who made it

britains indians

what are these?

they are semi flats

luntoy

first world war daring

Great War had entered a decisive phase. While Russia had been knocked out of the war, its place had been taken by the United States, which now provided a fresh pool of manpower and industrial capacity to the Allied cause. The transfer of these resources however was threatened by the continuing war at sea and the U-Boat menace that also threatened Britain's link with the continent. The early advance by the German Army in 1914 had meant that the Belgian ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge had been overrun and with the expansion of the port facilities, the Germans were in a position to threaten the very lifeline that supplied the Allied armies in France. The two ports were connected by a canal network with the city of Brugges that also gave access to the open sea. Brugges in turn, was connected to Germany by the railway network and partially completed U-Boats were shipped from Germany, to be finished at Brugges and then make their way to the open sea by means of the canal system. The canals formed a triangle and inside this, the Germans had built a series of airfields from which they conducted air raids on Britain and fortified the entire length of the coast with light and heavy artillery batteries. The Royal Navy did not attempt to bombard these ports until 12 May 1917 when it bombarded Zeebrugge in order to put the lock system out of action and used a smoke screen to hinder German observation. While the bombard failed in its task, the Germans stepped up defensive measures and as the war progressed, the front line drew ever closer to Ostend, bringing it within range of the Royal Marine heavy howitzer battery in France, forcing the Germans to transfer many of its facilities to Zeebrugge.Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) was the expulsion of the Germans from Flanders and to capture the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend. The battle however failed to achieve the intended breakthrough and so any attempt to expel the Germans from these ports or to deny them the use of these facilities meant that any future attempt would have to made from the sea. The mounting losses in the war at sea caused the Royal Navy to look at the problem. A suggestion by Admiral Keyes that the ports might be blocked by sinking a ship in the entrance was initially rejected but as the war dragged on, the Royal Navy returned to the idea and it was decided that it might be done with the use of several ships, although the exact position would have to be chosen with care so that it would not be possible to get around the ships or to dredge around them to create additional channels and their bottoms would have to be blown to sink them as quickly as possible and prevent drifting.HMS Vindictive, assisted by the Iris and the Daffodil, two Mersey ferry boats that had been provided for this operation. Once they had reached Zeebrugge, Daffodil was to push Vindictive against the Mole until she could be secured and disembark the troops. The ships were modified for this task. Special ramps were fitted to Vindictive so that the storming parties could reach the Mole, while Iris and Daffodil had been fitted with ladders to that their parties could climb up onto the Mole. Vindictive was strengthened and armoured against the storm of fire she would receive and additional armament fitted so she c


ould support the troops as the moved onto the Mole.

By 1918, the
One of the objectives for the
As the ships were approaching the entrance to the port, some protection would be afforded (in the case of Zeebrugge) by the Mole, which extended in an arc across the entrance to the channel. It was over a mile in length and some 100 yards wide, having extensive storage facilities and hangers for seaplanes. A railway connected the Mole to the shore and was used to transfer men, equipment and stores. As the planning for the operation got underway, a special Royal Marine battalion (mainly volunteer) was formed in February 1918 to eliminate the battery that was situated at the end of the Mole and would threaten the block ships as they approached the canal. Lt Col F E Chichester was appointed to command the battalion but was succeeded by Major B N Elliott. The battalion consisted of a headquarters, a machinegun section, a mortar section, three rifle companies and medical support staff. The troops were to be conveyed to Zeebrugge in
By April 1918, the preparations for the raid had been completed, the men trained for their tasks and the shipping collected for the operation. Three block ships were to be sunk in the Zeebrugge canal entrance, HMS Thetis, HMS Intrepid and HMS Iphegenia. The first time the force sailed, 11 April 1918, the weather conditions changed as they neared Zeebrugge, which forced a postponement, but on the eve of St George's Day, 22 April 1918 the force sailed and during the passage, Admiral Keyes signalled "St George for England". Commander Carpenter on the Vindictive replied, "May we give the dragon's tail a damned good twist." By 23.20 on 22 April, the monitors had opened fire on Zeebrugge. Twenty minutes later, the motor launches that had accompanied the force began to make the smoke screen. One minute after midnight, St George's Day, Vindictive arrived alongside the Mole after which Daffodil arrived alongside her to push her against the Mole. By this point the smoke screen had begun to lift and the defensive fire was intense. In the approach to the Mole, many of the ramps fitted to Vindictive were damaged and only two could be used to allow the storming parties to disembark on the Mole. The ladders fitted to Iris were damaged as well and so the troops had to transfer to Vindictive to land. Once on top of the Mole, they had to endure intense German machinegun fire in order to get to the battery and while they failed to knock it out, they prevented it from firing on the blocking ships and so succeeded in their mission, something for which they suffered heavy casualties for.
The distraction caused by the motor launches and Royal Marines enabled the block ships to approach the canal entrance without too much difficulty. Thetis ran into problems when one of its propellers got caught in a net, forcing her to collide with the bank. She had to be sunk some distance from the entrance but performed admirable work in helping to direct the remaining two ships into the canal entrance itself. Both Intrepid and Iphigenia were able to be sunk in the correct positions, thus blocking the canal. Two submarines, C1 and C3 were packed with explosives and rammed into the viaduct, demolishing it, thus isolating the Mole from the shore. The crews from the submarines and the block ships were picked up by the motor launches despite heavy fire from the German batteries. By 00.50 on 23 April the recall had sounded and by 01.00 the survivors were all aboard. A quarter of an hour later, Vindictive had cleared the protection of the Mole and was undergoing intensive fire from the Germans but managed to come through it. The raid on Ostend at the same time proved to be a failure but another attempt was tried the next month and Vindictive was used as a block ship in that operation. The Royal Marines had been on the Mole for just an hour and the force had displayed such courage and devotion to duty that it gave great encouragement to the Allied forces at such a dark hour in the war. The 4th Royal Marine Battalion was awarded two Victoria Crosses with another six being awarded for the action at Zeebrugge and three being awarded for the actions at Ostend. At Deal, on 26 April 1918, a ballot was held as to who should receive the awards, with Captain Bamford and Sergeant Finch winning. In order that the gallantry of the battalion would be remembered, it was decided that no other marine battalion should be named the 4th.

