THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

ON THIS DAY

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June 5, 1967

Start of Six-Day War

The Six-Day War was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, from 5 to 10 June 1967.

Military hostilities broke out amid poor relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, which had been observing the 1949 Armistice Agreements signed at the end of the First Arab–Israeli War.

In the months prior to the outbreak of the Six-Day War in June 1967, tensions had again become dangerously heightened: Israel reiterated its post-1956 position that there should be no further Egyptian closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. In May 1967, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser announced that the Straits of Tiran would again be closed to Israeli vessels. He subsequently mobilized the Egyptian military into defensive lines along the border with Israel.

On 5 June 1967Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Egyptian airfields and other facilities in what is known as Operation Focus. Egyptian forces were caught by surprise, and nearly all of Egypt's military aerial assets were destroyed, giving Israel air supremacy. Simultaneously, the Israeli military launched a ground offensive into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as well as the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip. After some initial resistance, Nasser ordered an evacuation of the Sinai Peninsula; by the sixth day of the conflict, Israel had occupied the entire Sinai Peninsula. Jordan, which had entered into a defense pact with Egypt just a week before the war began, did not take on an all-out offensive role against Israel, but launched attacks against Israeli forces to slow Israel's advance. On the fifth day, Syria joined the war by shelling Israeli positions in the north.

Egypt and Jordan agreed to a ceasefire on 8 June, and Syria on 9 June, and it was signed with Israel on 11 June. The Six-Day War resulted in more than 15,000 Arab fatalities, while Israel suffered fewer than 1,000. Alongside the combatant casualties were the deaths of 20 Israeli civilians killed in Arab forces air strikes on Jerusalem, 15 UN peacekeepers killed by Israeli strikes in the Sinai at the outset of the war, and 34 US personnel killed in the USS Liberty incident in which Israeli air forces struck a United States Navy technical research ship.

At the time of the cessation of hostilities, Israel had occupied the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank including East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. The displacement of civilian populations as a result of the Six-Day War would have long-term consequences, as around 280,000 to 325,000 Palestinians and 100,000 Syrians fled or were expelled from the West Bank and the Golan Heights, respectively. Nasser resigned in shame after Israel's victory, but was later reinstated following a series of protests across Egypt. In the aftermath of the conflict, Egypt closed the Suez Canal until 1975.

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TODAY'S DEFINITIONS

 Sent to me by Vince C, thanks Vince . . .

BEAUTY PARLOR

A place where women curl up and dye.

CHICKENS

The only animal you eat before they are born

and after they are dead.

COMMITTEE

A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.

DUST

Mud with the juice squeezed out.

EGOTIST

Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.

HANDKERCHIEF

Cold Storage.

INFLATION

Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.

MOSQUITO

An insect that makes you like flies better.

 POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

A doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority,

and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,

which holds forth the proposition that it is

entirely possible to pick up dirt by the clean end.

 RAISIN

Grape with a sunburn.

SECRET

Something you tell to one person at a time.

SKELETON

A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.

TOOTHACHE

The pain that drives you to extraction.

TOMORROW

One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.

YAWN

An honest opinion openly expressed.

WRINKLES

Something other people have....similar to my character lines.

Something other people have....similar to my character lines.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

ON THIS DAY

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4 June 1937

First shopping carts

On June 4, 1937, Sylvan Goldman introduced the shopping cart, in the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain in Oklahoma City, of which he was the owner. With the assistance of a mechanic named Fred Young, Goldman constructed the first shopping cart, basing his design on that of a wooden folding chair. They built it with a metal frame and added wheels and wire baskets. Another mechanic, Arthur Kosted, developed a method to mass-produce the carts by inventing an assembly line capable of forming and welding the wire. The cart was awarded patent number 2,196,914 on April 9, 1940 titled, “Folding Basket Carriage for Self-Service Stores.” They advertised the invention as part of a new “No Basket Carrying Plan.”

