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In the event you are certainly trying to find a Drinking Water Fountain in Oxford we could offer you with the finest in the marketplace and in turn an abundance of worthy of note facts. Here’s some background on the subject of where drinking water fountains emanated from. Two men during the 1900’s invented the present fountains for drinking water and therefore put them up for sale. The Haws sanitary Drinking Faucet Co. has been found as a result of Luther Haws, in addition the Halsey Taylor Company was originated via Halsey Williard Taylor. These 2 companies modified exactly how running water was delivered all-around public sites.
Halsey Taylor’s dad had passed away from typhoid fever attributable to unhygienic community faucet water. This was his encouragement that drove him to grant safer running water and furthermore invented the drinking water fountain.
Luther Haws, conversely, resided within the metropolis of Berkeley, California, and worked like a hygienic inspector, sheet metal contractor, and part-time plumber. His muse resulted once he had been checking a municipal educational facility and afterwards perceived the shared tin mug strapped onto the water faucet that had been used by the many students within the school in order to sip water. Haws additionally was alarmed that there had been a healthiness hazard in the fashion the population had been sharing their running water source.
The foremost water faucet proposed for drinking was invented by Haws. Via utilizing extra plumbing materials he got a self-closing rabbit ear valve plus a globe from a brass bedstead. The up to date public water faucets for drinking hit the Berkeley school territory original.
If you are in fact seeking a Drinking Water Fountain in Oxford or perhaps only desire a bit more facts on water fountains on the whole feel free to e-mail us.
Have your friends ever said that you had a popular name? What do you feel you might do were you to meet someone who has your name? Through the World Wide Web today it is so easy to discover others who go by names your parents gave you. It could be theirs is a different complete name. Conceivably they spell your name a little differently than you. A lot of people have doppelnamers who also have the same names. In very rare cases people’s name-sharers may take up the very professions we choose.
In minor league baseball there is a player called Michael Martinez. But there is also a high school athlete known as Michael Martinez. Also one hears about a famous thoroughbred jockey known as Michael Martinez. Basketball as well has a player billed as Michael Martinez. The next time you discuss sports with a friend who likes Michael Martinez, make certain you are both speaking of the same Michael Martinez!
Several educators might meet at least one professor named Michael Martinez. You know there are a couple of teachers of political science recorded as Michael Martinez. Journalism is yet one more career path with at least a couple of members using the name of Michael Martinez. Imagine this: Michael Martinez interviewing Michael Martinez. Could that be any more confusing?
If you feel this all improbable, recall how “Michael” ranks in the most popular names selected for male children in North America. Altnerate forms of “Michael” spread across other languages around the world like Russian (Mikhail), French (Miguel), among others, mix in yet more people named Michael. Among Hispanic families the name “Martinez” may be one of the most popular. Around 20 million individuals throughout South and North America bear the surname name “Martinez”. Hence the probabilities that a family may christen a child “Michael Martinez” seem pretty sound.
Most of us probably meet people named “Bob Jones”, “Michael Smith”, “Robert Smith”, and “Bruce Hoffman”. Perhaps we should say popular family names include “Jones”, “Smith”, “White”, and “O’Neill” or “O’Neal”. Oft-used first names include John, Jack, Michael, Bill, William, David, and Ed.
Families reviewing baby names need not be too disappointed. Your kids have shared names and some may eventually come across a few doppelnamers. And yet it is not simply the name we are given which defines what we will be. Your choices and friends and family members also make up an important part of a person’s life. One makes one’s own place in the world in a significant way. Therefore don’t fret about people who may share a name similar to yours. Rather, think of these doppelnamers as lost friends whose lives might have been your ownbut for existence.
A visit to the famed Biltmore Estate will put you within easy reach of many more great attractionsright in the neighborhood and surrounding area.
After you’ve enjoyed all that the Biltmore Estate has to offer, go no further than the historic Biltmore Village. Built in the late 1890s, this was an early planned community created by the Biltmore Estate’s owner, George W. Vanderbilt, originally as a village for estate workers. It was designed with the look and feel of an English country village and included a hospital, school, railroad depot and shops. Its most dominant building is the Cathedral of All Souls, still in operation as an Episcopal church today. The original buildings of the village co-exist with new ones, many that have the same design qualities. Even fast food chains have erected buildings in keeping with the theme. Visitors can enjoy a variety of unique shops, galleries and restaurants.
For a nice drive through a beautiful neighborhood, take Vanderbilt Road into Biltmore Forest, just around the corner from the Biltmore Estate. Here you’ll see some of the Asheville area’s finest homes along beautiful streets.
