Awfully quiet around here....

As I said here, last year we sent our older daughter off to spend two weeks at Girl Scout camp. Two weeks for each girl is a bit beyond our budget, alas, so this year they're getting one week each at 4H camp. The older one left today, and will be home Friday evening; her sister will get her turn later this month.

Newbery Medal books

Back in March, I took a look at a list of the 86 winners of the John Newbery Medal, which is presented annually to the author of "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." I was somewhat shocked to discover that I had only read seven of the books. So I've been reading my way through the list, and here's the current status. (Dates in red are the ones I had read before I started my current programme; dates in purple are the ones I've read since I started.)

1922: The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik Willem van Loon
1923: The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting
1924: The Dark Frigate, by Charles Hawes
1925: Tales from Silver Lands, by Charles Finger
1926: Shen of the Sea, by Arthur Bowie Chrisman
1927: Smoky, the Cowhorse, by Will James
1928: Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon, by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
1929: The Trumpeter of Krakow, by Eric P. Kelly
1930: Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, by Rachel Field
1931: The Cat Who Went to Heaven, by Elizabeth Coatsworth
1932: Waterless Mountain, by Laura Adams Armer
1933: Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, by Elizabeth Lewis
1934: Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women, by Cornelia Meigs
1935: Dobry, by Monica Shannon
1936: Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink
1937: Roller Skates, by Ruth Sawyer
1938: The White Stag, by Kate Seredy
1939: Thimble Summer, by Elizabeth Enright
1940: Daniel Boone, by James Daugherty
1941: Call It Courage, by Armstrong Sperry
1942: The Matchlock Gun, by Walter Edmonds
1943: Adam of the Road, by Elizabeth Janet Gray
1944: Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes
1945: Rabbit Hill, by Robert Lawson
1946: Strawberry Girl, by Lois Lenski
1947: Miss Hickory, by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
1948: The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pène du Bois
1949: King of the Wind, by Marguerite Henry
1950: The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite de Angeli
1951: Amos Fortune, Free Man, by Elizabeth Yates
1952: Ginger Pye, by Eleanor Estes
1953: Secret of the Andes, by Ann Nolan Clark
1954: ...And Now Miguel, by Joseph Krumgold
1955: The Wheel on the School, by Meindert DeJong
1956: Carry On, Mr Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham
1957: Miracles on Maple Hill, by Virginia Sorensen
1958: Rifles for Watie, by Harold Keith
1959: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
1960: Onion John, by Joseph Krumgold
1961: Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell
1962: The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare
1963: A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
1964: It's Like This, Cat, by Emily Neville
1965: Shadow of a Bull, by Maia Wojciechowska
1966: I, Juan de Pareja, by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
1967: Up a Road Slowly, by Irene Hunt
1968: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, by E L Konigsburg
1969: The High King, by Lloyd Alexander
1970: Sounder, by William H Armstrong
1971: Summer of the Swans, by Betsy Byars
1972: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C O'Brien
1973: Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
1974: The Slave Dancer, by Paula Fox
1975: M C Higgins, the Great, by Virginia Hamilton
1976: The Grey King, by Susan Cooper
1977: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D Taylor
1978: Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
1979: The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
1980: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832, by Joan W Blos
1981: Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson
1982: A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers, by Nancy Willard
1983: Dicey's Song, by Cynthia Voigt
1984: Dear Mr Henshaw, by Beverly Cleary
1985: The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
1986: Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan
1987: The Whipping Boy, by Sid Fleischman
1988: Lincoln: A Photobiography, by Russell Freedman
1989: Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, by Paul Fleischman
1990: Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry
1991: Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli
1992: Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
1993: Missing May, by Cynthia Rylant
1994: The Giver, by Lois Lowry
1995: Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
1996: The Midwife's Apprentice, by Karen Cushman
1997: The View from Saturday, by E L Konigsburg
1998: Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse
1999: Holes, by Louis Sachar
2000: Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis
2001: A Year Down Yonder, by Richard Peck
2002: A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
2003: Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by Avi
2004: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread, by Kate DiCamillo
2005: Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata
2006: Criss Cross, by Lynne Rae Perkins
2007: The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron, illustrated by Matt Phelan

29 down, 57 to go....

I have to admit I wasn't very excited by Dobry (the story of a Bulgarian peasant boy who wants to be a sculptor), and even less so by Secret of the Andes (about a Peruvian boy raised Inca-fashion in the 20th century) and Out of the Dust (the story of a girl living in Dust Bowl Oklahoma, written entirely in blank verse - bleah). My favourites of the ones I've read recently were Adam of the Road (about a minstrel's son in 13th-century England) and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (part of a series about a black family in rural Mississippi during the 1930s).

The Brits have a similar award, the Carnegie Medal*, which has been awarded annually, beginning in 1937, to the writer of an outstanding book for children. I've only read six of those, so I think maybe I'll start on the rest of them after I finish the Newbery winners.**


* Not to be confused with the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video, awarded by the American Library Association.

