232 years

United States Marine Corps
10 Nov 1775

Kiss me - I'm Italian!

Your Inner European is Italian!

Passionate and colorful. You show the world what culture really is.

Who's Your Inner European?

Actually, I'm not even a bit Italian - at least, not within the last couple hundred years. My known ancestors were all from northwest Europe: Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, northern France (Alsace-Lorraine), Holland and western Germany (Hessen-Kassel and Hessen-Darmstadt).

"In the Days When the World Was Wide"

My friend in Australia sent me an e-mail last month asking if I was familiar with Henry Lawson, and enclosing the following poem. The answer was no - I'd never heard of the man - but I really liked the poem.

In the Days When the World Was Wide

The world is narrow and ways are short, and our lives are dull and slow,
For little is new where the crowds resort, and less where the wanderers go;
Greater, or smaller, the same old things we see by the dull road-side —
And tired of all is the spirit that sings of the days when the world was wide.

When the North was hale in the march of Time, and the South and the West were new,
And the gorgeous East was a pantomime, as it seemed in our boyhood’s view;
When Spain was first on the waves of change, and proud in the ranks of pride,
And all was wonderful, new and strange in the days when the world was wide.

Then a man could fight if his heart were bold, and win if his faith were true —
Were it love, or honour, or power, or gold, or all that our hearts pursue;
Could live to the world for the family name, or die for the family pride,
Could fly from sorrow, and wrong, and shame in the days when the world was wide.

They sailed away in the ships that sailed ere science controlled the main,
When the strong, brave heart of a man prevailed as ’twill never prevail again;
They knew not whither, nor much they cared — let Fate or the winds decide —
The worst of the Great Unknown they dared in the days when the world was wide.

They raised new stars on the silent sea that filled their hearts with awe;
They came to many a strange countree and marvellous sights they saw.
The villagers gaped at the tales they told, and old eyes glistened with pride —
When barbarous cities were paved with gold in the days when the world was wide.

’Twas honest metal and honest wood, in the days of the Outward Bound,
When men were gallant and ships were good — roaming the wide world round.
The gods could envy a leader then when ‘Follow me, lads!’ he cried —
They faced each other and fought like men in the days when the world was wide.

They tried to live as a freeman should — they were happier men than we,
In the glorious days of wine and blood, when Liberty crossed the sea;
’Twas a comrade true or a foeman then, and a trusty sword well tried —
They faced each other and fought like men in the days when the world was wide.

The good ship bound for the Southern seas when the beacon was Ballarat,
With a ‘Ship ahoy!’ on the freshening breeze, ‘Where bound?’ and ‘What ship’s that?’ —
The emigrant train to New Mexico — the rush to the Lachlan Side —
Ah! faint is the echo of Westward Ho! from the days when the world was wide.

South, East, and West in advance of Time — and, ay! in advance of Thought
Those brave men rose to a height sublime — and is it for this they fought?
And is it for this damned life we praise the god-like spirit that died
At Eureka Stockade in the Roaring Days with the days when the world was wide?

We fight like women, and feel as much; the thoughts of our hearts we guard;
Where scarcely the scorn of a god could touch, the sneer of a sneak hits hard;
The treacherous tongue and cowardly pen, the weapons of curs, decide —
They faced each other and fought like men in the days when the world was wide.

Think of it all — of the life that is! Study your friends and foes!
Study the past! And answer this: ‘Are these times better than those?’
The life-long quarrel, the paltry spite, the sting of your poisoned pride!
No matter who fell it were better to fight as they did when the world was wide.

Boast as you will of your mateship now — crippled and mean and sly —
The lines of suspicion on friendship’s brow were traced since the days gone by.
There was room in the long, free lines of the van to fight for it side by side —
There was beating-room for the heart of a man in the days when the world was wide.