And it’s an easy trip into downtown Asheville from the Biltmore Estate. Just head north on Biltmore Avenue and you’ll go directly into the center of town to Pack Square. This vibrant area has a wonderful selection of restaurants, shops and galleries as well as many options for entertainment. From performance venues such as the Orange Peel, Diana Wortham Theatre and the Asheville Civic Center to theatres for movies and plays, Asheville has a surprisingly cosmopolitan feel for a city of just 76,000 people.
While you’re downtown, you can see another well-known building with a strong connection to the Biltmore Estatethe Basilica of St. Lawrence. Designed by Rafael Guastavino and fellow architect Richard Sharp Smith, who both worked on the Biltmore House, the Basilica has a dome that is believed to be the largest freestanding elliptical dome in North America. But that’s not the only impressive feature of the Spanish Renaissance-style building. It has many statues of saints, dramatic carvings and stained-glass windows and a fresco painting of the Last Supperand much more. Every horizontal surface inside was made using an ancient tile-and-mortar building system Guastavino is credited with reviving. Guastavino’s crypt is also within the Basilica.
Finally, if you’d like to do some mountain exploring in an area with ties to the Biltmore Estate, head west out of town toward the Pisgah National Forest, more than a million acres of mountain forest land surrounding the 5,721-foot Mount Pisgah. More than 80,000 acres of the original Biltmore Estate were sold by Edith Vanderbilt to the U.S. Government after the death of her husband, George W. Vanderbilt, in 1914. This land became the central part of the Pisgah National Forest two years later.
People made up gaming long, long ago. Our world is so enthralled by playing games that almost even the smallest government has laws and administrators that are connected solely with gaming. Research institutions scrutinize ways in which we play games of risk so that we may better comprehend exactly why we become gamblers.
Lots of chroniclers suggest that taking risks has surely been an important component of historical cultures through history. Quite a few writers agree that playing games of chance most likely is considerably older than society itself. Excavators researching ancient peoples occasionally discover early dice with other gaming items from numerous regions of the Earth. What a lot of writers tell explains that playing games of chance evolved from divination. Fortune telling and gambling thus seem to share related sources.
As the practice of fortune-telling grew out of man’s need to predict the future, games of chance must have developed from our instinct to compete, to determine who among us is the best. Such simple offers as transferring possession of highly valued bows, skins, or kills might have persuaded skilled hunters to try their talents in competition with enemies. However if the gods provided no guidance regarding who should be the top dog, maybe a quick casting of some animal bones could do the trick.
Experts deduce that gambling dice were made from from animal joints - namely ankle joints called knuckle bones. People used these bones in special religious ceremonies. Religious leaders cast lots for the purpose of asking guiding spirits to provide guidance. The casting of lots was also a way to allow fortune to make a choice.
Since casting lots produced some technique to choose amid candidates, matches between hunters became one means to decide by cunning. Such engagements eventually evolved into the practice used to decide feuds. In some eras wager-of-battle became the means for choosing who had committed a crime.
Games of chance have become a passtime now. As a matter of fact resourceful business people have created quite a few online gambling websites for home gamblers. A small number of people earn a living from wagering on everything. Archaeology tells us that professional gamblers have existed for thousands of years. Possibly gambling constitutes history’s second oldest profession.
The Internet supports a vast number of wagering domains. Beliefs differ about which are thebest online gambling sites but that does not matter since there are various styles of gambling that people appreciate for multiple alternatives.
Source references: This article used information provided by: schoolwork.org, gamblingorigins.com, and crapsonline.org. This article doesn’t accordingly support playing the odds.
You may be intrigued by further information! Online gambling sites ranked by country http://www.onlinegamblingsites.net/country/
The military phonetic alphabet exists in a wide variety but it is the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) standard military alphabet that is the most popular. In spite of this, even countries that utilize the NATO alphabet still show varieties in their spelling.
The following version of the military alphabet is also known as International Civil Aviation Organization Code (ICAO).
Letter NATO
A Alpha
B Bravo
C Charlie
D Delta
E Echo
F Foxtrot
G Golf
H Hotel
I India
J Juliet
K Kilo
L Lima
M Mike
N November
O Oscar
P Papa
Q Quebec
R Romeo
S Sierra
T Tango
U Uniform
V Victor
W Whisky
X Xray
Y Yankee
Z Zulu
Using the military alphabet to spell the word “dog” for example would read “Delta Oscar Golf”.
