#and fought off 200 fleets of marines

[hellmumheccy]

Dropping this and disappearing again

[lonestarbattleship]

"The Finest Hour" by Mark Karvon link

"In the lore of the US Navy, the saga of Fletcher Class destroyer, USS Johnston is legendary for its part in the Battle off Samar during the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf On October 25, 1944.

During the operation to liberate the Philippines, the small naval task force, Taffy 3, was left to provide cover for the invading US Army. The force was made up of 5 light escort carriers and 6 destroyers and destroyer escorts screening for them.

Unbeknownst to the men of Taffy 3, a large Japanese force consisting of 23 ships was headed their way in a surprise attack. The force consisted of 4 battleships (including the largest battleship ever built - Yamato), 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 11 destroyers.

Taffy 3 was badly outnumbered and very much outgunned. It was up to the destroyers and destroyer escorts to protect the carriers at all costs otherwise the marines on the beach would be vulnerable. The ships began laying down a heavy smoke screen. Lieutenant Commander Ernest E. Evans captained the Johnston. Being of Native American ancestry, Lt Commander Evans had the warrior's spirit. He led his ship alone straight into the teeth of the much superior enemy. As the Johnston turned into the oncoming enemy some say he spoke these words over the ship's intercom, "A large Japanese fleet has been contacted. They are fifteen miles away and headed in our direction. They are believed to have four battleships, eight cruisers, and a number of destroyers. This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can." (Some sources credit the latter part of this dramatic announcement tot LCDR Robert Copeland of the Samuel B Roberts).

Johnston dodged shell from the enemy battle cruisers until she could get close enough to hit back. as soon as the range closed to ten miles, Johnston scored damaging hits on the heavy cruiser Kumano. During her five-minute sprint into torpedo range, Johnston fired over 200 rounds at the enemy. She launched all ten of her torpedoes and retired behind a heavy smoke screen. At least one of the torpedoes found the Kumano and blew the bow off the cruiser forcing it to withdraw from the battle.

Johnston did not get away unscathed however and she took three hits from 14 inch shells as well as three from 6 inch shells which destroyed the bridge causing many casualties and Lt Commander Evans to lose 2 fingers and covering him in shrapnel which shredded his shirt. The ship was mangled badly, with dead and dying sailors strewn across her bloody decks.The bridge was rendered useless so Lt Commander Evans went to the aft steering column to conn the ship.

About this time, three of the other ships from Tafffy 3, Destroyers Hoel and Heermen and the destroyer escort Samuel B Roberts, made their charges towards the Japanese fleet. As they went by the Johnston they could see shirtless Lt Commander Evans salute them from the aft steering column as they went by.

After making repairs, Johnston rejoined the fight. The ship fought several duels with much larger ships giving all she could but taking severe damage. Eventually she was surrounded by 7 enemy destroyers and pounded mercilessly. Lt Commander Evans gave the order to abandon ship. He was never heard from again.

Along with Johnston, Hoel, Heermen and Samuel B Roberts were equally fierce during the battle. The Japanese were under the impression they were up against much larger ships in the cruiser class. Aircraft from the carriers also enjoined the fight. Some of the aircraft were not properly armed to attack ships but the heroic pilots still feigned attack to force the unknowing enemy to fire upon them thereby diverting attention from the surface ships. The ferocity of the attack from Taffy 3 sunk or crippled the heavy cruisers Chōkai, Kumano, and Chikuma. This seemingly convinced to the Japanese that they were engaging major fleet units rather than escort carriers and destroyers and the fleet withdrew.

Lt Commander Evans was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions that day. My depiction of the legendary USS Johnston depicts the ship as she charges towards the enemy during her first attack that fateful day.

Prints are available through my website www.markkarvon.com."

[xenosgirlvents]

the final tally

for some weird reason my purchased e-copy of psychic awakening: pariah could already be downloaded midday today, rather than saturday morning as it typically does (also, for most of the day, when hitting the download link for it, it downloaded ravenor: pariah instead, so i got that free out of this, weird).

i can now do something of a tally of how psychic awakening’s gone over all. to be blunt this isn’t a strong series, i don’t think anyone thinks this was handled particularly well, and narratively it’s an enormous step down in quality from vigilus. it also really wasn’t epic, since 3/4 of the books often dealt with meaningless, tensionless, conflicts with no resolution. off the top of my head the only books in the series which could, even a little, be called ‘story important’ would be: phoenix rising, ritual of the damned and pariah. saga of the beast doesn’t count because the actual plot important event there, ghazghkull’s humiliation and subsequent return, doesn’t even happen in the book, so it’s excluded.

anyway, of course, the more clear thing is; holy crap these books shit on xenos. i mean they shit on chaos too, but chaos gets out a little better. pariah is definitely the best handled of the xenos books, easily, because it at least understands for an enemy to be a threat they can’t JUST lose, so the very first fight of the book is a major necron victory. of course, from there, both follow-up battles are necron losses, one embarrassingly so because they only lose because szeras has now shown himself to be an eldrad-level idiot, but it’s better than blood of baal, the greater good or the absolutely fucking awful rise of the phoenix and saga of the beast.

so let’s look?

Phoenix Rising: Within this book Asuryani do some pointless border scuffles and win one fight against rando-Daemons (the favoured enemy of all Aeldari because Daemons are such universal chaff even Aeldari are allowed to beat them). Is second to the tied Ritual of the Damned, War of the Spider and Pariah for the clearest narrative. In the overarching narrative of the book the Ynnari discover their hope of the Seventh Path is crushed already, the efforts of all their greatest heroes can barely compete with a glamour of Shalaxi, and both Yvraine, and now again Kyganil in Pariah, declare Phoenix Rising to be a crushing, hopeless, defeat. Death Masque all over again, because GW doesn’t seem to think Aeldari can ever succeed at anything.

Faith and Fury: No Xenos. Focused on Chaos and Imperial forces, mostly the less important Space Marines, it showcased us three inconclusive battles and was a step-up from GW’s normal method of ‘Imperium wins everything’ by instead just going ‘nobody wins, it’s ongoing’. A naïve me might have hoped they’d stick to something like this so at least the non-Imperium factions don’t lose constantly, but I was stupid as always.

Blood of Baal: Followed Faith and Fury’s style of a warzone and three battles chosen from it. Of course these are Tyranids so they just lost two of the battles outright and the third was ongoing. Yay. Blood Angels, of course, lost nothing.

Ritual of the Damned: Very story driven, as was War of the Spider (skirmish of the Spider, seriously, war? It was a grand total of one battle and an ambush against like 50 dudes) and Pariah, Ritual of the Damned taught us that 200 Marines was all it took to lead a successful direct assault on the Thousand Sons’ stronghold, break right into their inner sanctum, kick their shit in, and successfully withdraw in good order. It was awful. 

The Greater Good: Faith and Fury part 2: Boogaloo. The Greater Good gave us a warzone, three factions, and had each of three battles end on an inconclusive ‘ongoing’. I guess Shadowsun is still a Xenos so now she isn’t even allowed to beat randos anymore, as she fails to successfully conquer an unknown, random, planet with no known characters on it.

Saga of the Beast: Six meaningless battles focused almost purely only on the Space Wolves’ perspectives with, in most, there not even being Orkish characters with names at all, it presented us a mix of stalemates and Space Wolf victories with the only Ork ‘victory’ being one battle where they teleported out of the battle before it could finish. Yay. Humiliatingly this is the best the Xenos do till Pariah.

Engine War: More focused, but lacking clear direction, this was a small, scant, book focused almost purely on rando Knights and Magi attacking a single fortress on a single Chaos Knight world. Technically the outcome is mixed, but it’s a closest to an outright win Chaos manage. The overarching Chaos scheme, a machine that could slingshot Warp Storms, is destroyed and foiled, but the Daemons released as a result do wipe out the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet entirely and send the remaining Imperials running from the planet, so they don’t hold it.

War of the Spider: Why does this even exist? Nothing happens in it? War of the Spider is a pointless, short, story in which Fabius has none of his more detailed or interesting characterization, in which Typhus is a cowardly idiot who loses one fight when he lets himself be ambushed by a warriors 9000 years younger than him and loses his second fight when he pisses himself at the sight of Custodes and abandons his entire honourguard. so veterans of the long war who’ve fought with him for millenia, to die as he runs away with his tail between his legs. The Death Guard lose. The Shriven lose. The Custodes technically win as they set out to destroy the Shriven and they do, and Fabius wins because his ‘win condition’ is basically just that he doesn’t die so by that metric he always wins. The battle, though, is of course won by the Imperium. Again. It’s also nonsensical. Where told the Shriven fleet could wipe out the Custodes fleet, but they land to kill them in a land battle. Then the Death Guard show up and destroy the Shriven easily, so by that metric their fleet should destroy the Custodes fleet easily too but...instead Typhus just runs away from them? Is he that scared of Custodes? What an absolute loser.

