Last Words: Manfred von Richthofen

 

 “Kaputt…”

(Translation: Broken... or Smashed)

-          Manfred von Richtofen

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (1892 – 1918), also known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot in World War 1.  Officially credited with 80 combat victories, more than any other pilot in WW1, he was originally a cavalryman.  His unit was known as the "Flying Circus" and by 1918, he was a national hero in Germany.

 

 

Richthofen’s squadron, Richthofen in the cockpit

Richthofen died on 21 April 1918, 7 months before the end of the war on 11 November, 1918.

Whilst pursuing a Sopwith Camel (as flown by Snoopy in Peanuts comic strips) piloted a novice Canadian pilot, at low altitude over France, Richthofen was hit in the chest by a .303 bullet fired by ground troops.  Although the bullet had badly damaged his heart and lungs, he managed to land in a field where he was quickly approached by Australian military personnel.  According to Sergeant Ted Smout of the Australian Medical Corps, Richthofen’s last word was “kaputt”. 

Propaganda painting of Richthofen

Some quick comments:

·         Although there has been ongoing controversy as to who fired the fatal shot, Sergeant Cedric Popkin, an anti-aircraft machine gunner with the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) is now considered the most likely candidate.

·         Because Richthofen was a sound tactician as well as a skilled and experienced fighter pilot, he was well aware of the risks of ground fire from low altitude flying.  This has led to examination of his lapse in judgment in that regard at the time that he was killed.  Theories advanced include the following:

o   that he had sustained brain damage from a severe head wound sustained in 1917 which affected his judgment and caused target fixation;

o   that he was suffering from cumulative combat stress, causing hime to ignore his usual precautions;

o   that the wind conditions on the day of his death were such that he was travelling at a much faster speed than usual, which inadvertently took him over Australian held territory at a time when the front was fluid.

·         The enemy created nicknames for Richthofen: Le Petit Rouge, the Red Devil, the Red Falcon, Le Diable Rouge, the Jolly Red Baron, the Bloody Baron, and the Red Baron. However, the Germans never called Richthofen the Red Baron; instead, they called him der röte Kampfflieger ("The Red Battle Flier").

Sydney's Woodblocked Streets

 

Gas Lane in Millers Point, 1909-1913, paved with woodblocks.

(Click on photos to enlarge)Gas Lane in Millers Point was paved with wood blocks. Clyde Street

Until the 1880’s, Sydney’s roads were constructed of graded broken stone, laid in cambered beds and overlaid with ironstone. 

George Street, Sydney c 1880 showing stone paving prior to woodblocks

Old Police Court (now site of the Queen Victoria Building), George Street, Sydney (NSW), c 1883

In heavy trafficked areas the stone surfaces were subject to cracking and frequent wear and tear.  As an alternative, woodblocks proved superior.  They reduced noise, looked attractive, minimised dust, were durable and easily cleaned, plus Australia had an ample supply of suitable hardwood timber.

Woodblocking of roads had developed in England and the US in the 1840’s but had not been successful, possibly because the higher rainfall made the wood rot more easily and because softwoods were used.

In Sydney the technique was embraced enthusiastically from the 1880’s. 

Customs House, Sydmey c 1887, newly laid woodblocks

A Tale of Two Planes

 

“...in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

-       Anne Frank

A few days ago I posted a story about two ships.  Today it is a story about two planes, a story that renews faith in the goodness of the human spirit.  It tells of two men, enemies in a war, who for a brief moment ceased trying to kill each other to become brothers.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Artwork by Ernie Boyett

It was December 1943.  Lt Charles L “Charlie” Brown, although aged only 21, was in command of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that had taken off from England to bomb an aircraft factory in Bremen.  The bomber was called Ye Olde Pub and had sustained heavy damage from both flak and 8 fighter planes after it dropped its bombs.  The tailgunner was dead; the pilot, Charlie Brown, was wounded; one engine was dead and the other dying. The plane was practically at ground level.

Lt Charles L “Charlie” Brown

In another plane was Franz Stigler, a veteran Luftwaffe fighter pilot who had flown over 400 missions and who had 28 kills to his name.  On the day that Ye Olde Pub was shot to bits, Stigler had already downed two Allied aircraft.