Apart from the regular military alphabet there is the Numeric Military Alphabet. This is used mostly for a guide for pronunciation.
The Numeric Military Alphabet
Number Pronunciation
0 - Zero
1 - Wun
2 - Too
3 - Tree
4 - Fow-er
5 - Fife
6 - Siks
7 - Seven
8 - Ait
9 - Nine
The military phonetic alphabet is important for speaking within the military and exposes everyone to another aspect of looking at the alphabet.
Hampton Court Palace has been house to Henry VIII as well as other members from the royal family. It’s the home of formal gardens, stunning works of art, and centuries of history. Fans of English history have a possibility to witness how royalty once were living, look at regal rooms from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and stroll through attractively restored gardens. It’s a must-see destination inside the London region.
Hampton Court Palace is finest known as the house of Henry VIII and can be a major tourist destination in the United Kingdom. It was built in the mid 1520s by Thomas Wolsey after he acquired a 99 year lease on the property in 1514. Henry VIII obtained the property from Cardinal Wolsey inside the late 1520s and commenced to make numerous additions towards the palace. Not a lot of the original building remains due to the substantial remodeling and rebuilding by Henry VIII. King Henry enlarged his own living quarters, reconstructed parts of the kitchens, rebuilt the Chapel Royal, replaced a lot of theGreat Hall, and included tennis courts to the grounds. By the time he concluded the remodeling around 1540, there were tennis courts, bowling alleys, beautiful gardens, huge dining halls, and a vast hunting park.
The palace continued to be employed by royalty, from Henrys children through to the House of Stuart. In 1689, Sir Christopher Wren destroyed components of the Tudor Palace and began constructing a new design for King William III and Queen Mary II. In 1760, when George III became king, he made the decision that Hampton Court ought to no more be a royal residence. Hampton Court Palace is fundamentally two palaces from various eras: a Tudor palace created by Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII, along with a Baroque palace built by William III and Mary II.
There’s a lot to witness when traveling to Hampton Court Palace. One of the most enjoyable things to experience could be the world famous hedge maze. Construction started in 1690 as a form of entertainment for William III. It’s now over a half mile of winding paths encompassed by seven foot high hedges covering one-third of an acre. Sixty acres of natures most gorgeous colours combined with vines, sculptures, and paintings produce an idyllic scene.
The Tudor kitchens must not be missed; these kitchens had been built between 1530 and 1737 and had been capable of providing meals for 600 people. The chefs in the Hampton Court kitchens cooked a yearly average of 8200 sheep, 2330 deer, 1240 oxen, 1870 pigs, as well as other various animals. All this food was washed down with an annual consumption of 600,000 gallons of beer. The Royal Chapel, with its ornate ceiling ought to likewise be on everyones schedule.
Getting to Hampton Court Palace is quick and effortless from London. It’s located next to the River Thames, southwest of London. It is simply accessible by train, bus, taxi or car. It can be a must-see destination when traveling to the London area for those who adore background, royalty, architecture, and stunning gardens.
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More than 30 middle age castles still stand in the southeast region of England as reminders of the days when The british isles was a region separated by dominating families who made strong forts to secure their lands from invaders, both overseas and local. Modern castle trips make it easy for tourists to gain a feeling of how important these amazingly protected buildings are to the rich historical past and heritage of Britain. Checking out the the royal collections of noteworthy aristocrats like Mary Queen of Scots throughout guided tours of the Arundel Castle in West Sussex offer tourists an idea of the grandeur and elegance that surrounded the British aristocracy in medieval times. The specialized guides tell stories that bring the past alive as they retell well known battles and stories that surround this fascinating castle. At the majestic Guildford Castle, tourists can safely go up to high on top of the Great Tower to see the breathtaking view that was utilized by the castle’s defenders to see approaching opposing soldiers. Indoors are showcases that let guests study models of the castle as it was originally built in the 1300s. Educational videos explain the role that Guildford Castle played out in British heritage. The minute the magnificent Herstmonceux castle comes into view, visitors are amazed by the moat that draws attentions to how sturdy defenses were essential to discourage invaders when this castle was constructed in the turbulent times of 15th century England. Even though once in ruins, the castle has been magnificently restored and is now home of the Queen’s Bader Institute. Encircling the castle alongside the moat are public lands that echo the Elizabethan era when gardens were exquisite playgrounds for the aristocracy. After the winding forest trails that lead to wood land sculptures that are displayed in the Shakesphere garden, Rose Garden and the Herb Garden present tourists an idea of how the charm of courage was once performed amid these stunning surroundings. High upon the famed white cliffs of Kent, the Dover Castle’s breath-taking views throughout the English channel make it clear why this ancient site has been put to use for centuries to defend the south eastern shores of Britain. Dover Castle was developed by William the Conqueror in 1066 after his triumph at the Battle of Hastings, however there are damages around the castle that go back much further, and evidence of upgrades through the years. Seeing the many versions of this strategic site, which include a hall once referred to as Arthur’s Hall, gives current tourists an idea of Britain’s rich history. When you come into Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boylen, the homely feeling is quite different from other southeastern English castles. The displays of personal items and copies of the dresses worn by the six wives of Henry the VIII demonstrates the opulence of 16th century Tudor life style. But the group of weaponry, armour and devices of torture and execution in the Council Chamber talk of a much darker side of life full of high intrigue and authentic threat that lurked in the medieval courts. Find out more details about some of the numerous Castles in England
It is almost impossible to determine when family names started being used. Family names are also called surnames or last names. The term ‘last name’ comes from the convention of English speaking cultures putting the family name last. Some Asian countries such as China and Japan put the family name first followed by the individual’s name. Some historians say that they date as far back as the Greek and Roman days, when urban centers started growing so that it was impossible to use individual single names to identify people.
