexandra's Royal Nursing Service were the only female service women within the Combat Zone; Hospital Ships had been sunk by enemy fire in previous wars but as one QA veteran, Nicci Pugh said, "Nurses on the whole have a strong sense of duty to their patients, so like others throughout The Task Force, we just knuckled down & got on with it."
Nicci Pugh, worked as an Operating Theatre Sister (Senior Nursing Officer) on the Uganda throughout the Falklands Conflict and later on in the conflict she was one of the nurses who treated Simon Weston
3 Commando Brigade received its Operation Order for the landings San Carlos Bay
Comments
I remember reading once that pound for pound, we Australians are both one of the most war like countries since our inception, participating in more actions that any other comparative country. What a shame that is about to change with the new government.
Posted by: Todd | May 13, 2008 2:55 AM