** No prize was awarded for 1943, 1945 or 1966, as no books were considered suitable, so there are only 71 winners.

Book list - Jun 07

KG 200: The True Story - WW II, by P W Stahl
The Vampire Hound - children's, by Jim Kraft
The Tale of Despereaux - children's fantasy, by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery Medal, 2004)
All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown - children's, by Sydney Taylor
Shiloh - children's, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Newbery Medal, 1992)
Flying for the Fatherland: The Century's Greatest Pilot - biography, by Judy Lomax
Dobry - children's, by Monica Shannon (Newbery Medal, 1935)
Uglies - YA SF, by Scott Westerfield
American Road - US history, by Pete Davies
...and Now Miguel - children's, by Joseph Krumgold (Newbery Medal, 1954)

Only ten books this month, in part because I loaded Civ IV back on my computer and have been wasting too much time playing that instead of reading. No rereads; these books were all new to me.

And I've now read 29 of the 86 Newbery Medal winners.

Victoria Cross: A. E. Cumming

ARTHUR EDWARD CUMMING, MC

Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding 2nd Battalion 12th Frontier Force Regiment, Indian Army

Born: 18 June 1896, Karachi, India

Citation: On the 3rd January, 1942, in Malaya, a strong force of the enemy penetrated the position while Brigade Headquarters and a Battalion were being withdrawn. Lieutenant-Colonel Cumming with a small party of men immediately counter-attacked the enemy and prevented any further penetration of the position until his whole party had become casualties, and he himself had received two bayonet wounds in the stomach. By this brave counter-attack Lieutenant-Colonel Cumming enabled the major portion of our men and vehicles to be withdrawn. Later, in spite of pain and weakness from his wounds, this officer drove in a carrier for more than an hour under very heavy fire collecting isolated detachments of our men. He then received two further wounds, after which and while attempting to collect a further isolated detachment, he lost consciousness and the driver of the carrier attempted to evacuate him. Lieutenant-Colonel Cumming, however, recovered consciousness and insisted on remaining where he was until he discovered that he and his driver were the sole survivors in the locality. He then decided to retire.
By his outstanding gallantry, initiative and devotion to duty, he was largely instrumental in the safe withdrawal of the Brigade.

(London Gazette Issue 35462 dated 20 Feb 1942, published 17 Feb 1942.)

Medal of Honor: M. E. Walker

MARY EDWARDS WALKER

Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), US Army

Born: 26 November 1832, Oswego County, N.Y.

Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861; Chattanooga, Tenn., following Battle of Chickamauga, September 1863; Prisoner of War, April 10, 1864-August 12, 1864, Richmond, Va.; Battle of Atlanta, September 1864.

Citation: Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, "has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways," and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soliders, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and
Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and
Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made:
It is ordered, That a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her.

Note: Dr Walker's medal was rescinded in the purge of 1917, but was reinstated by President Carter in 1977.

RIP: RADM Eugene B Fluckey

ZUI this article from Navy Times:

Eugene Bennett Fluckey, a legendary World War II submariner and one of the most highly decorated living American servicemen, died Thursday night [28 June] at a hospital in Annapolis, Maryland, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 93.

In five war patrols as the skipper of the submarine Barb, Fluckey sank dozens upon dozens of Japanese ships and destroyed many more small craft and shore installations, according to the Naval Historical Center. Fluckey’s total decorations included the Medal of Honor, four Navy Crosses, and Presidential Unit Citations and Navy Unit Commendations for him and his crew.

Before transferring to the submarine service in 1938, he served on battleship USS Nevada (BB 36) and destroyer USS McCormick (DD 223). He then served on USS S-42 (SS 153), and completed five war patrols on USS Bonita (SS 165) before assuming command of USS Barb (SS 220) on 27 April 1943.

The Medal of Honor was awarded for a war patrol conducted on board Barb in 1944-45. The citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Barb during her 11th war patrol along the east coast of China from 19 December 1944 to 15 February 1945. After sinking a large enemy ammunition ship and damaging additional tonnage during a running 2-hour night battle on 8 January, Comdr. Fluckey, in an exceptional feat of brilliant deduction and bold tracking on 25 January, located a concentration of more than 30 enemy ships in the lower reaches of Nankuan Chiang (Mamkwan Harbor). Fully aware that a safe retirement would necessitate an hour's run at full speed through the uncharted, mined, and rock-obstructed waters, he bravely ordered, "Battle station--torpedoes!" In a daring penetration of the heavy enemy screen, and riding in 5 fathoms of water, he launched the Barb's last forward torpedoes at 3,000-yard range. Quickly bringing the ship's stern tubes to bear, he turned loose 4 more torpedoes into the enemy, obtaining 8 direct hits on 6 of the main targets to explode a large ammunition ship and cause inestimable damage by the resultant flying shells and other pyrotechnics. Clearing the treacherous area at high speed, he brought the Barb through to safety and 4 days later sank a large Japanese freighter to complete a record of heroic combat achievement, reflecting the highest credit upon Comdr. Fluckey, his gallant officers and men, and the U.S. Naval Service.