Pariah: Probably the most competently written of the books because it follows, like, literally the most basic of story telling conventions. We are introduced to a threat. The first engagement with the threat, Mesmoch, ends with the Imperium retreating in defeat. Then a second battle lead by Stern ends in victory. Then in a third battle a super-secret-special-awesome team of characters infiltrate to the Villain’s evil lair to steal a McGuffin and succeed in doing so. 

[when can we have a campaign where xenos just win? taros has now been invalidated, so when are we getting a campaign where xenos actually beat the imperium for once?]

Of Psychic Awakening the Imperium wins a whopping 9 (of these it should be noted Space Wolves and Blood Angels alone constitute more than half) battles. Asuryani come in 2nd place with 2. 2. Chaos gets 1-2 (debatably?), Necron get 1, Orks get 1 (debateable again) and that’s about it.

In terms of winning ‘campaigns’ as most of these are ongoing there aren’t too many of those. That being said the Imperium wins outright in both Ritual of the Damned and in War of the Spider.

Beyond that the only other people who can claim to have won ‘campaigns’ are Fabius Bile and Chaos Daemons, but it is a little more shaky. As I said Fabius does in War of the Spider ‘win’, because he escapes with his prize, but whether this should matter when he’s really not a military player is up for everyone to decide for themselves. Daemons are also possible because I’m pretty sure at the end of Engine War THEY don’t care that the Warp Storm machine is now destroyed, they just enjoyed wiping out the Mechanicus force attacking Ordex-Thaag, so I’d submit these two are the only other options for actual ‘wins’ in books.

To fucking no-one’s surprise Xenos don’t manage to win a single campaign. 

[sjrresearch]

Bataan and Corregidor 1941-42 - Part 1

Last Stand of the “Battered Ba%$$rds”

(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)

At the start of the Pacific War, the Philippines became a central target for the Japanese, and the islands were turned into a battleground. The events that unfolded at Bataan and Corregidor during the Japanese assault is not only an important piece of World War II history, it provides an incredible framework for potential wargaming scenarios.

Over a series of three posts, we will look at Bataan and Corregidor in-depth, starting with the lead up to the Philippines’ conflict and ending with an understanding of how learning about these locations can help construct wargaming scenarios. It has also been fodder for several fine boardgames on the topic.

Part 1, The Forces Gather

Author’s Note: Though both Philippine and American units fought in Bataan, I will refer to them as “American” collectively. 

 Most Americans aren’t familiar with names like Bataan and Corregidor. Like most historical topics in grade school, it’s quickly taught and forgotten by everyone, save for historical enthusiasts. In the Philippines, it’s akin to Bunker Hill, or Yorktown. To them, these places are where the modern Philippine nation was founded. Like many others, it was a nation bred on the battlefield.

The Philippines was in a unique state since 1898, when the United States had assumed control of the islands in the wake of the Spanish-American War. In 1935, the Philippines was made an American commonwealth, and a gradual process of making the islands ready for independence by 1946 was begun. To help form an independent Philippine armed forces, General Douglas McArthur was brought in by a Philippine government with the lofty rank of Field Marshal to try to modernize the defenses of the Philippines.

McArthur was seemingly a good choice for advising the nascent Philippine Republic, having served in the islands in his first assignment (1903-1906) after graduation from West Point while his father was Governor-General. He then spent time touring Japan (the future enemy of the Philippines) as his father’s aide de camp, and thus, had seen the Japanese soldier up close. Furthermore, Douglas McArthur and the president of the Philippines, Manuel Quezon, also had a personal relationship, as President Quezon had been friends with McArthur’s father during the latter’s time as Governor-General of the Philippines 35 years before. All of this made McArthur a shoo-in for the job of building a Philippine army. 

There were also other incentives to McArthur taking the job. He had just concluded his term as Army Chief of Staff, and his relationship with the new Roosevelt administration was poor, at best (he had been involved in the suppression of the Bonus Marchers in 1932). Though McArthur completed his term in October of 1935, he probably hoped for a change of scenery. One of the assistants McArthur brought with him on this assignment was none other than Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

What they found was an army that existed only on paper. Weapons were cast-offs from U.S. service and were of dubious provenance. The first class of trainees wasn’t due for another two years, and the camps to train them hadn’t been built either. And the budget to accomplish all of this was paltry at best. The Philippine Army lacked basics, like uniforms and even boots, with many divisions having to make do with the despised blue denim uniforms that had just been put out of U.S. service. The Navy and Air Corps weren’t doing much better, with the latter only forming their first squadron in 1939. 

Worse, the level of training of the Army was poor, with one source stating:

“The men in the 31st Infantry [Division] were more fortunate than those in other regiments, many of whom had never even fired a rifle before entering combat. Nor had their previous five and a half months training under Philippine Army supervision been of much value…Practically none of the men…had fired as many as five rounds with the rifle or the .30 -caliber machine gun. None had fired the .50 caliber machine gun or the mortar.” (pp 29. The Fall of the Philippines, Morton, Lewis, US Army Center for Military History, Washington DC, 1953)

Contrast this with his Japanese opponent, who was most likely a veteran of the ten-year war in China, and was, supply deficiencies aside, well-trained and more than willing to come to grips with his opponent. The Philippine soldier was not ready for war, but war would be thrust upon him anyhow.  This wasn’t true of all Filipino soldiers, as the Philippine Scouts, who numbered 12,000, were considered some of the best troops in the pre-war U.S. Army and were relatively well-equipped. However, they were under direct American command, and not under the command of the Philippine Army.  

The U.S. troops in the islands themselves numbered 31,095 on the eve of war, and they had their own deficiencies. Funds were short for many years, and until September 1941, no reinforcements had arrived from the United States. 

In September, the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-Aircraft) arrived, bringing much needed additional anti-aircraft guns. In October, two tank battalions, the 192nd and the 194th, arrived in the islands, with 108 M3 Light Tanks between them, both units were soon formed into a Provisional Tank Group. 

In addition, more P-40s and B-17s arrived to reinforce the U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) squadrons deployed throughout the islands. These were some of the most modern aircraft in the USAAC at the time, so this was meant as a deterrent to Japan and a signal that the United States was making a major investment in defense of the islands. At the outbreak of war, there were 277 USAAC aircraft of all types in the Philippines, most either at Clark or Nichols Fields on the main island of Luzon. There was also the construction of additional airfields, and many of them were built just in time. However, early warning capabilities against Japanese air attacks were woefully inadequate, and this would come back to haunt the Americans. For example, of the seven radar sets present in the islands, only two had been set up and were working. 

Meanwhile, the naval presence in the islands was reliant on the U.S. and consisted of the Asiatic Fleet under Admiral Thomas Hart. His force was more to protect American commercial interests in China and “show the flag” rather than be any real impediment to Japanese aggression. The heaviest he had available was the heavy cruiser Houston, and most of the ships he had were of World War I vintage. His air arm consisted of some PBY patrol aircraft, which were useful, and he had at his disposal the 4th Marine Regiment in Shanghai at the beginning of 1941, but the regiment evacuated to the Philippines in late-November. Hart’s hope was that he could rely on support either from the British, or the Dutch, who had larger fleets in Southeast Asia, or the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. All of these hopes were, of course, to be cruelly dashed when war came. The only ships Hart had in abundance were submarines, having 29 available as of November 1941. However, American torpedo design did little to help these submarines, as the standard Mark 14 torpedo had a high dud rate, and often, American subs were frustrated in the early part of the war in sinking targets they would have otherwise destroyed had they had better torpedoes.

In March 1941, McArthur was recalled to the U.S. Army and was placed in command of all American forces in the Philippines. Despite assurances and little to work with, McArthur had put together a force of 100,000 men to defend the Philippines. But the force still had many deficiencies, and not all of them, despite efforts on both sides of the Pacific to address them, were rectified in time. Many of these deficiencies would haunt the defenders of Bataan in the months to come.