With its dull, brown days of a-shilling-an-hour the dreary year drags round:
Is this the result of Old England’s power? — the bourne of the Outward Bound?
Is this the sequel of Westward Ho! — of the days of Whate’er Betide?
The heart of the rebel makes answer ‘No! We’ll fight till the world grows wide!’

The world shall yet be a wider world — for the tokens are manifest;
East and North shall the wrongs be hurled that followed us South and West.
The march of Freedom is North by the Dawn! Follow, whate’er betide!
Sons of the Exiles, march! March on! March till the world grows wide!


(Originally published in The Bulletin, December 1894. Reprinted in In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses, by Henry Lawson; Australia, 1896.)


Click on the "Poetry Friday" button at left for this week's round-up, which is hosted by Cloudscome at A Wrung Sponge. (Susan, of Susan Writes, has done a round-up of previous round-ups here.)

RIP: Marie-Rose Mueller

Marie-Rose Mueller
20 Sep 1896 - 5 Nov 2007

ZUI this article from the Connecticut Post:

Marie-Rose "Muzzy" Mueller, the 22nd oldest person in the United States and 48th oldest in the world at age 111, died peacefully in her sleep Monday.

After her birthday last Sept. 20, she became the second-oldest person in Connecticut.

Mueller was born in 1896 in Beaucourt, France, the 10th child in a family of 11 children. She came to Long Island in 1915 when she was 9 years old with her family and later worked as a governess. In that profession she met and married Swiss-born Oscar J. Mueller in 1924 in New York City. He died in 1990.

(Actually, it was the death of 114-year-old Emma Tillman on 28 Jan 07 that made Mrs Mueller the second-oldest person in Connecticut. The oldest is Elizabeth Stefan, who was born 13 May 1895 in Hungary and is the 11th-oldest person in the world.)

The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) has not yet removed Mrs Mueller from its list of validated supercentenarians (people who have reached their 110th birthday). Without her, the list contains 76 people - 68 females, 8 males - ranging from Edna Parker of Indiana, born 20 Apr 1893, to Ruth Meyers Lincoln of Arkansas, born 30 Sep 1897.

RIP: Barbara West Dainton

Barbara West Dainton
1911 - 16 Oct 2007

ZUI this article from thisishampshire.net:

ONE of the two last survivors of the 1912 sinking of the ill-fated Southampton liner, Titanic, has died.

Throughout her life, Barbara West Dainton shunned publicity, refusing to talk about the loss of the Titanic and in the end she insisted her funeral, held earlier this week in Truro, was to take place before any public announcement of her death.

With her death in Cornwall aged 96 the only remaining Titanic passenger left alive is 95-year-old Milvina Dean who lives in Woodlands, near Southampton.

And this article from Yahoo! News:

Dainton died Oct. 16 at a nursing home in Camborne, England, according to Peter Visick, a distant relative. Her funeral was held Monday at Truro Cathedral, Visick said Thursday.

Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean of Southampton, England, who was 2 months old at the time of the Titanic sinking, is now the disaster's only remaining survivor, according to the Titanic Historical Society.

The last American survivor, Lillian Gertrud Asplund, died in Massachusetts last year at age 99.

RMS Titanic

Readability

H/T to Tam at View from the Porch.

Veterans Pride

Don't forget to wear your medals or ribbons on the 11th!

Veterans Urged to Wear Military Medals on Veterans Day
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2006 - With National Veterans Awareness Week under way and the national Veterans Day observance on Nov. 11, the Veterans Affairs secretary is urging all veterans to show their pride by wearing their military medals.

R. James Nicholson's "Veterans Pride" initiative calls on veterans to wear the medals they earned while in uniform this Veterans Day to "let America know who you are and what you did for freedom," he said.

The campaign is modeled after a tradition in Australia and New Zealand, countries that honor the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or ANZAC, every April 25. The observance originally commemorated more than 8,000 Australians killed during the battle of Gallipoli during World War I, but now honors all Australian and New Zealand veterans.