The invention did not catch on immediately. Men found them effeminate; women found them suggestive of a baby carriage. “I’ve pushed my last baby buggy,” offended women informed him. After hiring several male and female models to push his new invention around his store and demonstrate their utility, as well as greeters to explain their use, his folding-style shopping carts became extremely popular and Goldman became a multimillionaire by collecting a royalty on every folding design shopping cart in the United States.

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WEIRD WEDNESDAY

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FROM HISTORY . . .

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The Cadaver Synod (also called the Cadaver Trial) was the ecclesiastical trial of Pope Formosus, who had been dead for about seven months, in Rome in 897.[

Formosus was succeeded by Pope Boniface VI who in turn was succeeded by Pope Stephen VI. Stephen accused Formosus of perjury, of having acceded to the papacy illegally, and illegally presiding over more than one diocese at the same time. He had Formosus's corpse exhumed and brought to the papal court for judgment. At the end of the trial, Formosus was pronounced guilty, and his papacy retroactively declared null.

After pronouncing him guilty, he cut off Formus’s fingers (so he couldn’t issue posthumous blessings) and threw6 his body in the Tiber. Formusus ended up on shore and people started attributing miracles to it. Stephen was quickly deposed, later died in prison and the Catholic church was all like, "let's just pretend this never happened."

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Wilmer McLean (1814 – 1882) was an American wholesale grocer from Virginia. His house, near Manassas, Virginia, was involved in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861. After the battle, he moved to Appomattox, Virginia, to escape the war, thinking that it would be safe.

Instead, in 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in McLean's house in Appomattox, pictured below:

His houses were, therefore, involved in one of the first and one of the last encounters of the American Civil War. Later, McLean is supposed to have said, "The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor."

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The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, was fought on July 1, 1862, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Gen. Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan.

By Captain Conyngham, shortly after the battle:

When charging at Malvern Hill , a company was posted in a clump of trees, who kept up a fierce fire on us...

Their officer seemed to be a daring, reckless boy, and I said to Sergeant Driscoll, ‘if that officer is not taken down, many of us will fall before we pass that clump.’

‘Leave that to me,” said Driscoll; so he raised his rifle, and the moment the officer exposed himself again bang went Driscoll,and over went the officer, his company at once breaking away.

As we passed the place I said, 'Driscoll, see if that officer is dead - he was a brave fellow.'I stood looking on. Driscoll turned him over on his back. [The officer] opened his eyes for a moment, and faintly murmured 'Father,' and closed them forever.

I will forever recollect the frantic grief of Driscoll; it was harrowing to witness. [The dead officer] was his son, who had gone South before the war.

And what became of Driscoll afterwards? … he rushed up, with his coat off, and, clutching his musket, charged right up at the enemy, calling on the men to follow. He soon fell, but jumped up again. We knew he was wounded. On he dashed, but he soon rolled over like a top. When we came up he was dead, riddled with bullets."

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The largest man made explosion prior to the atomic bomb led to innovations in ocular surgery and the founding of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

Two ships colliding in Halifax harbour during on 6 December 1917 during WW1 caused many to rush to their windows to see what the commotion in the harbour was about, one of the ships carrying munitions which were going off like fireworks.

There was then a big detonation which resulted in a 2.9 kiloton explosion that caused a 40 ft tsunami, killed nearly 2,000 people and resulted in about 200 eye removals. Nearly one out of every fifty people in town lost an eye due to flying debris and shattered glass.

Innovations in the treatment of burn victims and pediatric surgeries also resulted from the explosion.

For many years afterward, the Halifax Explosion was the standard by which all large blasts were measured. For instance, in its report on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Time wrote that the explosive power of the Little Boy bomb was seven times that of the Halifax Explosion.

Mont Blanc anchor site

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The dancing plague of 1518, or dance epidemic of 1518, was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace (modern-day France), from July 1518 to September 1518. Somewhere between 50 and 400 people took to dancing for weeks. There are many theories behind the phenomenon, the most popular being stress-induced mass hysteria.. Some believe the dancing could have been brought on by food poisoning caused by the toxic and psychoactive chemical products of ergot fungi, that fungus being related to LSD. Contemporaneous explanations included demonic possession and overheated blood. There is controversy concerning the number of deaths.