Japanese Forces and Plans

The Japanese invasion plan for the Philippines was part of an even larger strategy that had been arrived at by the Imperial General Headquarters. It had been derived from separate Army and Navy plans, which had differed little in content. The strategic goal was simple: Seize Malaya for its rubber, the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) for its oil, and expand a defensive perimeter as far out as possible to ensure that any attempt to push the Japanese back was a bloody one, and the Americans and British would prefer a negotiated peace to a long, intractable war. Many of the planned assaults were scheduled to occur within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

The Philippines was an objective for two reasons. First, it was a linchpin in the sea lines of communication (SLOC) with the proposed advance into the Dutch East Indies and Malaya. The islands needed to fall to ensure the Japanese had a secure rear area. Secondly, Manila harbor was, and still is, one of the finest deep-water ports in Southeast Asia. The Japanese needed access to that as well to sustain their advance to the south. 

The plan as it stood was for simultaneous air attacks on all American installations within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor. While this was going on, the Japanese 14th Army was to land along the north coast of Luzon and at Davao on the island of Mindanao. Both islands were the most populated in the Philippine chain. The initial objective was to seize airfields to allow the Japanese Army Air Force to provide direct air support to the forces ashore. Once the main part of the USAAC strength was wiped out, the bulk of the 14th Army was to land in Lingayen Gulf just north of Manila and Limon Bay, southeast of Manila. The two prongs of advance were then to advance quickly to Manila, trap the Americans between them, and destroy the enemy in a decisive battle somewhere near Manila. The 14th Army, under the command of General Masaharu Homma, had been given 50 days to complete this task, whereupon half of his command and most of his air support would leave to support operations to the south. As we shall see, the Japanese came nowhere close to meeting this ambitious timetable.

The Japanese planning and information gathering had been meticulous, and they had a very good idea what they would be facing in the Philippines. The Japanese were of the opinion that Americans were good soldiers, but not up to the task of prolonged combat in the tropical jungles that made up a good portion of Luzon. Additionally, Japan did not think much of the Philippine soldier at all. 

The main flaw in the Japanese invasion planning was they expected the American force would make its last stand around Manila, and then die in place. The Japanese had no plan for any contingency where the Americans withdrew into Bataan and fortified the peninsula. 

As the Japanese expected a relatively easy campaign, they only allotted two divisions, the 16th and 48th Infantry Divisions. It was this over-confidence and optimistic planning that would cost them dearly in the campaign to come. 

To be continued in Part 2 – The Curtain Rises – War Comes to the Philippines 

At SJR Research, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse SJR Research’s service on our site at SJR Research.

[hermanwatts]

“I Wish to the Devil the Country was Prepared”

In early January 1932, Robert E. Howard in a letter to H. P. Lovecraft had this to say:

“I love peace, yet I wouldnt [sic] mind a war right now such a hell of a lot, if the country was prepared; but it isnt [sic]. Japan knows it; that’s why she thinks she can kick the flag around, beat up American officials, and get away with it. I wish to the devil the country was prepared.”

This comment was in relation to Japan’s recent seizure of Manchuria in late 1931. Historians often view this as the first shot that would lead to World War 2.

I recently read Cry Havoc: The Arms Race and the Second World War 1931-1941 by Joe Maiolo. It fits in with After the Trenches by William O. Odom, Linn’s Guardians of Empire, and Geoffrey Perrett’s There’s a War to be Won.

Maiolo makes the case that Stalin’s First Five Year Plan set off the 1930s arms race that led to WW2. The Japanese made a gamble to grab Manchuria before the Red Army was modernized and too powerful.

Robert E. Howard was correct. The U.S was not in a good condition to fight a war. But then again, that is the condition it generally goes into war. In 1932, the U.S. Army had 133, 200 men. The National Defense Act of 1920 called for 17,000 officers and 280,000 enlisted men. The National Guard was to be at 435,000 men.

The U.S Army had received no new equipment after WW1. In the 1930s, it was still using the British Mark VIII “Liberty” tank and had 950 French Renault FT-17 made under license. The Renault FT-17 was used up through the 1930s so in terms of quality, not at a disadvantage.

Renault FT-17 Tank

There were designs on the books for new artillery such as the 105 mm howitzer but in 1932, the Army was still using 75 mm and 155 mm cannons of WW1 vintage. Mortars were 3 inch trench mortars with often faulty ammunition due improper storage.

What the U.S. Army had plenty of were around 2 million M1917 Enfield rifles in Cosmoline. During WW1, Winchester, Remington, and Eddystone could produce Enfields in far greater numbers than Springfield Armory with the Springfield ’03 rifle. Corporal (later Sergeant) Alvin York used the M1917 Enfield on that October day in 1918 where he picked off one German after another. Most U.S. Army units in WW1 carried Enfields.

The Enfield was accurate but long (46.25 inches). It does have that short and smooth action the Enfield series of rifles is known for. Some had been sold to the civilian market, but the supply seemed inexhaustible. They were used in basic training during WW2. In the late 1930s, the Army sold around 40,000 a year to the Philippine Commonwealth for the army that Gen. Douglas MacArthur was supposed to create. Enfields were also sold to the Free French, Nationalist Chinese, Irish Free State, and the Royal Netherlands Indies Army. I have seen pictures of stacks of Enfields handed out to Philippine guerrillas in WW2. Some were sent to Britain after Dunkirk. Rear echelon troops such as Signal Corps in the Pacific had Enfields late in WW2. All the M-1 carbines were being sent to Europe. The M1917 is still in use by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol in Greenland. The Patrol is an elite unit of the Danish Navy. The M1917 works in extreme cold conditions.

M1917 Enfield

The official rifle of the U.S. Army in 1932 was the Springfield ’03. The Army had somewhere around 800,000 of those left over from WW1. It is an accurate rifle owing its action to the Mauser.

The U.S. Army had 102,174 Browning Automatic Rifles from WW1. Ever talk to WW2 vets, they liked the BAR. It was heavy, weighing around 19 lbs. It was originally designed for suppressing fire crossing no-man’s land. Bonnie and Clyde used BARs and did Frank Hamer who took out Bonnie and Clyde. Foreign especially British writers hate the BAR calling it a poor light machine gun. It was used sort of as an LMG but gave a rifle squad a little more fire power. The Marines had two BARS per rifles squad in WW2.

Browning Automatic Rifle

The M1919 Browning machine gun began service right after WW1 and used up through Vietnam. John Moses Browning was a firearms genius.

Browning M1919 Machine Gun

The Thompson submachine gun was not adopted until 1938 by the U.S. Army but in use by the Navy and Marines. So, overall, the U.S. was in similar condition to all other great powers following WW1 with small arms.

The biggest problem is the U.S. Army had no large-scale training exercises during most of the 1930s due to lack of funding. Gen. Douglas MacArthur fought tooth and nail to keep the Army from being further by Roosevelt but money was not present for training.

A bright spot is the Army Air Corps. The Air Corps took 20% of expenditures in 1933. The U.S. at least kept up with new designs of aircraft and some purchases. The Curtis P6-E Hawk would have been the standard “pursuit” plane in those last years of bi-wing airplanes.

Out of 133,200 men, 25% of the U.S. Army was overseas. The old thinking of garrisons strewn across colonial empires ready to deal with any local emergencies.  U. S. Army strength overseas:

Philippines: 11,744 (5207 Army, 6537 Philippine Scouts). Three infantry regiments, four coast artillery, one cavalry regiments, two field artillery regiments.

Hawaii: 14,223. The Hawaiian Division (“The Pineapple Army”) and coast artillery.

Alaska: two understrength companies at Juneau.

Panama: 2 infantry regiments, 2 coast artillery regiments, 1 battalion field artillery

Tientsin, China: 15th Infantry Regiment at 2 battalions

Puerto Rico: 65th Infantry Regiment.

Another 20% of the U.S. Army was on the Mexican border. The 2nd Infantry Division was kept at full strength at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. The 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Bliss, Texas at 9,595 men; the 24th Infantry Regiment, one of the Army’s two black infantry regiments was at Ft. Huachuca in Arizona on the border.

The Washington Treaty of 1922 restricted the U.S. Navy. The Navy had 11 battleships, 3 fleet carriers, 19 cruisers, 102 destroyers, 55 submarines for two oceans. The Navy had 93,384 personnel.

The U.S. Marines stood at 16,561. The Marines were scattered from Shanghai in China to Cuba in small detachments. The 4th Marine Regiment had been in Shanghai with two battalions. The North China Marines fluctuated between 200-300 men at this time.

North China Marines

REH to HPL, 1932: “Along the Border there is a definite undercurrent of expectation, or at least apprehension, of Mexican invasion in case of war. There has been a persistent rumor, every [sic] since the last war, of the mysterious presence and vaguely sinister activities of a hundred thousand Japanese in the interior of Mexico.”

The Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920 gets most historical press. Mexico continued to have turmoil through the 1920s and 30s. Some were regional military commander led revolts against downsizing. The Yaqui Indians in northern Mexico fought the Mexican government 1926-27. There was the Cristero Rebellion 1927-29 and Cedillo Rebellion 1938-39.