mint carton of Crescent British found in a shop

window cleaner by crescent

american sniper

cherilea or charbens I think

vimy ridge

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought primarily as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps against three divisions of the German Sixth Army. The battle, which took place from 9 April to 12 April 1917, was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras, a diversionary attack for the French Nivelle Offensive.all soldiers are hill i think

The objective of the Canadian Corps was to take control of the German-held high ground along an escarpment at the northernmost end of the Arras Offensive. This would ensure that the southern flank could advance without suffering German enfilade fire. Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge during the first day of the attack. The town of Thélus fell during the second day of the attack, as did the crest of the ridge once the Canadian Corps overcame a salient of considerable German resistance. The final objective, a fortified knoll located outside the town of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, fell to the Canadian Corps on 12 April. The German forces then retreated to the Oppy–Méricourt line.

Historians attribute the success of the Canadian Corps in capturing the ridge to a mixture of technical and tactical innovation, meticulous planning, powerful artillery support, and extensive training, as well as the failure of the German Sixth Army to properly apply the German defensive doctrine. The battle was the first occasion when all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated in a battle together, and thus became a Canadian nationalistic symbol of achievement and sacrifice.
 A 250-acre (100 ha) portion of the former battleground now serves as a preserved memorial park and site of the Canadian National Vimy 3.3
barbot killed at Arras
Ernest Jacques Barbot was born on the 19th August 1855 at Toulouse. He graduated as a Second Lieutenant on the 1st October 1877 and slowly climbed the ranks. In September 1912 he became the Colonel of the 159e RIA (Régiment d'Infanterie Alpin) known to all as the 15-9.

british toy soldier company
At 57 he had lost both his wife and son and would devote the rest of his life to his Grelus as people from the high Alps are called.
Once Italy had declared its neutrality the 159e RI was transferred from that frontier to Alsace and their accomplishments soon brought Barbot to attention. Having already taken over command of his own Brigade he was made Général de Brigade on the 8th September 1914. He was given a second Brigade to bring the Division Barbot up to strength.

Barbot leading his men

Having saved Arras in 1914 he was mortally wounded in 1915 only a couple of hundred metres away from where his statue stands today.

His citation recalled the Knight Bayard (1473-1524) who was noted for his fearlessness and chivalry - to the extent that his name has become synonymous for these attributes. To this day Ernest Barbot is known to the French as the Bayard of the Great War.

Location of the Battle of Vimy RidgeVimy Ridge is an escarpment 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) northeast of Arras on the western edge of the Douai Plains. The ridge gradually rises on its western side dropping more quickly on the eastern side. At approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) in length and culminating at an elevation of 145 metres (476 ft) or 60 metres (200 ft) above the Douai Plains, the ridge provides a natural unobstructed view for tens of kilometres in all directions.

The ridge fell under German control in October 1914 during the Race to the Sea as the Franco-British and German forces continually attempted to outflank each other through north-eastern France. The French Tenth Army attempted to dislodge the Germans from the region during the Second Battle of Artois in May 1915 by attacking their positions at Vimy Ridge and Notre Dame de Lorette. The French 1st Moroccan Division managed to briefly capture the height of the ridge, but was unable to hold it owing to a lack of reinforcements. The French made another attempt during the Third Battle of Artois in September 1915, but only captured the town of Souchez at the western base of the ridge. The Vimy sector calmed following the offensive with both sides taking a largely live and let live approach. The French suffered approximately 150,000 casualties in their attempts to gain control of Vimy Ridge and surrounding territory.