Last year, while attending ANZAC ceremonies in Sydney, Nicholson said he was struck to see all the veterans and surviving family members wearing their military medals and campaign ribbons.

"It focused public pride and attention on those veterans as individuals with personal histories of service and sacrifice for the common good," he noted in a message to veterans. "That is why I am calling on America's veterans to wear their military medals this Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2006."

Nicholson and leaders of major veterans groups announced the initiative during an Oct. 18 ceremony here at the VA headquarters.

Wearing their medals, he said, "will demonstrate the deep pride our veterans have in their military service and bring Veterans Day home to all American citizens."

"We expect Americans will see our decorated heroes unite in spirit at ceremonies, in parades and elsewhere as a compelling symbol of courage and sacrifice on Veterans Day, the day we set aside to thank those who served and safeguarded our national security," Nicholson said at the ceremony.

Nicholson and the veterans group leaders hope to start a new tradition in which U.S. veterans wear their military medals every Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July.

More information about the Veterans Pride campaign is posted on the VA Web site. The site also helps veterans determine where to go to replace lost medals or to confirm which decorations they're entitled to wear.

Victoria Cross: D. M. Probyn

DIGHTON MACNAGHTEN PROBYN

Major (then Captain), 2nd Punjab Cavalry

Born: 21 January 1833, Marylebone, London

Citation: "Has been distinguished for gallantry and daring throughout this campaign [in India, during the period 1857-58]. At the Battle of Agra, when his squadron charged the rebel infantry, he was some time separated from his men, and surrounded by five or six sepoys. He defended himself from the various cuts made at him, and before his own men had joined him had cut down two of his assailants. At another time, in single combat with a sepoy, he was wounded in the wrist, by the bayonet, and his horse also was slightly wounded; but, though the sepoy fought desperately, he cut him down. The same day he singled out a standard bearer, and, in the presence of a number of the enemy, killed him and captured the standard. These are only a few of the gallant deeds of this brave young officer."
Despatch from Major-General James Hope Grant, K.C.B., dated 10th January, 1858.

(London Gazette Issue 22154 dated 18 Jun 1858, published 18 Jun 1858.)


Note: The same issue of the Gazette reported that:

Her Majesty has also been graciously pleased to made [sic] and ordain a Special Statute of the said Most Honourable Order [of the Bath] for appointing the following Officers in the Service of Her Majesty and of the East India Company, to be Extra Members of the Military Division of the Third Class, or Companions of the said Order, viz.:–
Major Dighton Macnaghten Probyn, 6th Bengal Light Cavalry.

By the time of his death, in 1924, he was General Sir Dighton Probyn VC GCB GCSI GCVO ISO.

Medal of Honor: F. Z. Molnar

FRANKIE ZOLY MOLNAR

Staff Sergeant, US Army; Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division

Born: 14 February 1943, Logan, W. Va.

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Molnar distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with Company B, during combat operations [in Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam, 20 May 1967]. Shortly after the battalion's defensive perimeter was established, it was hit by intense mortar fire as the prelude to a massive enemy night attack. S/Sgt. Molnar immediately left his sheltered location to insure the readiness of his squad to meet the attack. As he crawled through the position, he discovered a group of enemy soldiers closing in on his squad area. His accurate rifle fire killed 5 of the enemy and forced the remainder to flee. When the mortar fire stopped, the enemy attacked in a human wave supported by grenades, rockets, automatic weapons, and small-arms fire. After assisting to repel the first enemy assault, S/Sgt. Molnar found that his squad's ammunition and grenade supply was nearly expended. Again leaving the relative safety of his position, he crawled through intense enemy fire to secure additional ammunition and distribute it to his squad. He rejoined his men to beat back the renewed enemy onslaught, and he moved about his area providing medical aid and assisting in the evacuation of the wounded. With the help of several men, he was preparing to move a severely wounded soldier when an enemy hand grenade was thrown into the group. The first to see the grenade, S/Sgt. Molnar threw himself on it and absorbed the deadly blast to save his comrades. His demonstrated selflessness and inspirational leadership on the battlefield were a major factor in the successful defense of the American position and are in keeping with the finest traditions of the U.S. Army. S/Sgt. Molnar's actions reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

RIP: Brig Gen Paul W Tibbets Jr, USAF (ret)

Paul W Tibbets Jr
23 Feb 1915 - 1 Nov 2007

ZUI this article from the New York Times:

Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the commander and pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in the final days of World War II, died today at his home in Columbus, Ohio. He was 92.