Closer to home for Robert E. Howard was the San Diego Plan of 1915. Named after the small town of San Diego in southern Texas, the manifesto stated:

“On the 20th day of February, 1915, at two o’clock in the morning, we will arise in arms against the Government and Country of the United States of North America, ONE AS ALL AND AS ONE, proclaiming the liberty of individuals of the black race and its independence of Yankee tyranny which has held us in iniquitous slavery since remote times.”

In the summer of 1915, Mexican rebels and bandits (Sedicionistas) launched 30 raids against targets carried from across the Rio Grande River. The Seditionistas killed almost two-dozen U.S. citizens including kidnapping, torturing, and decapitating a U.S. soldier displaying his head on a pole in the border. The Anglo-Texan response was with extreme prejudice including extra-judicial executions in retaliation. Robert E. Howard would have been nine years old during these events.

The 2nd Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry were kept at full strength through the 1920s and 30s ready to deal with Mexico.

Could war have happened in 1932? The U.S. was so weak militarily that Japan contemptuously went about its aggression with little fear. The U.S. simply could not intimidate Japan. There was a chance of a clash with the North China Marines at Peking and the 15th Infantry Regiment at Tientsin sparking a wider war. The Japanese could have taken out scattered, isolated U.S. detachments in China, Philippines, and even Hawaii.

The plan was for the U.S. Navy to rush to relieve the Philippines in War Plan Orange while the Philippine garrison retreated to the Bataan peninsula and Corregidor island. It was thought it would take the Japanese six months just to cut through the jungle to get to American lines.

A daring attack by the Japanese on Panama could have put the canal out of use. Opportunistic politicians or generals in Mexico under Japanese encouragement could have attacked along the U.S.–Mexico border in the hope of regaining the South West. The Japanese could have trainers and advisors with the Mexican Army. They even could have a regiment of infantry to stiffen up their allies.

The U.S. could find itself with almost 25% of its army gone and another 20% desperately holding the border with no new tanks, no new artillery. It would take around eight months before you get the skeletal army and National Guard divisions filled out and trained. The Army at least had lots of rifles in storage. There were over 2 million WW1 veterans. A fair number would have been still young enough and in acceptable physical shape to provide a trained reserve to draw upon.

American industry would be able to supply plenty of trucks and other vehicles but things like tanks and cannons would take time.

Curtis P-6 Hawk

The Army Air Corps first monoplane P-26 fighter was a year away from first deliveries and the B-10 bomber two years. The Curtis P-6 Hawk, the last biplane used by the Army Air Corp would have been the plane used along the Mexican border and patrolling the West Coast.

Perhaps some sort of new tank would have been produced. An imaginary tank linking the WW1 leftovers and the M-2 tank of the late 1930s could have been produced.

The Japanese Navy could sail at will along the California coast shelling Los Angeles and San Francisco. There would not be much the U.S. could do about it for a while. In the long run, the U.S. would pummel Mexico into submission. A young Robert E. Howard joins up in the Texas National Guard (36th Infantry Division) or the Army to give the Mexicans and Japanese hell.

If there were an opportune time for the Japanese to attack, it would have been around 1936-1937. The U.S. Army would have another four years of deteriorating equipment and financial starvation. Franklin Roosevelt had taken officers out of active duty for one of his New Deal programs. They ran Civilian Conservation Corps camps. The U.S. was lucky in that a generation of young men were in a quasi-military environment providing pre-basic training. Roosevelt admired Mussolini and Stalin’s central controlled economies and emulated them. Hitler had very similar camps for German youth at the same time.

The U.S. was lucky in that when war came, a new generation of planes, tanks, rifles, vehicles were coming off the assembly lines. The Japanese and Italians were off by 10 years. Both had up modern armies for the early 1930s.  Involvement in wars during the 30s delayed modernization giving the Allies the upper hand.

A war in 1932 would have looked a lot like something at the end of WW1 with bolt action rifles, bi-planes, primitive tanks. The 1st Cavalry Division would have been on horseback on the border with some old armored cars confined to the probably few functioning roads in northern Mexico. The Marines might have made a landing at Veracruz with a thrust to Mexico City to put an end of that part of the war.  The expanding army would have made its mistakes and growing pains in Mexico. The .30-06 cartridge used in the ’03 Springfield, M1917 Enfield, and Browning Automatic Rifle was perfect for fighting in the open territory of the border. If Mexico did not join with Japan, there would have been a period of just some naval clashes for up to two years. The Japanese might have invaded Alaska making for a scenario of warfare in polar conditions.

The fleet would begin the hard fight across the Pacific as laid out in various versions of War Plan Orange would get underway ending with a blockade of Japan. By the 1930s, Navy admirals had a realistic view of a Pacific War with an island-hopping campaign through the Japanese Mandate islands including the Marshall and Caroline Islands. The Army said it could hold out in the Philippines for 6 months, the Navy estimated a two-year campaign across the Pacific to get the Philippines. So, the Army commander of the Philippine Department would be surrendering before help arrived. It was a command that few relished.

The U.S. could have trained Chinese troops to tie down the Japanese Army. Who knows, the Soviets might have joined in taking Manchuria from Japan once the war turned.

A war in 1932 with Japan and Mexico is an interesting topic. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was Chief of Staff of the U.S Army so there would be drama to the conflict. Who knows, maybe Grandpa Theobald would have volunteered as an ambulance driver like he tried to do in WW1.

“I Wish to the Devil the Country was Prepared” published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Marine reunion; Joe Mazzello x Military!reader

*Author’s note*

As a little decompresser before I go to take my second final, I thought everyone who is suffering as I am could do with a little Joey fluff. So I want to wish anyone who is currently doing their finals the best of luck and I hope this distracts you for a brief moment of all the stress that we’re all going through at this very moment.

Sidenote if I get anything wrong in regard to Marine rankings, PLEASE let me know, I want to do justice esp. since my dad was a former Marine himself, so just send me a message or comment below and politely correct me if I’ve missed something. Thank you all and happy reading and good luck on your finals. And may the odds forever be in our favor.

_________________________________________________________

“Hey guys it’s (y/n) (l/n). Or to any of my military pals out there this is Staff Sergeant (l/n) of the United States Marines. I just landed in London and I am about to head over to the Bohemian Rhapsody set. I didn’t want to do this live on my Instagram because I don’t want the surprise to be ruined but I will have it posted on there soon. I’ve got to go get my bag but I’ll check back in later, over and out.”

I went over to the baggage claim and waited for my duffle bag as well as my suitcase to come out.  Even as an American once people saw me in my uniform, they saluted me or came up to me and told me that I was doing a good thing serving my country.  I graciously thanked them and soon my bags came in. As I walked out with my bags I soon saw a man in a black suit with a sign that read.

S.S (L/n).

I knew right then that this was my ride.  I had called my good friend Rami Malek and told him of the special surprise I was hoping to do for my boyfriend Joe Mazzello and Rami had actually arranged a cab to take me straight to the set of Bohemian Rhapsody.  I walked up to the man and he said.

“Ms. (l/n)?”

“That is correct sir.”

“Hope you had a safe flight ma’am. I’m Lewis and I will be driving you over to the film set.”

“Thank you so much Lewis.” I thanked him.

“No need, my grandfather fought in the South Pacific.” He said.  He took my suitcase leaving me with my duffle and the two of us headed out and got into the car.  I took my phone back out and went back to the video setting and said.

“Okay so I am in the car right now, I just got picked up by this lovely gentleman right here, care to say hello Lewis?” I flipped the camera vision around to show Lewis and he turned around and waved before I flipped the screen back to me. “He’s going to be taking me to the set. Hopefully no one’s spilled the beans to Joe, but I think it’s gonna be good. I’ll touch base back once we get to set.”

You see I had known Joe and Rami since forever.  In fact I was currently at the same bootcamp that they were training in in order to get into their characters for a little project called ‘The Pacific.’ And Joe was playing a great hero known in the Corp, Corporal Eugene Sledge. I was at bootcamp for about 7 months at the time when I first met them, but we became good friends with each other.

As much as we could, we’d touch base with each other whenever there was a break from their lessons and I had a day of rest for a bit before going back to resume training.  I taught them as much as I knew of the Marine’s history and they took each thing I said to heart to help with their roles.

As time passed on, contact with them grew less and less until one day at my 18 month temporary leave from Iraq, I met up with Joe at a club.  He was apparently in the middle of developing a project about his brother, John who was a baseball player.  Then one thing led to another and soon we began to date.

