Famagusta is a city on the east coast of the de facto state Northern Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice), Famagusta was the island's most important port city and a gateway to trade with the ports of the Levant, from where the Silk Road merchants carried their goods to Western Europe. The old walled city and parts of the modern city are de facto part of Northern Cyprus as the capital of the Gazimağusa District.

 

The city was known as Arsinoe or Arsinoë (Greek: Ἀρσινόη, Arsinóē) in antiquity, after Ptolemy II of Egypt's sister and wife Arsinoe II.

 

By the 3rd century, the city appears as Ammochostos (Greek: Ἀμμόχωστος or Αμμόχωστος, Ammókhōstos, "Hidden in Sand") in the Stadiasmus Maris Magni.[5] This name is still used in modern Greek with the pronunciation [aˈmːoxostos], while it developed into Latin Fama Augusta, French Famagouste, Italian Famagosta, and English Famagusta during the medieval period. Its informal modern Turkish name Mağusa (Turkish pronunciation: [maˈusa]) came from the same source. Since 1974, it has formally been known to Turkey and Northern Cyprus as Gazimağusa ([ɡaːzimaˈusa]), from the addition of the title gazi, meaning "veteran" or "one who has faught in a holy war".

 

In the early medieval period, the city was also known as New Justiniana (Greek: Νέα Ἰουστινιανία, Néa Ioustinianía) in appreciation for the patronage of the Byzantine emperor Justinian, whose wife Theodora was born there.

 

The old town of Famagusta has also been nicknamed "the City of 365 Churches" from the legend that, at its peak, it boasted a church for every day of the year.

 

The city was founded around 274 BC, after the serious damage to Salamis by an earthquake, by Ptolemy II Philadelphus and named "Arsinoe" after his sister.[6] Arsinoe was described as a "fishing town" by Strabo in his Geographica in the first century BC. In essence, Famagusta was the successor of the most famous and most important ancient city of Cyprus, Salamis. According to Greek mythology, Salamis was founded after the end of the Trojan War by Teucros, the son of Telamon and brother of Aedes, from the Greek island of Salamis.

 

The city experienced great prosperity much later, during the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. To honor the city, from which his wife Theodora came, Justinian enriched it with many buildings, while the inhabitants named it New Justiniania to express their gratitude. In AD 647, when the neighboring cities were destroyed by Arab raiding, the inhabitants of these cities moved to Famagusta, as a result of which the city's population increased significantly and the city experienced another boom.

 

Later, when Jerusalem was occupied by the Arabs, the Christian population fled to Famagusta, as a result of which the city became an important Christian center, but also one of the most important commercial centers in the eastern Mediterranean.

 

The turning point for Famagusta was 1192 with the onset of Lusignan rule. It was during this period that Famagusta developed as a fully-fledged town. It increased in importance to the Eastern Mediterranean due to its natural harbour and the walls that protected its inner town. Its population began to increase. This development accelerated in the 13th century as the town became a centre of commerce for both the East and West. An influx of Christian refugees fleeing the downfall of Acre (1291) in Palestine transformed it from a tiny village into one of the richest cities in Christendom.

 

In 1372 the port was seized by Genoa and in 1489 by Venice. This commercial activity turned Famagusta into a place where merchants and ship owners led lives of luxury. By the mid-14th century, Famagusta was said to have the richest citizens in the world. The belief that people's wealth could be measured by the churches they built inspired these merchants to have churches built in varying styles. These churches, which still exist, were the reason Famagusta came to be known as "the district of churches". The development of the town focused on the social lives of the wealthy people and was centred upon the Lusignan palace, the cathedral, the Square and the harbour.

 

In 1570–1571, Famagusta was the last stronghold in Venetian Cyprus to hold out against the Turks under Mustafa Pasha. It resisted a siege of thirteen months and a terrible bombardment, until at last the garrison surrendered. The Ottoman forces had lost 50,000 men, including Mustafa Pasha's son. Although the surrender terms had stipulated that the Venetian forces be allowed to return home, the Venetian commander, Marco Antonio Bragadin, was flayed alive, his lieutenant Tiepolo was hanged, and many other Christians were killed.

 

With the advent of the Ottoman rule, Latins lost their privileged status in Famagusta and were expelled from the city. Greek Cypriots natives were at first allowed to own and buy property in the city, but were banished from the walled city in 1573–74 and had to settle outside in the area that later developed into Varosha. Turkish families from Anatolia were resettled in the walled city but could not fill the buildings that previously hosted a population of 10,000. This caused a drastic decrease in the population of Famagusta. Merchants from Famagusta, who mostly consisted of Latins that had been expelled, resettled in Larnaca and as Larnaca flourished, Famagusta lost its importance as a trade centre. Over time, Varosha developed into a prosperous agricultural town thanks to its location away from the marshes, whilst the walled city remained dilapidated.

 

In the walled city, some buildings were repurposed to serve the interests of the Muslim population: the Cathedral of St. Nicholas was converted to a mosque (now known as Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque), a bazaar was developed, public baths, fountains and a theological school were built to accommodate the inhabitants' needs. Dead end streets, an Ottoman urban characteristic, was imported to the city and a communal spirit developed in which a small number of two-storey houses inhabited by the small upper class co-existed with the widespread one-storey houses.

 

With the British takeover, Famagusta regained its significance as a port and an economic centre and its development was specifically targeted in British plans. As soon as the British took over the island, a Famagusta Development Act was passed that aimed at the reconstruction and redevelopment of the city's streets and dilapidated buildings as well as better hygiene. The port was developed and expanded between 1903 and 1906 and Cyprus Government Railway, with its terminus in Famagusta, started construction in 1904. Whilst Larnaca continued to be used as the main port of the island for some time, after Famagusta's use as a military base in World War I trade significantly shifted to Famagusta. The city outside the walls grew at an accelerated rate, with development being centred around Varosha. Varosha became the administrative centre as the British moved their headquarters and residences there and tourism grew significantly in the last years of the British rule. Pottery and production of citrus and potatoes also significantly grew in the city outside the walls, whilst agriculture within the walled city declined to non-existence.

 

New residential areas were built to accommodate the increasing population towards the end of the British rule,[11] and by 1960, Famagusta was a modern port city extending far beyond Varosha and the walled city.

 

The British period saw a significant demographic shift in the city. In 1881, Christians constituted 60% of the city's population while Muslims were at 40%. By 1960, the Turkish Cypriot population had dropped to 17.5% of the overall population, while the Greek Cypriot population had risen to 70%. The city was also the site for one of the British internment camps for nearly 50,000 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust trying to emigrate to Palestine.

 

From independence in 1960 to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus of 1974, Famagusta developed toward the south west of Varosha as a well-known entertainment and tourist centre. The contribution of Famagusta to the country's economic activity by 1974 far exceeded its proportional dimensions within the country. Whilst its population was only about 7% of the total of the country, Famagusta by 1974 accounted for over 10% of the total industrial employment and production of Cyprus, concentrating mainly on light industry compatible with its activity as a tourist resort and turning out high-quality products ranging from food, beverages and tobacco to clothing, footwear, plastics, light machinery and transport equipment. It contributed 19.3% of the business units and employed 21.3% of the total number of persons engaged in commerce on the island. It acted as the main tourist destination of Cyprus, hosting 31.5% of the hotels and 45% of Cyprus' total bed capacity. Varosha acted as the main touristic and business quarters.

 

In this period, the urbanisation of Famagusta slowed down and the development of the rural areas accelerated. Therefore, economic growth was shared between the city of Famagusta and the district, which had a balanced agricultural economy, with citrus, potatoes, tobacco and wheat as main products. Famagusta maintained good communications with this hinterland. The city's port remained the island's main seaport and in 1961, it was expanded to double its capacity in order to accommodate the growing volume of exports and imports. The port handled 42.7% of Cypriot exports, 48.6% of imports and 49% of passenger traffic.

 

There has not been an official census since 1960 but the population of the town in 1974 was estimated to be around 39,000 not counting about 12,000–15,000 persons commuting daily from the surrounding villages and suburbs to work in Famagusta. The number of people staying in the city would swell to about 90,000–100,000 during the peak summer tourist period, with the influx of tourists from numerous European countries, mainly Britain, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The majority of the city population were Greek Cypriots (26,500), with 8,500 Turkish Cypriots and 4,000 people from other ethnic groups.

 

During the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 14 August 1974 the Mesaoria plain was overrun by Turkish tanks and Famagusta was bombed by Turkish aircraft. It took two days for the Turkish Army to occupy the city, prior to which Famagusta's entire Greek Cypriot population had fled into surrounding fields. As a result of Turkish airstrikes dozens of civilians died, including tourists.

 

Unlike other parts of the Turkish-controlled areas of Cyprus, the Varosha suburb of Famagusta was fenced off by the Turkish army immediately after being captured and remained fenced off until October 2020, when the TRNC reopened some streets to visitors. Some Greek Cypriots who had fled Varosha have been allowed to view the town and journalists have been allowed in.

 

UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of Famagusta by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN. The UN's Security Council resolution 789 (1992) also urges that with a view to the implementation of resolution 550 (1984), the area at present under the control of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.

 

Famagusta's historic city centre is surrounded by the fortifications of Famagusta, which have a roughly rectangular shape, built mainly by the Venetians in the 15th and 16th centuries, though some sections of the walls have been dated earlier times, as far as 1211.

 

Some important landmarks and visitor attractions in the old city are:

The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque

The Othello Castle

Palazzo del Provveditore - the Venetian palace of the governor, built on the site of the former Lusignan royal palace

St. Francis' Church

Sinan Pasha Mosque

Church of St. George of the Greeks

Church of St. George of the Latins

Twin Churches

Nestorian Church (of St George the Exiler)

Namık Kemal Dungeon

Agios Ioannis Church

Venetian House

Akkule Masjid

Mustafa Pasha Mosque

Ganchvor monastery

 

In an October 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund listed Famagusta, a "maritime ancient city of crusader kings", among the 12 sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and destruction, citing insufficient management and development pressures.

 

Famagusta is an important commercial hub of Northern Cyprus. The main economic activities in the city are tourism, education, construction and industrial production. It has a 115-acre free port, which is the most important seaport of Northern Cyprus for travel and commerce. The port is an important source of income and employment for the city, though its volume of trade is restricted by the embargo against Northern Cyprus. Its historical sites, including the walled city, Salamis, the Othello Castle and the St Barnabas Church, as well as the sandy beaches surrounding it make it a tourist attraction; efforts are also underway to make the city more attractive for international congresses. The Eastern Mediterranean University is also an important employer and supplies significant income and activity, as well as opportunities for the construction sector. The university also raises a qualified workforce that stimulates the city's industry and makes communications industry viable. The city has two industrial zones: the Large Industrial Zone and the Little Industrial Zone. The city is also home to a fishing port, but inadequate infrastructure of the port restricts the growth of this sector. The industry in the city has traditionally been concentrated on processing agricultural products.

 

Historically, the port was the primary source of income and employment for the city, especially right after 1974. However, it gradually lost some of its importance to the economy as the share of its employees in the population of Famagusta diminished due to various reasons. However, it still is the primary port for commerce in Northern Cyprus, with more than half of ships that came to Northern Cyprus in 2013 coming to Famagusta. It is the second most popular seaport for passengers, after Kyrenia, with around 20,000 passengers using the port in 2013.

 

The mayor-in-exile of Famagusta is Simos Ioannou. Süleyman Uluçay heads the Turkish Cypriot municipal administration of Famagusta, which remains legal as a communal-based body under the constitutional system of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Since 1974, Greek Cypriots submitted a number of proposals within the context of bicommunal discussions for the return of Varosha to UN administration, allowing the return of its previous inhabitants, requesting also the opening of Famagusta harbour for use by both communities. Varosha would have been returned to Greek Cypriot control as part of the 2004 Annan Plan but the plan had been rejected by a majority(3/4) of Greek Cypriot voters.

 

The walled city of Famagusta contains many unique buildings. Famagusta has a walled city popular with tourists.

 

Every year, the International Famagusta Art and Culture Festival is organized in Famagusta. Concerts, dance shows and theater plays take place during the festival.

