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My dearly-departed Buell M2 Cyclone. Crashed by a friend (yep, still a great friend!) in a tragic gravel accident. I miss this bike.
The little lady will be three years old in September. For a photographer she is a difficult but rewarding subject.
At the end of World War I, the US Army found itself with a large number of artillery pieces from various sources--American-built, French and British--and wanted to standardize on a handful of calibers. The standard medium artillery piece was to be the 105mm howitzer, but the massive cuts in the US military after the war and the Depression meant that the 105mm was not adopted until 1940. At that point, it was considered (by the US Army, at least) that American entry into World War II was inevitable, and President Roosevelt's expansion of the military meant that the Army could finally standardize its artillery. The M2 105mm howitzer was adopted in 1940 and entered production a year later.
The M2 was designed to be rugged, simple to use, and accurate. To reduce the size of the weapon and keep the gun stable, the hydraulic recoil mechanism was placed above and below the barrel, giving the M2 its distinctive look. It had a maximum range of seven miles, and despite the relatively heavy shell weight, a trained crew could fire ten rounds a minute. US Army artillery regiments would be equipped with three 105mm batteries and a single 155mm battery for longer-ranged fire, for a total of 48 guns.
In combat, the US Army's enemies found the 105mm to be one of the most feared weapons in the American arsenal. American batteries were usually linked to the front line by radio-equipped forward observers, and the sheer amount of artillery available usually meant that accurate and devastating fire could be called in quickly. The Army's use of "time on target" meant that regiments could rain shells within minutes in a concentrated area; German veterans remarked that American artillery fire was deadlier in a shorter time than the much larger and massive Soviet artillery barrages. When M2 crews were issued artillery shells equipped with radio proximity fuses, this only made the situation worse for the recipients: now the shells would explode above a certain height from the ground, throwing deadly shrapnel across a battlefield along with blast and shock effects.
In the Pacific, the Japanese fared no better from Marine and Army units equipped with M2s. Though island assaults could call in offshore naval fire support with even more devastating effects, the 105mm was often utilized because it could be brought ashore in a DUKW or a LVT. Against Japanese bunkers, the M2 was occasionally used in the direct fire role.
8500 M2s were produced during the war, and the US military liked it so much it remained in production. When production ended in 1952, over 10,000 had been built. Because of its ease of maintenance, plentiful spare parts, and the fact that, by 1955, it could be lifted by helicopters, the M2 remained the Army's standard artillery piece well into the 1980s. In 1962, it was redesignated the M101. A more modern version, the M102, entered service in 1964, but never completely replaced the M2/M101 series. Both were retired in the 1990s in favor of the British-designed M119. In foreign service, however, the M2/M101 is still in widespread service, and a number are used by ski areas for avalanche control in the United States or as saluting guns.
These two M2s (I assume they are M2s, due to the gun shield) are on display at Junction City, Kansas as part of their war memorial, flanking a beautiful Civil War memorial arch. My friend and I made a stop there for dinner before pushing on to Hutchinson. Both of these guns likely served with the 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red One") based at nearby Fort Riley.
De begraafplaats 'Locre Hospice Cemetery' aan de Godtschalckstraat in Loker (Heuvelland) werd aangelegd in juni 1917 door Field Ambulances en gevechtseenheden en bleef in gebruik tot april 1918. Na de oorlog werden er nog vier stoffelijke overschotten bijgezet afkomstig uit de vroegere kloostertuin. Er worden nu 245 Commonwealthdoden uit de Eerste Wereldoorlog en 14 uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog herdacht. Daarnaast liggen er nog twee graven van andere nationaliteiten. Enkele graven zijn niet-geïdentificeerd en er staan 10 'special memorials' voor graven die eertijds door artillerievuur vernield werden. De begraafplaats heeft een oppervlakte van 851 m² en is door een ruwstenen muur omgeven. In 2009 werd het oorlogskerkhof beschermd als monument.
Foto: Willy Vereenooghe
A morning visit to Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo, near Lake Como. It is best to get here early. Was good that our hotel was a short walk away from the villa.
Villa Carlotta is a villa in Northern Italy on Lake Como. It was built for the Milanese marquis Giorgio Clerici in 1690 and extends over a 70,000 m2 (17 acres) area in Tremezzo, facing the Bellagio peninsula. An Italian garden with steps, fountains and sculptures was laid out at the same time. Among the statues, Mars and Venus by Luigi Acquisti is remarkable.
The architect who designed the villa is unknown. It was completed in 1745 and remained in the hands of Marquis Clerici until 1795, when it passed by marriage to the banker and Napoleonic politician Gian Battista Sommariva, who added a pediment and clock. In 1843, it was given as a wedding present by Princess Marianna of Prussia to her daughter Charlotte, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, after whom the villa is named. The whole estate was owned by the princely House of Saxe-Meiningen, until the Italian State illegally confiscated it after World War I (1927), arguing that the villa is of eminent national significance.
lift shaft / staircase view of Lake Como out of the windows.
Washi Z film in the Leica M2. Rated at box speed, 10min in solution 'B'. &.5 is recommended but compensating for slightly lower temperature.
The Agra Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is about 2.5 km northwest of its more famous sister monument, the Taj Mahal. The fort can be more accurately described as a walled city.