After the war, Fluckey was posted to the Pentagon, becoming Admiral Nimitz's aide after the latter became CNO. He served as commanding officer of Submarine Division 52 and as captain of USS Sperry (AS 12) before being promoted to rear admiral in 1960; afterwards, he became Commander, Amphibious Group 4 and, later, Commander, Submarines, Pacific. He also served as the head of the Electrical Engineering Department at the US Naval Academy, and as US Naval Attaché in Portugal, finally retiring from the Navy in 1972.

His book Thunder Below! was published in 1992. A biography, Galloping Ghost: The Extraordinary Life of Submarine Captain Eugene Fluckey (by Carl LaVO) was published this year by the Naval Institute Press.

H/T to Bubblehead.

Update 1930 1 Jul: Finally had time to check, and as I thought, RADM Fluckey was the last surviving MoH submariner - the only one, in fact, to make it into the 21st century. There were eight all told, seven from World War II and one from between the wars (awarded for heroism when his boat was sunk in a collision). Including Fluckey, they were:

TM2/c Henry Breault (14 Oct 1900-5 Dec 1941)
Capt John P Cromwell (11 Sep 1901-19 Nov 1943)
Comdr Samuel D Dealey (13 Sep 1906-24 Aug 1944)
Comdr Eugene B Fluckey (5 Oct 1913-28 Jun 2007)
Comdr Howard W Gilmore (29 Sep 1902-7 Feb 1943)
Comdr Richard H O'Kane (2 Feb 1911-16 Feb 1994)
Comdr Lawson P Ramage (19 Jan 1909-15 Apr 1990)
Lt Comdr George L Street III (27 Jul 1913-26 Feb 2000)

(Rank given is that held at the time of the action for which the medal was awarded.)

This day in history: 29 Jun

1534: Jacques Cartier made the European discovery of Prince Edward Island.

1613: The original Globe Theatre, in London, was destroyed by fire.

1644: Charles I of England defeated a Parliamentarian led by Sir William Waller at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge - the last battle won by an English King on English soil.

1864: 99 people were killed when an immigrant train failed to stop at an open bridge and fell into the Richelieu River near Beloeil, Quebec.



1880: King Pomare V (1842–1891) was forced to cede the sovereignty of Tahiti and its dependencies to France.

1956: President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, officially creating the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (aka the Interstate Highway System).

1995: Atlantis, launched on 27 June as mission STS-71 (Robert L Gibson, Charles J Precourt, Ellen S Baker, Bonnie J Dunbar and Gregory J Harbaugh*), became the first space shuttle to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
That same day, 501 people were killed and 937 injured when the Sampoong Department Store, in Seoul, South Korea, collapsed.

Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509), Henry Clay (1777–1852), Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861), Roscoe Arbuckle (1887–1933), Ignacy Jan Paderewski GBE (1860-1941), Bob Crane (1928–1978), Lana Turner (1921–1995), Rosemary Clooney (1928–2002) and Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) died on this date.

And happy birthday to George Goethals (1858-1928), Ludwig Beck (1880–1944), Frank Loesser (1910-1969), Slim Pickens (1919-1983) and Ray Harryhausen (1920-TBD).



* Atlantis had also carried cosmonauts Anatoly Y Solovyev and Nikolai M Budarin up to relieve Norman E Thagard, Vladimir N Dezhurov and Gennady M Strekalov as space-station crew. The photo shows all ten people: (front, left to right) Dezhurov, Gibson and Solovyev, and (back, left to right) Thagard, Strekalov, Harbaugh, Baker, Precourt, Dunbar and Budarin.

Friday cat - 29 Jun

This fellow was hanging around one of the outdoor restaurants in Palau, Sardinia, when I visited there a few years ago.

Warning: Mature Content

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

punch (11x) death (7x) gun (5x) bomb (3x) shoot (1x)

At least you can't complain about gratuitous sex and violence here, because it seems to be just violence....


H/T to Liz B (who is rated R).