 

A growth in tourism and the city's university have fueled the development of Famagusta's vibrant nightlife. Nightlife in the city is especially active on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights and in the hotter months of the year, starting from April. Larger hotels in the city have casinos that cater to their customers. Salamis Road is an area of Famagusta with a heavy concentration of bars frequented by students and locals.

 

Famagusta's Othello Castle is the setting for Shakespeare's play Othello. The city was also the setting for Victoria Hislop's 2015 novel The Sunrise, and Michael Paraskos's 2016 novel In Search of Sixpence. The city is the birthplace of the eponymous hero of the Renaissance proto-novel Fortunatus.

 

Famagusta was home to many Greek Cypriot sport teams that left the city because of the Turkish invasion and still bear their original names. Most notable football clubs originally from the city are Anorthosis Famagusta FC and Nea Salamis Famagusta FC, both of the Cypriot First Division, which are now based in Larnaca. Usually Anorthosis Famagusta fans are politically right wing where Nea Salamis fans are left wing.

 

Famagusta is represented by Mağusa Türk Gücü in the Turkish Cypriot First Division. Dr. Fazıl Küçük Stadium is the largest football stadium in Famagusta. Many Turkish Cypriot sport teams that left Southern Cyprus because of the Cypriot intercommunal violence are based in Famagusta.

 

Famagusta is represented by DAÜ Sports Club and Magem Sports Club in North Cyprus First Volleyball Division. Gazimağusa Türk Maarif Koleji represents Famagusta in the North Cyprus High School Volleyball League.

 

Famagusta has a modern volleyball stadium called the Mağusa Arena.

 

The Eastern Mediterranean University was founded in the city in 1979. The Istanbul Technical University founded a campus in the city in 2010.

 

The Cyprus College of Art was founded in Famagusta by the Cypriot artist Stass Paraskos in 1969, before moving to Paphos in 1972 after protests from local hoteliers that the presence of art students in the city was putting off holidaymakers.

 

Famagusta has three general hospitals. Gazimağusa Devlet Hastahanesi, a state hospital, is the biggest hospital in city. Gazimağusa Tıp Merkezi and Gazimağusa Yaşam Hastahanesi are private hospitals.

 

Personalities

Saint Barnabas, born and died in Salamis, Famagusta

Chris Achilleos, illustrator of the book versions on the BBC children's series Doctor Who

Beran Bertuğ, former Governor of Famagusta, first Cypriot woman to hold this position

Marios Constantinou, former international Cypriot football midfielder and current manager.

Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Cypriot singer.

Derviş Eroğlu, former President of Northern Cyprus

Alexis Galanos, 7th President of the House of Representatives and Famagusta mayor-in-exile (2006-2019) (Republic of Cyprus)

Xanthos Hadjisoteriou, Cypriot painter

Oz Karahan, political activist, President of the Union of Cypriots

Oktay Kayalp, former Turkish Cypriot Famagusta mayor (Northern Cyprus)

Harry Luke British diplomat

Angelos Misos, former international footballer

Costas Montis was an influential and prolific Greek Cypriot poet, novelist, and playwright born in Famagusta.

Hal Ozsan, actor (Dawson's Creek, Kyle XY)

Dimitris Papadakis, a Greek Cypriot politician, who served as a Member of the European Parliament.

Ṣubḥ-i-Azal, Persian religious leader, lived and died in exile in Famagusta

Touker Suleyman (born Türker Süleyman), British Turkish Cypriot fashion retail entrepreneur, investor and reality television personality.

Alexia Vassiliou, singer, left here as a refugee when the town was invaded.

George Vasiliou, former President of Cyprus

Vamik Volkan, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry

Derviş Zaim, film director

 

Famagusta is twinned with:

İzmir, Turkey (since 1974)

Corfu, Greece (since 1994)

Patras, Greece (since 1994)

Antalya, Turkey (since 1997)

Salamina (city), Greece (since 1998)

Struga, North Macedonia

Athens, Greece (since 2005)

Mersin, Turkey

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

Heather and Noel Gwilliams from gateway Services - TWELVE LOWER MOUNTAINS VOLUNTEERS HONOURED FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

Twelve outstanding citizens of the Lower Mountains were recognised for their contributions as valued volunteers during a polished ceremony at Emu Plains Sports Club last week.

Lower Blue Mountains Rotary called for nominations from the community some months ago and last Tuesday’s function was the culmination of many hours of assessment by the Rotary organising committee.

Blue Mountains Citizen of the Year Heather Gwilliam set the tone for the evening with a special address to congratulate the 12 guests of honour.

She said the room was ‘packed with citizens of the year’ such is the service ethic of Rotarians and volunteers everywhere.

“There is a wonderful community spirit throughout the Blue Mountains,” she continued.

“I an energised by volunteering and we have people here tonight who represent a myriad of community groups all of which offer support and value to our community. We are all the richer for knowing our neighbours and we have many examples of outstanding volunteer caring through the bushfires and disasters that impact our lives from time to time”, she said.

Lower Blue Mountains Rotary President Drew Fitzpatrick welcomed the impressive gathering of some 130 guests and introduced Club Membership Director John Keogh who served as Chairman.

Rotary Club President Nominee Rennie Schmid provided a splendid insight into Rotary’s proud ‘service above self’ motto and highlighted the connection between ongoing Rotary service and the service of all award winners.

Chairman John Keogh read a detailed citation as he announced each Awardee. They were presented with a quality framed certificate by President Drew and Awards Committee Coordinator Michelle Fisher to highlight their service and achievements.

Those honoured during the evening included –

•David and Carol Williams of Winmalee – many years of service to Blue Mountains Food Services (Meals on Wheels). The organisation is responsible for almost 1,000 meals per week.

•Gordon Aiken of Glenbrook – followed the sporting passions of his children and has enjoyed 27 years with the Blue Mountains Football Club. Served as coach, manager and most executive positions within club.

•Robyn Moir of Werrington – 30 years as a Guides NSW leader, outdoor activities adviser and Trefoil Guild member.

•Silvia Arnold of Glenbrook - dedicated volunteer for the Endeavour Foundation sharing the load at the Penrith High Street store but also many hours cleaning, mending, collecting at home.

•John Jennings of Glenbrook – many years of cricket administration. John was in hospital and unable to attend the tribute evening but Richard Tewson (President, Glenbrook/Blaxland Cricket Club) and neighbours Karen and Bill Coombs spoke glowingly of his outstanding character and service.

•Bernie Fisher of Blaxland – long serving stalwart of the Blaxland Bushfire Brigade since he moved to the Mountains in the mid 1960s. Also ten years as volunteer first aid instructor with the Red Cross, and a continuing blood donor.

•Margaret Murrin of Glenbrook – President of the Lapstone/Glenbrook Netball Club, vice president of the Blue Mountains Netball Association, State League representative coach, umpire, registrar and advocate for the sport. In 2015, she was named State League Coach of the Year.

•Desmond Dempster of East Blaxland – five years as volunteer at the Riding for the Disabled Centre at Blaxland, Desmond’s work is vital as he cleans up after horses, pathways, stalls and toilets – along with constant repairs to fences, gates and security.

•Margaret Semeniuk of Blaxland – another key administrator with Blue Mountains Football Club, Margaret has competed 23 years of service after joining as a supportive parent. She is uniform and equipment officer and senior teams’ female coordinator.

•Trevor Hamilton of Springwood – dedicated to youth education programs via an outstanding teaching career. Duke of Edinburgh Awards; coach of swimming, cross country and athletic teams; Ski racing team; introduced G’day USA program to schools; sister schools relationships in NZ, USA and Europe; along with other community activities.

•Pamela Thompson of Glenbrook – a life time of community support and volunteering. Long association with Guiding, active with RAAF with family support organisations; dedicated CWA leader and various other women’s organisations, stalwart of St Andrews Church since returning to Glenbrook in 1969. Founding member of Glenbrook Historical Society.

A contribution for the Ubuntu Free Culture Showcase

 

Despite the fact that Flickr uses CC 2.0 I want to use CC BY-SA 4.0 according to the terms of the Free Culture Showcase.

My contribution to the:

 

I LUG NY Modular Zoo Project

for Lyndhurst Castle Exhibition

April 21-22, 2012

This week's contribution to 52.5 of Twenty Ten (Week #32)

 

 

my contribution to

Headlines Street Photography Contest by Thomas Leuthard

Polymer Clay Necklaces

My contribution to the IPCA Exhibition in Baltimore, February 2010

Contributions to the genetics of Drosophila melanogaster ....

Washington,Carnegie Institution of Washington,1919..

biodiversitylibrary.org/page/805345

Life is a daring adventure. This statement made by anonymous author really sums up the difficulties a mankind faces in his/her lifetime. However, in this short life tenure making some noteworthy contribution to the society or doing extraordinary things really means a lot. If you have to think about doing extraordinary then there are varieties of the things which can be accomplished. Nepal is perfect place for most notable adventure activities to register in lifetime. One of the most iconic journeys to make is climbing Everest (8848 m). Climbing Everest is probably the most challenging and intrepid journey to top of the world. It requires immense physical endurance, perseverance and financial investment. Mount Everest which is located in Solukhumbhu district of Nepal is pride of this small Himalayan nation. Every year in two seasons the climbing of Everest is done.

I'm sorry in advance, just when you thought you've seen enough photos of this locomotive. Here's my whole list of contributions to the 2024 season of "Pursuit of the Tea Kettle".

 

Here's the first shot, descending the grade at Castle Rock. About a dozen people walked directly in front of my pre-planned shot as the train came into view, so I had to improvise by hiding them behind some conveniently placed brush.

contribution for the blood becomes water zine.

the topic was to retreat some sofia postcards

(not selected)

Donemana, Donemanagh, Doneymana, Donnemanagh, Dunamanagh, Dunemanagh, Dunimana, Dunnamanagh or Dunnymana (historically spelled in numerous different ways) named after the townland of Dunnamanagh, from Irish Dún na Manach, meaning 'stronghold of the monks' is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

It is 7 miles (11 kilometres) North-East of Strabane, on the banks of the Burn Dennett (River Dennett) and at the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains. It is the largest of the thirteen villages in the Strabane District Council area and had a population of 593 in the 2001 Census.

 

The townland is situated in the historic barony of Strabane Lower and the civil parish of Donaghedy and covers an area of 130 acres in the province of Ulster.

The village, is situated in a deed and retired glen amidst the Mounterloney mountains [now better known as the Sperrin’s] and was established in the early 17th century as part of the Plantation of Ulster, instigated by James I in 1609.

A total of 59 Scottish landowners (or undertakers as they were known) received lands in the Plantation of Ulster. Most were minor lairds, though others, such as Ludovic Stewart, Duke of Lennox (b.1574 d.1624), and James Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn (b.1575 d.1618), were aristocrats and held important positions in the Scottish government. Many of the original grantees sold out early on. Some never even made it as far as Ireland. Others took their responsibilities seriously and built fortifications and introduced the required number of settlers to their estates.

According to the rules of his settlement, the whole county, which was estimated to contain 1571 balliboes, or 98,187 acres, being at the rate of 1000 acres to 16 balliboes, was divided into 78 portions, which, after deducting a portion for the church and some lands for Trinity College, Dublin, were granted to English and Irish undertakers, that is, settlers, who engaged to build, fortify, and stock the lands with British tenantry. Five borough towns, Dungannon, Clogher, Omagh, Strabane, and Mountjoy, were allowed a certain portion of the surrounding grounds; and another portion was assigned to some of the members of the O'Nial family [Irish: Ó Néill]. The Irish were distributed as tenants among the undertakers, the swordsmen were removed to the waste parts of Connaught or Munster, where they were to be dispersed and not permitted to settle together in one place.

