Royal Procession on “All Glory, Laud and Honor”, by Dan Miller.
(Based on “Valet will ich dir geben” / St. Theodulph)
MorningStar Music MSM-10-419
Archive for » March, 2010 «
28
Mar 2010
27
Mar 2010
…sometimes means flying the plane from outside the cockpit.
Consider the actions of one Second Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod, VC, a native of Stonewall, Manitoba. Ninety-two years ago today, McLeod and his gunner Lt. A.W. Hammond were flying an Armstrong Whitworth FK8 bomber, on a mission to bomb and strafe German artillery positions near Bray-sur-Somme, France. They were jumped by a fighter patrol of eight aircraft from Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG1), the famous “Richtofen’s Flying Circus”. Despite being wounded several times and the aircraft being aflame, McLeod managed to save himself and his gunner with some unorthodox and skilful flying. From the May 1st, 1918 edition of the London Gazette:
“His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to award the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned officer of the Royal Air Force, for services displaying outstanding bravery:
2nd Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod, Royal Air Force.
While flying with his observer, Lieutenant A. W. Hammond, M.C., attacking hostile formations by bombs and machine gun fire, he was assailed at a height of 5,000 feet by eight enemy triplanes which dived at him from all directions, firing from their front guns. By skilful manoeuvring he enabled his observer to fire bursts at each machine in turn, shooting three of them down out of control. By this time Lieutenant McLeod had received five wounds, and while continuing the engagement a bullet penetrated his petrol tank and set the machine on fire.
He then climbed out on to the left bottom plane, controlling his machine from the side of the fuselage, and by sideslipping steeply kept the flames to one side, thus enabling the observer to continue firing until the ground was reached.
The observer had been wounded six times when the machine crashed in “No Man’s Land” and 2nd Lieutenant McLeod, notwithstanding his own wounds, dragged him away from the burning wreckage at great personal risk from heavy machine-gun fire from the enemy’s lines. This very gallant pilot was again wounded by a bomb whilst engaged in this act of rescue, but he persevered until he had placed Lieutenant Hammond in comparative safety, before falling himself from exhaustion and loss of blood.”
While Lieutenant McLeod’s wounds were quite serious, he had recuperated sufficiently to appear at Buckingham Palace on September 4th, 1918 and receive his Victoria Cross from the hand of King George V. His father, Dr. A. N. MacLeod of Winnipeg, was also present at the investitute, having sailed over from Canada to attend to his ailing son. Regrettably, McLeod the younger was too unwell to attend the King’s subsequent luncheon invite to Windsor Castle.
Alan Arnett McLeod returned home and eventually succumbed to the Spanish influenza pandemic that was sweeping the nation. The 19-year-old passed away on November 6th, 1918, five days before the Armistice ended the war.
For more information, see the Veterans Affairs Canada record of 2Lt McLeod’s citation, along the associates images which appear here. Miles Constable’s site dedicated to Canadian Air Aces and Heroes also has a much more detailed account of the life and times of Second Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod, including a descriptive account of the battle that also draws upon information gleaned from German war records.
Category: Aeronautics, Amor Patriae, National Defence
Tags: Air Force, aviators and aviatrices, military aviation Comments off
27
Mar 2010
On this day in history:
- 1794—After Congress disbanded the bulk of the US Navy following the War of Independence, US merchant shipping found itself victimised by North African pirates. On this day in 1794, Congress authorised construction of six new naval vessels. Despite a stipulation that vessel construction was to stop if an agreement (read: payoff) with Algiers was reached (which it was, in 1796), three of the frigates—USS United States, USS Constellation and USS Constitution—were completed and launched in 1797.
- 1924—Canada recognises the Bolsheviks as the legitimate government of the USSR (Britain did so on February 1st, 1924).
- 1933—Japan leaves the League of Nations after constant but ineffectual international scolding over the Mukden Incident—where the Japanese Army destroyed a section of a Japanese-owned railway line in China, and framed Chinese dissidents for the act. The incident was used as a pretext for the subsequent Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
- 1942—The Parliament of Canada passes the War Appropriation (United Kingdom Financing) Act, writing off $700 million in British war debts. The cost to each Canadian is $87.
- 1982—”Take Off”, a single from the Bob & Doug Mackenzie album Great White North, peaks at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.
Category: Historica
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27
Mar 2010
2057-1646b, originally uploaded by AliceJapan.
Ms. Simon was a French actress of the 1930s, regrettably under-utilised.
27
Mar 2010
Pink Martini has a certain Belle Époque vibe. Fits my general pessimism today.