The British XVII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng, relieved the French Tenth Army in the sector in February 1916, permitting the French to expand their operations at Verdun.
 The British soon discovered that German tunnelling companies had taken advantage of the relative calm on the surface to build an extensive network of tunnels and deep mines from which they would attack French positions by setting off explosive charges underneath their trenches.
 The Royal Engineers immediately deployed specialist tunnelling companies along the front to combat the German mining operations.
 In response to increased British mining aggression, German artillery and trench mortar fire intensified in early May 1916.
On 21 May 1916, after shelling both forward trenches and divisional artillery positions from no less than 80 out-of-sight batteries on the reverse slope of the ridge, the German infantry attacked the British lines along a 2,000-yard (1,800 m) front in an effort to eject them from positions along the ridge. The Germans successfully captured several British-controlled tunnels and mine craters before halting their advance and entrenching their positions.

the last of the cowboys and crescent

After the American Civil War there was a great demand for meat in the northern and eastern parts of the United States. It is estimated that at this time there were over 5 million Longhorns in Texas. The task of the cowboy was to take part in cattle drives where cattle were driven from Texas to the railroad cowtowns of Ellsworth, Abilene, Dodge City, Wichita and Newton. The cattle business eventually spread to Kansas, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona.

Between 1866 to 1895 some 10 million cattle were taken to the railroad cowtowns. The main route from Texas to Kansas was the Chisum Trial and the Goodnight Trail. These trials were over 1,000 miles long and would take between 12 and 16 weeks to complete.

A herd would contain several thousand head of cattle. The trial boss would ride ahead of the column to scout for water, grass and a place to camp during the night. The animals would move along two or three abreast. Two cowboys rode on either side of the head of the column. Flank riders kept the cattle in line and the drag riders were at the rear.

June 1, 1871, John Coffee, Nep Hammonds, Napoleon Lemons and Daniel Arnold were "loose herding" about 1020 head of cattle that belonged to Rich Coffee, W.A. Beddoe and Buck Johnson. The cattle were being held about two miles north and west of "Old Flat Top", and about twenty-five miles southwest of Coleman in Coleman County. Preparations were being made to move the cattle June 4, following, to Colorado or some western point, not yet definitely determined. John Coffee and Dan Arnold were on a little hill about eleven o'clock in the morning and Napoleon Lemons was across Elm Creek and a considerable distance to the east. Nep Hammonds was about one-fourth mile further south of Arnold and Coffee when several Indians charged the four cowboys simultaneously. After Coffee and Arnold had run about one-fourth mile side by side, they struck Elm Creek where a large band of Indians were on an opposite bluff. Here Dan Arnold was killed instantly when the Indians shot him in the head. An Indian grabbed John Coffee's bridle rein. When Coffee jumped to the ground, the savage thought he had been killed and ran for his scalp. But Coffee jumped up and the Indians dodged behind their shields and fell back. John Coffee then ran about two hundred yards due west and crawled in a little washout behind two elm trees and near a little bluff where he was partly protected and hidden by roots. He also piled rocks around himself and here he remained for about an hour. Coffee was wounded three times. The savages apparently did not know where he was. About one hour later, however, while the Indians were holding the horses and driving the cattle away, Coffee started for water, the first thing a wounded man always wants.

He was discovered by the Indians so he retreated back to his same fortification where he had remained during the preceding hour. The country surrounding was more or less open and Coffee could see the cowmen in one direction and the Indians in another. But he thought the Indians were the white citizens, and the citizens, the Indians, so he threw up his gun to the savages and yelled, for he thought they were the cowmen. When he did, the savages charged again. When the opportunity presented itself, Coffee started toward the camp. He had only gone about two hundred yards when he met Wm. Beddoe, James Halcomb, John Ferguson, Dick and Sugg Robertson and Charlie Hammonds, who came to Coffee's rescue. There were also other cowmen coming to his relief. Nep Hammonds, who happened to be nearest the ranch quarters, successfully reached camp but was pursued by several Indians. Kimble County jail

Napoleon Lemons was killed across the creek about the same time that Arnold was killed. The Indians drove away the cattle and horses. According to reports, some of the cattle driven away by the Indians on this occasion were later located in the state of Colorado. John Coffee recovered from his wounds, and today, is a noted ranchman in Kimble County. It was the author's pleasure to visit and interview him at his ranch, about fifteen miles northwest of Harper. Note: Author personally interviewed John Coffee, mentioned above, and L.V. and Asa Arnold, brothers of Dan Arnold. Also interviewed others.

Amarillo 1938.The best lit street in the West.
 The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph Carroll McConnell.

hill ww1