 

Pynnar Survey 1689-19

On 28th November 1618 Captain Nicolas Pynnar (b.? d.1644) under King James I direction was issued with a commission to carry a new survey into the progress of the Plantation, he was engaged on this work from 1 December 1618 to 28 March 1619, 119 days in all. It appeared that the county was divided into the five precincts of Strabane, Omy [Omagh], Clogher, Mountjoy, and Dungannon, the first of these, Strabane, was allotted to Scotch undertakers, of whom those then in possession of the lands granted to the original patentees were Sir George Hamilton 3rd Earl of Abercorn (b. c.1636 d.1683), Sir William Stewart of Fort Stewart (b. abt. 1582 d.1646), Sir Robert Newcomen, 4th Baron Newcomen (b.1596 d.1672), and Sir John Drummond 5th of Boreland (d.1630)

 

Those granted land were required to build a fortification on their lands. The simplest type of fortress was known as a ‘bawn’ (from the Irish for ‘cow fort’). A bawn was a courtyard surrounded by strong walls and was usually square or rectangular designed as a place of refuge for settlers in case of attack. The most important of the new landlords were expected to build a strong castle as well as a bawn.

 

The publisher Samuel Lewis in “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland” wrote in 1837,

“Donaheady, a parish, in the barony of Strabane, County of Tyrone, and province of Ulster, on the road from Strabane to Cookstown; containing, with the post-town of Dunamanagh, 10,480 inhabitants. The greater part of this parish was granted by James 1st to Sir John Drummond, who founded the town of Dunamanagh, and built a bawn 109 feet square, no part of which remains, as the bawn was removed some years since, and the modern building called the Castle was erected on its site.

It comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 39,3983 statute acres, of which 28,728 are applotted under the Tithe Act, and valued at £10,271 per annum. There are about 154 acres of water, and 250 of bog; the remainder is arable and pasture land. There is abundance of excellent limestone, both for building and agricultural purposes, but the mountains are chiefly clay-slate”.

 

Earls Gift Historical Information

Earls Gift Castle has the appearance of a Georgian gothic dwelling or folly and as far as can be determined from the remaining structure, probably dates from the late eighteenth century.

Castle and Bawn ruin, consisting of a "double pile with a five-bay, 3 storey, South front with arched windows to the top floor & a fore standing round tower in the central bay". The North Western perimeter is still bounded by what seems to be the remains of foundations of a bawn wall.

According to the Natural Stone Database, the stone used is local Dalradian schist and Tyrone carboniferous sandstone.

 

Sir John Drummond 5th of Boreland (d.1630) was the man responsible of the establishment of Donemana town and Earls Gift Castle. His father was John Drummond, Fiar of Bordland (d.15 Dec 1582) who married Barbara Cunningham (d.?) on 12th December 1540, she was the daughter of Sir John Cuninghame [Cunningham], 15th of Glengarnock, [Ayrshire] who died in Dec 1595.

 

Sir John does not appear to have been a popular landlord, for Nicholas Pynnar’s Survey of 1619 reports that, “although there are many tenants on his lands, they have no estates [tenures] at all; insomuch that they, knowing I was in the country, came and complained unto me, and said that for these many years they could never get anything from him but promises; and, therefore, the most part of them are leaving the land. I desired the lady to show me their counterpaines, but her answer was that her Knight was in Scotland, and that she could not come unto them. but upon examination, I found there were 90 men of firittone [from Scotland] on the land." Sir John Drummond was styled as of the Rosses, in the parish of Oapprey [?], where he died in May, 1625 [alt.1630].

 

Sir John Drummond, 5th of Boreland, married Marjory (Marion) Hamilton on the 6 Nov 1601 in Edinburgh, she was the daughter to the John Hamilton, Laird of Blair (d. abt. 1630) and Grisel Sempill (d. Oct 1575)

 

Sir John sold the estate to John Drummond, Earl of Perth, and having purchased Kesh Castle in Co. Tyrone in Ireland and died childless in 1630. His only sibling, brother Malcolm (d.22 May 1650) 7th of Bordland (or Boreland) succeeded to the estate when he got a re-grant of the premises, which were created into a manor, to be called the manor of Castle Dormand.

 

Earls Gift Folklore?

Local folklore provides the following romantic and tragic story of events that surround the unfinished building of Earls Gift Castle. Sir John Drummond decided to build a castle near his home at Earls Gift and like most landlords of the time he also had a house in London. It was there that he met and fell in love with a beautiful French girl and they planned to marry and retire to the castle in Donemana when it was complete.

However, tragically the ship that was bringing Sir John’s betrothed to England was wrecked in a storm in the English Channel of the coast of Dover on 2nd November 1650 and all onboard perished.

I’ve not been able to find any on-line records of a ship wreck in the English Channel on or about the date stated. I’d also expect that a record would have existed if a ship had sunk especially one where all on board had died. So, it’s quite likely this story has been handed down through the generations and now forms part of local folklore?

 

Historic Maps & Surveys

It is shown on McCrea and Knox’s map of Tyrone dated 1813 as a castle in ruins, although the later Ordnance Survey map of 1832 does not so designate it, and in fact it is not described as a ruin on OS maps until the third edition of 1905. The first edition OS map appears to caption it, ‘Earls Gift’, but by the second edition it is ‘Dunnamanagh Castle’. No earlier maps were found to show the castle. The Townland Valuation (1828-40) lists ‘an old castle’ and tower giving dimensions and describing it as ‘not habitable’ although a valuation is given to it of £3.6s.

 

In a “Book of Survey and Distribution” dating from 1666 to 78, ‘Downemanagh’ is listed as the property of Sir William Hamilton (b. abt.1604 d.1662) Esquire of Elieston, Knight and Protestant. His descendant Sir John, Stuart Hamilton (b. c1740 d.1802) is mentioned several times in late-eighteenth-century correspondence between John James Hamilton Marquess of Abercorn (b.1756 d.1818) and his agent James Hamilton (b.? d.1806) as being in residence at ‘Donemanagh’ or occasionally ‘Earls Gift’ and it may be that the residence referred to is the current building.

 

On 19 March 1793, Hamilton writes, “Sir John [Stuart] Hamilton’s brother died last week at ‘Donemanagh’, his weight 42 stones. It took 16 planks to make his coffin…” and on 19 March 1798, “Your Lordship will be astonished when I tell you that Sir John Hamilton has subscribed his entire pension £300 a year towards the war [possibly, the Irish Rebellion of 1798?] and is living the life of a hermit at Donemanagh”.

 

James Hamilton’s letters also report Sir John’s (Stuart) Hamilton’s death in 1802 and speculate that his son the ‘Young Sir John’ [Sir John Charles Hamilton, 2nd Baronet] will be the last of the line. [Note: Sir John Charles Hamilton, 2nd Baronet was in fact the last Baronet, he died in 1818]. “If I can credit his surgeon and housekeeper, he will never leave an heir”. His agent proposes that Abercorn try to obtain the reversion of young Sir John’s estates. As far as can be determined from the correspondence, the son does not appear to have lived at Dunnamanagh, and it may be that the building began to fall into disrepair shortly after Sir John (Stuart’s) death.

 

It is thought that the following statement alludes to the 1st Baronet, Sir John Stuart Hamilton:

"When he was but nineteen, he was unanimously elected one of the representatives in Parliament for Strabane, in which high and honourable station he behaved for upwards of thirty years with a conduct suitable to the great confidence reposed in him. To his immortal honour he was one of those heroic patriots of fabrician fortitude, who signalized themselves in so conspicuous a manner in the successful defence of the pass, which in 1753 was strenuously attempted to be forced, in order to overthrow the parliamentary constitution of this country; for which they were distinguished from their opponents by their wearing gold medals in memory of that glorious epoch. And so sensible were his constituents of his singular merit and invariable principles in favour of his country, that at the late general election they unanimously re-elected him "to represent them in parliament; the goodness and benevolence of his heart endeared him to all, and render his death universally lamented. He is succeeded in his estate by John [Charles] Hamilton, Esq. (b.1745 to 1805 d.1818), his eldest son and heir."

 

The Hamilton’s

In the early 1600s Sir Claud Hamilton (b. abt 1579 d.1614) of Shawfield in Scotland, second son of Lord Claud Hamilton (b.1546 d.1621) Commendator of the Abbey of Paisley and a friend of the Earl of Abercorn. Claud, as an undertaker in the plantation of the county of Longford, he had 400 acres of land granted to him there, together with the small proportion of Eden [the estate and remains of the castle at Mount Castle] or Teadane and Killeny which occupied most of the eastern half of the barony and which were largely mountainous. They contained about 2000 acres in the barony of Strabane, Co. Tyrone, on which he built a strong and beautiful castle [possibly, Mount Castle, Donemana, a short distance from Earls Gift Castle], which, with other lands mentioned in the patent.

Sir Claud firstly married Janet Hamilton (b1583 d.1623) a daughter of Robert Hamilton of Leckprevick, she and Claud had no issue. Claud secondly Janet Hamilton (d.1613) Heiress of Leckprevick and Easter Greenlees she was the daughter of Sir Robert Hamilton of Manor Elieston (b. 1448 to 1568) in the County of Tyrone, and had six sons and two daughters.

1.Sir William (b.1604 d.1664), his heir

2.Alexander died 21 Nov 1587, aged 8 moths

3.Robert died before 1657

4.George died unmarried

5.Claud

6.James (died unmarried)

7.Grizzel Hamilton (m. Sir William Nisbit, Baillie of Lamington)

8.Margaret Hamilton (m. Sir John Stuart [Stewart] of Gorgonoch-Stewart of Methven)

 

After Sir Claud Hamilton death in 1614 the land was given to his eldest son Sir William Hamilton.

 

William, is buried in Bodoney parish church, Killeter, Castlederg, County Tyrone and was succeeded by his third son, Claud Hamilton (b. c1648 d. c1695)

 

Claud Hamilton (b.c1648 d.c1695), of Monterloney (near, County Tyrone, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1671 and 1683, who married Isabella Wingfield and had issue, with five daughters, Beatrix, Mary, Agnes, Margaret, and Rebecca and two sons, William, his successor and Claud of Strabane, ancestor of Hamilton Baronets of Woodbrook.

 

A castle, surrounded by a square bawn (fortified enclosure) was built by the Hamilton’s in Donemana around 1618-19, and was described at the time as ‘both strong and beautiful’. No trace of the castle survives, but it is believed to have been where the ruined eighteenth-century building known locally as 'Earls Gift Castle' now stands. The castle occupied a commanding position on the edge of a steep bank high above the Burn Dennett River.

 

In 1629 Sir William Hamilton renamed the estate ‘Manor Elliston’ after his mother’s home in Renfrewshire, Scotland.

In the course of the 1600s families from Britain, primarily from Scotland, settled in the district and their descendants are still numerous in the area today. Other Scottish surnames names found in this area over the past 400 years include Buchanan, Campbell, Colhoun, Galbraith, Henderson, Leslie, Lindsay, McCrea and McFarland.

The Hamilton family remained in possession of Dunnamanagh until the early 1800s. The last but one member of the family, Sir John Stuart Hamilton (b. c1740 d.1802) 1st Baronet of Dunamana, High Sheriff of County Tyrone 1764, MP for Strabane from 1763-97 and son of William Hamilton (d. est. between 1675 and 1735) of Dunamanagh, County Tyrone, MP for Strabane, 1733-62, and Catherine Leslie daughter of the Rev Dr George Leslie, of Ballyconnell House, County Cavan,

www.geni.com/people/Catherine-Hamilton/6000000005062062760

 

The demise of the estate is suggested as the result of the reckless expenditure of Sir John Stuart Hamilton. He was the rather ineffective MP for Strabane who was once described as a ‘man of small fortune and large stature, possessing a most liberal appetite for both solids and fluids.

 

The development of the village that we see today probably dates from the middle of the eighteenth century and is likely to have been associated with the rise of the linen industry in the area.

Sir John Stuart Hamilton 1st Baronet of Dunamana (b. c1740 d.1802), High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1764, MP for Strabane from 1763 to 1797.

Sir John Stuart was the son of Sir William Hamilton of Manor Elliston (b.1604 d.1662) and Elizabeth (Johnston) Hamilton (b.1605)

 

Sir John Stuart Hamilton who married Sarah Hamilton (b. c1740 d.1770) on 20 November 1770 was the illegitimate daughter of Frederick Hamilton, 3rd Viscount Boyne (b.1718 d.1772 who is buried St. Paul's Church, Dublin, County Dublin) and his second wife Bridget Mooney (d.1771) and was the daughter of Lt.-Col. unknown Mooney who he married on July 1746 (This marriage was during the lifetime of his first wife, Elizabeth Hadley who he had married on 25 August 1737 at Chapelizod, County Dublin).