Family names started showing up among different cultures at different times. Common folk in Japan did not start having family names until well into the 19th century. However, noble families in Europe started adopting family names in the 13th and 14th centuries. Most family names for common folk are based on what they might have done for a living, or where they were living. Names such as Porter, Carpenter, Forrest, and Abbot, all stem from that origin. Some families chose to make up family names, or they are based on some other factor.
One convention that almost everyone has heard about with regards to family names is traditionally a wife would take a husbands last name. However that practice is slowly dying out, more and more women are keeping their last names. In the past though, sometimes the men would take the woman’s family name if he was marrying up on the social ladder. Also, some individuals who come from famous families would want to keep their family name.
The name a family has can create solidarity among its members, a sense of belonging, or a sense of tradition. Find family names are a large part of today’s culture, be it people who want to know the history of theirs or perhaps to find others that share it.
On the 6 June 1944 the greatest seaborne invasion the world has ever known took place on the Calvados Coast of Normandy, France. This invasion was the beginning of the end of the Second World War and the 6 June 1944 will be forever known as D-Day. This article is an account of the first action that took place on D-Day at the Caen Canal and River Orne Bridges near Bénouville, France. It tells the true story of the coup-de-main assault by British Gliderborne soldiers to capture these two vital bridges.
Preceding the seaborne landings three Allied Airborne Divisions were dropped to secure the flanks of the five-invasion beaches where the Allied 21st Army Group was to come ashore. In the west two US Airborne Divisions dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula behind UTAH beach and in the east the British 6th Airborne Division (Br 6 AB Div) dropped into the area between the River Orne and River Dives to the east of SWORD beach.
One of the primary tasks of the Br 6 AB Div was to seize intact the two bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne near Bénouville and hold them until relieved against any German counterattacks. This mission was considered to be vital to the success of the invasion, as it would allow the seaborne forces to reinforce the Br 6 AB Div’s area and subsequently break out to the east. D Company the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (D Coy 2 OBLI) commanded by Major John Howard was selected to carryout this mission and this is their story.
On the morning of 5 June 1944 the men of D Coy 2 OBLI started their final preparations and at noon Maj Howard learned that the invasion was on. He ordered the men to rest and when the evening meal was over they boarded the trucks to go to their gliders. As they climbed into their gliders he shook hands with the officers and called out words of encouragement to the men. Finally he moved to his own glider, upon the nose of which Pte Wally Parr had chalked ‘Lady Irene’ to name it after his wife. When Maj Howard got in the glider, the door was closed and on schedule they started to move down the runway. At 22.56 hrs ‘Lady Irene’ was airborne and D Coy 2 OBLI was on their way into history.
The six Halifax bombers from 298 Squadron RAF took-off with the accompanying Horsa gliders in tow and crossed the English Channel flying at an altitude of 7,000 ft. All around them were Heavy Bombers going to drop bombs on German positions in the invasion area, Caen or other selected targets. With all of this air activity the German anti-aircraft and searchlight crews failed to notice the gliders.