His death was announced by a friend, Gerry Newhouse, who said General Tibbets had been in decline with a variety of ailments. Mr. Newhouse said General Tibbets had requested that there be no funeral or headstone, fearing it would give his detractors a place to protest.

And this from The Telegraph:

The son of a prosperous businessman, Paul Warfield Tibbets was born at Quincy, Illinois, on February 23 1915. His parents moved to Florida when he was 12 and he attended Western Military Academy before going to the Universities of Florida and Cincinnati to study Medicine.

His determination to fly overcame his parents' wish that he should become a doctor, and in February 1937 he enlisted as a flying cadet in the Army Air Corps at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. A year later he was awarded his pilot's wings and commissioned as a second lieutenant.

In February 1942 Tibbets was appointed to command the 340th Bomb Squadron, 97th Bombardment Group, and left for England. His squadron of B-17 Flying Fortresses was based at Polebrook, near Oundle. On August 17 1942 the USAAF mounted the first B-17 raid, and Tibbets took off at the head of 12 bombers to attack the marshalling yards at Rouen.

Altogether he flew 25 missions in B-17s, including some in Algeria, where he led the first bombing operations in support of the invasion of North Africa.

Much more is available at this page at the Ace Pilots site:

Not long after the surrender, Tibbets inspected the damage done to Nagasaki. He stayed in the Air Force, and participated in the development of the B-47, our first all-jet bomber. He learned to fly jets with Pat Fleming, a 19-kill Navy ace. In the early 1950's, he flew B-47's for three years. He advised on the making of the movie "Above and Beyond," and was pleased that the famous actor, Robert Taylor, played him. From the 1950's through the 1960's he had a number of overseas assignments, including France and India. After his retirement from the Air Force, he became president of Executive Jet Aviation in Columbus, Ohio.

The BBC has photos here.

RIP: Washoe

Washoe
ca 1965 - 30 Oct 2007

ZUI this article from KTAR.com:

Washoe, a female chimpanzee said to be the first non-human to acquire human language, has died of natural causes at the research institute where she was kept.

Washoe, who first learned a bit of American Sign Language in a research project in Nevada, had been living on Central Washington University's Ellensburg campus since 1980. Her keepers said she had a vocabulary of about 250 words, although critics contended Washoe and some other primates learned to imitate sign language, but did not develop true language skills.

She died Tuesday night, according to Roger and Deborah Fouts, co-founders of The Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute on the campus. She was born in Africa about 1965.

And this from the New York Times:

She spent her early years playing in the backyard of a small house in Reno, Nev., learning American Sign Language from the scientists who adopted her, and by age 5 she had mastered enough signs to capture the world’s attention and set off a debate over nonhuman primates’ ability to learn human language that continues to this day.

-------

Scientists had tried without success to teach nonhuman primates to imitate vocal sounds when R. Allen Gardner and Beatrix T. Gardner, cognitive researchers, adopted the 10-month-old chimp from military scientists in 1966. The Gardners, skeptical that other primates could adequately speak human words, taught Washoe American Sign Language, encouraging her gestures until she made signs that were reliably understandable.

A 1969 report by the Gardners on Washoe’s progress “opened up the entire field: it was absolutely frontier-breaking work,” said Duane Rumbaugh, scientist emeritus at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, a research center.