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After her marriage to Fredrick, Bridget Mooney was styled as Viscountess Boyne in July 1746. She died 1771, without surviving issue.

 

19th–Century Earls Gift Map and the Douglas Family

An early 19th–century map of the ‘Earl’s Gift’ Demesne showing lands near the town of Donemana, Co. Tyrone, in the parish of Donagheady and diocese of Derry.

The map had suffered the ravages of time, and was in need of urgent repair, but thanks to the expert intervention of Liz D’Arcy at the Paperworks Studio for Paper Conservation, and the availability of the Representative Church Body (RCB) Library’s Conservation Fund which allows for the urgent repair of historical items, this beautiful work of art has been brought back to life.

Clearly of significant independent means the Hon. Revd. Charles Douglas, and also benefiting from the grant funds available to him, he was able to commission a professional surveyor Robert Craig in 1830 to measure out his property, and draw the colourful survey map of the lands where he had laid out a house and planned demesne on the former ‘Earls Gift Castle’ estate, which had been associated in the 17th century with Sir John Drummond who laid out the original ‘Earls Gift Castle’ and town of Donemana.

 

The map depicts various field boundaries, and the location of townlands, including Tullyard, Black Park, Glebe and Benown where the original parish church of St Michael’s was located. As well as Earls Gift Castle, farmyards with stables and other outbuildings, landscaped garden, pleasure grounds and the association of over 95 acres of these lands.

Immediately to the North–East of these and connected by a road is the original parish church now known as St. Michael’s cemetery. Today this building is a ruin, having been replaced by St James Church (150m South West on the B49) after disestablishment when the original church had fallen into disrepair in 1879.

 

There has been an Anglican Church in the parish of Donagheady since the early 17th century, when a church at Church Hill, St. Caidinus (where the Old Donagheady Graveyard is located) was built during the plantation of Ulster. All that remains of this church is a few gable walls and a small graveyard.

 

Around 1788 a new church, St. Michael’s, Church of Ireland in the townland of Benowen, was constructed in what is now known as St. Michael’s cemetery and again a portion of the gable wall remains standing to this day. The church was consecrated 1838.

The final service held in St Michael’s was on 23 November 1879 and the preacher was the Rector, Rev. F J Clarke.

 

In 1870, Canon Clarke and church warden Henry Danton JP arranged repairs to the original parish church of St. Michael’s at Benowen, now known as St. Michael's Cemetery, the ruins of which lies nearby St James Church which is located about 150m on the right-hand side further on, NE from St. James Church, Donagheady on the B49 road from Donemana to Claudy.

An approach was made to Mr. Claud Ogliby (b.1851 d.1894) of Altinaghree Castle (Liscloon House) Donemanagh to request financial assistance, however Mr. Ogiliby refused this request but instead offered £500.00 towards the building of a new church, that of St James.

Mr. Claude Ogilby laid the foundation stone on St James Day, 25th July 1877 and the Church was consecrated on 28th November 1879 by Bishop of Derry and Raphoe the Rt. Rev. Bishop Nathaniel Alexander (b.760 d.1840).

 

Hon. Revd. Charles Douglas

The Revd. Charles Douglas (b.1791 d.1857) was Ordained in the Church of England; he came to Ireland as rector of Donagheady in 1825 and continued to serve there until retirement in 1857. He was the second son of Hon. John Douglas (b.1756 d.1818), who married on 4 Oct 1784 Lady Frances Lascelles (b 1762 d. 1817). John was the son of James Douglas (b.1702 d.1768), 14th Earl of Morton.

 

The Revd. Charles firstly married Isabella (Gore) Douglas (b.1786 and 1799 -d.1838) on the 2nd March 1816 she was the daughter of Arthur Saunders Gore (b.1734-d.1809 ), 2nd Earl of Arran (the Arran Islands) and Elizabeth Underwood (d.1829) who was the daughter of Richard Underwood and Christiana Goold.

Charles and Isabella had 11 children:

1. Anne Jane Douglas b.? d.10 Jan 1868 (m. 3 Jan 1843 Frederick Richard Surtees).

2. Augusta Frederica Douglas b. 22 Nov 1819 d.? (m. 15 Dec 1842 Henry Poore Cox).

3. Julia Mary Douglas b.? d.? (m. 20 July 1848 George James Montgomery).

4. Caroline Douglas b.? d.9 April 1908 (m. 17 Dec 1844 Edward Prothero).

5. Georgiana Frances Douglas b.? d.20 June 1844 aged 15.

6. Adelaide Charlotte Douglas b.? d.1903 (m. 30 Jan 1851 William Ogilby).

7. Louisa Emma Douglas b.? d.? (m. 29 Sep 1857 Charles Fox).

8. Captain William Grant Douglas b.1824 d.1898 aged 74 (Royal Navy).

9. Charles Edward Douglas b.1825 d.1842 aged 16 years.

10. Gordon James Douglas b.1835 d.1905 aged 69 (m. 12 Aug 1858 Louisa Turbett).

11. Claudine Douglas (b.? d.1842) aged 8

 

Hon. Revd. Charles Douglas, secondly married Agnes Julia (Rich) Gason on 28 Dec 1852 to 1857 without issue. Agnes was daughter of Captain J. S. Rich of Woodlands, Limerick. She died on 4 Nov 1916.

 

Interned at St Michael’s Church & Graveyard, Bunowen, Donagheady.

1. Hon. Revd. Charles Douglas (b.1791 d.1857) aged 65.

2. his wife Isabella (b.1786 and 1799 d.1838) aged 43.

3. son Charles Edward (b.1825 d.1842) aged 16.

4. youngest daughter Claudine (b.? d.29 Apr 1842) aged 8.

5. daughter Georgina Frances (b.abt 1829 d.20 June 1844) aged 15.

 

Captain William Grant Douglas married, firstly on the 16th December 1851, Elizabeth Inglis, daughter of William Inglis (d.1865), Elizabeth died in 1965 leaving 6 children.

1.Bessie Henriette Douglas d. 12 Oct 1938 who married Claud William Leslie Ogilby (1851-94) of Altinaghree Castle (Liscloon House).

2.Ada Charlotte Douglas b.1862 d.?

3.Mary Louisa Douglas d.1940

4.Margaret Caroline Douglas b.9 July 1859 d.25 Apr 1921

5.Maud Isabel Gore Douglas d.2 Feb 1934

6.Sholto Douglas d.?

 

Captain William married, secondly, on 6 June 1867, Elizabeth Frances Vesey (b. abt.1844 d.1919), daughter of Thomas Agmondisham Vesey (b.1812 d.1895) and Jemima Belford Gregg (b.1820 d. 1898), They had 3 children, a son: Sholto Osborne Gordon Douglas (b.1873 d.1937) B.A. (Oxon) Author of 'A theory of Civilisation' and two daughters, Maude Isabel Gore Douglas (b.1869 d.1934) and Margaret Caroline Douglas (b.1883 d. unknown)

 

Gordon James Douglas, married, 12th August 1858, Louisa Turbett (b.1837 d.1923) daughter of James Turbett of Owenstown, Dublin, and had one daughter, Isabelle Sophia Frances Douglas (b.1860 d.1914), she married Bedford Randolph Wilson

 

Connection with the Ogilby Family of Altinaghree Castle

William Ogilby JP (1808-73), of Altinaghree Castle (Liscloon House), Donemana, County Tyrone, married, in 1851, Adelaide Charlotte Douglas, daughter of the Hon. Rev. Charles Douglas of Earls Gift.

See my video and associated transcript “Altnachree Ogilby's Castle Liscloon House, Donemana Co. Tyrone 8 March 2020 v1”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7zEW6GHH3Q&t=3s&ab_chann...

 

Donagheady is a parish, in the barony of STRABANE, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, on the road from Strabane to Cookstown; containing, with the post-town of Dunamanagh, 10,480 inhabitants. The greater part of this parish was granted by James I. to Sir John Drummond, who founded the town of Dunamanagh, and built a bawn 109 feet square, no part of which remains, as the bawn was removed some years since, and the modern building called the Castle was erected on its site. It comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 39,3983 statute acres, of which 28,728 are applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £10,271 per annum. There are about 154 acres of water, and 250 of bog; the remainder is arable and pasture land. There is abundance of excellent limestone, both for building and agricultural purposes, but the mountains are chiefly clay-slate.

 

Many of the glens and banks of the rivers are covered with underwood, the remains of the extensive forests of Mounterlony. Formerly there were several bleach-greens in the parish, and a paper-mill near Dunamanagh, all of which are now unemployed; but the inhabitants unite linen-weaving at home with agricultural pursuits. The upper half of the parish, with the exception of the church lands, is in the manor of Elliston, the court for which is held at Gortin; and the lower half is in the manor of Donolonge [probably, Dunnalong], which was granted by James I. to the Earl of Abercorn. A court is held at Donolonge monthly, for the recovery of debts under 40s. There are several handsome houses, the principal of which are Earl's Gift, the residence of the Hon. Rev. Charles Douglas; Loughash, Lieutenant-Colonel John Pitt Kennedy (1796-1879); Tullarton House, of R. Bond Esq.; Glenville, of R. McRae, Esq.; Silver Brook, of J. Carey, Esq.; Black Park, of R. Ogilbye Esq.; Thorn Hill, of A. C. D. L. Edie, Esq. and the Grange, of T. Hutton, Esq.

 

The Board of First Fruits was an institution of the Church of Ireland that was established in 1711 by Anne, Queen of Great Britain to build and improve churches and glebe houses in Ireland. This was funded from taxes collected on clerical incomes which were in turn funded by tithes. The board was replaced in 1833 by the Board of Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

 

Glebe (also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church.

 

A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques whereas, historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural produce.

 

Living is a rectory, in the diocese of Derry, and in the patronage of the Marquess of Abercorn: the tithes amount to £1350. The Glebe-House was erected in 1792, by aid of a gift of £100 from the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises 1192 acres. The church is a small neat edifice, half a mile west from the ruins of the old church; it is in the Grecian style, with a small cupola and a bell at the western end; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £202 for its repair. In the R. C. divisions this parish is the head of a union or district, comprising Donagheady and Leckpatrick, and containing one chapel in the former and two in the latter: it is in the benefice of the dean of Derry. There are four Presbyterian meeting-houses, three of which are in connection with the Synod of Ulster, two being of the second class, and one with the Seceding Synod, also of the second class.

 

The male and female parochial schools adjoin the church, and are supported by the Marquess of Abercorn and the incumbent. At Loughash is a large and handsome school-house, erected at an expense of £200: the school is under the National Board, as is another at Lisnarrow [near Dunamanagh]. There are also schools at Killeany, Rusky [Rousky near Gortin), Tamnaghbrady, Tyboe [Donemana], Grange [Civil Parish of Ardstraw], and Ballyneuse; and an agricultural school at Loughash [near Donemana], supported by Capt. Kennedy. At Mount Castle [Civil Parish of Donaghedy], which gives the title of baron in the Irish peerage to the Marquess of Abercorn, are some fragments of a castle, built in 1619, by Sir Claude Hamilton, on an estate of 2000 acres, called Eden, which was granted to him by James I. It was the birth-place of Sir George Hamilton, who distinguished himself in the parliamentary war, and of his son, Gen. James Hamilton (b.c.1661 d.1734), afterwards 6th Earl of Abercorn, who commanded the Protestant Irish army against James II at Londonderry. Extensive ruins of the ancient church of Grange, which belonged to the abbey of Derry, exist on the banks of the Foyle. At Kildollagh [Coleraine] are some large artificial caves, formed of loose stones, with flagstones over them covered with earth; they are about a quarter of a mile long, and contain several apartments; there is a less perfect one at Gortmaglen.