At the appointed time the Halifax bomber released the first glider to begin its run into the target. In the glider S/Sgt Wallwork checked their altitude and the compass, whilst S/Sgt John Ainsworth checked his stopwatch. At the appointed mark they turned to starboard and halfway down the crosswind leg of their approach S/Sgt Wallwork saw it, he could make out the river, the canal and both bridges. With visibility good and the target in sight he dropped the glider’s nose and made for the LZ. With the ground rushing up at around 95mph he held the glider on course; they hit the ground and caught the first of the wire defences. Jim Wallwork shouted, “Stream” and John Ainsworth released the arrester parachute; it lifted the tail, forced the nose into the ground, tore off the wheels and bounced the glider back into the air. The arrester parachute did its job and they hit the ground again; this time on the skids. Jim Wallwork shouted, “Jettison” and John Ainsworth pressed the button to release the parachute; now travelling at about 60mph the glider threw up hundreds of friction sparks from the skids as they passed over rocks. Seeing these sparks through the open door Maj Howard thought that they had been spotted and were being fired upon. All of a sudden there was an almighty crash and the glider came to a jarring halt; Jim Wallwork and John Ainsworth were hurled out through the cockpit still strapped in their seats. It was 00.16 hrs early in the morning of D-Day 6 June 1944 and the first Allied soldiers had arrived on French soil.
The glider’s passengers were momentarily knocked unconscious, but Maj Howard’s fanaticism for physical fitness paid off; they quickly recovered and in a matter of seconds their training kicked in. Automatically removing their harnesses, they exited the glider through any hole they could make or find. On reaching the outside Maj Howard realised that there was no shooting and they had landed without being spotted. Looking around he thanked god for Jim Wallwork and John Ainsworth; they had put the glider right into the corner of the field where he wanted it.
Lt Herbert Denham ‘Den’ Brotheridge and the men of 25 Platoon swiftly exited the glider and quietly shook out into their assault formation. Lt Brotheridge whispered into Cpl Jack Bailey’s ear and off he went with his two men to deal with the pillbox where the firing mechanism to blow the bridges was located. Gathering the remainder of his platoon he gave a whispered, “Come on lads” and they made a dash for the bridge.
One minute had passed since the first glider had landed and S/Sgt Oliver Bowland at the controls of glider 92 came down within 25 yards of glider 91. Lt David Wood was thrown clear still clutching on to his sten and canvas bucket of extra grenades; relieved to find himself in one piece he pulled himself together, gathered his platoon and set off for the wire perimeter where Maj Howard would be waiting.
Lt Brotheridge and 25 Platoon were moving on to the bridge at a steady trot as two German sentries passed each other in the middle. The sentry walking towards the eastern end of the bridge was suddenly confronted by a pack of British airborne soldiers coming out of the night; confronted by this hellish sight he turned tail and ran shouting “paratroopers” as he went. The second sentry, a German NCO, turned to see what was happening and on seeing the British paratroopers running towards him pulled out the Verey pistol that he was carrying. Pte Billy Gray sent a burst from his Bren towards him and Lt Den Brotheridge fired off a full magazine from his sten. The German NCO was hit by a storm of bullets, but as he fell dead to the ground the Verey pistol went off and a flare shot up into the night.
As the flare went off Cpl Bailey and his two men arrived at the pillbox and tossed their grenades in through the weapon slits; the grenades were followed up with a burst of fire and they looked inside when the dust settled to find no one left alive.
Pte Wally Parr was just running on to the bridge when the flare shot skywards; he saw the door of a nearby dugout half open and abruptly shut again. Pulling out a grenade he ran across the road and by the time he got to the dugout the pin was out. Opening the door just enough to throw it in, he tossed the grenade through the opening and quickly shut the door. As the grenade exploded Pte Charlie Gardiner jumped into the dugout, Wally Parr opened the door again, and Gardiner finished off the Germans inside with a burst from his sten.
The shouts of “paratroopers” from the running sentry, the sound of Lt Brotheridge’s sten, Pte Gray’s burst from his Bren, the crump of Cpl Bailey’s grenades going off and the flare from the German NCOs Verey pistol brought the other German defenders to life. Many of the private soldiers were foreign conscripts and these quickly faded into the night, but the NCOs all of whom were German sprang to their positions.
Back on LZ ‘X’ glider 93 came to a halt with a shuddering crash on the edge of the pond between the two gliders already on the ground, as it did so it swung ninety degrees breaking in half. Capt John Vaughan RAMC was thrown clear and knocked completely unconscious. Lt Richard ‘Sandy’ Smith was also thrown clear to land face down in the mud; he had lost his sten and momentarily did not know where he was or what he was doing. Picking up the nearest sten Lt Smith gathered his platoon together and made for Maj Howard’s position. One of the other members of 14 Platoon however, was not so lucky; L/Cpl Fred Greenhalgh was knocked unconscious on impact and thrown clear to land face down in the pond where he drowned.