Book list - Oct 07

To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander - memoirs, by Georg von Trapp*
Un Lun Dun - modern fantasy, by China Miéville
Moominpappa at Sea - children's fantasy, by Tove Jansson
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature - YA, by Robin Brande
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature - YA, by Robin Brande
Tight Lines - mystery, by William G Tapply
A Long Way from Chicago - YA, by Richard Peck
A Year Down Yonder - YA, by Richard Peck (Newbery Medal, 2001)
The Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights) - fantasy, by Philip Pullman (Carnegie Medal, 1995)
Mimi and Toutou's Big Adventure: The Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika - WW I, by Giles Foden
Crossroads of Time - SF, by Andre Norton
The Subtle Knife - fantasy, by Philip Pullman
The Wheel on the School - children's, by Meindert DeJong (Newbery Medal, 1955)

13 books this month. Tapply, Norton and both Pullmans were rereads; Jansson may also have been, though I don't think so. (It's been 35-40 years since I read any of the Moomintroll books, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't one of the ones I read.)

No, that's not a mistake in the list - I really did read Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature twice in a row. Good book. One of the best I've read all year. Heartily recommended.

And the two Newbery Medal winners bring my total thus far up to 31 of 86.


* Yes. That Georg von Trapp.

Surfacing through the ice

This short (1:44) video is labeled "US Submarine breaking through the Ice," but it's actually a Brit sub - HMS Tireless (S88).



Here's a similar short (1:12) video showing USS Alexandria (SSN 757).

Always wanted to do something like this, but never got a chance. Another thing I wish I could have done is spend a winter in Antarctica - one of the guys I worked with on the skimmer had come from there.

H/T to Bubblehead at The Stupid Shall Be Punished.

This day in history: 31 Oct

1517: Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Sachsen-Anhalt.




1864: Nevada became the 36th state admitted to the United States. (With 11 states in rebellion, there were actually only 25 states in the Union at the time.)

1917: The 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments, 4th Light Horse Brigade, charged the Turkish trenches at Beersheba, Palestine.

1918: Sergeant Thomas Caldwell, 12th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, was in command of a Lewis gun section engaged in clearing a farm house near Audenarde, Belgium. When his section came under intense fire at close range, Caldwell rushed towards the farm, captured the enemy position single-handed and took 18 prisoners. This removed a serious obstacle from the line of advance, and led to the capture by Caldwell's section of about 70 prisoners, eight machine guns and a trench mortar. Caldwell was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1940: The Battle of Britain ended.




1941: Despite the fact that the United States was officially still neutral, the destroyer USS Reuben James (DD 245) was sunk in the North Atlantic by U 552 (KptLt Erich Topp) whilst escorting convoy HX-156.

That same day, work ended on the statues at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota.

1956: The United Kingdom and France attacked Egypt (Operation Musketeer), supporting the Israeli invasion which had begun on the 29th. RAF bombers from Cyprus and Malta began strikes against Egyptian airfields.

1967: Elements of the 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, made an airmobile assault at Ap Dong, Vietnam. When Viet Cong opened fire with automatic weapons, Capt Riley L Pitts forcefully led his company in an assault which overran the enemy positions. Pitts was then ordered to move his unit to the north to reinforce another company. Incoming fire from four enemy bunkers, two of which were within 15 meters of Pitts' position, prevented him from maneuvering his company. His rifle proving ineffective due to dense jungle foliage, he picked up an M-79 grenade launcher and began shooting at the targets. When he threw a hand grenade at a bunker to his front, it hit the dense jungle foliage and bounced back; Capt Pitts threw himself on top of the grenade, which fortunately failed to explode. Pitts then repositioned his company to permit friendly artillery to be fired, then, upon completion of the fire mission, again led his men toward the enemy positions, maintaining continuous fire and pinpointing the enemy's fortified positions, until he was mortally wounded. Pitts was awarded the Medal of Honor.

1999: 18-year-old Jesse Martin sailed into Melbourne harbour, thus becoming the youngest person to circumnavigate the world solo.

Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, GCB (1775–1860), Joseph Hooker (1814–1879), Harry Houdini (1874–1926), John Houseman (1902–1988) and Federico Fellini (1920–1993) died on this date.

And happy birthday to Juliette Gordon Low (1860–1927), Sir Basil Liddell Hart (1895–1970), Dale Evans (1912–2001), Bud Spencer (1929-TBD), Michael Collins (1930-TBD), Michael Landon (1936-1991), Tom Paxton (1937-TBD) and David Ogden Stiers (1942-TBD).

343 years

Royal Marines
(originally the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot)
28 Oct 1664

Victoria Cross: L. S. T. Halliday

LEWIS STRATFORD TOLLEMACHE HALLIDAY

Captain, Royal Marine Light Infantry

Born: 14 May 1870, Medstead, Hampshire

Citation: On the 24th June, 1900, the enemy, consisting of Boxers and Imperial troops, made a fierce attack on the west wall of the British Legation [at Peking], setting fire to the West Gate of the south stable quarters, and taking cover in the buildings which adjoined the wall.
The fire, which spread to part of the stables, and through which and the smoke a galling fire was kept up by the Imperial troops, was with difficulty extinguished, and as the presence of the enemy in the adjoining buildings was a grave danger to the Legation, a sortie was organized to drive them out. A hole was made in the Legation Wall, and Captain Halliday, in command of twenty Marines, led the way into the buildings and almost immediately engaged a party of the enemy.
Before he could use his revolver, however, he was shot through the left shoulder, at point blank range, the bullet fracturing the shoulder and carrying away part of the lung. Nothwithstanding the extremely severe nature of his wound, Captain Halliday killed three of his assailants, and telling his men to "carry on and not mind him," walked back unaided to the hospital, refusing escort and aid so as not to diminish the number of men engaged in the sortie.

(London Gazette Issue 27262 dated 1 Jan 1901, published 1 Jan 1901.)

Medal of Honor: G. L. Mabry, Jr.

GEORGE L MABRY JR

Lieutenant Colonel, US Army; commanding 2d Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division

Born: Sumter, S.C.

Citation: He was commanding the 2d Battalion, 8th Infantry, in an attack through the Hurtgen Forest near Schevenhutte, Germany, on 20 November 1944. During the early phases of the assault, the leading elements of his battalion were halted by a minefield and immobilized by heavy hostile fire. Advancing alone into the mined area, Col. Mabry established a safe route of passage. He then moved ahead of the foremost scouts, personally leading the attack, until confronted by a boobytrapped double concertina obstacle. With the assistance of the scouts, he disconnected the explosives and cut a path through the wire. Upon moving through the opening, he observed 3 enemy in foxholes whom he captured at bayonet point. Driving steadily forward he paced the assault against 3 log bunkers which housed mutually supported automatic weapons. Racing up a slope ahead of his men, he found the initial bunker deserted, then pushed on to the second where he was suddenly confronted by 9 onrushing enemy. Using the butt of his rifle, he felled 1 adversary and bayoneted a second, before his scouts came to his aid and assisted him in overcoming the others in hand-to-hand combat. Accompanied by the riflemen, he charged the third bunker under pointblank small arms fire and led the way into the fortification from which he prodded 6 enemy at bayonet point. Following the consolidation of this area, he led his battalion across 300 yards of fire-swept terrain to seize elevated ground upon which he established a defensive position which menaced the enemy on both flanks, and provided his regiment a firm foothold on the approach to the Cologne Plain. Col. Mabry's superlative courage, daring, and leadership in an operation of major importance exemplify the finest characteristics of the military service.

STS-119 (Discovery) crew named

ZUI this official NASA press release:

NASA has assigned the space shuttle crew for Discovery's STS-119 mission, targeted for launch in the fall of 2008. The flight will deliver the final pair of power- generating solar array wings and truss element to the International Space Station.