 

Hurricane Debbie

Earls Gift or Donemana Castle was reportedly damaged during hurricane Debbie which was a moderate tropical cyclone which had significant impact when it hit Ireland on the morning of Saturday 16th September 1961, with gusts of 113 miles per hour, almost 182km/h, being recorded at Malin Head, Northern Ireland. On Monday September 18th, 1961, The Irish Times reported the storm had killed 15 people on the island of Ireland.

 

Davy Crockett's Da

A popular local song celebrates the claim that ' Davy Crockett's da (or father), John Crockett (b. c.1753 d. after 1802) came from Donemana'.

www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2799150686822749

An historical curiosity is the fact that the Crockett family are known to have fought on the Williamite side during the Siege of Derry (1689) before emigrating to North America. Davy Crockett (b.786 d.836) later fought at the Battle of the Alamo (23 February – 6 March 1836) during the Texas Revolution. As with most aspects of the Alamo battle, the exact details of the deaths of both James Bowie’s (b. c.1796 d. 6 March 1836) and Davy Crockett may never really be known? William Barret Travis (b.1 August 1809 d. 6 March 1836) died early in the battle from a single bullet in the head.

 

Earls Gift Castle Access

Sadly, public access to the Earls Gift site has not been provided therefore the site is only accessible by permission of the private house owners situated along the B49, Longland Road fronting the castle site.

 

Many thanks to Mr & Mrs Derick Gamble who provide me with access to the Earls Gift castle and Derick took me to Church Hill Graveyard.

 

During World War II, tourism leaders in Kissimmee had the idea to build a patriotic monument for national unity. (Another goal was to boost tourism, but with Disney in the area, tourism is now not an issue. Still, Disney submitted some rock in 1966 which is on an adjacent marker.) They asked every state to send some local rocks and these, plus a few more were compiled to make this Monument of States. (Since I am from Tennessee, I found that our contribution was from Lookout Mountain, although I would have guessed Crab Orchard stone). For more of the story, see this article from Roadside America:

www.roadsideamerica.com/story/6158

The South Asian contribution to the province’s and the country’s shared history will be on permanent display in the BC legislature after an announcement by Premier Christy Clark that an historically symbolic flag would be installed inside the Parliament Buildings.

 

The 1874 version of the Red Ensign flag is one of the first Canadian flags to display the emblem of British Columbia after the province joined Confederation in 1871.

 

Read more: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2015PREM0079-001786

My contribution to a baby book published by Larks called sweet booties

Contribution to Nik Roopes 'Boast it notes' group. www.flickr.com/groups/boastitnotes

The Heading of an article, “All Diplomats are not Gentlemen”, that appeared in one of the issues of the Indian newspaper “The Tribune’” in February, 2002 initially shocked the entire Diplomatic Community of that country. However, their shock was short-lived, for they soon realised that the article concerned contained a praiseworthy account as to how the “Indian Lady Diplomats” were contributing to the development of India through their skills in diplomacy and international relations, which were not second or inferior to those of their counterparts, the “Gentleman Diplomats”. It is an unquestionable fact that the Indian Women Diplomats are equal to their tasks and are rendering an invaluable service to their country.

Our own women of Sri Lanka too had left indelible marks in the historical records in rendering invaluable services to our motherland and today, being the International Women’s day, I consider it as our duty to talk about our own Sri Lankan Women Diplomats and other distinguished Sri Lankan Women who had brought fame to our paradise island and some of whom are still rendering their invaluable services towards the betterment of our motherland. Purpose of this article is especially to place on record the contributions they have made in the fields of Diplomacy and International Relations.

When talking about Sri Lankan Women the name of our first Woman Prime Minister, the late Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike, is a sine quo non. After the demise of her husband, the Oxford educated and world famous one time Prime Minister of this country, the late Hon. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the mantle of the Premiership of this country quite unexpectedly fell on the late Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike. With reluctance she accepted the responsibility and in a short period of time she was able to measure up to the very responsible position she was holding. She did not disappoint her supporters nor did she betray the confidence reposed in her by the nation. She soon became a leading world figure and was acclaimed as the “First Woman Prime Minister of the world”. The Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) today stands tall to her memory and hosts conferences of international nature thus bringing fame to this country. The Chinese gift of the BMICH was the result of the friendly relationship she cultivated with world leaders, especially of the Non-Aligned Movement. She associated closely with world leaders of the calibre of the late Mrs. Indira Gandhi of India, the late Field Marshal Ayub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan the late Hon.Chou En Lai of China, the late Hon. Anwar Sadat of Egypt, the late Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia and the like. She was a friend of the former Socialist Bloc, but was not a foe of the opposite side.

Her involvement in settling the Indo-Pakistan war in 1961 and the China-India Border issue in 1961 amply demonstrated her skills in international relations and her acceptance by the Non-Aligned Nations. It was the late Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike who brought a resolution before the UN seeking the “Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Peace Zone”.

She followed the footsteps of her late husband and played a prominent role in the Non- Aligned Movement. Her crowning moment was when she was elected the Chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement and chaired the Non-Aligned Movement Conference held in 1976 at the BMICH. She was not considered as a “Politician”. She was considered as a “Stateswoman” and she fitted into that role in every respect.

A former President of Sri Lanka, Madam Chandrika Kumaranatunga, is a unique personality. She was also once the Prime Minister of this country and also was once the Chief Minister of a Provincial Council. She is the daughter of two former heads of the Government (Prime Ministers) while she herself was the head of the Government (President) for over a period of a decade. Her record, I believe, cannot be matched by anyone in the democratic world. As President of this country she participated at five SAARC Summit Meetings and chaired the SAARC Summit Meeting held in Sri Lanka in 1998. During her tenure of office as President of this country she participated at several Commonwealth Meetings and also addressed the United Nations.

 

After Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) gained independence from the British in 1948 several diplomatic appointments were made to represent Sri Lanka in several parts of the world and at that time the Sri Lankan diplomatic service was the “domain of the man”. It was only from the year 1963 that women were first chosen by the Sri Lanka Government to represent Sri Lanka as Ambassadors/High Commissioners in other countries.

The scenario in our neighboring countries was not the same. In 1946, Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit she undertook her first official Diplomatic Mission as leader of the Indian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. She also led India's delegations to the General Assembly in 1947, 1948, 1952, 1953, and 1963. She joined the Foreign Service and was appointed India's first Ambassador to the Soviet Union. In early 1949 she became Ambassador to the United States. In September 1953 she was given the honor of being the first woman and the first Asian to be elected president of the U.N. General Assembly. In December 1954, she served as Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom

 

Ms. Begum Raana Liquat Ali Khan served as the Ambassador of Pakistan in the Netherlands from 1954 to 1961.

Ms Chokila Iyer became the First Indian Foreign Secretary in 2001. Ms. Nirupama Rao was the Second Foreign Secretary of India. Present Indian Lok Sabha Speaker Ms Mairra Kumar also was a prominent Indian Foreign service Diplomat. Present Pakistan Foreign Minister, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar and the present Bangladesh Foreign Minister Ms. Dipu Moni are prominent Diplomatic personalities of South Asia.

 

Ms. Manel Kannangara was the first woman to be recruited to the “Ceylon Overseas Service” (now the Sri Lanka Foreign Service) in 1958 and thereafter significant numbers of the fair sex have joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service and are serving in various parts of the world rendering invaluable services to the country

 

It was during the tenure of office of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike as the Prime Minister of this country that initial steps were taken to appoint women as Ambassadors/High Commissioners to represent Sri Lanka in other countries. The first such appointment, on the Independence Day of 1963, was that of Ms. Loraine Senaratne, a non-career appointee, to represent Sri Lanka in Accra, Ghana. She had to return to Sri Lanka with the change of the Government in 1965 and she was once again appointed as the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Italy in the year 1970.

In 1975 history appeared to have repeated itself. The second woman to be appointed to an Ambassadorial post by the Sri Lankan Government was that of Ms. Theja Gunawardena. That too was a non-career Diplomat and was also with the blessings of the then Prime Minister, Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Her Ambassadorial appointment was to Pakistan and concurrently accredited to Iran to represent Sri Lanka. Mrs. Gunawardena was a very active member and the chief organizer of the Lanka Mahila Samithi Moment. She had gained considerable knowledge in International Relations as a result of her participating at many International Conferences relating to “women and development”. The ‘'Ravana Dynasty in Sri Lanka's Dance Drama” (Kohomba Kamkaariya), one of her reputed publications, illustrates her research and Authorship. After the change of the Government In 1977 she was recalled to Sri Lanka.

Ms. Sumithra Peries, the well-known film Director served as the Sri Lankan Ambassador in France from 1995 to 1997. Her artistic skills in coordinating various events made her a popular figure among the diplomatic community in Paris. She was a non-career diplomat

Ms. Rosy Senanayake was the first to be crowned as “Mrs. World” in 1984. She was appointed as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia in 2002. She was also a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador for Sri Lanka since 1998. Much of her professional life has been devoted to in promoting Sri Lanka worldwide. Ms. Senanayake has taken a great interest in promoting the rights of women and adolescents in Sri Lanka. As UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador she has encouraged reproductive health services for workers, in particular for migrant women workers of Sri Lanka, the women workers of the Free Trade Zones, and for young people, through the National Youth Services Council. During her two years Diplomatic assignment in Malaysia she contributed immensely to the improvement of Trade, Economic and Cultural affairs between the two countries. She was a non-career diplomat

Ms. Jayathri Samarakone served as the Sri Lankan High commissioner to Singapore from 2008 to 2010. During her two years service in Singapore she arranged several projects to promote the image of Sri Lanka. She was a non-career diplomat.

Ms. Tamara Kunanayakam, is an illustrious non-career Diplomat. In the year 2011 she was appointed as the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, where she is serving at present. In the year 2007 she held the post of First Secretary at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Brazil and in 2008 she was appointed as the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Havana (Cuba). Her splendid knowledge of the French and Spanish languages has stood in good stead for her to discharge her duties at PRUN in Geneva where French and Spanish languages are widely in use.

Ms. Farial Ashroff, a former Cabinet Minister and the widow of the former Chief of the Muslim Congress, the late Mr. Ashroff, was appointed as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore in 2011, where she is presently serving. She is actively engaged in promotional activities on behalf of the country. She is a non-career Diplomat

On 21st December, 2010 Dr (Ms). Hiranthi Wijemanne was nominated to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child”. Prior to her present nomination to the UN Committee she has served the Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat, the National Child Protection Authority and the Department of Probation and Child Care. Dr. (Ms) Wijemanne has worked with UNICEF and other UN agencies for several years. She is a non-career Diplomat. Recently it has announced that Mrs Bharathi Wijeratne, Former Honorary Consul of Turkish Republic to Sri Lankan will be appoint as Sri Lanka Ambassador to Ankara

Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy is the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed her to that position in April 2006. In this capacity, she serves as a moral voice and independent advocate to build awareness and give prominence to the rights and protection of boys and girls affected by armed conflicts. From 1996 to 2006 she also had delivered lectures annually at a summer course at New College, Oxford, on International Human Rights of Women. She has also served as a member of the Global Faculty of the New York University of Law. In May, 2003, she was appointed Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission. There are several publications to her credit, including two books on constitutional law and other publications on ethnic studies and the status of women.

In recognition of her service to the country in particular and the world at large, the President of Sri Lanka conferred on her the title of Deshamanya, a prestigious national honour.

Ms. Neetha Ariyaratne Hon. Secretary Sarvodaya Suwasetha Sewa Society is also a prominent social worker who received respect from world community on her capable strength on empowerment of women through Sarvodaya Movement. She has participated at several regional and international conferences. She received number of awards.

Ms Seela Ebert, A former member of Sri Lanka Administrative Service had served as Regional Director of Commonwealth Youth Programme, Asian Centre in Chandigarh from 1994 to 2000. During her service at the Regional Centre, she had participated at many regional and International Conferences on Youth and Development as well as Women and Gender development.

Ms. Sunila Abeysekera is an award winning human rights campaigner and has worked on women's rights and human rights issues in Sri Lanka and in the South Asian region for over a period of 20 years as an activist and scholar. Secretary General Kofi Annan presented Ms. Abeysekera with a UN human rights award in 1999. She was also honoured for her work by the Human Rights Watch.