Fighter pilot Franz Stigler

Stigler saw the low flying crippled B-17 and headed in for his third kill of the day. It would be an easy kill, the B-17 had no means of defence or evasion, it was a wonder that it was even still flying.  Stigler came close to the b-17, so close that he clearly saw both the damage and, through the holes in the plane's side, crew members trying to help their wounded.

To the surprise of the American crew, Stigler did not fire.

Stigler tried twice to get Brown to land his plane at a German base and surrender, but Brown refused because his wounded comrades were in urgent need of medical assistance.

Stigler then flew near Brown's plane and escorted the crippled, helpless B-17 towards England.  When they reached the North Sea, Stigler saluted Brown and turned around, heading back towards Europe.

Stigler reported that the plane had been shot down over the sea, a wise choice.  He could have been court-martialled for his actions.

Brown did report the charity and assistance of the German pilot as part of his de-briefing but was told to forget about it, saying afterwards "Someone decided you can't be human and be flying in a German cockpit.”

After the war, Brown remained in the Air Force until he retired in 1972 as a Lieutenant Colonel.  Determined to find the pilot of the German fighter plane that had spared him and his crew, he wrote numerous letters to German military sources but without success. A notice in a newsletter for former Luftwaffe pilots resulted in a response from Franz Stigler.

Stigler had emigrated to Canada and was living near Vancouver, British Columbia.

The two men exchanged letters and then met for a reunion. 

After an exchange of letters, the two men met for a reunion.   "He almost broke my ribs, he gave me a big bear hug," said Brown.

The two men became close friends and met each other frequently.

B-17 pilot Charlie Brown and German Ace Franz Stigler re-enact their WW2 meeting.

Franz Stigler passed away on 22 March 2008.  His former enemy and later friend, Charlie Brown, passed away on 24 November 2008.

Asked why he had not shot down the B-17, Stigler had once said:

 “I didn’t have the heart to finish off those brave men.  I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately to get home and I was going to let them do it. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting at a man in a parachute.”

Funny Friday

 

The following report is from the yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald.  It should be an “In case you missed it. . .” Bytes item but it also qualifies for a Funny Friday post.  Sometimes truth is not only stranger than fiction, it is also funnier. . .

 

 

School 'failed to get me into law'

Benjamin Preiss

May 17, 2012

The student and her mother. Photo: Joe Armao

A former student who is suing Geelong Grammar School says she decided to seek damages after she failed to qualify for her preferred university course.

Rose Ashton-Weir, 18, alleges Geelong Grammar gave her inadequate academic support, particularly in maths.

Seeking compensation in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, she said her final secondary school score was too low to study law at the University of Sydney.

Of her time at Geelong Grammar, she said: ''I didn't ever feel I was getting the support I needed to really excel.''

Ms Ashton-Weir boarded at the school in 2008 and 2009 but finished her secondary studies at a TAFE college in Sydney. She is in the first year of a double degree in arts and sciences at the University of Sydney.

Her mother, Elizabeth Weir, is also suing the school for lost income and other expenses.

She said she gave up her chocolate fortune cookie business - which she had expected to make $450,000 over three years - because her daughter moved from Geelong to live with her in New South Wales.

She is also seeking compensation for $39,000 in rent paid when they moved to another house in Sydney.

Earlier this week, Ms Weir said the school had known her daughter was gifted and had scored highly in an intelligence test, but struggled in maths.

Yesterday, Ms Ashton-Weir told the tribunal a teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall.

Darren Ferrari, representing Geelong Grammar, said Ms Ashton-Weir could have studied law at several other universities. ''You could have done law at Deakin University by correspondence,'' he said.

He said Ms Ashton-Weir had been placed on ''internal suspension'' a number of times while at the school. She was also poorly organised and had been absent from class many times.

Ms Ashton-Weir fell ill with glandular fever in early 2009 and went to stay with her mother at the end of term two. She did not return to Geelong Grammar.

Mr Ferrari said the school had tried to support Ms Ashton-Weir. ''The school wanted her to get through the year.''

He said Ms Ashton-Weir's school reports noted she was intelligent but failed to complete school work.

The hearing will resume in August.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/school-failed-to-get-me-into-law-20120516-1yrcb.html#ixzz1v7hBer3x

And, to continue the Scottish connection following yesterday's post about kilts, some Scottish humour . . .

