31 December 2009

Honours

The 2010 New Year's Honours List has been released. (For a brief review of it, see here.) Looking through it, I see:

Knights Bachelor
Knighthoods


Patrick STEWART, OBE
Actor. For services to Drama.
(London, SE16)

Order of the British Empire
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire


Ms Margaret Maud TYZACK, OBE
Actress. For services to Drama.
(London, SE3)

Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Ms Anthea BELL
For services to Literature and to Literary Translations.
(Histon, Cambridgeshire)

Ronald Gordon KING-SMITH
RONALD GORDON
Author. For services to Children's Literature.
(Keynsham, Bristol)

Members of the Order of the British Empire

Ms Lauren CHILD
Author and Illustrator. For services to Literature.
(London, W1F)

Sir Patrick, of course, was the star of Star Trek: The Next Generation, aka TNG. Tyzack has had numerous roles in films and TV shows over the past 50+ years. Bell has translated numerous works - most notably the Astérix comics by Goscinny and Uderzo* - into English. King-Smith was the author of many children's books, including The Sheep-Pig, which was the basis for the movie Babe. Child is the author of, amongst other books, the Clarice Bean series of children's books (which I haven't read), and received the 2000 Kate Greenaway Medal for I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato.

And I have to admit to being amused by the MBE awarded to Norman Barrett, circus ringmaster, for services to entertainment.

The names of military personnel (and MOD civilians) included on the Honours List can be found here.**












(Left: Insignia of a knight bachelor. Right: Emblem of a member of the Order of the British Empire.)



* And if you're not familiar with Astérix, you certainly ought to be!

** Congratulations to Warrant Officer 1st Class Coxswain (Submarine) John Ronald Hendren MBE and to Warrant Officer 1st Class Coxswain (Submarine) Andrew Mark Rainey MBE.

The King William's College quiz

This fine test comes from King William's College, which was founded in 1833 on the Isle of Man. The quiz itself has been given annually for over a century (this year's being the 104th); students take it twice, once immediately before Xmas, cold, and again after the Xmas holidays, after having researched the answers. A good score may be 20 correct answers on the first try; an average score, it seems, is more like two (out of 180!).* It has also become quite popular with non-students, and since 1951 has been published in The Guardian.

In its present form, the "quiz" consists of 18 sets of ten questions each. All the questions in a set have a common theme, which may or may not be given. The last set consists of questions about events of the current year, and the first set asks about events which happened 100 years ago; the remaining 16 sets may cover literature, history, geography or other subjects.

In 2004, the year of the 100th quiz, The Guardian also published an interview with the current writer, Dr Pat Cullen (a retired GP who began compiling the quiz in 1997), under the heading 'I like to irritate' - apparently he is good at it.

Here it is: The 105th edition of the King William's College General Knowledge Paper.
Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis, ea demum maxima pars eruditionis est


1. During 1909:
1. what hidden addiction was revealed in Munich?
2. what was founded at the southern tip of Kinneret?
3. who filed a patent for a hermetically sealed burial casket?
4. which youngsters received numbered anklets by the Aberdeenshire seaside?
5. who, contrary to generally accepted opinion, may have reached where after Cook?
6. whose gallinaceous offering was held up by the censors and emerged posthumously?
7. who was rewarded for lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception?
8. which Portuguese island colonies lost their Quaker customers?
9. whose unscheduled dip in La Manche cost him a grand?
10. which negative logarithm came from Carlsberg?

2. Which politician:
1. was brought down by arachnoid largesse?
2. was expelled as Speaker following bribery by the Corporation?
3. in a constituency renowned for its RHS Show, succumbed to Campanula vestimenta alba
4. enriched himself as PMG and provided a suitable surname for one of Disraeli's fictional characters?
5. was impeached, but not convicted, for allegedly accepting a bribe of 5,000 guineas from the East India Company?
6. continued to draw an annual income of £25,000 from moneys which were not his, for 15 years after resigning as PMG?
7. transferred his nontransferable vouchers for his wife to travel from Glamorgan on the Great Western Railway?
8. similarly provided, inappropriately, first-class tickets for his mistress to travel to Yorkshire?
9. was impeached on bribery charges shortly after his elevation to a viscountcy?
10. used a Guest List for awarding Orders and other honours?