This is known and believed by some to be a perfect example of a nocebo effect which can make some feel ill simply by being under the expectation of being ill. By August, the "dancing plague" had claimed 400 victims. Dancers were beginning to collapse. It is said some even died from a stroke or heart attack. The victims' movements were described as spasmatic with many convulsions and their bodies were left drenched in sweat. Their arms would thrash violently and some noted that their eyes were vacant and expressionless. Blood would pool into their swollen feet and they would eventually bleed into their shoes. Often, there would also be cries for help from the affected. If the victims did not succumb to a heart attack, they would collapse from extreme exhaustion, hunger, and thirst. There were as many as 15 deaths per day during the outbreak’s peak, but the final number of fatalities is unknown today. No one knew what caused this reaction, which meant no one understood how to remedy it. By early September, the outbreak began to subside.

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Chief Mkwawa

Signed on 28 June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles ended the war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Between the War Guilt Clause and the Financial Clauses, Article 246 stated:

‘Within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty […], Germany will hand over to His Britannic Majesty’s Government the skull of Sultan Mkwawa which was removed from the Protectorate of British East Africa and taken to Germany.’

Mkwawa had been the chief of the Hehe tribe in German East Africa (now Tanzania), and opposed German rule. In 1895, he declared that ‘rather than submit to German rule he would fight them to the utmost limit, and rather than surrender he would die by his own gun’. He was shot in 1898 after being surrounded by German soldiers.

His head was cut off, dried and taken to Germany.

In 1918 it was suggested that the skull of Mikwawa be recovered and transported back to East Africa as a mark of respect and as a symbol to the populace of German defeat. There was debate about including a provision to that effect in the Treaty but it ended up being included as part of a schedule of various objects, mainly of artistic and archaeological interest, which had been seized by the Germans and which were to be restored.

The Germans searched for it and said they couldn’t find it.

In 1921, Winston Churchill, the newly appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote ‘in the circumstances I do not propose to take further action in the matter’.

The skull was located in storage in a German museum in 1953 and the Governor of Tanganyika, Sir Edward Twining, was tasked with its return. The Foreign Office was anxious for the Treaty of Versailles not to be mentioned at all, as it didn’t want to offend the Germans, and insisted heavily that it was Twining’s responsibility to make sure of it. Twining found it rather irritating and wrote:

‘the facts are that the Germans should not have cut his head off, they should not have sent it to Germany when they had cut it off and if they did not want to return it they should not have lost the war.’

 

Sir Edward Twining delivering his speech, 19 June 1954, on return off the skull

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

ON THIS DAY

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3 June, 1992

Mabo

On this day in 1992, in a landmark decision, the High Court of Australia recognised that indigenous rights to land had continued after the British Crown acquired sovereignty and that the international law doctrine of terra nullius (empty land which could therefore be colonised) was not applicable to Australian domestic law. High court judges considering the case Mabo v Queensland (No 2) found in favour of Mabo, which led to the Native Title Act 1993 and established native title in Australia, officially recognising the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

Eddie Mabo died on 21 January 1992 of cancer at the age of 55, five months before the High Court announced its historic decision.

Three years after Eddie Mabo died, that being the traditional mourning period for the people of Murray Island, a memorial service was held. The next day, Mabo's gravesite was attacked by vandals who spray-painted swastikas and racial slurs on his tombstone as well as removing a bronze bas-relief portrait of him. His family decided to have his body reburied on Murray Island. On the night of his reinterment, the Islanders performed their traditional ceremony for the burial of a Meriam king, a ritual not seen on the island for 80 years.

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COLD AS . . .

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It’s been quite cold here at night, so here are some phrases that may help describe it in general conversation . . .

(Caution: risque content ahead).

As cold as a witch’s kiss.

As cold as a witch’s tit.