By now the sappers from glider 91 were under the bridge cutting wires and looking for explosives as they went. Lt David Wood’s 24 Platoon were just arriving at Maj Howard’s position and barely two minutes had passed since the first glider had touched down.
The German sentry reached the far end of the bridge without being hit and threw himself into a trench. The Germans in their trenches turned their weapons to point at the running airborne soldiers. Lt Brotheridge was almost across the bridge when he saw the first of the enemy beginning to react and pulled a grenade from his pouch as he ran. Pte Billy Gray fired his Bren from the hip towards the enemy, as did many of the other charging men of 25 Platoon. Getting the pin out of his grenade Lt Brotheridge threw it at one of the enemy occupied trenches. As he did so a machine-gunner in another enemy trench off to his right sent a burst in his direction. As his grenade exploded in the enemy trench wiping out its occupants Lt Den Brotheridge was thrown back by the force of the machine-gun’s bullets to land on his back in the middle of the road. Other members of 25 Platoon began firing at the Germans in their trenches; the combination of this fire and a burst from Pte Gray’s Bren knocked out the machine-gun that had brought Lt Brotheridge down.
Wally Parr was trying to shout “Able, Able, Able” as he ran on to the bridge, but the words would just not come out. Freeing his tongue from the roof of his dried out mouth he finally let out a yell of “Come out and fight you square-headed bastards” in his broad Cockney accent. Lt David Wood’s men were now starting to get to grips with the Germans on the home bank.
Running straight past Maj Howard, 14 Platoon raced on to the bridge; Lt Sandy Smith had wrenched his knee and more hobbled than ran. As he crossed the bridge he saw Lt Brotheridge’s Platoon firing their weapons and throwing grenades at the German defenders. As he reached the far end he saw a German soldier near the low wall in front of the Café Gondrée about to throw a stick grenade; with a burst from his sten he sent the German sprawling across the wall dead, but the grenade landed close to Lt Smith and went off. He did not feel a thing and it was only when one of his corporals who was nearby asked if he was all right that Lt Sandy Smith noticed the holes in his Denison smock and trousers; he had been hit by the grenade’s fragments and the wrist of his trigger hand had lost all of its flesh, but he could still use his trigger finger.
Inside the Café Gondrée the owner, Georges Gondrée, had been awakened by all the noise. Crawling to one of the upper floor windows he peeped over the sill to see what was going on; as he did so Lt Smith saw the movement and thinking that it was a German soldier let off a burst from his sten in the direction of the Café. Fortunately for Georges Gondrée the burst went high shattering the window and hitting the wooden beams. He beat a hasty retreat, gathered his family together, and then took them downstairs to the comparative safety of the cellar. Lt Smith continued with the task in hand and led his platoon in the clearing of the remaining trenches on the western bank of the Canal.
At 00.21 hrs, the fighting at the Caen Canal Bridge started to die down and Pte Parr made his way to the Café that was the rallying point for 25 Platoon. As he ran past the end of the bridge he saw one of his comrades lying on the ground in the middle of the road. Knowing that he had to report to Lt Brotheridge he continued on for a few more paces before he pulled up short. Turning around he realised that the soldier on the ground was Lt Brotheridge. He went back and knelt down beside his Platoon Commander; Lt Brotheridge had been shot in the neck, his eyes were open and his lips were moving, but not a sound came out; as Wally Parr put his hand under Lt Brotheridge’s head to lift it up his eyes just rolled back.
24 Platoon had finished clearing the trenches on the home bank of the canal and Lt Wood decided to report to Maj Howard that his task was complete. With Sgt Leather and a runner he was moving back towards Maj Howard’s position when a burst from a German schmeisser rang out. Three bullets caught Lt David Wood in the leg and he fell to the ground. Bleeding profusely, frightened and shaken up he tried to stand but found he was unable to so. Both Sgt Leather and the runner had also been hit and lay on the ground nearby. Cpl Godbold one of his section commanders took over command of the platoon.
It was about this time that a shaken, but none too seriously injured S/Sgt Jim Wallwork started to regain consciousness; he was lying on his stomach with his seat on top of him. He could hear John Ainsworth calling out his name and asking if he was all right. Looking around he saw S/Sgt Ainsworth pinned under the wreckage of the glider’s nose and when he asked him if he could crawl out he replied, “No.” He asked if he lifted the nose of the glider could he crawl out, to which he received the reply, “I’ll try” and as he lifted the wreckage John Ainsworth crawled out. After getting a medic to see to John Ainsworth’s injuries, Jim Wallwork began his secondary task of unloading ammunition and carrying it forward to the men on the bridge.