3. In which city:
1. did Dizzy Mabel get drunk on gin?
2. did George confuse the words for cushion and kiss?
3. did Peregrinus bring Christmas presents to the poor bookbinder's family?
4. did the enormous Olga address her guest, inappropriately, as her little turtle-dove?
5. was the Cardinal encouraged to forsake celibacy in favour of a Lutheran union to solve a financial crisis?
6. did the dinner guests of the extended family include poet, physician, broker, wine-merchant, lumber-merchant and pastor?
7. did the disguised head groom cause a fire to reduce 42 houses to rubble and ashes?
8. was the annual subscription for the Blue Diamond 175 (in pre-euro money)?
9. was the bearer of a pound of Raven mixture expected at 9.34pm?
10. did the people proclaim their Mayor a noddy?

4. In the finals of the AELT & CC's championships:
1. which runner-up won 29 games?
2. which match was decided after 12 games?
3. who required 40 games for his three-set victory?
4. which two-set match was decided after 46 games?
5. which champion is now remembered for his predatory reptile motif?
6. in which match did the runner-up win as many games and sets as the victor?
7. which titled finalist was imprisoned by the Gestapo?
8. what was the role of Brooke's grandfather?
9. who was the only victor to lose a set 0-6?
10. who defeated his brother three times?

5.
1. Where did 13 go to the scaffold on Friday 13th?
2. Who carried out the last public execution in Britain?
3. Whose controversial execution by firing squad was alluded to by Voltaire?
4. Which tailor, under sentence of death, was reprieved and elevated to Headsman?
5. Which sexagenarian was chased around the scaffold and needed 11 blows with the axe?
6. Which teenager was hanged for rape and murder, but revived while being prepared for dissection in Surgeons' Hall?
7. Who was burned alive, without prior garrotting, owing to bungling by the executioner?
8. Which trooper's swollen purple throat and stark and staring eyes were mocked?
9. How was the poisoner cook from John Fisher's household executed?
10. Who survived three attempts at hanging at Exeter?

6. Who or what:
1. are endocrine?
2. invested in the Goat?
3. is overlooked by Calum's Hill?
4. is repetitious (and inspiring) at Cardiff?
5. is neither brightly coloured nor feathered?
6. were placed in 774 pots, 39 tubs and 24 boxes?
7. nickname has been applied to the Ukraine?
8. emphasises enthusiasm for a new idea?
9. is flavoured with cloves?
10. is palindromic?

7. Who or what:
1. was watched at eye level?
2. found room at one end for Victoria?
3. is not trusted for the way he parts his hair?
4. tale was found among the papers of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker?
5. painted an ecclesiastical decoration for a Flanders-based Florentine banker?
6. under a changed name, was allegedly instructed to include all facial blemishes?
7. turned to architecture following a relapse and provocation of the wife?
8. took his name from the city of Sint-Janskathedraal?
9. had a costly wetting in the Barry Burn?
10. revealed lives by invitation?

8. Who or what:
1. is tragelaphine?
2. is also a humming bird?
3. was considered better than best?
4. has a contrary reaction to that of litmus?
5. reverted to its former name following caprine slaughter?
6. retained his virtuosity despite accidental conversion to syndactyly?
7. had a facial expression likened to a fireside utensil?
8. is garnished with eggs and crustaceans?
9. is black and fork-tailed?
10. stepped out from BA?

9. Where does the brewer:
1. recall 4468?
2. produce a preserved gamebird?
3. start his product with a silent "P"?
4. provide a label for a hirsute cage bird?
5. remember the birthplace of 007's adventures?
6. remind us of a battle with a heptacephalic rodent?
7. produce evidence of canine appreciation?
8. commemorate Joanna Maria Lind?
9. appear to condone avian greed?
10. recognise a recurved bill?