George Cross: V. R. E. Szabo

MRS VIOLETTE REINE ELIZABETH (BUSHELL) SZABO

Ensign, Women's Transport Service (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry); attached Special Operations Executive

Born: 26 June 1921, Levallois-Perret, France
Died: February 1945, Ravensbrück, Germany

Citation: Madame Szabo volunteered to undertake a particularly dangerous mission in France. She was parachuted into France in April, 1944, and undertook the task with enthusiasm. In her execution of the delicate researches entailed she showed great presence of mind and astuteness. She was twice arrested by the German security authorities but each time managed to get away. Eventually, however, with other members of her group, she was surrounded by the Gestapo in a house in the south west of France. Resistance appeared hopeless but Madame Szabo, seizing a Sten-gun and as much ammunition as she could carry, barricaded herself in part of the house and, exchanging shot for shot with the enemy, killed or wounded several of them. By constant movement, she avoided being cornered and fought until she dropped exhausted. She was arrested and had to undergo solitary confinement. She was then continuously and atrociously tortured but never by word or deed gave away any of her acquaintances or told the enemy anything of value. She was ultimately executed. Madame Szabo gave a magnificent example of courage and steadfastness.

(London Gazette Issue 37820 dated 17 Dec 1946, published 13 Dec 1946.)


Note: The above citation is incorrect in its details; Mme Szabo was actually captured when she met up with elements of 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" at a crossroad. ZUI this biography and these pictures.

This day in history: 26 Jun

1409: Peter Philargei was crowned Pope as Alexander V, despite the fact that Gregory XII (Rome) and Benedict XIII (Avignon) both already claimed the title.

1541: Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima, Peru.

1857: 62 veterans of the Crimean War (12 Royal Navy, 2 Royal Marine and 48 Army) queued up in Hyde Park, London, for the first investiture of the Victoria Cross. The queue was arranged in order of service and regimental precedence, by rank, so Lieutenant Commander Henry J Raby was the first to receive his medal from the Queen. The picture seems to show Captain of the Mast George Ingouville RN receiving his medal from the Queen; following him is Lieutenant George Dare Dowell, RM Artillery.


1876: The day after George Armstrong Custer and a battalion of the 7th US Cavalry had been wiped out at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Major Marcus Reno took command of the remaining portion of the regiment and successfully held off attacking Indians until they decided to withdraw. Sgt C H Welch, D Troop; Pvt T J Callen, B Troop; Pvt T W Goldin, G Troop; and Privates G D Scott and T W Stivers, D Troop, were all awarded the Medal of Honor.

1918: The Battle of Belleau Wood ended.

1936: The Focke-Achgelis Fa 61 (or Focke-Wulf Fw 61), the first practical helicopter, made its first flight, piloted by Ewald Rohlfs.

1944: Naik (Corporal) Agan Singh Rai, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles, led a section of Gurkhas in an attack on a Japanese position in Burma. They took the machine gun, charging through heavy fire, but a second machine gun then opened up on them. Another successful attack eliminated this threat, after which Agan Singh Rai went on alone to attack a third position. He killed the four defenders, after which the remaining Japanese troops in the vicinity withdrew. Agan Singh Rai was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1945: The United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco by representatives of 50 of the original 51 members.

1948: Thirty-two Douglas C-47 cargo planes, hauling 80 tons of cargo including milk, flour and medicine, made the initial flight of the Berlin Airlift.

1959: The Saint Lawrence Seaway was officially opened, with President Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II officiating.

1963: President John F Kennedy announced to the world that he was a Berliner.

1973: Nine people were killed by an explosion of a Cosmos 3-M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

1976: The 1815-foot CN Tower (Toronto, Ontario), the world's tallest freestanding structure on land, was opened to the public.

In addition to Pizarro (c. 1475–1541), Caesar Rodney (1728–1784), Joseph Michel Montgolfier (1740–1810) and Strom Thurmond (1902–2003) died on this date.







And happy birthday to Abner Doubleday (1819–1893), William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, OM GCVO (1824–1907), George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866–1923), Willy Messerschmitt (1898–1978), Peter Lorre (1904–1964), Violette Szabo GC (1921-1945), Claudio Abbado (1933-TBD) and Princess Alexia of the Netherlands (2005-TBD).

This day in history: 24 Jun

1314: Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II of England in the second day of the Battle of Bannockburn.

1340: The French fleet was almost totally destroyed by the English Fleet, commanded in person by Edward III of England, at the Battle of Sluys.

1497: John Cabot landed in Labrador.
That same day, Cornish traitors Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank were executed at Tyburn, London.

1509: Henry VIII, who had been king since the death of his father on 22 April, and Catherine of Aragon were crowned King and Queen of England.

1535: The Anabaptist Kingdom of Münster was conquered and disbanded.

1813: After being warned by Laura Secord, British soldiers (Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon) and their Mohawk allies defeated US invaders (Colonel Charles Boerstler, 14th US Infantry) at the Battle of Beaver Dams, near Thorold, Ontario.

1821: South American independence fighters, led by Simón Bolívar, defeated royalist forces in the Battle of Carabobo, Venezuela - the decisive battle in Venezuela's war for independence from Spain.

1859: Sardinia and France defeated Austria in the Battle of Solferino (the Battle of the Three Sovereigns), in northern Italy. Swiss businessman Jean-Henri Dunant, who witnessed the battle in person, was motivated by the suffering of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield to begin a campaign that would eventually result in the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the International Red Cross.