Ms Kumari Jayawardena is a leading feminist figure and academic in Sri Lanka. She is the author of several books, including “Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World”, for which she was selected for the Feminist Fortnight award in Britain in 1986 and was cited by Ms. Magazine in 1992 as “writing one of the 20 most important books of the feminist decades" (1970–1990). This text is widely used in Women's Studies programs around the world.

In “Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World”, Ms. Jayawardena reconstructs the history of women's rights movements in Asia and the Middle East from the 19th century to the 1980s, focusing on Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

Ms. Venetia Gamage, a Prominent Social worker of Sri Lanka and Former Commissioner of the Sri Lanka Girl Guide Moments also has participated at many International events as Commissioner of Girl Guide and Chairperson of National Youth Award Authority of Sri Lanka.

The credit of being the first Woman Career Diplomat of Sri Lanka goes to Ms. Manel Kannangara. After her appointment to the Ceylon Overseas Officer as a Cadet Officer in 1958 she received her first Ambassadorial appointment as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand in 1974. Subsequently she functioned as the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Germany with accreditation to Austria and Switzerland. Her constructive contributions to the Foreign Ministry in particular and international diplomacy in general are significant. In the year 1980 she authored “The Protocol Manual of Ministry of Foreign Affairs” while serving as the Chief of Protocol of the Ministry (1974-1980). In the year 1976 she was tasked with the responsibility of organising the Non-Aligned Summit where 92 Heads of States participated at the Conference. Her capacity for work was unquestionable and she was an indefatigable worker. She planned the activities of the Summit meticulously paying attention to every detail and the 1976 Non-Aligned Summit was a complete success.

In 2011 Ms. Manel Abeysekara published her autobiography titled “Madam Sir” where she relates in chronological order the challenges she faced during her diplomatic assignments. An incident she cites in her Autobiography is the hijacking of the “Alitalia” Boeing 747 Aircraft in June 1982 by Sepala Ekanayake, who threatened to blow up the Aircraft unless his demands were met. One of his demands was for his Italian wife to bring his son to him. Ms. Manel Abeysekera’s description of that moment in her autobiography is given as follows:

“Although I am not particularly religious, I prayed fervently at that moment. His wife

Was persuaded to come, together with his son. After the child spoke

to him, I asked him to release the passengers from the plane which he did,”

 

She also served as the Director-General of Political Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; as the Chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Women; and also as the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka National Chapter in the Coalition for Action on South Asian Cooperation.

The Second Career Woman Diplomat was Ms. Mary Lakshmi Naganathan. She joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1960 and resigned from service in 1983 while serving as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Germany. Ms. Mary Luxkshmi Naganathan was the first woman career diplomat from the Tamil community to reach that level.

Ms. Sarala Frenando joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1975. She was the First Sri Lankan woman Permanent UN Representative in Geneva (in 2003). In addition Ms. Sarala Fernando served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Sweden and Thailand.

The 1981 batch of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service Officers had three female officers, viz., Ms. Geetha De Silva, Ms. Chitrangani Wagieswara and Ms. Pamela Deen. Ms. Geetha De Silva served as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada. Ms. Wagiswara is presently serving as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada. Previously she served as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore and the Sri Lankan Ambassador to France. Ms. Pamela Deen is presently the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Poland and previously she served as the Sri Lanka Ambassador to Nepal and The Netherlands.

Ms. Kshenuka Senevirathne joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1985 and the first Ambassadorial post she held was as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in the year 2007. She also served as the Sri Lankan PRUN in Geneva during a difficult period. Currently she is attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an Additional Secretary.

 

The two Women Diplomats, Ms. Aruni Wijewardena and Ms. Grace Asiriwatham are of the 1988 batch. Ms. Aruni Wijewardana served as the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Austria and Ms. Asiriwatham served as the Sri Lankan Ambassadors to Nepal and The Netherlands. While serving at the Sri Lankan Embassy in The Hague in the year 2011 Mrs. Asiriwatham joined the OPCW as its Deputy Director General.

Several female officers, who joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service after 1994, are holding many prestigious posts in the Sri Lankan Missions abroad. Ms. P Shanthi Sudusinghe of the 1994 batch is currently serving as the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in the Maldives with Ambassador Rank.

Ms. Damayanthi Rajapaksa of the 1994 batch is currently serving as the Director of SAARC Secretaria in Kathmandu. In the absence of the Director General of the SAARC Secretariat Ms. Rajapaksa is presently serving as its Acting Secretary General.

Ms. Hasanthi Dissanayaka of Sri Lanka Foreign Service1996 batch is presently serving in Sri Lanka Consulate in Shanghai as Consul GeneralMs.Manisha Gunasekera of the 1996 batch is currently serving at the PRUN Office as its Deputy.

Ms. Maheshini Colonne of the 1998 batch is presently serving at the Sri Lankan High Commission in India as the Deputy High Commissioner.

The present cadre strength of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service Officers is 152. Of which 58 are females, many of whom are holding prestigious positions in Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lankan and Sri Lankan Missions abroad.

My desire on this International Women’s Day is to highlight the above factual details with a view to encouraging the Sri Lankan young women to pursue a path in Diplomacy and International Relations so as to climb the ladder of success. (I wish to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Lionel Fernando, the former Foreign Secretary who encouraged me to keep updated records on Sri Lankan Foreign Service and Diplomacy)

 

The writer is a member of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service and Present Minister Counsellor of Sri Lanka High Commission in Pakistan. His email is menikb@hotmail.com

 

Çatalağzı, from the footbridge: a "Skyliner" 2-10-0 adds to the murk as it moves to couple to a "Middle East" 2-8-2, before heading a local for Zonguldak.

The final contribution to our celebration series anticipating our upcoming wedding in less than 2 days!

 

Some of our close friends from early Flickr years will remember our great love for sensual photography. We're not as active in this realm anymore, but still love to go back and enjoy these images. Thanks to all of you who have written words of support over the years!

 

Our 13+ years collection of "us" pictures is available here.

Boy George, 1988 (Collage, Acryl, Fumage/Collage, arcylic, fumage), Albertina - Schenkung/Donation, 2015

 

The Albertina

The architectural history of the Palais

(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

Image: The oldest photographic view of the newly designed Palais Archduke Albrecht, 1869

"It is my will that ​​the expansion of the inner city of Vienna with regard to a suitable connection of the same with the suburbs as soon as possible is tackled and at this on Regulirung (regulation) and beautifying of my Residence and Imperial Capital is taken into account. To this end I grant the withdrawal of the ramparts and fortifications of the inner city and the trenches around the same".

This decree of Emperor Franz Joseph I, published on 25 December 1857 in the Wiener Zeitung, formed the basis for the largest the surface concerning and architecturally most significant transformation of the Viennese cityscape. Involving several renowned domestic and foreign architects a "master plan" took form, which included the construction of a boulevard instead of the ramparts between the inner city and its radially upstream suburbs. In the 50-years during implementation phase, an impressive architectural ensemble developed, consisting of imperial and private representational buildings, public administration and cultural buildings, churches and barracks, marking the era under the term "ring-street style". Already in the first year tithe decided a senior member of the Austrian imperial family to decorate the facades of his palace according to the new design principles, and thus certified the aristocratic claim that this also "historicism" said style on the part of the imperial house was attributed.

Image: The Old Albertina after 1920

It was the palace of Archduke Albrecht (1817-1895), the Senior of the Habsburg Family Council, who as Field Marshal held the overall command over the Austro-Hungarian army. The building was incorporated into the imperial residence of the Hofburg complex, forming the south-west corner and extending eleven meters above street level on the so-called Augustinerbastei.

The close proximity of the palace to the imperial residence corresponded not only with Emperor Franz Joseph I and Archduke Albert with a close familial relationship between the owner of the palace and the monarch. Even the former inhabitants were always in close relationship to the imperial family, whether by birth or marriage. An exception here again proves the rule: Don Emanuel Teles da Silva Conde Tarouca (1696-1771), for which Maria Theresa in 1744 the palace had built, was just a close friend and advisor of the monarch. Silva Tarouca underpins the rule with a second exception, because he belonged to the administrative services as Generalhofbaudirektor (general court architect) and President of the Austrian-Dutch administration, while all other him subsequent owners were highest ranking military.

In the annals of Austrian history, especially those of military history, they either went into as commander of the Imperial Army, or the Austrian, later kk Army. In chronological order, this applies to Duke Carl Alexander of Lorraine, the brother-of-law of Maria Theresa, as Imperial Marshal, her son-in-law Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, also field marshal, whos adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria, the last imperial field marshal and only Generalissimo of Austria, his son Archduke Albrecht of Austria as Feldmarschalil and army Supreme commander, and most recently his nephew Archduke Friedrich of Austria, who held as field marshal from 1914 to 1916 the command of the Austro-Hungarian troops. Despite their military profession, all five generals conceived themselves as patrons of the arts and promoted large sums of money to build large collections, the construction of magnificent buildings and cultural life. Charles Alexander of Lorraine promoted as governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1741 to 1780 the Academy of Fine Arts, the Théâtre de Ja Monnaie and the companies Bourgeois Concert and Concert Noble, he founded the Academie royale et imperial des Sciences et des Lettres, opened the Bibliotheque Royal for the population and supported artistic talents with high scholarships. World fame got his porcelain collection, which however had to be sold by Emperor Joseph II to pay off his debts. Duke Albert began in 1776 according to the concept of conte Durazzo to set up an encyclopedic collection of prints, which forms the core of the world-famous "Albertina" today.

Image : Duke Albert and Archduchess Marie Christine show in family cercle the from Italy brought along art, 1776. Frederick Henry Füger.

1816 declared to Fideikommiss and thus in future indivisible, inalienable and inseparable, the collection 1822 passed into the possession of Archduke Carl, who, like his descendants, it broadened. Under him, the collection was introduced together with the sumptuously equipped palace on the Augustinerbastei in the so-called "Carl Ludwig'schen fideicommissum in 1826, by which the building and the in it kept collection fused into an indissoluble unity. At this time had from the Palais Tarouca by structural expansion or acquisition a veritable Residenz palace evolved. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen was first in 1800 the third floor of the adjacent Augustinian convent wing adapted to house his collection and he had after 1802 by his Belgian architect Louis de Montoyer at the suburban side built a magnificent extension, called the wing of staterooms, it was equipped in the style of Louis XVI. Only two decades later, Archduke Carl the entire palace newly set up. According to scetches of the architect Joseph Kornhäusel the 1822-1825 retreaded premises presented themselves in the Empire style. The interior of the palace testified from now in an impressive way the high rank and the prominent position of its owner. Under Archduke Albrecht the outer appearance also should meet the requirements. He had the facade of the palace in the style of historicism orchestrated and added to the Palais front against the suburbs an offshore covered access. Inside, he limited himself, apart from the redesign of the Rococo room in the manner of the second Blondel style, to the retention of the paternal stock. Archduke Friedrich's plans for an expansion of the palace were omitted, however, because of the outbreak of the First World War so that his contribution to the state rooms, especially, consists in the layout of the Spanish apartment, which he in 1895 for his sister, the Queen of Spain Maria Christina, had set up as a permanent residence.

Picture: The "audience room" after the restoration: Picture: The "balcony room" around 1990

The era of stately representation with handing down their cultural values ​​found its most obvious visualization inside the palace through the design and features of the staterooms. On one hand, by the use of the finest materials and the purchase of masterfully manufactured pieces of equipment, such as on the other hand by the permanent reuse of older equipment parts. This period lasted until 1919, when Archduke Friedrich was expropriated by the newly founded Republic of Austria. With the republicanization of the collection and the building first of all finished the tradition that the owner's name was synonymous with the building name:

After Palais Tarouca or tarokkisches house it was called Lorraine House, afterwards Duke Albert Palais and Palais Archduke Carl. Due to the new construction of an adjacently located administration building it received in 1865 the prefix "Upper" and was referred to as Upper Palais Archduke Albrecht and Upper Palais Archduke Frederick. For the state a special reference to the Habsburg past was certainly politically no longer opportune, which is why was decided to name the building according to the in it kept collection "Albertina".