10.
1. Who did Paul much evil?
2. Who extended his realm into the Irish Sea?
3. Who attributed the cold winter wind to the Almighty?
4. Who confused rubrum and notatum when making his epic discovery?
5. Who shot himself following annihilation of the Second Army by the Eighth?
6. Who, following his death, may have re-emerged as a hermit, living for a further 39 years?
7. Which monarch was shot, together with the French foreign minister?
8. Who perceived his life as a protracted period of infirmity?
9. Who was challenged by Gray over his patent?
10. Who was mistaken for a match?

11. Which ordinal:
1. is metronomic?
2. is liable to neuralgia?
3. was secured by MacArthur?
4. may forecast persistent precipitation?
5. was applied to Sarto, the village postman's son?
6. recalls tearful memories of the Tigris and Euphrates?
7. is associated with an annual brainteaser?
8. was used by Wraysford in his Diary?
9. signalled a peaceful trio?
10. was applied to Lime?

12. Which Queen of England or Great Britain:
1. battled for Lancaster?
2. was the first to be kissed by Pepys?
3. was the consort of two Kings of England?
4. made a posthumous journey to London leaving her viscera at Lincoln?
5. numbered two archbishops and one bishop among her maternal uncles?
6. on first meeting her future spouse had prompted him to order a glass of brandy?
7. escaped in a hurry from a Cambridge Hall, before it was burned down?
8. died following surgery for an umbilical hernia?
9. regretted the jettisoning of this for that?
10. corresponded with Mrs Freeman?

13. Which English cathedral:
1. is built on the highest ground?
2. has both a Bishop and a Dean with a glass eye?
3. contains a medieval lectern representing a large water bird?
4. has accommodated a pilgrim and his family annually since 2002?
5. achieved its current lofty status through meteorological intervention in 1584?
6. has a gallinaceous motif commemorating the founder of a Cambridge college?
7. possesses a plurality of plumbous receptacles for baptismal water?
8. houses the tomb of the founder, in 1264, of an Oxford college
9. has a pulpit accessed by an intramural staircase?
10. houses the only equestrian statue?

14. Name the venue and the activity:
1. Royal flood-plain.
2. A half of cuckoo pint.
3. The headsman's victim.
4. Simmonite, lacking a vowel.
5. A glorious shire relocated by the sea.
6. A shortened and outdated underground carriage.
7. The chiropteran hang-out of the eccentric.
8. Milne's joey by the river.
9. Calverley's alternative.
10. An ox cart perhaps.

15. Who or what:
1. is perifoveal?
2. is bridged by a memorial to Pepi?
3. was a notoriously cruel Wallachian prince?
4. overlooks the burial ground of Anne, Catherine and Jane?
5. was thought, through its bite, to cause an extreme impulse to dance?
6. was a probable tuberculous infection, so named after a breeding sow?
7. is an abnormal passage connecting two epithelial surfaces?
8. broken bone is associated with an unspoken wish?
9. was Linné's name for the sea parrot?
10. is the Hill of the Fords?

16. Having got into the red, complete:
1. B-dul Carol – ........... – B-dul Eroiler.
2. Holmens Kanal – ........... – Torvgade.
3. Robinson Road – Shenton Way – ...........
4. Sancová ulica – Vajnorská ulica – ...........
5. Strandvägen – Kungsträdgårdsgatan – ...........
6. ........... – Boulevard Malesherbes – Avenue Henri-Martin.
7. Plaza Urquinaona – ........... – Ronda San Pedro.
8. ........... – Tartu maantee – Pärnu maantee.
9. ........... – Capel Street – Henry Street
10. Lönnrotinkatu – ........... – Simonkatu.

17. What eponymous word owes its origin to:
1. F René?
2. JD Scotus?
3. HP Mitchell?
4. Gerhard Kremer?
5. Charles de Rohan?
6. RV Shepherd and HJ Turpin?
7. John Montague?
8. Haile Selassie?
9. C Cardoni?
10. M Tracy?