As cold as a tomb.

As cold as a polar bear’s arse.

As cold as a corpse.

Colder than the underside of a penguin’s ballsack.

Colder than father’s heart when he left for cigarettes and never came back

Colder than a cast iron toilet seat.

Colder than a mother-in-law’s kiss.

Colder than my ex-wife’s heart.

Colder than a banker’s smile.

Colder than a banker's heart on foreclosure day at the widows' and orphans' home.

Colder than a snowman’s fart.

Colder than a steak in the back of the freezer.

Colder than a Viking’s dick.

Colder than the heart of a landlord.

Colder than a tax-collector’s heart.

Colder than Santa’s jockstrap.

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

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. . . and a couple of brief items of humour about cold . . .

Justice is best served cold, because if it were served warm, it would be justwater.

Wife texts husband on a cold winter morning: "Windows frozen, won't open."

Husband texts back: "Gently pour some lukewarm water over it and then gently tap edges with hammer."

Wife texts back 10 minutes later: "Computer really messed up now."

Twenty years from now, kids are going to think 'Baby it's cold outside' is really weird and we're going to have to explain that it has to be understood as a product of its time. You see, it used to get cold outside.

It's so cold outside I saw a politician with his hands in his own pockets.

It was so cold this morning I had to use my Tesco discount card to scrape the ice off my windscreen. Didn't work though, I only got 10% off.

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. . . plus one longer one (posted in Bytes previously) . . .

Two Canadians die and end up in Hell.

Satan decides to pay them a visit, so he walks into their room and sees them talking and laughing. Confused, he asks them why they're happy.

They tell him, "Well, we're so sick of the cold where we're from, and this place is nice and toasty."

Satan, annoyed, storms away and goes to Hell's boiler room, where he turns up the temperature.

He goes back to the Canadians' room, along the way being begged by all sorts of people to put the heating back down. He enters the room to see the Canadians having a barbecue. Furiously, he asks them what they're doing.

"Well, we can't pass up this wonderful weather without getting out the barbecue!"

Satan realizes he's been doing the wrong thing. He goes to the boiler room and turns it down until it's at a colder temperature than ever seen on earth.

He knows he's won now, so he goes back to the Canadians' room, only to see them jumping up and down in excitement.

He shouts at them in fury, "WHY ARE YOU STILL HAPPY?!?!?!"

They look at him and shout at the same time, "Hell froze over! That means the Leafs won!"

(The Leafs are a Canadiian ice hockey team, The Toronto Maple Leafs.)

READERS WRITE

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Firstly, a thank you to the people who emailed me get well wishes., appreciated it.

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Ron T in the US, a Bytes regular, sent me an email commenting on some of my photographs of Sydney coastal and harbour scenes which I had mailed to him:

Otto, good evening [our time],

Last weekend we celebrated the "official" start of the summer season with Memorial Day.

The history of it evolved from Decoration Day, when the graves and markers of the military deceased had flowers and other decorations placed. Now, it's time greatly noted for the first of summer and outdoor activities.

But . . . I want to again thank you again for those beautiful pictures of your Nation's magnificence.

Many, many times since Christmas they were an absolutely blessed aid to help me get through [alas - poor me] the winter days' early dark, the temperatures below zero [F degrees], and provide a gentle reminder that Spring will come.

I'd often drive over bridges spanning rivers and streams frozen solid, and then reach home and have my "fix" of your beautiful shores, all on laminated cards. Happy, happy, happy.

Wishing you, Kate, your family, and all your other loved ones all the very best.

Kind regards,

Ron

Thanks Ron, glad you enjoy them

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Tim B, also in the US, sent me an email responding to the On This Day post about George Floyd:

Good morning Otto,

Just to set the record straight, the third paragraph about George Floyd depicts him of living a crime free life after moving to Minneapolis. That is far from the truth. Primary cause of death was indeed asphyxiation and he did not deserve to die that way, but the autopsy revealed he had fentanyl, meth, cannabinoids, and morphine in his system, plus heart disease. He was also trying to pass counterfeit money so for weakepedia to suggest

he was a model citizen is not true. The drugs in his system, and his heart disease caused him to not do well under stress. My take on this case is that he was not murdered. I don't think Chauvin put him on the ground with the intent to kill him and to be convicted of murder there has to be intent.