Of course the distance between not only my leaving for deployment but his acting career was sometimes strained but somehow we still managed to work out.  I had been told from him through a phone call once he had gotten the okay to tell people, that he had been casted as Queen’s bass player John Deacon in the new Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

I was so proud of my bae and I was beyond excited because Queen was my all time favorite group growing up.  My mom loved their music and even got to watch their Live Aid performance with my dad when he was on deployment in London.

My family’s always been a military family with my dad’s side.  My grandfather fought in WW2 in the actual Pacific wars, my father fought in Desert storm and now I have been part of the military fleet of taking down Al-Qaida.  In fact I was there and the one to pull the trigger on Osama-Bin Laden himself.

Now I had told Joe that I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to visit the set and watch them film the official Live Aid performance.  Poor Joey took it so hard but he understood and didn’t say another word of it.

But what he didn’t know was that I was lying.  I had gotten the all clear to go on a 1 year deployment leave and I would be arriving on time just before they would film the most iconic rock concert in history.

After about an hour and a half drive through London and me taking pictures of all the sights since I hadn’t been to London, we finally arrived at the set.  I got out of the car and thanked Lewis and he told me it was an honor to drive me, one Military brat to another.

“You must be Joe’s girlfriend.” I turned around to see Graham King the producer of the film.

“Yes. Staff Sargant (Y/n) (l/n), it’s great to finally meet you Mr. King.” We shook hands and he said.

“Please call me Graham. And it’s an honor to have a young Marine like yourself here.”

“Thank you so much for allowing Joe the part, this meant so much to him.”

“Oh believe me he was a blessing in disguise. Practically looks like John Deacon himself.” I laughed softly and agreed with him.  “Do you mind if you record the rest of the video for me?”

“Not at all.” I handed him my phone and he took it and he messed around with it and I said.

“You recording?” He held his finger up and then pointed at me telling me that he was now officially recording. “Well here I am at the set of Bohemian Rhapsody. Weather’s been good to me so far, uhh I’ve got the producer Graham King recording and being my camera man for a bit. And now I’m about to go see Joey.”

“But we gotta make sure we’re quiet because last I was there; they were about to start filming.”

“Okay so let’s hurry and get over to the main stage and see how they all do.” We then walked across the set.  Graham would put the phone down so as to not spoil any secrets until finally we came around the bottom of the tall Wembley stage.

Oh my god, it was just like looking at the actual thing.  And I could see the guys all up on stage in full costume and god did Joey really look like John with that fluffy wig on.  After not seeing him for over a year this was unbelievable, my heart was racing and I almost screamed out to him but I didn’t want to give the surprise away too early, plus I didn’t want the director mad at me for ruining a take.

Graham handed me my phone back and I asked if I was at least allowed to take pics of the boys and he granted me access so long as I didn’t post them on any social media yet.  So I shut off the recording and began to take some pics as the boys began to recreate the full Live Aid concert.

And it was absolutely amazing.  The costumes, the lights, the live playing of their instruments, everything was beautiful. Seeing my good friend Rami embody Freddie on stage was like actually seeing Freddie live and in person, now I know how my mom felt when she was at the real Wembley stadium at the actual performance.

And Joe—oh my Joey.  Playing the bass and doing the famed Disco Deacy moves when need be.  As ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ ended and Radio Gaga came on now, I couldn’t help but sing along and when the double clap came up, I joined in smiling widely as tears formed in my eyes.

Song after song played and I would softly sing along, danced a bit (Crazy little thing called love) and do the stomp-stomp-clap (We will rock you) as well as taking pictures as well as short snippet videos.  Finally the last song ‘We are the Champions’ came on and I swayed softly singing along and watching the boys bring it all the way home.

Just like the real Live Aid performance, these four boys were truly bringing a show and punching a hole in the sky.  By the end of it all, I along with the crowd of over 200 extras were applauding.  Even the crew members were applauding as the four boys stood front and center on stage and Rami did the famed goodbye Freddie did at the real Live Aid.

After calling cut and seeing that the first run through was a huge success and no need to do it again, Graham then took one of the mics and said.

“Alright everyone that’s a wrap on the Live Aid set!” Everyone clapped along with Rami, Gwilym, Ben and Joe.  “And I know it was probably special to one of our actors, Joe will you please stay forward?” Joe got that confused look on his face as Rami pulled the two other boys back and one of the crew members came over to me and led me up towards the back of the stage.

As I raced up the stage and was guided behind the flaps where the boys had come out of before filming started, I felt my adrenaline pumping up as Graham’s voice continued to speak.

“Joe Mazzello playing our bass player John Deacon, we’d like to acknowledge your girlfriend Staff Sergeant (Y/n) (L/n) of the US Marines.” And once again even though as an American officer of the military, Armed forces is Armed forces, so all the British extras and crew members cheered and applauded as Graham continued, “Staff Sergeant (l/n) has been serving in the military for over 10 years, you both met during the set of filming ‘The Pacific’ and we tip our hats to your girlfriend for being part of missions like the fall of Al-Qaida. And the search for Bin-Laden.” The crowd kept cheering and I knew Joe had to be a blushing mess right about now. “So everyone please give it up for Staff Sergeant (l/n)!” two of the cast members playing the volunteers pulled back the flaps and I walked on stage and the crowd roared with applause.  Joe turned around and bless his little heart he fell to the crowd crying.

I walked closer to him until he suddenly shot up like a bullet, sprinted like a freakin cheetah and tackled me in a hug.  Picking me up and spinning me around.  I sobbed into his shirt as I held him as tightly as he was holding me.

I could hear the crowd whistling and cheering, and through my own teary eyes I saw Rami and the two other boys clap and wipe away their tears, I could also see Rami with his phone out probably recording a video of this.

Joe then began kissing all over my face frantically before capturing my lips and not letting up.

“I don’t—I can’t……how did…..oh who the fuck cares you’re here! And you’re back! You’re really here!” he said between hard and deep kisses.

“Ladies and gentlemen please give it up one more time for Staff Sergeant (Y/n) (L/n)!” The crowd cheered one last time as Joe pulled me in for one last kiss, but this time he dipped me backwards in that famed ‘dip kiss’ pose.

After things finally calmed down, Joe and I were walking through the backstage of the Wembley stage and he said.

“I still can’t believe you came. Did you see the whole performance?”

“Yeah I did. Saw it from start to finish. I was watching you the whole time.”

“But how?”

“You can thank the set approval visit from Rami. Also I got approved for a 1 year leave. I can stay here with you and see you film the movie, maybe even go to the premiere. If you’ll have me that is.”

“Oh doll of course I want you there with me. God I just can’t believe you’re here.” He hugged me tight and I buried my face into his neck, playing around with his floofy wig.  It was then I was shocked to see just who a few feet were away from me were.

Going around the set talking with Graham was the real life Brian May and Roger Taylor.

“Oh….my god.” I said star-struck.  Joe turned around and he said,

“You wanna meet them?”

“I—I’ll make a fool of myself I just know it.” I said sheepishly.

“Hey, I was petrified to meet them too but they’re really awesome guys.” I looked up into my boyfriend’s brown eyes and said.

“I swear if you embarrass me we’re finished.” He laughed softly and pecked my cheek before taking my hand and leading me towards the two rock Gods.

“Brian, Roger.” The two rock legends looked up and Brian said.

“Ah Joe, amazing job out there. You all were fantastic; it was like being back at Live Aid.” Brian said.

“Thanks Brian.” Joe thanked them.

“So this is the girl you wouldn’t stop talking about.” Roger said as he turned to look at me.

“Yes, I told you I wasn’t making her up.” Joe teased.  He wrapped his arm around me and said, “Gentlemen, this is the love of my life (Y/n) (l/n). (Y/n) you obviously know Brian and Roger.” I nervously waved and smiled sheepishly.

“I really hope he didn’t overdo it on talking about me.”

“Nonsense, we’ve done the same thing with our wives. It’s great to finally meet you dear.” Brian said with a soft smile and extended his hand out to me.  I shook it and blushed at the fact that Brian May just called me dear.

“Can I just say that it’s just an honor to even be in her royal majesties presence? My mom actually got to see you guys perform in the real Live Aid concert while my dad was deployed here in London back in the mid 80’s.”

“Believe us love, if anyone’s honored to be in someone’s presence it’s us that are honored to meet you. You’re doing your country proud for all the work you’ve done.” Roger said and soon the two members of the greatest rock and roll band actually saluted me.  And I did the best thing I knew.

I saluted her majesties back.