HISTORY
The present-day structure was built by the Mughals, though a fort had stood there since at least the 11th century. Agra Fort was originally a brick fort known as Badalgarh, held by Raja Badal Singh Hindu Sikarwar Rajput king (c. 1475). It was mentioned for the first time in 1080 AD when a Ghaznavide force captured it. Sikandar Lodi (1488–1517) was the first Sultan of Delhi who shifted to Agra and lived in the fort. He governed the country from here and Agra assumed the importance of the second capital. He died in the fort at 1517 and his son, Ibrahim Lodi, held it for nine years until he was defeated and killed at Panipat in 1526. Several palaces, wells and a mosque were built by him in the fort during his period.
After the First Battle of Panipat in 1526, Mughals captured the fort and seized a vast treasure, including the diamond later known as the Koh-i-Noor. The victorious Babur stayed in the fort in the palace of Ibrahim and built a baoli (step well) in it. The emperor Humayun was crowned here in 1530. Humayun was defeated at Bilgram in 1540 by Sher Shah. The fort remained with Suris till 1555, when Humanyun recaptured it. The Hindu king Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, also called 'Hemu', defeated Humanyun's army, led by Iskandar Khan Uzbek, and won Agra. Hemu got a huge booty from this fort and went on to capture Delhi from the Mughals. The Mughals under Akbar defeated King Hemu finally at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556.
Realizing the importance of its central situation, Akbar made it his capital and arrived in Agra in 1558. His historian, Abdul Fazal, recorded that this was a brick fort known as 'Badalgarh'. It was in a ruined condition and Akbar had it rebuilt with red sandstone from Barauli area in Rajasthan. Architects laid the foundation and it was built with bricks in the inner core with sandstone on external surfaces. Some 4,000 builders worked on it daily for eight years, completing it in 1573.
It was only during the reign of Akbar's grandson, Shah Jahan, that the site took on its current state. Legend has it that Shah Jahan built the beautiful Taj Mahal for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Unlike his grandfather, Shah Jahan tended to have buildings made from white marble, often inlaid with gold or semi-precious gems. He destroyed some of the earlier buildings inside the fort to make his own.
At the end of his life, Shah Jahan was deposed and restrained by his son, Aurangzeb, in the fort. It is rumoured that Shah Jahan died in Muasamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony with a view of the Taj Mahal.
The fort was invaded by the Maratha Empire during the mid 18th century. Thereafter, it changed hands between the Marathas and their foes many times. After their catastrophic defeat at Third Battle of Panipat by Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1761, Marathas remained out of the region for the next decade. Finally Mahadji Shinde took the fort in 1785. It was lost by the Marathas to the British during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, in 1803.
The fort was the site of a battle during the Indian rebellion of 1857, which caused the end of the British East India Company's rule in India, and led to a century of direct rule of India by Britain.
LAYOUT
The 380,000 m2 (94-acre) fort has a semicircular plan, its chord lies parallel to the river and its walls are seventy feet high. Double ramparts have massive circular bastions at intervals, with battlements, embrasures, machicolations and string courses. Four gates were provided on its four sides, one Khizri gate opening on to the river.
Two of the fort's gates are notable: the "Delhi Gate" and the "Lahore Gate." The Lahore Gate is also popularly also known as the "Amar Singh Gate," for Amar Singh Rathore.
The monumental Delhi Gate, which faces the city on the western side of the fort, is considered the grandest of the four gates and a masterpiece of Akbar's time. It was built circa 1568 both to enhance security and as the king's formal gate, and includes features related to both. It is embellished with inlay work in white marble. A wooden drawbridge was used to cross the moat and reach the gate from the mainland; inside, an inner gateway called Hathi Pol ("Elephant Gate") – guarded by two life-sized stone elephants with their riders – added another layer of security. The drawbridge, slight ascent, and 90-degree turn between the outer and inner gates make the entrance impregnable. During a siege, attackers would employ elephants to crush a fort's gates. Without a level, straight run-up to gather speed, however, something prevented by this layout, elephants are ineffective.
Because the Indian military (the Parachute Brigade in particular) is still using the northern portion of the Agra Fort, the Delhi Gate cannot be used by the public. Tourists enter via the Amar Singh Gate.
The site is very important in terms of architectural history. Abul Fazal recorded that five hundred buildings in the beautiful designs of Bengal and Gujarat were built in the fort. Some of them were demolished by Shahjahan to make way for his white marble palaces. Most of the others were destroyed by the British between 1803 and 1862 for raising barracks. Hardly thirty Mughal buildings have survived on the south-eastern side, facing the river. Of these, the Delhi Gate and Akbar Gate and one palace – "Bengali Mahal" – are representative Akbari buildings.
Akbar Darwazza (Akbar Gate) was renamed Amar Singh Gate by the British.
POPULAR CULTURE
- The Agra Fort won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004. India Post issued a stamp to commemorate this event.
- The Agra Fort plays a key role in the Sherlock Holmes mystery The Sign of the Four, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
- The Agra Fort was featured in the music video for Habibi Da, a hit song of Egyptian pop star Hisham Abbas.
- Shivaji came to Agra in 1666 as per the "Purandar Treaty" entered into with Mirza Raje Jaisingh to met Aurangzeb in the Diwan-i-Khas. In the audience he was deliberately placed behind men of lower rank. Insulted, he stormed out of the imperial audience and was confined to Jai Sing's quarters on 12 May 1666.
- In the second expansion pack for the videogame Age of Empires 3, the Asian Dynasties, Agra fort is one of five wonders for the Indian civilisation.
WIKIPEDIA