I would suggest that George should have paid attention to Chris Rock's video about "How not to get your ass kicked by the police" and he would possibly be alive today, but probably not with his drug use and heart disease.

Hope you are having a good weekend,

Tim

Thanks Tim.

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Steve M, a friend (although you wouldn’t always know it from some of his comments, mainly over our disagreements about films), sent me an email in response to my favourable post about the movie Stardust (one of the films in the Fourth Top 10 + 2 series):

Thanks for the mention of Stardust, Otto. It provides me with an opportunity to make a note not to watch it!

All the best

Steve m

Thanks (??) Steve.

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Another from Ron T in response to a Thought for the Day: My wife treats me like a god... She takes very little notice of my existence until she wants something.

Ron’s comment:

Otto,

My wife, too, thinks I'm a god. She provides burnt offering every evening.

Hope Barb hasn’t seen this, Ron.

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Appreciate the feedback, people.

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ON THIS DAY (PLUS FROM THE DAY BEFORE)

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1 June, 1980

CNN

Ted Turner's Cable News Network (CNN), headquartered in Atlanta, began 24-hour live news broadcasts this day in 1980 and gained worldwide attention in 1991 for its around-the-clock coverage of the Persian Gulf War.

As of December 2023, CNN had 68,974,000 television households as subscribers in the US. According to Nielsen, down from 80 million in March 2021. In June 2021, CNN ranked third in viewership among cable news networks, behind Fox News and MSNBC, averaging 580,000 viewers throughout the day, down 49% from a year earlier, amid sharp declines in viewers across all cable news networks.

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2 June 1953

Elizabeth II Coronation

On this day in 1953, 27-year-old Elizabeth II, the elder daughter of King George VI, was crowned queen of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey, having taken the throne upon her father's death in February 1952.

The coronation was held more than one year later because of the tradition of allowing an appropriate length of time to pass after a monarch dies. It also gave the planning committees adequate time to make preparations for the ceremony.

During the service, Elizabeth took an oath, was anointed with holy oil, was invested with robes and regalia, and was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Twenty-seven million people across Britain watched the event live on the BBC Television Service, many having purchased or rented television sets specifically for that purpose. The number of license holders doubled from approximately one and a half million to three million. The coronation was the first to be televised in full; the BBC's cameras had not been allowed inside Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II's parents' coronation in 1937 and had covered only the procession outside. There had been considerable debate within the British Cabinet on the subject, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill against the idea; Elizabeth refused his advice on this matter and insisted the event take place before television cameras.

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3 WORD THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

NO BYTES TODAY

 

There are no Bytes posts today because I am unwell.

😒

 Hopefully back tomorrow.

😃

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

ON THIS DAY

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May 31, 2005

Deep Throat revealed as Mark Felt

It was publicly revealed on May 31, 2005 that former FBI official Mark Felt was “Deep Throat,” the anonymous informant at the centre of the Watergate scandal that involved U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration.

Felt (1913 – 2008) was an American law enforcement officer who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1942 to 1973. Felt was an FBI special agent who eventually rose to the position of Deputy Director, the Bureau's second-highest-ranking post.

In 2005, at age 91, Felt revealed to Vanity Fair magazine that during his tenure as Deputy Director of the FBI he had been the anonymous source known as "Deep Throat", who provided The Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein with critical information about the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

Woodward, who had long vowed not to reveal Deep Throat's identity while the source was still alive, quickly confirmed Felt's claim. Though Felt's identity as Deep Throat was suspected, including by Nixon himself, it had generally remained a secret for 30 years. Felt finally acknowledged that he was Deep Throat after being persuaded by his daughter to reveal his identity before his death.