18. During 2009:
1. who mischievously rocked the boat?
2. whose victory in Bavaria has recalled I Samuel XVII?
3. which Hat-maker has become the first female to be so honoured?
4. what left Lavender Hill intact but sustained a rupture at Langhorn Drive?
5. who, in disgrace, became Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead?
6. which vessel's sinking with the loss of all 36 lives has been recognised philatelically
7. what non-event at Fort Collins recalled a fictional disaster in the Chilterns?
8. who has provided extremely interesting reading matter for rail travel?
9. who will never stir again, however much he is shaken
10. what, according to Unesco, has risen from the dead?


* On the first look through, I knew (or think I knew) the answers to 10 of the questions.

27 December 2009

Victoria Cross: Heneage, Ward, Hollis and Pearson

CLEMENT WALKER HENEAGE

Captain, 8th Hussars (King's Royal Irish)

Born: 6 March 1831, Compton Bassett, Wiltshire
Died: 9 December 1901, Compton Bassett, Wiltshire


JOSEPH WARD

Serjeant, 8th Hussars (King's Royal Irish)

Born: 1832, Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland
Died: 23 November 1872, Longford, County Longford, Ireland


GEORGE HOLLIS

Farrier, 8th Hussars (King's Royal Irish)

Born: October 1833, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire
Died: 16 May 1879, Exeter, Devonshire


JOHN PEARSON

Private, 8th Hussars (King's Royal Irish)

Born: 19 January 1825, Leacroft, Leeds, Yorkshire
Died: 18 April 1892, Lion's Head, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada

Joint Citation: Selected for the Victoria Cross by their companions in the gallant charge made by a squadron of the Regiment at Gwalior, on the 17th of June, 1858, when, supported by a division of the Bombay Horse Artillery, and Her Majesty's 95th Regiment, they routed the enemy, who were advancing against Brigadier Smith's position, charged through the rebel camp into two batteries, capturing and bringing into their camp two of the enemy's guns, under a heavy and converging fire from the Fort and Town.

(London Gazette Issue 22223 dated 28 Jan 1869, published 28 Jan 1869.)


Private Pearson's medals



Note: These four men were elected by the Regiment to receive the Victoria Cross under Rule 13 of the Royal Warrant of 29th January, 1856.

25 December 2009

Numbah Twelve day

(Numbah Twelve day of Christmas the bes', and the bes' stuff always come las'...)

Numbah Twelve day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Twelve TELEVISION, eleven missionary, ten can of beer,
Nine pound of poi, eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin',
Seex hula lesson, FORTY steenkin' peeg,
Foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree!


"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

24 December 2009

Numbah Eleven day

Numbah Eleven day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Eleven missionary, ten can of beer, nine pound of poi,
Eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin', seex hula lesson,
Five beeg fat peeg, foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

23 December 2009

Numbah Ten day

Numbah Ten day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Ten can of beer, nine pound of poi, eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin'
Seex hula lesson, five beeg fat peeg,
Foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

22 December 2009

Numbah Nine day

Numbah Nine day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Nine pound of poi, eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin',
Seex hula lesson, five beeg fat peeg, foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

21 December 2009

Numbah Eight day

Numbah Eight day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin', seex hula lesson,
Five beeg fat peeg (that make TWENNY!), foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

20 December 2009

Numbah Seven day

Numbah Seven day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Seven shrimp a-swimmin', seex hula lesson,
Five beeg fat peeg, foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

19 December 2009

Numbah Seex day

Numbah Seex day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Seex hula lesson, five beeg fat peeg (that make TEN!),
Foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

18 December 2009

The Christmas Can-Can

Two years ago I posted a video of an a cappella group called Straight No Chaser singing their version of "The 12 Days of Christmas." And now, here they are again....

Numbah Five day

Numbah Five day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Five beeg fat peeg... foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

17 December 2009

Numbah Foah day

Numbah Foah day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

16 December 2009

Numbah Tree day

Numbah Tree day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

15 December 2009

Numbah Two day

Numbah Two day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Two coconut, an' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

14 December 2009

Numbah One day

Numbah One day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
One mynah bird in one papaya tree.