1898: At Las Guasimas, Cuba, Assistant Surgeon James R Church, 1st US Volunteer Cavalry (the "Rough Riders"), voluntarily and unaided carried several seriously wounded men from the firing line to a secure position in the rear, despite very heavy enemy fire. Church was awarded the Medal of Honor.

1902: Sir Frederick Treves CB KCVO performed an appendicectomy on King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The King survived, but his coronation, scheduled for 26 June, had to be delayed until 9 August.

1916: The Battle of the Somme began with the start of a week-long artillery bombardment on the German lines.

1948: The Berlin Blockade began.

1983: Space Shuttle Challenger, launched from Cape Canaveral on 18 June as mission STS-7 (R L Crippen, F H Hauck, J M Fabian, S K Ride and N E Thagard), landed at Edwards AFB, California.




Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519), Thomas McKean (1734–1817), President Grover Cleveland* (1837–1908), Jackie Gleason (1916-1987), Brian Keith (1921–1997), Vera Atkins (1908-2000) and Paul Winchell (1922–2005) died on this date.





And happy birthday to Sir John Ross CB (1777–1856), Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?), Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG KP GCB OM GCSI GCMG GCIE (1850–1916), Phil Harris (1904-1995), Pearl Cornioley CBE (1914-TBD), Sir Frederick Hoyle (1915–2001), Lawrence Block (1938-TBD), Ellison Onizuka (1946-1986), Mercedes Lackey (1950-TBD) and Craig Shergold (1979-TBD).


* Quick - without looking, what was Grover Cleveland's middle name?

Victoria Cross: R. N. Stuart and W. Williams

RONALD NEIL STUART, DSO

Lieutenant, Royal Naval Reserve; HMS Pargust

Born: 26 August 1886, Liverpool, Lancashire


WILLIAM WILLIAMS

Seaman, Royal Naval Reserve; HMS Pargust

Born: 5 October 1890, Alnwich, Anglesey, Wales

Joint Citation: The KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the following honours, decorations and medals to Officers and men for services in action with enemy submarines:–
Lieut. Ronald Neil Stuart, D.S.O., R.N.R
Sea. William Williams, R.N.R., O.N. 6224A.
Lieutenant Stuart and Seaman Williams were selected by the officers and ship's company respectively of one of H.M. Ships to receive the Victoria Cross under Rule 13 of the Royal Warrant dated the 29th January, 1856.

(London Gazette Issue 30194 dated 20 Jul 1917, published 20 Jul 1917.)


On the 17th June, 1917, while disguised as a British merchant vessel with a dummy gun mounted aft, H.M.S. "Pargust" was torpedoed at very close range. Her boiler-room, engine-room, and No. 5 hold were immediately flooded, and the starboard lifeboat was blown to pieces. The weather was misty at the time, fresh breeze and a choppy sea. The "panic party," under the command of Lieutenant F. R. Hereford, D.S.C., R.N.R., abandoned ship, and as the last boat was shoving off, the periscope of the submarine was observed close before the port beam about 400 yards distant. The enemy then submerged, and periscope reappeared directly astern, passing to the starboard quarter, and then round to the port beam, when it turned again towards the ship, breaking surface about 50 yards away. The lifeboat, acting as a lure, commenced to pull round the stern; submarine followed closely and Lieutenant Hereford, with complete disregard of the danger incurred from fire of either ship or submarine (who had trained a maxim on the lifeboat), continued to decoy her to within 50 yards of the ship. The "Pargust" then opened fire with all guns, and the submarine, with oil squirting from her side and the crew pouring out of the conning tower, steamed slowly across the bows with a heavy list. The enemy crew held up their hands in token of surrender, whereupon fire immediately ceased. The submarine then began to move away at a gradually increasing speed, apparently endeavouring to escape in the mist. Fire was reopened until she sank, one man clinging to the bow as she went down. The boats, after a severe pull to windward, succeeded in saving one officer and one man. American Destroyers and a British sloop arrived shortly afterwards, and the "Pargust" was towed back to port. As on the previous occasions, officers and men displayed the utmost courage and confidence in their captain, and the action serves as an example of what perfect discipline, when coupled with such confidence, can achieve.

(London Gazette Issue 31021 dated 20 Nov 1918, published 19 Nov 1918.)

Seaman Williams's medals

Note: The brevity of the initial citation was due to the fact that Q-ships were at that point still considered a secret weapon, not to be mentioned in public. The follow-on explanation was published after the Q-ships had been declassified.
The enemy submarine was later identified as UC-29.
The officers originally chose the ship's CO, Commander G. Campbell VC, to receive the award. However, since Cmdr Campbell had already been awarded the VC for his actions on HMS Farnborough (another Q-ship) on 17 Feb 1917, he declined the honour (and the chance to become the only member of the Royal Navy to be awarded a bar to the medal) and Lieut Stuart was selected instead.