A Scotsman, an Englishman and an attractive blonde were sitting together in a carriage in a train going through the English countryside. Suddenly the train went through a tunnel.  As it was an old style train, there were no lights in the carriages and it went completely dark. Then there was a kissing noise and the sound of a loud slap. When the train came out of the tunnel, the blonde and the Scotsman were sitting as if nothing had happened and the Englishman had his hand against his face as he had been slapped.

The Englishman was thinking: 'The Scottish fellow must have kissed the young lady and she missed him and slapped me instead.'

The blonde was thinking: 'The English chap must have tried to kiss me and actually kissed the Scotsman and got slapped for it.'

And the Scotsman was thinking: 'This is great. The next time the train goes through a tunnel I'll make that kissing noise and slap that English fella again.”

The lyrics of the final two verses of a song called The Sleeping Scotsman:

Our Scottish friend, still dressed in kilt,
Continued up the street
He hadn't gone ten yards or more,
When a lass he chanced to meet.
She said: "I've heard what's underneath there,
Tell me, is it so?"
He said: "Just slip your hand up, lass,
If y'really want to know!"

So she slipped her hand right up his kilt,
And much to her surprise,
The Scotsman smiled,
And a very strange look came into his eyes,
She said: "Why, sir, that's gruesome!"
And then she heard him roar:
"If you stick yer hand up once again,
You'll find it grew some more!"

Corn corner:


After announcing he's getting married, a boy tells his friend he'll be wearing a kilt. 

“And what's the tartan?' asks his mate.

“She'll be wearing a white dress” says the boy.

The Whole Nine Yards and Kilts

 

It’s funny where looking up things takes you, in the present case, kilts.  Not that I was looking up kilts but that I was led there.

Let me explain.

I recently heard the expression “the whole nine yards” again.  Most will be aware that it means completely, the whole thing.  Some years ago I had heard that the expression originated from the length of machine gun ammunition belts in World War 2 fighter planes.  It was suggested that the length of the belts was nine yards (about 3 metres) and that to empty one’s ammunition belt at a target was to “go the whole nine yards”.   

Looking into it further today, I found the following:

·        There are numerous explanations for how the phrase developed, some explanations referring to tests (walking 9 yards over coals), to clothing (using 9 yards of material in suits and kilts) and to construction (the amount of concrete carried by concrete trucks).
·         Nonetheless, experts are unable to explain how the phrase originated.
·         The earliest recorded use of the phrase is from 1962, suggesting that most of the explanations are incorrect.
·         It is likely that the phrase developed in the US in the 1960’s.
There is a more detailed examination at:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-whole-nine-yards.html

Which raises kilts.

Snopes.com, the authoritative site on urban myths, origins and electronic spam, suggests that “the best candidate for the origin of the expression might lie with a risque story of uncertain age” concerning a young Scot and his kilt.  The item appears at:

http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/nineyards.asp

Rather than quote the story, I will set out the lyrics of a song which tell the same tale.  It is called Angus and his Kilt:

Well, Angus was a happy lad, for soon he would be wed.

He'd found a brisk and bonnie lass to take him to his bed.
And happier still his mother was that he had found a wife,
For, truth be told, she'd often feared she'd be stuck with him for life.

Cho: It's a fine thing, a bonnie thing, the grandest ever seen.

(Repeat last line of verse)

In honor of the grand affair that wedding day would be,

She set about to weave a kilt, the finest ever seen.
The night before the wedding, when the kilt was finally done,
She called young Angus over and she tried it on her son.

She wound the kilt about him and she wound, and wound, and wound,

And when she finished winding, it was still eight yards too long.
"Never fear, my bonnie boy. We'll simply cut it off,
And to your blushin' bride we'll give the extra length of cloth."

Now Angus was so pleased, y'know, his heart had swelled with pride.

He felt that he must rush right out and show it to his bride.
'Twas raining, so he grabbed a cloak to shield him on the moor,
But in his haste to be away his kilt slammed in the door.

Well, Angus was in such a rush to show off for his bride,

He never really noticed that he had left his kilt behind.
He knocked upon her door and cried, "Oh, let me in, I pray!
I've something that you've got to see before our wedding day."