BTW:

Felt agreed to provide Woodward and Bernstein with information on a deep background basis, which meant he would neither confirm nor deny his involvement in the investigation. In order to protect his identity, Post editor Howard Simons tagged him as “Deep Throat”, after the widely known pornographic film Deep Throat.

Felt provided Woodward and Bernstein with information about the Watergate cover-up, including details about a slush fund used by the Nixon administration to pay for the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters. He also provided information about the White House’s attempts to obstruct justice by concealing evidence of the break-in. Felt and Woodward communicated under a shroud of secrecy, often meeting in a dimly lit parking garage in Rosslyn, Virginia.

It has been reported that Felt, a devout Christian, was ashamed at the pseudonym given to him.

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REMEMBERING HEROES

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The stories behind the names on the signs at the rest stops on the Remembrance Driveway, which goes from Sydney to Canberra.

The highway commemorates slected, representative persons awarded the Victoria Cross by naming rest stops after them.

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces

The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War.

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Sir Hughie Edwards

Air Commodore Sir Hughie Edwards

VC, KCMG, CB, DSO, OBE, DFC

__________

Location of rest stop:

Majura, on the alternative route (exiting from Federal Highway) to Canberra and Queanbeyan.

__________

About:

Air Commodore Sir Hughie Idwal Edwards, VC, KCMG, CB, DSO, OBE, DFC (1 August 1914 – 5 August 1982) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force, Governor of Western Australia, and an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces.

Edwards enlisted in the Australian Army in March 1934 and was posted to the 6th Heavy Battery, Royal Australian Artillery, with the rank of private. In 1935, he was selected for flying training with the Royal Australian Air Force at RAAF Point Cook, after which he transferred to the RAF, being granted a short service commission as a pilot officer on 21 August 1936. Posted to No. 15 Bomber Squadron, he was appointed adjutant of No. 90 Squadron in March 1937, flying Bristol Blenheim bombers. He received a promotion to flying officer on 21 May 1938.

On 4 July 1941, Edwards led a daylight attack ("Operation Wreckage") against the port of Bremen, one of the most heavily defended towns in Germany. Edwards' force of twelve Blenheims attacked at a height of about 50 feet through telephone wires and high voltage power lines. The bombers successfully penetrated fierce anti-aircraft fire and a dense balloon barrage, but further fire over the port itself resulted in the loss of four of the attacking force. Edwards brought his remaining aircraft safely back, although all had been hit and his own Blenheim (serial V6028) had been hit over 20 times.

His actions in the raid earned him the Victoria Cross.

__________

Citation:

The full citation for Edwards' Victoria Cross appeared in the London Gazette on 22 July 1941, it read:

Air Ministry, 22nd July, 1941.

ROYAL AIR FORCE

The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the Victoria Cross on the undermentioned officer in recognition of most conspicuous bravery:—

Acting Wing Commander Hughie Idwal Edwards, D.F.C. (39005), No 105. Squadron.

Wing Commander Edwards, although handicapped by a physical disability resulting from a flying accident, has repeatedly displayed gallantry of the highest order in pressing home bombing attacks from very low heights against strongly defended objectives.

On 4th July, 1941, he led an important attack on the Port of Bremen, one of the most heavily defended towns in Germany. This attack had to be made in daylight and there were no clouds to afford concealment. During the approach to the German coast several enemy ships were sighted and Wing Commander Edwards knew that his aircraft would be reported and that the defences would be in a state of readiness. Undaunted by this misfortune he brought his formation 50 miles overland to the target, flying at a height of little more than 50 feet, passing under high-tension cables, carrying away telegraph wires and finally passing through a formidable balloon barrage. On reaching Bremen he was met with a hail of fire, all his aircraft being hit and four of them being destroyed. Nevertheless he made a most successful attack, and then with the greatest skill and coolness withdrew the surviving aircraft without further loss.

Throughout the execution of this operation which he had planned personally with full knowledge of the risks entailed, Wing Commander Edwards displayed the highest possible standard of gallantry and determination.