"Numbah One Day of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas local style)," by Eaton B Magoon Jr, Edward Kenny and Gordon N Phelps. Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 1959. Used without permission.

13 December 2009

Victoria Cross: F. J. Aylmer and G. H. Boisragon

FENTON JOHN AYLMER

Captain, Royal Engineers

Born: 5 April 1862, Hastings, Sussex
Died: 3 September 1935, Wimbledon, Surrey

Citation: For his conspicuous bravery in the assault and capture of the Nilt Fort, on the 2nd December, 1891.
This officer accompanied the storming party, burst open the inner gate with gun-cotton, which he placed and ignited, and though severely wounded, once in the leg and twice in the right hand, fired nineteen shots with his revolver, killing several of the enemy, and remained fighting, until fainting from loss of blood he was carried out of action.






GUY HUDLESTON BOISRAGON

Lieutenant, Indian Staff Corps; attached 5th Gurkha Rifles

Born: 5 November 1864, Kohat, Punjab, India
Died: 14 July 1931, Biarritz, France

Citation: Citation: For his conspicuous bravery in the assault and capture of the Nilt Fort on the 2nd December, 1891.
This officer led the assault with dash and determination, and forced his way through difficult obstacles to the inner gate, when he returned for reinforcements, moving intrepidly to and fro under a heavy cross-fire until he had collected sufficient men to relieve the hardly pressed storming party and drive the enemy from the fort.

[London Gazette issue 26306 dated 12 Jul 1892, published 12 Jul 1892.]


Note: At the time of his death, Aylmer was Lieutenant General Sir Fenton John Aylmer, 13th Baronet of Donadea, VC KCB. Boisragon later reached the rank of Brigadier.

07 December 2009

This day in history: 7 Dec


USS Nevada (BB 36)
USS Oklahoma (BB 37) **
USS Pennsylvania (BB 38)
USS Arizona (BB 39) ***
USS Tennessee (BB 43)
USS California (BB 44) *
USS Maryland (BB 46)
USS West Virginia (BB 48) *


USS New Orleans (CA 32)
USS San Francisco (CA 38)

USS Raleigh (CL 7)
USS Detroit (CL 8)
USS Phoenix (CL 46)
USS Honolulu (CL 48)
USS St Louis (CL 49)
USS Helena (CL 50)


USS Allen (DD 66)
USS Schley (DD 103)
USS Chew (DD 106)
USS Ward (DD 139)
USS Farragut (DD 348)
USS Dewey (DD 349)
USS Hull (DD 350)
USS Macdonough (DD 351)
USS Worden (DD 352)
USS Dale (DD 353)
USS Monaghan (DD 354)
USS Aylwin (DD 355)
USS Selfridge (DD 357)
USS Phelps (DD 360)
USS Cummings (DD 365)
USS Reid (DD 369)
USS Case (DD 370)
USS Conyngham (DD 371)
USS Cassin (DD 372)
USS Shaw (DD 373)
USS Tucker (DD 374)
USS Downes (DD 375)
USS Bagley (DD 386)
USS Blue (DD 387)
USS Helm (DD 388)
USS Mugford (DD 389)
USS Ralph Talbot (DD 390)
USS Henley (DD 391)
USS Patterson (DD 392)
USS Jarvis (DD 393)




USS Narwhal (SS 167) (ex-V-5 SC 1)
USS Dolphin (SS 169)
USS Cachalot (SS 170)
USS Tautog (SS 199)

USS Sacramento (PG 19)


* Sunk; raised and rebuilt
** Sunk; raised but not rebuilt
*** Sunk

BB - battleship, CA - heavy cruiser, CL - light cruiser, DD - destroyer, SS - submarine, PG - patrol gunboat

See here for a complete list of commissioned ships and non-commissioned district craft (both self-propelled and non-self-propelled) present at Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941.