Now, Bridget let him in, y'know, but said, "Ye cannot stay.

For I've got to have my beauty sleep before our wedding day."
"I'll only be a moment, love, but it's so grand, my dear,
Ye've really got to see what I'm a-hiding under here."

Now, when the cloak was thrown aside and Angus stood quite bare,

We must admit she was impressed and tried hard not to stare.
"Oh, love, I'll ne'er see finer, though far and far I roam!"
"Well, lass," he cried, "that's nothing! I've got eight more yards at home!"

Quote: Alice Roosevelt Longworth

 

1903 

"Senator McCarthy, you are not going to call me Alice.

The trashman and the policeman on my block call me Alice, but you may not."

-       Alice Roosevelt Longworth

to Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had jokingly remarked at a party, "Here's my blind date. I am going to call you Alice.”

Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (1884 – 1980) was the oldest child of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. She was the only child of Roosevelt and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee.

Longworth led an unconventional and controversial life.  She was an eccentric who was often in the news.  An instant celebrity upon the election of her father, she also became a fashion icon. At a time when women were expected to conform, she became a noted rule-breaker:  she smoked cigarettes in public, rode in cars with men, stayed out late partying, kept a pet snake named Emily Spinach (Emily as in her spinster aunt and Spinach for its green colour) in the White House, and was seen placing bets with a bookie.  During a 1905 cruise to Japan with her father, she jumped into the ship's pool fully clothed, and coaxed a Congressman to join her in the water. Years later, when she was an octogenarian, Bobby Kennedy chided her about the incident, saying it was outrageous for the time.  Longworth replied it would only have been outrageous had she removed her clothes.

1906

In 1906 Longworth married Nicholas Longworth, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives.  He later rose to become Speaker.  The marriage was shaky and included her campaigning against her husband in the 1912 election.  He lost by 105 votes but was elected again in 1914.  Nonetheless it created further conflict.  He had numerous affairs, she had a child by Senator William Borah.

1919

1970

Longworth died in 1980 aged 96 of emphysema and pneumonia.

She is also remembered for the pillow on her settee with the embroidered words:

"If you haven't got anything good to say about anybody, come sit next to me."

 

A Tale of Two Ships and Two Towers

 
Ship #1:

On 1 March 2008 the USS New York, an American warship, was christened in a ceremony at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans.

There is a special significance about this ship:  it incorporates about 7 tonnes of steel salvaged from the ruins of the World Trade Centre after its destruction in the September 11 attacks.

Some facts and photos:

The New York has a crew of 360 and can carry 700 Marines.

The steel has been used in the ship’s bow.

The shipyard workers reportedly treated the steel with "reverence usually accorded to religious relics", gently touching it as they walked by. One worker delayed his retirement after 40 years' of working to be part of the project.

Steel from the World Trade Centre displayed aboard the ship.

The ship has been on active service since 2012.

Its motto is "Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget."

USS New York badge

The ship's crest includes images of the Twin Towers and features the colours of the city departments that first responded to the terrorist attacks.

Ship #2

A laser scan of the boat as the excavation continues

Workers removing the ruins and remains of the Twin Towers following the September 11 attacks have had a stressful and grisly task.  Construction excavations at a site where nearly 3,000 people died have also had their share of grief and sorrow.  It was therefore surprising when, in 2010, such excavations revealed an unexpected  and surprising treasure: the remains of a wooden boat used as landfill.

The boat is believed to date from the 1700’s and to have been defunct when it was used as fill to extend the shores of lower Manhattan in about 1810.

According to one expert, it was an oceangoing vessel that might have sailed the Caribbean, as evidenced by 18th-century marine organisms that had bored tiny tunnels in the timber.  There has also been speculation, based on artefacts found, that it may have been used to transport British troops to the New World in about 1770.

Preserved by the mud, the remains of the ship lay undisturbed with ruins and fill until clearing of ruins above exposed it.

The boat sits about 10 metres below street level, in an area the Port Authority is excavating to build a vehicle screening centre for the World Trade Centre.

Archaeologists dismantling the ship exposed its ribs.

Archaeologists stand near the end of the ship, but are unsure if it is the prow or the stern.

Archaeologists dismantling the ship also unearthed these relics believed to be from the 18th century.