It was now 00.22 hrs, six minutes after the first glider had landed, and reports of what was happening started to reach Maj Howard. The first information to come in was about Den Brotheridge; this was devastating news, as they were the best of friends. The next piece of news he received was that Lt David Wood and his Platoon Sergeant had also been hit; two of his three platoons at the bridge were now without their Platoon Commander. This was followed up with a report from 14 Platoon that informed him of Lt Smith’s injuries. Whilst Sandy Smith was still on his feet Maj Howard could not help thinking that he had effectively lost all three of his Platoon Commanders at the canal bridge; added to this he did not know what was happening at the Orne River Bridge.
At the Orne River Bridge the action was nowhere near as dramatic, glider 94 had missed the target area altogether landing some eight miles away near one of the bridges over the River Dives by Varaville; the Halifax crew had released the glider in the wrong place due to a navigational error.
Glider 96, piloted by S/Sgt Roy Howard and S/Sgt Fred Baacke, was the only one of the three gliders to come to rest on LZ ‘Y’. At 00.20 hrs they made an easy landing coming to a halt some three hundred yards from the bridge; in this glider were Lt Dennis Fox and 17 Platoon. On landing Sgt Thornton reminded Lt Fox that he had forgotten to open the door, but when Dennis Fox tried to open it the door would not budge so Sgt Thornton had to show him how it was done.
A minute later glider 95, piloted by S/Sgt Stan Pearson and S/Sgt Len Guthrie, touched down and came to a halt short of LZ ‘Y’, some 700 yards away from the bridge. This glider carried Lt H J ‘Todd’ Sweeney and 23 Platoon.
Dismounting from their glider 17 Platoon shook out into their approach formation; one section to the front followed by Lt Dennis Fox, the remaining two sections and Sgt Thornton with the remainder of platoon headquarters at the rear. When the lead section did not move off, Dennis Fox went forward to find out why. The section commander pointed out a German manning a machine-gun at the bridge. Lt Fox told him to get moving, but he still hesitated; so taking the bull by the horns Lt Dennis Fox led 17 Platoon off to start their approach. They had just got moving when the German at the bridge saw them and opened up with his MG 34; the men of 17 Platoon dived for cover. Sgt Thornton at the back grabbed hold of the platoon’s 2-inch mortar and immediately returned fire, putting a mortar round right on top of the machine-gunner. Seeing this land, Lt Fox and his platoon got up and charged to the bridge shouting “Fox, Fox, Fox” as they went. Reaching the bridge they were just in time to see the last of the Germans running away. One of the NCOs from the 17 Platoon’s lead section jumped into the empty machine-gun pit, grabbed hold of their discarded MG 34 and sent a long burst of fire after them. These were the only shots fired in the capture of the bridge over the River Orne.
Lt Todd Sweeney and 23 Platoon dismounted from glider 95 to hear the machine-gun open up at the bridge. They quickly shook out and headed off for the bridge at the double with Lt Sweeney leading the way. The only casualties they suffered were those that failed to see the drainage ditches that crossed their approach. Soaked to the skin and covered in mud, Lt Sweeney led his men up to the bridge. Unnerved by the seemingly calm situation and the lack of any opposition on the bridge, he made the final approach with caution. Leaving one section to secure the home bank, Lt Sweeney led the remainder across at the run. As they reached the far end Lt Todd Sweeney saw Lt Dennis Fox. Lt Sweeney raced up to him, “Dennis, how are you, is everything all right?” to which he received the reply, “Yes I think so, but I can’t find the bloody umpires!”
Leaving Lt Fox to organise the immediate defence of the River Bridge Lt Sweeney made his way to the Canal Bridge to report to Maj Howard. At 00.26 hrs, ten minutes after glider 91 had landed, John Howard had the news he had been waiting for; D Coy 2 OBLI had seized both bridges intact. Exuberant Maj Howard turned to his radio operator Cpl Tappenden and told him to send the message that the bridges had been captured. “HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM” out over the radio the codewords went; “HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM” Cpl Tappenden continued to send. What Maj Howard and Cpl Tappenden did not know was that Brig Poett was unable to receive the message.
The Caen Canal Bridge was named “Pegasus Bridge” after the Pegasus emblem worn by the British 6th Airborne Division in memory of this action. The River Orne Bridge was renamed “Horsa Bridge” after the gliders that carried the men who landed here.