Later that day as the day went on and I got to know Ben and Gwilym more by going out to the pub once filming was over.  I noticed that Joe refused to take off his Yankees hat.  In fact he made sure that no one was going to take it off.

“Joey please take the hat off, there’s no need for it.” I said.

“I don’t think I should.”

“Oh come on, it’s not like you can get wig-hair. Now take it off before you get severe case of hat-hair.”

“(Y/n) it’s for the best that I—” suddenly Gwilym flopped the hat off and gestured,

“This is why he won’t take it off (y/n). He’s got a perm!” The boys then all began to hoot and holler as Joe embarrassingly grabbed his hat and put it back on. However I stopped him and removed the hat to see his full on curly perm. He refused to look at me as he muttered.

“I didn’t know perm stood for permanent.” I smiled at my loveable dork and kissed his cheek and said.

“It looks cute on you.”

“Yeah right.”

“I’m serious. It’s not that bad. When I first enrolled at bootcamp my hairdresser actually screwed up and cut my hair into the Captain Marvel mohawk style. And all I wanted was just a pixie cut.”

“You mean the female captain Marvel style right?”

“Yes.” He looked at me almost imagining it and he said.

“I think you’d look cute with it, hell badass even. I mean when I met you your hair was already midway to your neck.”

“Yeah but never again will I get a mohawk.”

“Oh c’mon babe. If I have to get a perm, then you have to get a mohawk.”

“Absolutely out of the question Mazzello. Now not another word of it or I’ll have you detained for insubordination.”

“Ohh gonna get all naught with me Staff Sergeant?” he mocked as his forehead touched mine.

“We’re still here you know.” Rami’s voice piped in.  Joe and I chuckled nervously and we pecked each other’s lips before I apologized to the guys and we continued our round of drinks.

As the weeks followed and more scenes were being filmed, Joe was currently being fitted into some of the concert footages they were going use as Queen got more publicity.  He now had the long haired wig, wore the black pants, high-heeled boots and the black overcoat with buttoned down white shirt that revealed his chest, you know the Live at the Rainbow Nov. 1974 look.

“Well how do I look?” he asked.

“I swear Joey if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were trying to seduce me with that outfit.” I said as I had been fitted to be one of the extras in the crowd.

I wore a beautiful black floral chiffon cape dress that went down pass my knees. I was fitted with a (h/c) wavy haired wig as well as some black heels and a couple of necklaces and bracelets.

“Oh really?” Oh god he was now slipping into Deacon’s accent.  He slowly walked over toward me and cupped my chin and said still using the accent, “Am I seducing you now love?”

“Possibly.” He smirked at me before lightly kissing me before trailing along my jaw line, up my cheek and towards my ear.

“My beautiful darling, you have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” He nipped and kissed around my ear, whispering to me in that accent of his words of love and lustful desires.  I gripped onto his shoulders as I softly moaned, I felt myself get lost in the pleasure of feeling his strong arms around me and his dirty whispers in my ear that I almost didn’t even register the director calling everyone into place. “Care to stay after the show love?” he spoke.

“John Deacon I swear you better take me home after this concert.”

“I will love, that’s a promise.” Joe grinned and kissed me before taking me hand and leading me toward the set.

In the months to come, I was there for Joe each scene that was filmed.  Being an extra in the crowd and when it came time for the premiere, I was right there center stage right by Joe’s side the entire time.  I was so proud and happy for all that’s he’s accomplished and I was so happy that I was allowed to be a part of this massive success.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.2

350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators. 713 – The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army. 1098 – After 5-month siege during the First Crusade, the Crusaders seize Antioch (today's Turkey). 1140 – The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy. 1326 – The Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark. 1539 – Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain. 1608 – Samuel de Champlain lands at Tadoussac, Quebec, in the course of his third voyage to New France, and begins erecting fortifications. 1621 – The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland. 1658 – Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France. 1665 – James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft. 1781 – Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by Banastre Tarleton. 1839 – In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War. 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia. 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor: Union forces attack Confederate troops in Hanover County, Virginia. 1866 – The Fenians are driven out of Fort Erie, Ontario back into the United States. 1885 – In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police. 1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon. 1916 – The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men. 1935 – One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa. 1937 – The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson. 1940 – World War II: The Luftwaffe bombs Paris. 1940 – World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat. 1940 – Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl. 1941 – World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants. 1942 – World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island. 1943 – In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines attack Latino youths in the five-day Zoot Suit Riots. 1950 – Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak. 1962 – At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130. 1963 – Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments. 1965 – The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk. 1969 – Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half. 1973 – A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft. 1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded. 1980 – An explosive device is detonated at the Statue of Liberty. The FBI suspects Croatian nationalists. 1980 – The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $942 million in 2020) worth of damage. 1982 – The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed. 1984 – Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000. 1989 – The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation. 1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists. 1992 – Aboriginal land rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Eddie Mabo. 1998 – After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people. 2006 – The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence. 2012 – A plane carrying 153 people on board crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board and six people on the ground. 2012 – The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames. 2013 – The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland. 2013 – At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China. 2015 – An explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana, killing more than 200 people. 2017 – London Bridge attack: Eight people are murdered and dozens of civilians are wounded by Islamist terrorists. Three of the attackers are shot dead by the police. 2019 – Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.

[rollinpage]

    A large tunnel, for a small island anyway, with several doors set into the sides. There are labels on the doors, but they are all in Japanese.

It’s 1854.  Commodore Matthew Perry has just sailed his black ships into Tokyo bay and forced the Tokugawa Shogunate to open Japan to foreign trade for the first time in more than 200 years.  The sudden appearance of large, modern warships on Japanese shores served as a wake up call and made it clear that Japan couldn’t ignore the march of technology anymore.  Of course, Japan in the late Edo period was not in some kind of dark age, completely cut off from the outside world.  The Dutch had been bringing news, books, ideas, and stories of the outside world into Nagasaki Prefecture the entire time the country was closed. So in spite of the country’s relative isolation, the Japanese government knew what was going on in outside the world.  In fact, I have heard it said that, when Commodore Perry finally met with the Shogun’s representatives, they asked about the recent war the U.S. fought against Mexico.  To the Japanese at the time, though, all of this was so far away. But with the U.S. demanding trade and the British, French, and others waiting in line behind them, it was becoming clear that Japan needed a much stronger navy.  At first, this meant buying used ships from other naval powers, but that was just a starting point.  In 1865, French naval engineer François Léonce Verny was hired by the Tokugawa Shogunate to build two modern military shipyards – the first of these would transform a small fishing village on Tokyo Bay called Yokosuka into a naval powerhouse.

The modern city of Yokosuka as seen from the old battery on Sarushima.

Through out the Edo Period, Yokosuka and the surrounding area was under the direct control of the Tokugawa Clan and the Shogun directly, who had built a few small fortifications control watch traffic in and out of Tokyo Bay, inspecting cargo, and ensuring that no foreign ships or illegal goods entered the country.  Of course, this didn’t stop Commodore Perry and his fleet – a fact not lost on the Shogun and his advisers.  That is why they hired Verny and he got right to work, building dry-docks, repair facilities, and iron works, and even launching the Yokosuka-maru, Japan’s first domestically produced steam ship, in 1866.  This also resulted in the expansion of defensive fortifications into modern coastal artillery batteries.  Following the fall of the Shogunate, the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy took over the Yokosuka Shipyard in 1871, keeping Verny and the other French engineers on until 1878 while they trained the Japanese engineers who would continue their work.  Over time, the Yokosuka Shipyardl became the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal which served as the backbone of the larger Yokosuka Naval District. As the shipyard and port facilities were expanded and additional sites were built and consolidated, Yokosuka became the first of four major naval districts in Japan due to its size and close proximity to the capital in Tokyo.

Battleship Mikasa stands on the waterfront, as seen from the ferry to Sarushima.

Some of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s most impressive and important ships were built and berthed in Yokosuka.   Japan’s first submarines, purchased from the U.S., were brought to Yokosuka,  Japan’s first domestically produced battleship, the Satsuma, was built in the Yokosuka dry docks.  Several of the battleships and carriers Japan used in WWII were built and maintained in Yokosuka.  Like carrier Shikoku and battleship Yamashiro.  Technical schools and research stations were established throughout the Yokosuka Naval District and Eventually and Air Technical Arsenal was established to design new naval aircraft for the Japanese.  Throughout the Imperial era, and right up until Japan’s formal surrender at the end of WWII, Yokosuka maintained its position as the most important naval headquarters in the country.  But, the end did eventually come.  The Naval Arsenal and shipyard were taken over post war by the U.S. Navy, who still use the original dry docks designed by Verny in the 1800s.   In fact, what little still exists of the original Yokosuka Naval Arsenal are mostly on the current American Fleet Activities Yokosuka navy base, where several sites, like the dry docks and headquarters buildings, are still in use.  Even so, many of the bunkers are walled off and off limits, – both on base and off.  This is probably the biggest difference between Yokosuka and the other formal Naval Districts from this time period.  While places like Kure and Nagasaki own their naval heritage and seem proud to show it off to the public, Yokosuka has hidden much of it away, leaving only a few traces of what once was.