06 December 2009

Victoria Cross: R. St. V. Sherbrooke

ROBERT ST VINCENT SHERBROOKE, DSO

Captain, Royal Navy; commanding HMS Onslow

Born: 8 January 1901, Oxton, Newark, Nottinghamshire
Died: 13 June 1972, Oxton, Newark, Nottinghamshire

Citation: Captain Sherbrooke, in H.M.S. Onslow, was the Senior Officer in command of the destroyers escorting an important convoy bound for North Russia. On the morning of 31st December [1942], off the North Cape, he made contact with a greatly superior enemy force which was attempting to destroy the convoy. Captain Sherbrooke led his destroyers into attack and closed the Enemy. Four times the Enemy tried to attack the convoy, but was forced each time to withdraw behind a smoke screen to avoid the threat of torpedoes, and each time Captain Sherbrooke pursued him and drove him outside gun range of the convoy and towards our covering forces. These engagements lasted about two hours, but after the first forty minutes H.M.S. Onslow was hit, and Captain Sherbrooke was seriously wounded in the face and temporarily lost the use of one eye. Nevertheless he continued to direct the ships under his command until further hits on his own ship compelled him to disengage, but not until he was satisfied that the next Senior Officer had assumed control. It was only then that he agreed to leave the bridge for medical attention, and until the convoy was out of danger he insisted on receiving all reports of the action.
His courage, his fortitude and his cool and prompt decisions inspired all around him. By his leadership and example the convoy was saved from damage and was brought safely to its destination.

(London Gazette Issue 35859 dated 12 Jan 1943, published 8 Jan 1943.)


Note: In addition to Sherbrooke's six destroyers (Onslow*, Obedient, Obdurate, Orwell, Oribi and Achates**), the escort for Convoy JW-51B consisted of armed trawlers Northern Gem and Vizalma, corvettes Hyderabad and Rhododendron, and minesweeper Bramble**; Force R, consisting of light cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica, was waiting in the Barents Sea. The German raiding force consisted of heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper*, pocket battleship Lützow and destroyers Friedrich Eckholdt**, Richard Beitzen, Theodor Riedel, Z-29, Z-30 and Z-31.

* Damaged
** Sunk

Medal of Honor: T. Eadie

THOMAS EADIE

Chief Gunner's Mate, US Navy

Born: 7 April 1887, Scotland
Died: 14 November 1974, Brockton, Massachusetts

Citation: For display of extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession above and beyond the call of duty on 18 December 1927, during the diving operations [off Provincetown, Massachusetts,] in connection with the sinking of the U.S.S. S-4 with all on board, as a result of a collision off Prividencetown, Mass. On this occasion when Michels, Chief Torpedoman, U.S. Navy, while attempting to connect an airline to the submarine at a depth of 102 feet became seriously fouled, Eadie, under the most adverse diving conditions, deliberately, knowingly, and willingly took his own life in his hands by promptly descending to the rescue in response to the desperate need of his companion diver. After 2 hours of extremely dangerous and heartbreaking work, by his cool, calculating, and skillful labors, he succeeded in his mission and brought Michels safely to the surface.


Note: The Naval Historical Center have a page on Chief (later Lieutenant) Eadie at their website.

01 December 2009

Book list - Nov 09

Dead Girl in Love - YA, by Linda Joy Singleton
Gunpowder Empire - AH/SF, by Harry Turtledove
The Mystery of the Cape Cod Tavern - mystery, by Phoebe Atwood Taylor
Proof of the Pudding - mystery, by Phoebe Atwood Taylor
The Solar System and Back - science, by Isaac Asimov *
Of Matters Great and Small - science, by Isaac Asimov *
The Alternate Martians - SF, by A Bertram Chandler *
The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000 - European history, by Chris Wickham


A very short list this month - only eight books, of which three were rereads. This was due to a) reading another long non-fiction book, and b) wasting way too much time playing games on Facebook. I'm now at 186 books for the year, so to reach my goal of 209, I'll have to read 23 in December. Doable....

No Carnegie Medal winners, so I'm still at 24 of 70.