__________

Post-WW2:

Born in Fremantle, Western Australia, Edwards joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1935, and a year later was granted a short service commission with the RAF. Serving throughout the Second World War, he gained a permanent commission and continued his career in the RAF after the war; he retired in 1963 with the rank of air commodore.

Returning to Australia, he was appointed Governor of Western Australia in 1974.

__________

Awards:

Edwards became the most highly decorated Australian serviceman of the Second World War:

Victoria Cross

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

Companion of the Order of the Bath

Distinguished Service Order

Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Distinguished Flying Cross

Knight of the Order of St John

Mention in Despatches

Edwards' medal group at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

__________

On 26 November 2002 a life-size bronze statue depicting Edwards was unveiled by then Governor of Western Australia, John Sanderson, in Kings Square, Fremantle.

__________

Gallery:

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

ON THIS DAY

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May 30, 1431

Joan of Arc burned at the stake

Joan of Arc (French: Jeanne d'Arc, ‘dark; c. 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Claiming to be acting under divine guidance, she became a military leader who transcended gender roles and gained recognition as a saviour of France.

She was captured by Burgundian troops on 23 May. After trying unsuccessfully to escape, she was handed to the English in November. She was put on trial by Bishop Pierre Cauchon on accusations of heresy, which included blaspheming by wearing men's clothes, acting upon visions that were demonic, and refusing to submit her words and deeds to the judgment of the church. She was declared guilty and burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, aged about nineteen.

In 1456, an inquisitorial court reinvestigated Joan's trial and overturned the verdict, declaring that it was tainted by deceit and procedural errors.

Joan has been described as an obedient daughter of the Roman Catholic Church, an early feminist, and a symbol of freedom and independence. She is popularly revered as a martyr. After the French Revolution, she became a national symbol of France. In 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized by Pope Benedict XV and, two years later, was declared one of the patron saints of France.

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FUNNY FRIDAY

---- 😊😊😊 -----

I told some family members that my father and his brother, when young in Holland during the early years of the Occupation in WW2, used to catch and skin cats, then sell them as rabbits. Apparently there were lots of buyers.

So today’s Funny Friday includes some items about not cats but rabbits.

Enjoy.

Caution: risqué content ahead.

---- 😊😊😊 -----

SOME HUMOUR:

__________

A man complains about his neighbour walking naked around the garden.

His wife says "You can't even see into her garden." The man replies, "Well, you can if you stand on this box."

__________

A 90 year-old Jewish man is on his deathbed. Summoning his last bit of strength, he lifts his head and whispers: "Is my beloved wife Sarah here with me?" And Sarah says, "Yes, I am here."

He then says: "Are my children -- my wonderful children -- are they here with me?" and they reply, "Yes father, we are here with you."

And he says: "Are my brothers and sisters here with me as well?" They too tell him that they are here.

The old man lays back quietly, closes his eyes, and says, "If everybody is here ... why is the light on in the kitchen?"

__________

I lost my job as a diplomat

I thought people who live in Paris were called Parisites.

__________

Three men are in a hotel room in Soviet Russia.

The first two men open a bottle of vodka, while the third is tired and goes straight to bed. He is unable to sleep however, as his increasingly drunk friends tell political jokes loudly.

After a while, the tired man gets frustrated and walks downstairs for a smoke. He stops in the lounge and asks the receptionist to bring tea to their room in five minutes.

The man walks back into the room, joins the table, leans towards a power outlet and speaks into it:

"Comrade major, we want some tea to room 62 please."

His friends laugh on the joke, until there is a knock on the door. The receptionist brings a tea pot. His friends fall silent and pale, horrified of what they just witnessed. The party is dead, and the man goes to sleep.

After a good night's rest, the man wakes up, and notices his friends are gone. Surprised, he walks downstairs and asks the receptionist where they went.

The nervous receptionist whispers that KGB came and took them before dawn.

The man is horrified. He wonders why he was spared.

The receptionist responds:

"Well, comrade major did quite like your tea gag."