Medal of Honor: W. H. Pitsenbarger

WILLIAM H PITSENBARGER

Airman First Class, US Air Force; Detachment 6, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron

Born: 8 July 1944, Piqua, Ohio
Died: 11 April 1966, near Cam My, Republic of Vietnam

Citation: Airman First Class Pitsenbarger distinguished himself by extreme valor on 11 April 1966 near Cam My, Republic of Vietnam, while assigned as a Pararescue Crew Member, Detachment 6, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. On that date, Airman Pitsenbarger was aboard a rescue helicopter responding to a call for evacuation of casualties incurred in an on-going firefight between elements of the United States Army's 1st Infantry Division and a sizable enemy force approximately 35 miles east of Saigon. With complete disregard for personal safety, Airman Pitsenbarger volunteered to ride a hoist more than one hundred feet through the jungle, to the ground. On the ground, he organized and coordinated rescue efforts, cared for the wounded, prepared casualties for evacuation, and insured that the recovery operation continued in a smooth and orderly fashion. Through his personal efforts, the evacuation of the wounded was greatly expedited. As each of the nine casualties evacuated that day were recovered, Pitsenbarger refused evacuation in order to get one more wounded soldier to safety. After several pick-ups, one of the two rescue helicopters involved in the evacuation was struck by heavy enemy ground fire and was forced to leave the scene for an emergency landing. Airman Pitsenbarger stayed behind, on the ground, to perform medical duties. Shortly thereafter, the area came under sniper and mortar fire. During a subsequent attempt to evacuate the site, American forces came under heavy assault by a large Viet Cong force. When the enemy launched the assault, the evacuation was called off and Airman Pitsenbarger took up arms with the besieged infantrymen. He courageously resisted the enemy, braving intense gunfire to gather and distribute vital ammunition to American defenders. As the battle raged on, he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to care for the wounded, pull them out of the line of fire, and return fire whenever he could, during which time, he was wounded three times. Despite his wounds, he valiantly fought on, simultaneously treating as many wounded as possible. In the vicious fighting which followed, the American forces suffered 80 percent casualties as their perimeter was breached, and airman Pitsenbarger was finally fatally wounded. Airman Pitsenbarger exposed himself to almost certain death by staying on the ground, and perished while saving the lives of wounded infantrymen. His bravery and determination exemplify the highest professional standards and traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Air Force.

Note: Upgraded from an Air Force Cross (the first award of that medal to an enlisted man) in 2000. MV A1C William H Pitsenbarger (T-AK 4638) was named in his honour.

Carnegie of Carnegies

A couple months back I mentioned that the people who award the Carnegie Medal (Britain's version of the Newbery Medal for the best children's book of the year) were going to select the best book of the last 70 years. The winner was announced a couple days ago: Northern Lights, by Philip Pullman, published in the US (and currently being filmed) as The Golden Compass.

It's a good book, as is its first sequel (I still haven't read the final book of the trilogy), and it's the one I voted for from the ten finalists (though not my favourite of all of the past winners; that would be Arthur Ransome's Pigeon Post).

Update 1706 23 Jun: Whilst on the subject of Carnegie winners, H/T to Kelly for word that this year's Carnegie Medal and Greenaway Medal (for the best illustrated children's book - the Brit equivalent of our Caldecott Medal) winners have been announced, viz: Just in Case, by Meg Rosoff, and The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, by Mini Grey.

"When the Red, Red Robin"

Back a long time ago*, Sam Clemens, aka Mark Twain, wrote a short story called "Punch, Brothers, Punch" (included in Punch, Brothers, Punch! And Other Sketches, 1878) which featured the following little verse:

Conductor, when you receive a fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!
A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare,
A buff trip slip for a six-cent fare,
A pink trip slip for a three-cent fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!

CHORUS

Punch, brothers! punch with care!
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!

The idea of the story was that anyone who read or heard those lines was totally unable to get them out of his/her/its head.

They took instant and entire possession of me. All through breakfast they went waltzing through my brain; and when, at last, I rolled up my napkin, I could not tell whether I had eaten anything or not. I had carefully laid out my day's work the day before--thrilling tragedy in the novel which I am writing. I went to my den to begin my deed of blood. I took up my pen, but all I could get it to say was, "Punch in the presence of the passenjare." I fought hard for an hour, but it was useless. My head kept humming, "A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare, a buff trip slip for a six-cent fare," and so on and so on, without peace or respite. The day's work was ruined--I could see that plainly enough. I gave up and drifted down-town, and presently discovered that my feet were keeping time to that relentless jingle.

The only way to exorcise oneself was to recite the verse to another person, who promptly became hag-ridden in turn.