The path through the former barracks, carved into the stone of the small island. Today, a raised wooden walkway leads past the fenced, locked structures.

However, there are a couple places that remains of the old Naval Arsenal can still be found.  The best known of these is probably Sarushima, or Monkey Island.  This small island is located a short ferry ride from the battleship Mikasa park and contains the mostly preserved ruins of the old Meiji Period defensive gun battery that once inhabited the island.  It also boasts that it is the only island in Tokyo Bay that hasn’t been extensively altered, expanded, or otherwise changed to make it inhabitable.  The island had been used as a small fortification by the Tokugawa Shogunate for much of the Edo Period, but when the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was established, the island’s defenses were expanded into a modern shore based artillery battery to protect the approaches to Tokyo from hostile ships.  From 1881 until the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the shore battery occupied the entire island with further support buildings on shore nearby.  After the earthquake, however, many of the gun emplacements were damaged, and as technology marched on, they were not repaired.  Rather, the island was converted into a smaller anti-aircraft battery, which was abandoned after the war.  Shortly after the U.S. Navy took over the area, the city started using the island as a marine park, which it still is today.

Sarushima, or Monkey Island. It is said that, during the Kamakura Period, a monk was traveling across Tokyo Bay on a boat when he was suddenly caught up in a storm. which wrecked his boat and tossed him into the sea. When he woke up on the beach, he was certain monkeys had some from the island and saved him, in spite of the fact that no monkeys have ever lived on the island.

So, a few weeks ago, I headed over to Yokosuka, hopped on a boat, and had a look for myself.  In all honesty, from a historical standpoint, it was a little disappointing.  The island itself is a cool place to walk around, appreciate the view of Tokyo Bay, and enjoy a little hiking, BBQ, and nature.  But all of the old buildings and structures are locked and sealed.  Most of the gun emplacements are poorly preserved with just the concrete circle marking where they once stood, with many of the structures around them erased and no other markers indicating what was there.  One emplacement even had a hiking path carved through it.  The observatory at the island’s highest point is chained shut and cut off from visitors.  Meanwhile, there are cones, plastic gates, and caution tape everywhere, almost as if someone considered preserving the remains as a proper museum, but then just couldn’t be bothered.  When you consider the fact that the battery had been reduced by the time of WWII war, and the fact that there are far better sites preserved elsewhere, it hardly seems worth the 1,500 yen for the ferry if you are going to the island for the gun battery.  If you want to see better preserved gun batteries in Yokosuka that were in use during the war, I suggest taking the bus to Kannonzaki Park and hiking up the mountain to see the remains of the old fortress there.  But that is another article for another day.

the path toward the main tunnel,

If you are in the area and have a day to kill, Sarushima is a nice place to visit.  But at 1,500 yen per person just to get there, if you are serious about history, it may not be worth the cost.

  the small cutout in this wooden walkway shows the old, worn stone path soldiers would have walked when the battery was in place.

A path winds around Sarushima

The earthworks and concrete of a large gun emplacement on Sarushima. This is the largest emplacement we saw on the island and the only one with the ammo storage and earthworks still intact.

ammunition storage in a large gun emplacement.

this smaller side tunnel

the current walking path cuts across a smaller gun emplacement.

A locked door and window set into the hillside lined in moss stained bricks. As with most other locations, the small placard is only in Japanese.

Barracks windows set into the brickwork

A locked gate leading into one of the many chambers cut into the hillside on Sarushima.

A sign stands over the pier on arrival to Sarushima, Yokosuka, Japan

  Yokosuka Naval Arsenal: Sarushima Battery It's 1854.  Commodore Matthew Perry has just sailed his black ships into Tokyo bay and forced the Tokugawa Shogunate to open Japan to foreign trade for the first time in more than 200 years. 

[newstfionline]

Asia Is Trawling for a Deadly Fishing War

By Jenny Gustafsson, Foreign Policy, June 16, 2017

THALVUPADU, Sri Lanka--Stanley Cruz, a fisher in this beachside village on the island of Mannar off Sri Lanka’s northwestern coast, stands with his bare feet in the sand, holding up a green net between his hands.

“This is the kind of net, you see. Last week, we lost many hundreds of these. Twelve of us fishers, when we went out to get them in the morning they were gone,” he says.

He points toward the waters behind him: the Palk Strait, a narrow body of water separating Sri Lanka from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Cruz was out the night before, laying his nets in the sea, just like thousands of other fishers from both sides of the strait. But when he went to get them in the morning, they were gone.

“It keeps happening over and over,” says Mary Subramali, an elderly woman who cleans and sorts the incoming fish. “The trawlers come to take our fish and cut our nets, destroying them with their propellers. My son just lost his for the second time.”

She picks up a cold, slippery fish from a basket and severs its head and fins with ease. For her and others on the northern coast of Sri Lanka, losing nets has become a familiar story. Over 30,000 people from the minority Tamil community in Thalvupadu work as fishers, mainly on a small-scale, mostly earning less than $2,500 per year, about two-thirds of the islands’ average. Nets in these coastal societies are precious investments--even a small one costs $23, and the village has lost nearly 1,000 of them.

Their Indian counterparts on the other side are also ethnically Tamil, but a shared heritage has come to mean little on an increasingly cutthroat ocean. The severed nets are at the center of a fierce dispute over the intrusion of Tamil Nadu bottom trawlers, which regularly come to catch their fish in Sri Lankan waters. It’s one of many conflicts playing out across the Indian and Pacific oceans over increasingly thin fishing grounds--clashes that are destroying the livelihoods of the poor and threatening to escalate into an even wider and more destructive form.

In the past, the calm and shallow Palk Strait waters had more than enough fish to sustain communities on both sides. Its maritime landscape, with numerous lagoons and small islets, make for excellent breeding waters; over 600 marine species can be found near its coasts. But excessive trawling on the Indian side, starting in the 1960s, severely depleted its waters and pushed boats to navigate deeper into Sri Lankan waters.

Trawlers began crossing in the 1980s, at the same time that Sri Lanka descended into a destructive civil war between the government and the militant Tamil Tigers, who fought for independence in the country’s north. But the fisheries conflict only heated up in 2009, after the Sri Lankan civil war was brought to a painful end--with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, but also the killing of tens of thousands of civilians. Fishers, who during the war had faced army restrictions, long periods of displacement, losses of family members, and the destruction of their homes and boats, were finally able to return to the sea.

“But the waters were not like before,” says A.S. Soosai, professor of geography at the University of Jaffna. “Fishers were trying to recover, but catches and earnings were nowhere near what they used to be. The main reason for that is the trawlers.”

When scientists describe the destructiveness of bottom trawling, the practice is often likened to “bulldozing the sea.” The nets, so finely meshed that they bring in by-catches several times the fish they strive to haul in, severely damage marine life and cause irreparable to the bottom of the sea. Ironically, this technique was introduced in India as a way to improve life for coastal fishers, through a Norwegian government aid program in the 1960s.

“Fishermen were told that trawling was a new and modern technology and those resisting it were resisting change,” says Johny Stephen, a fisheries researcher with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Hyderabad.

But the “blue revolution” promised by trawling soon turned out to marginalize small-scale fishers, who use traditional methods like gillnetting, where fish are caught in nets laid out vertically in the water. Soon after trawling was brought to India, small-scale fishers decreased by 50 to 75 percent in areas where the method had been introduced.

The coming of trawlers, combined with other intensive fishing methods, has left stocks depleted worldwide. Far from the Palk Strait, similar scenarios are played out in many of the world’s other waters, with 85 percent of global fisheries in full or near depletion. Amid growing global demand for food, access to the remaining marine resources has become increasingly contested, with small-scale fishers increasingly unable to compete against foreign, often illegal, boats in their waters.

The South China Sea, one of the most important fishing zones in the world, accounting for 12 percent of global catch, has been a particularly volatile region. China’s fishing fleet--the largest in the world--is navigating far beyond its heavily overfished maritime territory. Desperate to make a living, fishers are pushing into the most dangerous waters, including North Korea, where Chinese fishers are regularly seized by the authorities and held for ransom.