Air Force Col. Lee J. Archambault will command Discovery. Navy Cmdr. Dominic A. Antonelli will serve as the pilot. The mission specialists are Joseph Acaba, Richard R. Arnold II, John L. Phillips and Steven R. Swanson. Antonelli, Acaba and Arnold will be making their first spaceflight.

STS-119 will be the second spaceflight for Archambault and Swanson, who flew together on STS-117 in June. Phillips will be making his third spaceflight.

Discovery will carry the S6 truss segment to complete the 361-foot-long backbone of the space station. The truss includes the fourth pair of solar array wings and electronics that convert sunlight to power for the orbiting laboratory.

This mission will also deliver JAXA* astronaut Koichi Wakata (making his second spaceflight) to the space station as part of the Expedition 18 crew, and will ferry Sandra Magnus back to Earth.

This will be the 36th spaceflight for Discovery, which first flew on 30 Aug 1984 as mission STS-41-D.


* Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

"Soldier an' Sailor Too"

On 28 October 1664, an Order-in-Council was issued calling for 1200 soldiers to be recruited for service in the Fleet. They were officially known as The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, but as James, Duke of York*, (later King James II) was then the Lord High Admiral, they became known as the Admiral's Regiment. The regiment went through a few more name changes, and is now known as the Royal Marines.

The following poem about the Royal Marines was written sometime in the 1890s by Rudyard Kipling.

"Soldier an' Sailor Too"

As I was spittin' into the Ditch aboard o' the Crocodile,
I seed a man on a man-o'-war got up in the Reg'lars' style.
'E was scrapin' the paint from off of 'er plates, an' I sez to 'im, "'Oo are you?"
Sez 'e, "I'm a Jolly -- 'Er Majesty's Jolly -- soldier an' sailor too!"
Now 'is work begins by Gawd knows when, and 'is work is never through;
'E isn't one o' the reg'lar Line, nor 'e isn't one of the crew.
'E's a kind of a giddy harumfrodite -- soldier an' sailor too!

An' after I met 'im all over the world, a-doin' all kinds of things,
Like landin' 'isself with a Gatlin' gun to talk to them 'eathen kings;
'E sleeps in an 'ammick instead of a cot, an' 'e drills with the deck on a slew,
An' 'e sweats like a Jolly -- 'Er Majesty's Jolly -- soldier an' sailor too!
For there isn't a job on the top o' the earth the beggar don't know, nor do --
You can leave 'im at night on a bald man's 'ead, to paddle 'is own canoe --
'E's a sort of a bloomin' cosmopolouse -- soldier an' sailor too.

We've fought 'em in trooper, we've fought 'em in dock, and drunk with 'em in betweens,
When they called us the seasick scull'ry-maids, an' we called 'em the Ass Marines;
But, when we was down for a double fatigue, from Woolwich to Bernardmyo,
We sent for the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!
They think for 'emselves, an' they steal for 'emselves, and they never ask what's to do,
But they're camped an' fed an' they're up an' fed before our bugle's blew.
Ho! they ain't no limpin' procrastitutes -- soldier an' sailor too.

You may say we are fond of an 'arness-cut, or 'ootin' in barrick-yards,
Or startin' a Board School mutiny along o' the Onion Guards;
But once in a while we can finish in style for the ends of the earth to view,
The same as the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!
They come of our lot, they was brothers to us; they was beggars we'd met an' knew;
Yes, barrin' an inch in the chest an' the arm, they was doubles o' me an' you;
For they weren't no special chrysanthemums -- soldier an' sailor too!

To take your chance in the thick of a rush, with firing all about,
Is nothing so bad when you've cover to 'and, an' leave an' likin' to shout;
But to stand an' be still to the Birken'ead drill is a damn tough bullet to chew,
An' they done it, the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!
Their work was done when it 'adn't begun; they was younger nor me an' you;
Their choice it was plain between drownin' in 'eaps an' bein' mopped by the screw,
So they stood an' was still to the Birken'ead drill, soldier an' sailor too!