Robert McCloskey, in one of his Homer Price stories ("Pie and Punch and You-Know-Whats," in Centerburg Tales, 1951), took the idea a little farther. In this story, it's a song about a "hip-high hippopotamus" that is driving the residents of Centerburg crazy. In this case, however, singing the song to another person simply means that two people are singing it instead of just one. Finally Homer comes up with an idea, and leads the affected (afflicted) citizens to the library. Unfortunately, he can't remember what the book looks like, but finally he finds it - and loudly recites "Punch, brothers...." This does the trick, of course, and now everyone is babbling about trip slips instead of the hippopotamus. Conveniently, the librarian, who is on her way out of town on vacation, walks in on them. "Tell her, everybody!" Homer cries, and tell her they do, in unison. This lifts the curse for them, and someone escorts the librarian to the train station (so she can carry the poem out of town) while everyone else collapses in exhaustion from all the singing.

Nowadays they have a word for a song (or tune) which gets stuck in your head like this, forcing you to listen to countless repetitions of it until something finally forces it to leave you alone: It's called an "earworm." Different songs, of course, affect different people. For me, the worst earworms are "Lodi," "Simple Gifts," and "Good Morning, Starshine" - for any of those three, it usually doesn't take more than one line of the song to lodge it firmly in my head.

So why am I nattering on about this? Because last week I started rereading (for the severalth time) The Dreaming Suburb, by R F Delderfield. The book is set in a London suburb between the two World Wars, and one of the characters is a jazz musician who in an early scene has a run-in with a song called "When The Red, Red Robin." I happen to know the tune, because my mother had it on an LP** when I was a kid, and as a result I've been whistling it off and on ever since. Modified rapture....

I've already decided that song lyrics are fit subjects for Poetry Friday, so I'm going to share this one with you:

When the red, red, robin
Comes bob, bob, bobbin' along, along,
There'll be no more sobbin'
When he starts throbbin' his old sweet song.

Wake up, wake up you sleepy head,
Get up, get up, get out of bed,
Cheer up, cheer up, the sun is red,
Live, Love, laugh and be happy,

What if I've been blue,
Now I'm walkin' through
Fields of flow'rs.
Rain may glisten
But still I listen
For hours and hours,

I'm just a kid again
Doin' what I did again,
Singing a song,
When the red, red, robin
Comes bob, bob, bobbin' along.

And to round out your experience, here is a video of Perry Como and Ethel Merman singing the song....

Words and music by Harry Woods; copyright 1926 by Irving Berlin, Inc.


Click on the "Poetry Friday" button at left for this week's round-up, which is hosted by A Wrung Sponge.


* Yes, Pete, before even I was born.

** Older readers will remember LPs. If you're too young to know what one is, ask your parents.

This day in history: 22 Jun

1893: Battleships HMS Victoria (flagship of the British Mediterranean Fleet) and HMS Camperdown collided during manoeuvres near Tripoli, Lebanon. 358 men, including Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon KCB, Mediterranean Fleet commander, died when Victoria sank.*

1911: George V, who had been King of England since his father's death on 6 May 1910, was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1916: British engineers were digging a mine beneath the German trenches near Givenchy, France, when the enemy detonated their own counter-mine. Five of the miners were trapped in the tunnel by the resulting cave-in. After digging for a whole day, a rescue party finally made contact through a small shaft. Three of the trapped men were able to crawl to safety, but a fourth was too seriously injured to get through the hole. The fifth member of the team, Sapper William Hackett, 254th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, insisted on staying with him. There was another cave-in shortly afterwards, and by the time a fresh tunnel had been dug, both men had died. Hackett was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1918: 86 people were killed and 127 injured when an empty troop train rear-ended a circus train near Hammond, Indiana.

1940: The Franco–German armistice was signed at Compiegne, in the same railway carriage in which the armistice ending World War I had been signed. France was divided into two parts: an occupied zone controlled by the Germans, and an un-occupied zone controlled by the French Government under Petain in Vichy.

1941: Unternehmen Barbarossa (Operation Barbarossa), the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began.

1944: Operatsiya Bagration (Operation Bagration), the Soviet offensive against German forces in the Byelorussian SSR, began.

1978: Charon, the largest satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto, was discovered by astronomer James Christy, working at the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC.

Ghiyath al-Kashi (1380–1429), Judy Garland (1922–1969), Fred Astaire (1899–1987) and Ann Landers (1918-2002) died on this date.







And happy birthday to George Vancouver (1757-1798), H Rider Haggard (1856-1925), Maximilian Graf von Spee (1861-1914), Robert Ritter von Greim (1892-1945), Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970), John Dillinger (1903-1934), Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001), Paul Frees (1920-1986), Charles Augustus Lindbergh III (1930–1932), Kris Kristofferson (1936-TBD), Meryl Streep (1949-TBD), Lindsay Wagner (1949-TBD) and Bruce Campbell (1958-TBD).


* The small photo shows Camperdown shortly after the collision. The large photo shows Victoria sinking at right, attended by HMS Nile.