In 2015, the country began constructing artificial islands, effectively extending its control in the surrounding waters. Indonesia, which has the largest archipelago in the region but until recently considered itself a nonparty to its maritime disputes, started a strategy of “shock therapy,” dynamiting foreign vessels in their waters. Vietnam and the Philippines have seized Chinese boats and arrested fishers. China, for its part, stopped a fishing boat crossing over from the Philippines last year. A 2013 clash between Taiwanese fishers and the Philippine coast guard left one man dead and diplomatic relations frozen. In 2014, Australia destroyed Vietnamese clam fishing boats after Palau did the same in 2013.

Conflicts over fisheries are a new global phenomenon, and the result of a radical reorganization of the world’s oceans. In the mid-20th century, a number of countries moved to extend their territories into the sea, effectively putting an end to mare liberum, the prevailing idea that seas are free and open to all. U.N. legislation established Exclusive Economic Zones in 1982, granting preferential rights to waters within 200 nautical miles from each country’s shores. Since then, access to fishing waters has become a matter of national interest and, increasingly, a potential source of conflict.

The Palk Strait neighbors share many common cultural ties, but also a recent history of strained relations. The small-scale disputes over nets and waters are threatening to build into a dispute that could wreck relations between India and the island.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.3

350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators. 713 – The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army. 1140 – The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy. 1326 – The Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark. 1539 – Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain. 1608 – Samuel de Champlain completes his third voyage to New France at Tadoussac, Quebec. 1621 – The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland. 1658 – Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France. 1665 – James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft. 1781 – Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by Banastre Tarleton. 1839 – In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War. 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia. 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor: Union forces attack Confederate troops in Hanover County, Virginia. 1866 – The Fenians are driven out of Fort Erie, Ontario back into the United States. 1885 – In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police. 1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon. 1916 – The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men. 1935 – One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa. 1937 – The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson. 1940 – World War II: The Luftwaffe bombs Paris. 1940 – World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat. 1940 – Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl. 1941 – World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants. 1942 – World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island. 1943 – In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines clash with Latino youths in the Zoot Suit Riots. 1950 – Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak. 1962 – At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130. 1963 – Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments. 1965 – The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk. 1969 – Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half. 1973 – A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft. 1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded. 1980 – An explosive device is detonated at the Statue of Liberty. The FBI suspects Croatian nationalists. 1980 – The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $931 million in 2019) worth of damage. 1982 – The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed. 1984 – Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000. 1989 – The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation. 1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists. 1992 – Aboriginal land rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Eddie Mabo. 1998 – After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people. 2006 – The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence. 2012 – A plane carrying 153 people on board crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board and 10 people on the ground. 2012 – The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames. 2013 – The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland. 2013 – At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China. 2015 – An explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana, killing more than 200 people. 2017 – London Bridge attack: Eight people are murdered and dozens of civilians are wounded by Islamist terrorists. Three of the attackers are shot dead by the police. 2019 – Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.3

350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators. 713 – The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army. 1140 – The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy. 1326 – The Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark. 1539 – Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain. 1608 – Samuel de Champlain completes his third voyage to New France at Tadoussac, Quebec. 1621 – The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland. 1658 – Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France. 1665 – James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft. 1781 – Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by Banastre Tarleton. 1839 – In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War. 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia. 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor: Union forces attack Confederate troops in Hanover County, Virginia. 1866 – The Fenians are driven out of Fort Erie, Ontario back into the United States. 1885 – In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police. 1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon. 1916 – The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men. 1935 – One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa. 1937 – The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson. 1940 – World War II: The Luftwaffe bombs Paris. 1940 – World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat. 1940 – Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl. 1941 – World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants. 1942 – World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island. 1943 – In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines clash with Latino youths in the Zoot Suit Riots. 1950 – Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak. 1962 – At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130. 1963 – The Buddhist crisis: Soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam attack protesting Buddhists in Huế, South Vietnam, with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalised for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments. 1965 – The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk. 1969 – Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half. 1973 – A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft. 1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded. 1980 – An explosive device is detonated at the Statue of Liberty. The FBI suspects Croatian nationalists. 1980 – The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $912 million in 2018) worth of damage. 1982 – The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed. 1984 – Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000. 1989 – The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation. 1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists. 1992 – Aboriginal land rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Eddie Mabo. 1998 – After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people. 2006 – The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence. 2012 – A plane carrying 153 people on board crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board and 10 people on the ground. 2012 – The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames. 2013 – The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland. 2013 – At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China. 2015 – An explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana, killing more than 200 people. 2017 – London Bridge attack: Eight people are murdered and dozens of civilians are wounded by Islamist terrorists. Three of the attackers are shot dead by the police.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.7

3761 BC – The epoch reference date epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar). 1403 – Battle of Modon: Genoese fleet under Jean Le Maingre (Marshal Boucicaut) is defeated by the Republic of Venice at Modon in the Peloponnese. 1406 – French troops comprising 1,000 men at arms landed on Jersey and fought a battle against 3,000 defenders. 1477 – Uppsala University is inaugurated after receiving its corporate rights from Pope Sixtus IV in February the same year. 1513 – Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians. 1542 – Explorer Cabrillo discovers Santa Catalina Island off of the California coast. 1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Ottoman Navy suffers its first defeat. 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. 1691 – The English royal charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued. 1763 – King George III of the United Kingdom issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of the Alleghenies to white settlements. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights. 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain: American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina. 1800 – French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d'août. 1826 – The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S. 1828 – Morea expedition: The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force in the Peloponnese under General Maison. 1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands. 1862 – Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) opens as the first hospital in the Colony of British Columbia 1864 – American Civil War: Bahia incident: USS Wachusett illegally captures the CSS Florida Confederate raider while in port in Bahia, Brazil in violation of Brazilian neutrality. 1868 – Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date. 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: Siege of Paris: Léon Gambetta flees Paris in a hot-air balloon. 1879 – Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance. 1912 – The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction. 1916 – Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222–0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history. 1918 – The Regency Council of the Kingdom of Poland declares independence from the German Empire and forms the Republic of Poland. 1919 – KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name. 1924 – Andreas Michalakopoulos becomes Prime Minister of Greece for a short period of time. 1929 – Photius II becomes Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. 1933 – Air France is inaugurated, after being formed by a merger of five French airlines. 1940 – World War II: The McCollum memo proposes bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States. 1942 – World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River. 1944 – World War II: During an uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jewish prisoners burn down Crematorium IV. 1949 – The communist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed. 1950 – Mother Teresa establishes the Missionaries of Charity. 1958 – President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of General Ayub Khan and the army, suspends the 1956 constitution, imposes martial law, and cancels the elections scheduled for January 1959. 1958 – The U.S. manned space-flight project is renamed Project Mercury. 1959 – U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits the first ever photographs of the far side of the Moon. 1963 – John F. Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. 1977 – The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution. 1985 – The Mameyes landslide kills almost 200 people in Puerto Rico. 1987 – Sikh nationalists declares the independence of Khalistan from India; it is not internationally recognized. 1988 – An Iñupiat hunter discovers three gray whales trapped under the ice in Barrow, Alaska, US; the situation becomes a multinational effort to free the whales. 1993 – The flood of '93 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage. 1996 – Fox News Channel begins broadcasting. 1998 – Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten by two young adults in Laramie, Wyoming. 2001 – The Global War on Terrorism begins as a result of the September 11 attacks. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan initiates with an air assault and covert operations on the ground. 2003 – The governor of California, Gray Davis, is recalled in favor of Arnold Schwarzenegger. 2008 – Asteroid 2008 TC3 impacts the Earth over Sudan, the first time an asteroid impact is detected prior to its entry into earth's atmosphere. 2016 – In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the death toll rises to 800.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.26

1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil. 1531 – The 1531 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War. 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent. 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers. 1700 – The Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records. 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne. 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day. 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia. 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state. 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong. 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory. 1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers. 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union. 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker. 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent. 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union. 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon. 1905 – The world's largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa. 1911 – Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane. 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress. 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers' Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war. 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer. 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird. 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj ("Complete Independence") which occurred 17 years later. 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City. 1934 – German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed. 1939 – Spanish Civil War – Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona. 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland. 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later. 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor. 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976). 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India. 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. 1956 – Soviet Union hands Porkkala back to Finland. 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds the appointment of Physician to the President. 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km). 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India. 1980 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations. 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni. 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi. 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons. 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. 2001 – The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured. 2004 – President Hamid Karzai signs the current Constitution of Afghanistan. 2005 – Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles. 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina. 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.