Picture: The "Wedgwood Cabinet" after the restoration: Picture: the "Wedgwood Cabinet" in the Palais Archduke Friedrich, 1905

This name derives from the term "La Collection Albertina" which had been used by the gallery Inspector Maurice von Thausing in 1870 in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts for the former graphics collection of Duke Albert. For this reason, it was the first time since the foundation of the palace that the name of the collection had become synonymous with the room shell. Room shell, hence, because the Republic of Austria Archduke Friedrich had allowed to take along all the movable goods from the palace in his Hungarian exile: crystal chandeliers, curtains and carpets as well as sculptures, vases and clocks. Particularly stressed should be the exquisite furniture, which stems of three facilities phases: the Louis XVI furnitures of Duke Albert, which had been manufactured on the basis of fraternal relations between his wife Archduchess Marie Christine and the French Queen Marie Antoinette after 1780 in the French Hofmanufakturen, also the on behalf of Archduke Charles 1822-1825 in the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory by Joseph Danhauser produced Empire furnitures and thirdly additions of the same style of Archduke Friedrich, which this about 1900 at Portois & Ffix as well as at Friedrich Otto Schmidt had commissioned.

The "swept clean" building got due to the strained financial situation after the First World War initially only a makeshift facility. However, since until 1999 no revision of the emergency equipment took place, but differently designed, primarily the utilitarianism committed office furnitures complementarily had been added, the equipment of the former state rooms presented itself at the end of the 20th century as an inhomogeneous administrative mingle-mangle of insignificant parts, where, however, dwelt a certain quaint charm. From the magnificent state rooms had evolved depots, storage rooms, a library, a study hall and several officed.

Image: The Albertina Graphic Arts Collection and the Philipphof after the American bombing of 12 März 1945.

Image: The palace after the demolition of the entrance facade, 1948-52

Worse it hit the outer appearance of the palace, because in times of continued anti-Habsburg sentiment after the Second World War and inspired by an intolerant destruction will, it came by pickaxe to a ministerial erasure of history. In contrast to the graphic collection possessed the richly decorated facades with the conspicuous insignia of the former owner an object-immanent reference to the Habsburg past and thus exhibited the monarchial traditions and values ​​of the era of Francis Joseph significantly. As part of the remedial measures after a bomb damage, in 1948 the aristocratic, by Archduke Albert initiated, historicist facade structuring along with all decorations was cut off, many facade figures demolished and the Hapsburg crest emblems plunged to the ground. Since in addition the old ramp also had been cancelled and the main entrance of the bastion level had been moved down to the second basement storey at street level, ended the presence of the old Archduke's palace after more than 200 years. At the reopening of the "Albertina Graphic Collection" in 1952, the former Hapsburg Palais of splendour presented itself as one of his identity robbed, formally trivial, soulless room shell, whose successful republicanization an oversized and also unproportional eagle above the new main entrance to the Augustinian road symbolized. The emocratic throw of monuments had wiped out the Hapsburg palace from the urban appeareance, whereby in the perception only existed a nondescript, nameless and ahistorical building that henceforth served the lodging and presentation of world-famous graphic collection of the Albertina. The condition was not changed by the decision to the refurbishment because there were only planned collection specific extensions, but no restoration of the palace.

Image: The palace after the Second World War with simplified facades, the rudiment of the Danubiusbrunnens (well) and the new staircase up to the Augustinerbastei

This paradigm shift corresponded to a blatant reversal of the historical circumstances, as the travel guides and travel books for kk Residence and imperial capital of Vienna dedicated itself primarily with the magnificent, aristocratic palace on the Augustinerbastei with the sumptuously fitted out reception rooms and mentioned the collection kept there - if at all - only in passing. Only with the repositioning of the Albertina in 2000 under the direction of Klaus Albrecht Schröder, the palace was within the meaning and in fulfillment of the Fideikommiss of Archduke Charles in 1826 again met with the high regard, from which could result a further inseparable bond between the magnificent mansions and the world-famous collection. In view of the knowing about politically motivated errors and omissions of the past, the facades should get back their noble, historicist designing, the staterooms regain their glamorous, prestigious appearance and culturally unique equippment be repurchased. From this presumption, eventually grew the full commitment to revise the history of redemption and the return of the stately palace in the public consciousness.

Image: The restored suburb facade of the Palais Albertina suburb

The smoothed palace facades were returned to their original condition and present themselves today - with the exception of the not anymore reconstructed Attica figures - again with the historicist decoration and layout elements that Archduke Albrecht had given after the razing of the Augustinerbastei in 1865 in order. The neoclassical interiors, today called after the former inhabitants "Habsburg Staterooms", receiving a meticulous and detailed restoration taking place at the premises of originality and authenticity, got back their venerable and sumptuous appearance. From the world wide scattered historical pieces of equipment have been bought back 70 properties or could be returned through permanent loan to its original location, by which to the visitors is made experiencable again that atmosphere in 1919 the state rooms of the last Habsburg owner Archduke Frederick had owned. The for the first time in 80 years public accessible "Habsburg State Rooms" at the Palais Albertina enable now again as eloquent testimony to our Habsburg past and as a unique cultural heritage fundamental and essential insights into the Austrian cultural history. With the relocation of the main entrance to the level of the Augustinerbastei the recollection to this so valuable Austrian Cultural Heritage formally and functionally came to completion. The vision of the restoration and recovery of the grand palace was a pillar on which the new Albertina should arise again, the other embody the four large newly built exhibition halls, which allow for the first time in the history of the Albertina, to exhibit the collection throughout its encyclopedic breadh under optimal conservation conditions.

Image: The new entrance area of the Albertina

64 meter long shed roof. Hans Hollein.

The palace presents itself now in its appearance in the historicist style of the Ringstrassenära, almost as if nothing had happened in the meantime. But will the wheel of time should not, cannot and must not be turned back, so that the double standards of the "Albertina Palace" said museum - on the one hand Habsburg grandeur palaces and other modern museum for the arts of graphics - should be symbolized by a modern character: The in 2003 by Hans Hollein designed far into the Albertina square cantilevering, elegant floating flying roof. 64 meters long, it symbolizes in the form of a dynamic wedge the accelerated urban spatial connectivity and public access to the palace. It advertises the major changes in the interior as well as the huge underground extensions of the repositioned "Albertina".

 

Christian Benedictine

Art historian with research interests History of Architecture, building industry of the Hapsburgs, Hofburg and Zeremonialwissenschaft (ceremonial sciences). Since 1990 he works in the architecture collection of the Albertina. Since 2000 he supervises as director of the newly founded department "Staterooms" the restoration and furnishing of the state rooms and the restoration of the facades and explores the history of the palace and its inhabitants.

 

www.wien-vienna.at/albertinabaugeschichte.php

 

I contributed to the French cooking magazine Cuisine Light this month. Thrilled! ;-) Story here

My contribution to this year's St. Patrick's Day.

My contribution to the COLORS MAGAZINE 77 (SEA) projects on the sea,

BUNKER COASTAL DEFENSIVE "CABO SILLEIRO"

The secret of immortality has been discovered but, in order to avoid the horrors of over-population, a lifespan may be lengthened by twenty years at each of four levels but only if a citizen makes notable contributions. Progress can be measured by a graph in which the slope of one’s lifeline indicates the likelihood of getting to the next level. Everyone scrambles for a longer life as measured by the slope. Failure means elimination by government “Assassins.” Success results in the ultimate prize, the award of the fifth and final level, which is true immortality.

 

During the early 1950s, Ballantine Books was one of the leading publishers of paperback science fiction and fantasy. Beginning with “The Space Merchants” (#21) by Frederik Pohl and C.M Kornbluth, Ballantine published paperback originals by major science fiction authors including Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Theodore Sturgeon, John Wyndham and many others. Ian Ballantine who with his wife Betty Ballantine founded Ballantine Books in 1952, announced that he would offer trade publishers original titles in two simultaneous editions, a hardcover “regular” edition for bookstore sale, and a paper-cover, low-priced “news stand” edition for mass market sale. So, these Ballantine paperbacks were true first editions.

   

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia

 

Philadelphia, commonly referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the second-most populous city in the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Philadelphia is known for its extensive contributions to United States history, especially the American Revolution, and served as the nation's capital until 1800. It maintains contemporary influence in business and industry, culture, sports, and music. Philadelphia is the nation's sixth-most populous city with a population of 1,603,797 as of the 2020 census and is the urban core of the larger Delaware Valley (or Philadelphia metropolitan area), the nation's seventh-largest and one of the world's largest metropolitan regions consisting of 6.245 million residents in the metropolitan statistical area and 7.366 million residents in its combined statistical area.

 

Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker and advocate of religious freedom. The city served as the capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation's independence following the Revolutionary War. Philadelphia hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774, preserved the Liberty Bell, and hosted the Second Continental Congress during which the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, which historian Joseph Ellis has described as "the most potent and consequential words in American history". Once the Revolutionary War commenced, the Battle of Germantown and the siege of Fort Mifflin were fought within Philadelphia's city limits. The U.S. Constitution was later ratified in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until 1790, when it was surpassed by New York City, and it served as the nation's first capital from May 10, 1775, until December 12, 1776, and on four subsequent occasions during and following the American Revolution, including from 1790 to 1800 during the construction of the new national capital of Washington, D.C.

 

With 18 four-year universities and colleges, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and academic research. As of 2018, the Philadelphia metropolitan area was the state's largest and nation's ninth-largest metropolitan economy with a gross metropolitan product of US$444.1 billion. The city is home to five Fortune 500 corporate headquarters as of 2022. As of 2023, metropolitan Philadelphia ranks among the top five U.S. venture capital centers, facilitated by its proximity to New York City's entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange, owned by Nasdaq since 2008, is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in options trading. 30th Street Station, the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation, and the city's multimodal transport and logistics infrastructure, includes Philadelphia International Airport, and the rapidly-growing PhilaPort seaport. A migration pattern has been established from New York City to Philadelphia by residents opting for a large city with relative proximity and a lower cost of living.

 

Philadelphia is a national cultural center, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other city in the nation. Fairmount Park, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed, is 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest and the world's 45th-largest urban park. The city is known for its arts, culture, cuisine, and colonial and Revolution-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $6.8 billion, representing $11 billion in economic impact to the city and its surrounding Pennsylvania counties.

 

With five professional sports teams and one of the nation's most loyal fan bases, Philadelphia is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active LGBTQ+ community. Philadelphia also has played an immensely influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B, soul, and rock.

 

Philadelphia is a city of many firsts, including the nation's first library (1731), hospital (1751), medical school (1765), national capital (1774), university (by some accounts) (1779), stock exchange (1790), zoo (1874), and business school (1881). Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall. From the city's 17th century founding through the present, Philadelphia has been the birthplace or home to an extensive number of prominent and influential Americans. In 2021, Time magazine named Philadelphia one of the world's greatest 100 places.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Museum_of_Art

 

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at Eakins Oval. The museum administers collections containing over 240,000 objects including major holdings of European, American and Asian origin. The various classes of artwork include sculpture, paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, armor, and decorative arts.

 

The Philadelphia Museum of Art administers several annexes including the Rodin Museum, also located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, which is located across the street just north of the main building. The Perelman Building, which opened in 2007, houses more than 150,000 prints, drawings and photographs, 30,000 costume and textile pieces, and over 1,000 modern and contemporary design objects including furniture, ceramics, and glasswork.

 

The museum also administers the historic colonial-era houses of Mount Pleasant and Cedar Grove, both located in Fairmount Park. The main museum building and its annexes are owned by the City of Philadelphia and administered by a registered nonprofit corporation.

 

Several special exhibitions are held in the museum every year, including touring exhibitions arranged with other museums in the United States and abroad. The museum had 437,348 visitors in 2021.

 

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

 

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"

 

(Pennsylvania) "بنسلفانيا" "宾夕法尼亚州" "Pennsylvanie" "पेंसिल्वेनिया" "ペンシルベニア" "펜실베니아" "Пенсильвания" "Pensilvania"

 

(Philadelphia) "فيلادلفيا" "费城" "Philadelphie" "फिलाडेल्फिया" "フィラデルフィア" "필라델피아" "Филадельфия" "Filadelfia"

Bagan; (formerly Pagan) is an ancient city located in the Mandalay Region of Burma (Myanmar). From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10.000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day.