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Years ago while lying in my hammock and drinking JD from the bottle I noticed my dog dragging something under the fence. Upon inspection, to my dismay, I realised it was the next door neighbour`s 10 year old daughter`s rabbit.

For years I had watched her come home from school and head straight out to its cage, free it and play with it in the yard. I knew today would be no different and fearing for our dog, I had to think fast. The rabbit was quite dirty, as if it had put up quite a struggle, so I washed it off with the hose, combed it with the dog brush and blew it dry with the leaf blower. Upon finishing the grooming I jumped the fence and placed it back in its cage hoping its death would be written off as "natural causes".

Back to the hammock and JD. Within the hour the neighbour’s Volvo pulled in as usual and out popped the little girl, and as usual she headed straight for the cage. Only this time she stopped about six feet away and screamed: "DDDDDAAAADDDDDDDYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!"

Her father, panic stricken, stood looking at the cage. Being the good neighbour that I am I rushed to fence and asked if there was anything I could do.

Her father less than calmly blurted, "What kind of sick individual would dig up a little girl`s dead rabbit and put it back in its cage?"

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From a past Bytes. . . 

A few days ago I posted an item about coincidences and said that I didn’t regard them as portents or omens, nonetheless I threw salt over my shoulder and rubbed a rabbit’s foot.

That reference to a rabbit foot for luck reminded me of a story from years ago when my son was working in the legal practice with me.

I have checked with son Thomas and he is okay with me reposting it. The post was on May 24, 2013, but the photo of Thomas dates from 2008.

Here is that post . . .

 

My son Thomas, when he worked in my office as a solicitor before becoming a barrister, had carried out some tasks for John, an elderly, eccentric Scottish client. John took a liking to Thomas and would often pass on bits of advice, tell him some stories and so on.

Not long after Thomas had completed the tasks mentioned above, he received a letter from John in the office mail.

The letter said that:

• the item enclosed was for good luck and should be worn around the neck;

• John’s father had been an ace poacher in Scotland and had never been caught;

• his father had told him to wear one but he, John, hadn’t and he was nicked in 1942;

• there was an extra one for a friend.

Inside the envelope was a wrapped parcel which smelt horrible (being the middle of a hot summer). Tom opened it and found two rabbit’s feet…

John died a couple of years ago. We never did find out whether he was serious or if it was a joke.

I suspect that he was serious.

__________

A precious little girl walks into a pet shop and asks in the sweetest little lisp, "Excuthe me, mithter, do you keep widdle wabbits?"

As the shopkeeper's heart melts, he gets down on his knees, so that he's on her level, and asks, "Do you want a widdle white wabbit or a thoft and fuwwy bwack wabbit or maybe one like that cute widdle bwown wabbit over there?"

She, in turn blushes, puts her hands on her knees, leans forward and says in a quiet voice, "I don't think my python weally givth a thit"

__________

The Chicago Police, the FBI, and the CIA are all trying to prove they are the best at catching criminals. They are set a test, a rabbit is released into a forest and each of them has to catch it.

The CIA people go in. They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After three months of extensive investigations, they conclude that the rabbit does not exist.

The FBI goes in. After two weeks with no leads they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit, and make no apologies: the rabbit had it coming.

The Chicago Police go in. They come out two hours later with a badly beaten bear. The bear is yelling: "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"

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LIMERICK OF THE WEEK:

There once was a fellow named Weir,

Who had not one atom of fear.

He felt the desire

To touch a live wire. . .

and any last line will do here.

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GALLERY:

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CORN CORNER:

__________

A priest, a minister, and a rabbit walk into a bar...

The rabbit says, “I think I might be a typo.”

___________

Two rabbits were being chased by a pack of hungry wolves.

The wolves chased the rabbits into a thicket. After a few minutes, one rabbit turned to the other and said, "Well, do you want to make a run for it, or should we stay here for a few days and out number them?"

__________

Elton John got his pet rabbit a treadmill for Xmas.

It's a little fit bunny.

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