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Writing about Wahabism and Salafi-Islam, could fill many books. I will however in this article, try to make clear why it is of tremendous importance in our time. Both movements are considered as the origin of Islamic terrorism. A lot of recent Islamic terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, have been inspired by Wahabism.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703 - 1792 ) was an Arab theologian born in Saudi Arabia and can be considered as the founder of Wahabism. Wahab is considered by many to be a great reformer of Islam, and at the same time as the “father of Islamic terrorism. Iwill not go deeply into his teachings, but expose the teachings of two of his contemporary followers.
Salman bin Fahed al-Auda, in his book “The End of History”, asserts that the solution to Islamic distress , that may bring about the fall of America and the Western world, “exists in one word which is Jihad”. According to al-Auda, the meaning of jihad is much broader than fighting with a sword. Appealing to Muslims throughout the world, he wrote: “We should not simplify this issue and narrow its meaning to a restricted military battle in one of the Islamic regions or even to an all-out war against the West, which is possible and predicted and we assume is arriving… Life as a whole is a battlefield. The weapons are not only the rifle, the bullet, the airplane, the tank, and the cannon. Not at all! Thinking is a weapon, the economy is a weapon, money is a weapon, water is a weapon, planning is a weapon, unity is a weapon, and so there are many types of weapons.” In “The End of History”, al-Auda concluded that the West by itself was already in an advanced state of decay: “The West, and above all the United States, and Western culture, in general are undergoing a historical process that is deterministic. This process leads to its total collapse, sooner or later.” His jihad was intended to accelerate that collapse. During the 1990’s, he was regarded as the most influential preacher in Saudi Arabia and Osama Bin Laden often cites out of his work.
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, lin his book “Democracy is a Religion”, denies the traditional protection given by Islam to Jews and Christians. For al-Maqdisi, democracy is a prohibited innovation that contradicts Islamic values and embodies a new heretical religion. Its followers are “infidels” and “polytheists,” even if they consider themselves as Jews or Christians by religion. Al-Maqdisi based his claim on the following arguments:
1. “Democracy gives legitimacy to the legislation of the masses or to the despotic regime. It is not the rule of Allah….Allah ordered his Prophet to execute the commands given to him and forbade him to follow the emotions of the nation, the masses, and the people.”
2. “Democracy is the rule of the masses or the rule of paganism, which is conducted according to a constitution and not according Allah’s laws….Democracy has become the mother of laws and is considered by as a holy book. The religion of democracy has no relation to Quranic verses or the Prophet’s way of life and it is not possible to legislate according to them unless they are compatible with the holy book (the constitution).”
3. “Democracy is an outcome of despicable secularism and its illegitimate daughter, since secularism is a heretical school striving to separate religion from state and government.”
Al-Maqdisi concludes: “Democracy is a religion that is not Allah’s religion….It is the rule of paganism…it is a religion which includes other gods in its belief…the people represented in the religion of democracy by its delegates in the parliament…who are actually standing idols and false gods placed in their chapels and their pagan fortresses, namely, their legislative councils. They and their followers rule according to the religion of democracy and the constitution’s laws upon which the government is based, and according to the paragraphs of their legislation….Their master is their God, their big idols who approve or reject legislation. He is their emir, their king, or their president
Wahabism (together with the related Salafi-movement), is not representing the majority of Islam. Actually, it is however the most aggressive teaching and it act as if it represents all Muslims. Many terrorist groupings such as Hamas, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al Quaida, Abu Sayyaf…,are followers of Wahabism (or Salafi). Enormous quantities of money are funneled through Charity organisations to these terrorist groups. Most of the money is distributed by the Saudi Monarchy. The U.S. has already blocked many of these channels. New ways for financing the radicals, will however always be found.
The only way to stop terrorism is eradicating its roots and these roots are the teachings of Wahabism and the Salafi movement.These intolerant teachings have to be stopped. The House of Saud that has been connected to Wahabism since Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, must with the help of the moderate Muslims, renounce and forbid the Wahabi teachings and if necessary, banish the terror-preaching clergy. This is however an internal Muslim problem. The question is: has the moderate Muslim-world the wil and the strenght to realize this.
Meanwhile, the “West” has no other choice than continue it’s “War on Terror”
http://www.westernfreedom.com
Robert Maegh is a Belgian engineer, born in Germany in 1945. He spent several years in Africa and the Middle East. “A Holy Terror” is his first novel and a sequel can soon be expected. www.westernfreedom.com
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