Workers raced to preserve the wood before it disintegrates as it comes into contact with the open air for the first time in centuries.

Quotes: Ernest Hemingway

 

Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 –1961) was an American author and journalist whose economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction.  His life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations as well as forming the subjects of a number of his works.  Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s.  In 1954 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature (such an award being for the recipient’s overall work as a whole, not for an individual work).  Shortly after the publication of The Old Man and the Sea in 1952, Hemingway went on safari to Africa, where he was almost killed in a plane crash that left him in pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. In 1961, suffering from medical ailments, financial worries and depression, he committed suicide.

 The opening paragraph of The Old Man and the Sea:

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.

Bytes, posts and times

   

 

The Funny Friday items below were posted too late to make the email send to those Byters who subscribe. 

By way of explanation, persons who are subscribers to Bytes (you can subscribe by completing the box at right) receive their daily Bytes by email.  I do not send the emails, that is done by the blog itself.  The blog usually sends the emails at about 6.30am, give or take half an hour each way.  Whenever I post after that time, it will be sent at 6.30am the next day.  Unfortunately I missed the deadline for the emails with Funny Friday. 

Sorry.

Sunday, Mother's Day

 

I won’t be at my computer for the next few days so there won’t be a Bytes on Sunday. 

To all the Byter mums, have a very happy Mother's Day.

Great Moments in Australian Politics: Hewson, Keating and the GST

(Caution: risqué language)

In 1990 John Hewson (above) became leader of the Liberal Party of Australia following Andrew Peacock’s loss to the incumbent Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke.  He had only been a Member of Parliament for three years and lacked the skills in political tactics of Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating.  Nonetheless in 1991 he launched a radical economic package – Fightback! - that included the proposed introduction of a complex Goods and Services Tax. 

In December 1991 Keating rolled Hawke and became leader of the Australian Labor Party and Prime Minister.  Throughout 1992 Keating attacked Hewson’s Fightback! package.  He called it an attack on the working class by taxing across the board rather than taxing the wealthy.  He also referred to Hewson as a “feral abacus.”

Hewson lost the 1993 “unloseable election” to Keating.  A key moment in that loss was the famous “birthday cake interview” ten days before the election.  Interviewed on A Current Affair, he was asked by Mike Willesee “As an example of this, if I buy a birthday cake and GST was in place, do I pay more or less for that birthday cake?”  Hewson fumbled on whether the cake would be decorated, whether it would have ice cream on it, candles on it and so on.  He looked ill informed and incompetent.  Many saw this as the moment he lost the election.  In a 2006 interview he stated “Well I answered the question honestly. The answer's actually right. That doesn't count...I should have told him (Mike Willesee) to get stuffed!".

That, however, is not the end of it.  The best is yet to come.

Paul Keating (above, with some of his descriptions of his opponents), as already noted, won the “unwinnable” 1993 election.  In his “true believers” victory speech he commenced with “Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Well, this is the sweetest victory of all. This is a victory for the true believers: the people who, in difficult times, have kept the faith.”

Keating was well known for his tough, abusive and intolerant personality.

In the leadup to the 1993 election he sought to capitalise on Hewson’s birthday cake debacle.  At a chemist shop in Brisbane he walked into a chemist shop and enquired of the pharmacist which items would be subject to GST and which were exempt.  The pharmacist had no clue and the media dutifully reported it.  Keating looked good.

Having kicked one goal, Keating’s minders decided to have another go, this time in the Southern Coast town of Nowra.  The Labor candidate for Gilmore, Peter Knott, was told to find a pliant bakery owner so that Keating could once again score points in front of the media.

On the appointed day Keating dutifully entered the shop with the media contingent to ask questions of the befuddled owner.  The owner, however, had other ideas.  Instead of displaying confusion about the GST, he tackled Keating about payroll tax, actually a State tax.  He wouldn’t let Keating go and went on and on about it.  The cameras and journos loved every minute of it.

Keating left as quickly as he could, angry and humiliated.

Knott won his seat and was a Member of the Federal parliament for the next three years but Keating never spoke to him again.

If he was obliged to refer to Knott, he never referred to him by name, nor as the Member for Gilmore.  Instead he called him “the cunt from the pie shop.”