26
Mar 2010
Corporal Dave Valentine marches past the ragged and relatively unsafe power lines in Kandahar City. The lines are stringed together with tape and pieces of wire, the power grid in the city is unreliable and electricity is supplied to different parts of the city at various times throughout the day. Members of Stab A from the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (KPRT) conduct a foot patrol in District 9 of Kandahar City on 2 February 2010. (Master Corporal Matthew McGregor, Image Tech, JTFK Afghanistan, Roto 8)
RELATED: The battle to electrify Kandahar.
26
Mar 2010
Bubblehead at The Stupid Shall Be Punished notes an interesting item on the blog of Command Sergeant Major Michael T. Hall, International Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan. ISAF will be shutting down Orange Julius, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and Military Car Sales concessions. It it also seeking to reduce the amount of canned and bottled goods coming into Afghanistan, and—strangely—first-run feature films and non-USO entertainment.
There are, no doubt, sound reasons for GEN McChrystal and CSM Hall to make these changes. Perhaps the rear-echelon areas do need to get re-focused on supporting the warfighter out in the field, far from the big bases. Perhaps the dangers of road-transporting all this stuff outweighs the benefit; nobody should be getting killed for the privilege of eating Pizza Hut, after all. This is also why the Air Force flies 165 airlift sorties a month, to lessen the amount of food, gear and people that have to travel along IED-vulnerable roads.
The comments are instructive; there are some positive remarks, but I think it fair to say the vast majority are perplexed if not appalled. My own sensibilities are ably reflected by a couple of Bubblehead’s commenters, whose thoughts I will reproduce here (any emphases are mine).
What I don’t get about this is, does it take that much more room to ship a BK hamburger over to Afghanistan than a regular ol’ unbranded mess hall one? If they’re putting all the pizzas in cardboard boxes, that sounds like reducible waste, but come on. Food is food, unless everything they eat is dehydrated.
The movie thing seems ridiculous, and likely to backfire as the alternative ways soldiers find to spend their time probably aren’t going to include mastering the violin or reading the classics.
– Anonymous, 25 March 2010 1718
No, Nein, Nyet!!
Now, I’ve not done an IA tour, but I see this as a pointless endeavor in trying to make headlines along with fortifying our next SITREP.
Give the folks on the ground who are pounding sand a break wouldja’ please?! Those simple things like pizza hut and theaters are a biggy for those who serve over there. Umm, what useful purpose does it serve to minimize these areas of comfort?
What?…do you need more room? Is that it? You’re in the middle of the stinkin’ desert. You have more “potential” real estate than you know what to do with. Ever flown in to Vegas? For those who have not been there, I can say when you look out the starboard porthole of the plane while descending to McCarran Airport, you see nothing more than desert. Vegas is in the middle of the desert. You have ample square footage to build on.
Now back to the sand box across the seas. You have more than enough room if needed. There is no reason to take away the comforts of home. Again, I’ll admit I’ve never been there, but please don’t fuck it up for all the ground troops who are sweating it out so you can look good for your next Eval.
– MT1(SS) WidgetHead, 25 March 2010 1801
If the purpose is to remember that the focus is on winning the war, perhaps there should be austerity programs back home too.
Rationing, warbonds, etc.
It seems the US People have lost the focus, not the soldiers.
– Anonymous, 26 March 2010 0452
The last quote says it all, really. The people that need to be reminded that there is a war on are not the men and women who are already deployed to the Sandbox. It is the citizenry back home in North America who are blessedly far removed from any hardship, privation and danger.
RELATED: Mr. Brooks of The Torch has cogent thoughts as well.
26
Mar 2010
The atomised but still mysteriously broadcasting Osama bin Laden threatens to kill captured Americans if his comrade-in-arms Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is executed.
Because up to this point Al Qaeda’s been putting up their captives at the 5-star Swat Valley Hilton, and paroling them to the grounds on their honour as gentlemen.
Just ask Daniel Pearl, Edwin Dyer, and lots of ordinary Iraqis.
25
Mar 2010
Lecture on rigging, School of Aviation, Royal Flying Corps Canada, University of Toronto. c1917. (Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / C-020396)
Category: Aeronautics, Historica
Tags: Air Force, military aviation, Toronto, visual arts Comments off
25
Mar 2010
Chris is most often found flying a desk, but he delights in studying the Golden Age of Aviation (1919-1939). He admires all the pioneering men and women who navigated the skies with nothing more sophisticated than a map, compass and sextant—and the conviction that there was no place they could not reach.