We're most of us liars, we're 'arf of us thieves, an' the rest are as rank as can be,
But once in a while we can finish in style (which I 'ope it won't 'appen to me).
But it makes you think better o' you an' your friends, an' the work you may 'ave to do,
When you think o' the sinkin' Victorier's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!
Now there isn't no room for to say ye don't know -- they 'ave proved it plain and true --
That whether it's Widow, or whether it's ship, Victorier's work is to do,
An' they done it, the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!

ZUI this for information on the sinking of HMS Birkenhead (26 Feb 1852) and "the Birkenhead drill," and this site for information about the sinking of HMS Victoria (22 Jun 1893).

Click on the "Poetry Friday" button at left for this week's round-up, which is hosted by Sandhya Nankani at Literary Safari. (Susan, of Susan Writes, has done a round-up of previous round-ups here.)


* In August of 1664, the Dutch colony of Nieuw Nederland had been captured by the English. The colony was renamed in honour of the Duke of York: New York.

This day in history: 26 Oct

1774: The First Continental Congress, which had met in Philadelphia on 5 September 1774, adjourned.

1859: 459 passengers and crew died when the steam clipper Royal Charter was wrecked in a gale on the coast of Anglesey, Wales.

1861: After 18 months of service, the Central Overland California & Pike's Peak Express Company - the Pony Express - ceased operations.

1881: Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp, with Dr John Holliday, met Ike and Billy Clanton, Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Claiborne in an alley near the OK Corral, in Tombstone, Arizona. Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers were killed, Morgan and Virgil Earp were wounded by Billy Clanton, and Doc Holliday was wounded by Frank McLaury.

1905: Norway became independent from Sweden.

1940: The NA-73X, prototype for the North American P-51 Mustang, made its maiden flight.

1942: Japanese and American carrier forces met in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, northeast of the Solomons. USS Hornet (CV 8) was severely damaged, and was sunk the next day; USS Porter (DD 356) also had to be scuttled after being hit by a single torpedo, and USS Enterprise (CV 6) and two destroyers were damaged. Japanese carriers Shokaku and Zuiho, and heavy cruiser Chikuma, were also damaged, but the major loss to the Japanese was irreplaceable aircrew.

That same day, in the Western Desert, Private Percival E Gratwick, 2nd/4th Battalion (South Australia), Australian Military Forces, single-handedly destroyed a machine-gun post and a mortar position at El Alamein. He was killed whilst charging a second machine gun. Gratwick was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1943: The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil made its maiden flight, from Mengen, Württemberg.

1944: A B-24 Liberator from 308th Bombardment Group, US Army Air Corps, piloted by Major Horace S Carswell Jr, made a strike against a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea. Carswell made his first bombing run at 600 feet, scoring a near miss on a warship and escaping without drawing fire. He then circled and began a low-level run, scoring two hits on a large tanker. Japanese fire knocked out two engines and wounded the copilot, but Carswell controlled the plane's dive and flew toward the Chinese coast. On reaching land, one of the crew discovered that his parachute had been rendered useless by flak. Hoping to cross mountainous terrain and reach a base, Carswell continued onward until the third engine failed. He then ordered the rest of the crew to bail out, choosing to remain on board with his comrade and attempt a crash landing. He died when the airplane struck a mountainside and burned. Carswell was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.

1958: Pan American Airways made the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707, from New York to Paris.

1970: "Doonesbury" made its first appearance as a syndicated daily strip, in about two dozen newspapers.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), John Graves Simcoe (1752–1806), Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (1889–1972) and Hoyt Axton (1938–1999) died on this date.

And happy birthday to Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757), Helmuth Graf von Moltke (1800–1891), C W Post (1854-1914), Jackie Coogan (1914-1984), Jaclyn Smith (1947-TBD) and Sasha Cohen (1984-TBD).