Steel beach

On a submarine, having a "steel-beach picnic" means taking your meal up topside to eat it in the sun. We did a couple of steel-beach picnics when I was on the tender; for those the cooks actually had grills which they set up on the weather decks; they cooked hamburgers ("sliders") and hot dogs, and the rest of the crew queued up and went past the grills, collected their food, and then picked a spot to sit and eat. The problem with this procedure was that with only one serving line, it was so long that there was no chance of trying to go back through for seconds if you were so inclined. On the boat, all the food was cooked in the galley, as for any other meal, and we just filled our plates and took them topside.

We had three steel beaches during my last deployment. The first one wasn't planned; we were on our way south through the Suez Canal, and the northbound convoy had gotten delayed for some reason, so we (as part of the first southbound convoy) had to pull aside in the Great Bitter Lake and wait for them. The skipper decided that as long as we were sitting there, and we would be able to see anything approaching us well before it reached us, he might as well let off-watch personnel go up for a little sun.

We kept an armed topside watch stationed as a welcoming committee; here he stands up forward, with several targets - excuse me, I mean "surface ships" - visible beyond him.


The chap in civvies is a reporter from the New London (CT) Day. He and a photographer rode us for a few weeks, sending stories and photos home every day by e-mail.






Two months later, we were in the Med, somewhere over near Italy, and the captain ordered another steel beach - a proper one, this time, complete with food.






A lot of people stayed topside after eating to enjoy the sun, of course. (When we went through the Suez Canal northbound in '98, I didn't even go below to hit the rack; I just stretched out in the shade of the sail and slept there.) The fellow all the way forward with no shirt is one of the ship's divers, standing by in case someone is stupid enough to go over the side. And that appears to be the XO with the khaki belt, leaning against the starboard side of the WLR-9 fin.

A month after that we were somewhere off to the west of Sardinia, and the skipper decided to combine a steel beach with a little 9mm familiarization. Here TM1 supervises whilst the skipper fires a few shots.





The Nav, the Weps and a couple of JOs - plus an SCPO rider - waited for their turns with the pistol.








We had the usual collection of loiterers catching some rays, of course, including the diver (with his little booties). And the XO seems to have claimed the WLR-9 again....






YN1 takes his turn with the 9mm. Earlier, we'd had a target - a face drawn on an inflated rubber glove, attached to the top of a five-gallon milk box - but by this time it had sunk, so he's just aiming at the water. I love pictures like this that catch the ejected brass flying through the air.

This was actually rather an unusual deployment, with this many steel beaches - I think the only other time I had that many opportunities to catch the sun was during the '98 deployment, in the Persian Gulf. Those pictures are packed away someplace, though, along with the Suez Canal pics and photos of the few swim calls I was present for. Maybe someday I'll dig them all out and scan them in so I can post them....

RIP: Mr Wizard

ZUI this article from the New York Times:

Don Herbert, who unlocked the wonders of science for youngsters of the 1950s and ’60s as television’s Mr. Wizard, died yesterday [12 June] at his home in the Bell Canyon section of Los Angeles. He was 89.

The cause was bone cancer, his son-in-law Tom Nikosey told The Associated Press in confirming the death.

Mr. Herbert held no advanced degree in science, he used household items in his TV lab, and his assistants were boys and girls. But he became an influential showman-science teacher on his half-hour “Watch Mr. Wizard” programs, which ran on NBC from 1951 to 1965.

-------

“Watch Mr. Wizard,” which was aimed at youngsters between 8 and 13, received a Peabody Award in 1953 for young people’s programming. More than 100,000 children were enrolled in 5,000 Mr. Wizard Science Clubs by the mid-1950s.

After his children’s program went off the air, Mr. Herbert remained a presence in TV science programming with general-audience shows like “How About” and “Exploration.” NBC revived “Watch Mr. Wizard” for one year in the early ’70s. In the 1980s Mr. Herbert reprised his children’s shows with “Mr. Wizard’s World” on the Nickelodeon cable network. He became something of a TV celebrity beyond his lab as a guest of Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Regis Philbin and a panelist on “Hollywood Squares.”

Don't remember ever watching Watch Mr Wizard; we didn't have a TV when I was a kid, so I had to settle for watching it at my friends' houses. But I certainly heard about him. Maybe I should look for some of those Mr Wizard DVDs....

Foo fighters

"Foo fighters." A phrase I haven't heard - or seen - in years. ZUI this article from the Dec 1945 issue of American Legion magazine.

The article contains one sentence, not particularly relevant to the topic, that struck me as Truth:

Now in the Army, when you "note" anything it means that you neither agree nor disagree, nor do you intend to do anything about it.

That pretty much applies to the Navy, too, though as one friend pointed out, in the Navy there are often certain "f*** you" connotations to the use of the word "noted."

H/T to Tam.