 

The Bagan Archaeological Zone is a main draw for the country's nascent tourism industry. It is seen by many as equal in attraction to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Bagan is the present-day standard Burmese pronunciation of the Burmese word Pugan, derived from Old Burmese Pyugam (meaning 'Pyu Village'). Its classical Pali name is Arimaddana-pura, lit. "the City that Tramples on Enemies". Its other names in Pali are in reference to its extreme dry zone climate: Tattadesa, "parched land", and Tampadipa, "bronzed country". The Burmese chronicles also report other classical names of Thiri Pyissaya and Tampawaddy.

 

HISTORY

7th to 13th CENTURIES

According to the Burmese chronicles, Bagan was founded in the second century CE, and fortified in 849 CE by King Pyinbya, 34th successor of the founder of early Bagan. Mainstream scholarship however holds that Bagan was founded in the mid-to-late 9th century by the Mranma (Burmans), who had recently entered the Irrawaddy valley from the Nanzhao Kingdom. It was among several competing Pyu city-states until the late 10th century when the Burman settlement grew in authority and grandeur.From 1044 to 1287, Bagan was the capital as well as the political, economic and cultural nerve center of the Pagan Empire. Over the course of 250 years, Bagan's rulers and their wealthy subjects constructed over 10000 religious monuments (approximately 1000 stupas, 10000 small temples and 3000 monasteries) in an area of 104 square kilometres in the Bagan plains. The prosperous city grew in size and grandeur, and became a cosmopolitan center for religious and secular studies, specializing in Pali scholarship in grammar and philosophical-psychological (abhidhamma) studies as well as works in a variety of languages on prosody, phonology, grammar, astrology, alchemy, medicine, and legal studies. The city attracted monks and students from as far as India, Ceylon as well as the Khmer Empire. The culture of Bagan was dominated by religion. The religion of Bagan was fluid, syncretic and by later standards, unorthodox. It was largely a continuation of religious trends in the Pyu era where Theravada Buddhism co-existed with Mahayana Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism, various Hindu (Saivite, and Vaishana) schools as well as native animist (nat) traditions. While the royal patronage of Theravada Buddhism since the mid-11th century had enabled the Buddhist school to gradually gain primacy, other traditions continued to thrive throughout the Pagan period to degrees later unseen.

 

The Pagan Empire collapsed in 1287 due to repeated Mongol invasions (1277–1301). Recent research shows that Mongol armies may not have reached Bagan itself, and that even if they did, the damage they inflicted was probably minimal. However, the damage had already been done. The city, once home to some 50.000 to 200.000 people, had been reduced to a small town, never to regain its preeminence. The city formally ceased to be the capital of Burma in December 1297 when the Myinsaing Kingdom became the new power in Upper Burma.

 

14th to 19th CENTURIES

Bagan survived into the 15th century as a human settlement, and as a pilgrimage destination throughout the imperial period. A smaller number of "new and impressive" religious monuments still went up to the mid-15th century but afterward, new temple constructions slowed to a trickle with fewer than 200 temples built between the 15th and 20th centuries. The old capital remained a pilgrimage destination but pilgrimage was focused only on "a score or so" most prominent temples out of the thousands such as the Ananda, the Shwezigon, the Sulamani, the Htilominlo, the Dhammayazika, and a few other temples along an ancient road. The rest - thousands of less famous, out-of-the-way temples - fell into disrepair, and most did not survive the test of time.

 

For the few dozen temples that were regularly patronized, the continued patronage meant regular upkeep as well as architectural additions donated by the devotees. Many temples were repainted with new frescoes on top of their original Pagan era ones, or fitted with new Buddha statutes. Then came a series of state-sponsored "systematic" renovations in the Konbaung period (1752–1885), which by and large were not true to the original designs - some finished with "a rude plastered surface, scratched without taste, art or result". The interiors of some temples were also whitewashed, such as the Thatbyinnyu and the Ananda. Many painted inscriptions and even murals were added in this period.

 

20th CENTURY TO PRESENT

Bagan, located in an active earthquake zone, had suffered from many earthquakes over the ages, with over 400 recorded earthquakes between 1904 and 1975. The last major earthquake came on 8 July 1975, reaching 8 MM in Bagan and Myinkaba, and 7 MM in Nyaung-U. The quake damaged many temples, in many cases, such as the Bupaya, severely and irreparably. Today, 2229 temples and pagodas remain.

 

Many of these damaged pagodas underwent restorations in the 1990s by the military government, which sought to make Bagan an international tourist destination. However, the restoration efforts instead drew widespread condemnation from art historians and preservationists worldwide. Critics are aghast that the restorations paid little attention to original architectural styles, and used modern materials, and that the government has also established a golf course, a paved highway, and built a 61-meter watchtower. Although the government believed that the ancient capital's hundreds of (unrestored) temples and large corpus of stone inscriptions were more than sufficient to win the designation of UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city has not been so designated, allegedly mainly on account of the restorations.

 

Bagan today is a main tourist destination in the country's nascent tourism industry, which has long been the target of various boycott campaigns. The majority of over 300.000 international tourists to the country in 2011 are believed to have also visited Bagan. Several Burmese publications note that the city's small tourism infrastructure will have to expand rapidly even to meet a modest pickup in tourism in the following years.

 

There is a well-known saying of Myanmar people : "If you are a real Myanmar, you must have been to Bagan." Bagan is spirit of history of Myanmar.

 

GEOGRAPHY

The Bagan Archaeological Zone, defined as the 13 x 8 km area centered around Old Bagan, consisting of Nyaung U in the north and New Bagan in the south, lies in the vast expanse of plains in Upper Burma on the bend of the Irrawaddy river. It is located 290 kilometres southwest of Mandalay and 700 kilometres north of Yangon. Its coordinates are 21°10' North and 94°52' East.

 

ARCHITECTURE

Bagan stands out for not only the sheer number of religious edifices of Myanmar but also the magnificent architecture of the buildings, and their contribution to Burmese temple design. The artistry of the architecture of pagodas in Bagan prove the achievement of Myanmar craftsmen in handicrafts. The Bagan temple falls into one of two broad categories: the stupa-style solid temple and the gu-style hollow temple.

 

STUPAS

A stupa, also called a pagoda, is a massive structure, typically with a relic chamber inside. The Bagan stupas or pagodas evolved from earlier Pyu designs, which in turn were based on the stupa designs of the Andhra region, particularly Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda in present-day southeastern India, and to a smaller extent to Ceylon. The Bagan-era stupas in turn were the prototypes for later Burmese stupas in terms of symbolism, form and design, building techniques and even materials.

 

Originally, an Indian/Ceylonese stupa had a hemispheric body (Pali: anda, "the egg") on which a rectangular box surrounded by a stone balustrade (harmika) was set. Extending up from the top of the stupa was a shaft supporting several ceremonial umbrellas. The stupa is a representation of the Buddhist cosmos: its shape symbolizes Mount Meru while the umbrella mounted on the brickwork represents the world's axis. The brickwork pediment was often covered in stucco and decorated in relief. Pairs or series of ogres as guardian figures ('bilu') were a favourite theme in the Bagan period.

 

The original Indic design was gradually modified first by the Pyu, and then by Burmans at Bagan where the stupa gradually developed a longer, cylindrical form. The earliest Bagan stupas such as the Bupaya (c. 9th century) were the direct descendants of the Pyu style at Sri Ksetra. By the 11th century, the stupa had developed into a more bell-shaped form in which the parasols morphed into a series of increasingly smaller rings placed on one top of the other, rising to a point. On top the rings, the new design replaced the harmika with a lotus bud. The lotus bud design then evolved into the "banana bud", which forms the extended apex of most Burmese pagodas. Three or four rectangular terraces served as the base for a pagoda, often with a gallery of terra-cotta tiles depicting Buddhist jataka stories. The Shwezigon Pagoda and the Shwesandaw Pagoda are the earliest examples of this type. Examples of the trend toward a more bell-shaped design gradually gained primacy as seen in the Dhammayazika Pagoda (late 12th century) and the Mingalazedi Pagoda (late 13th century).

 

HOLLOW TEMPLES

In contrast to the stupas, the hollow gu-style temple is a structure used for meditation, devotional worship of the Buddha and other Buddhist rituals. The gu temples come in two basic styles: "one-face" design and "four-face" design - essentially one main entrance and four main entrances. Other styles such as five-face and hybrids also exist. The one-face style grew out of 2nd century Beikthano, and the four-face out of 7th century Sri Ksetra. The temples, whose main features were the pointed arches and the vaulted chamber, became larger and grander in the Bagan period.

 

INNOVATIONS

Although the Burmese temple designs evolved from Indic, Pyu (and possibly Mon) styles, the techniques of vaulting seem to have developed in Bagan itself. The earliest vaulted temples in Bagan date to the 11th century, while the vaulting did not become widespread in India until the late 12th century. The masonry of the buildings shows "an astonishing degree of perfection", where many of the immense structures survived the 1975 earthquake more or less intact. (Unfortunately, the vaulting techniques of the Bagan era were lost in the later periods. Only much smaller gu style temples were built after Bagan. In the 18th century, for example, King Bodawpaya attempted to build the Mingun Pagoda, in the form of spacious vaulted chambered temple but failed as craftsmen and masons of the later era had lost the knowledge of vaulting and keystone arching to reproduce the spacious interior space of the Bagan hollow temples.)

 

Another architectural innovation originated in Bagan is the Buddhist temple with a pentagonal floor plan. This design grew out of hybrid (between one-face and four-face designs) designs. The idea was to include the veneration of the Maitreya Buddha, the future and fifth Buddha of this era, in addition to the four who had already appeared. The Dhammayazika and the Ngamyethna Pagoda are examples of the pentagonal design.

 

ECONOMY

Bagan's economy is based mainly on tourism. Because of boycotts against the previous military government, the Bagan region's tourism infrastructure is still quite modest by international standards. The city has a few international standard hotels and many family-run guesthouses. Bagan is also the center of Burmese lacquerware industry, which to a large degree depends on tourist demand. Much of the lacquerware is destined for souvenir shops in Yangon, and to the world markets. Moreover, the lacquerware-making process itself has become a tourist draw.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Another contribution, this time a gift of Qudsia Begum, is the imposing Jama Masjid (1837). It is situated in the heart of the old city, a beautiful work of art crowned by gold spikes atop minarets.

 

Remembrance Sunday, 8 November 2015

 

In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November, Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

 

Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women, members of local armed forces regular and reserve units, military cadet forces and uniformed youth organisations. Two minutes’ silence is observed at 11 a.m. and wreaths of remembrance poppies are then laid on the memorials.

 

The United Kingdom national ceremony is held in London at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Wreaths are laid by Queen Elizabeth II, principal members of the Royal Family normally including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Kent, the Prime Minister, leaders of the other major political parties, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and the civilian services, and veterans’ groups. Two minutes' silence is held at 11 a.m., before the laying of the wreaths. This silence is marked by the firing of a field gun on Horse Guards Parade to begin and end the silence, followed by Royal Marines buglers sounding Last Post.

 

The parade consists mainly of an extensive march past by veterans, with military bands playing music following the list of the Traditional Music of Remembrance.

 

Other members of the British Royal Family watch from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

 

After the ceremony, a parade of veterans and other related groups, organised by the Royal British Legion, marches past the Cenotaph, each section of which lays a wreath as it passes. Only ticketed participants can take part in the march past.

 

From 1919 until the Second World War remembrance observance was always marked on 11 November itself. It was then moved to Remembrance Sunday, but since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1995, it has become usual to hold ceremonies on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

 

Each year, the music at the National Ceremony of Remembrance remains the same, following a programme finalised in 1930:

 

Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne

Heart of Oak by William Boyce

The Minstrel Boy by Thomas Moore

Men of Harlech

The Skye Boat Song

Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly

David of the White Rock

Oft in the Stilly Night by John Stevenson

Flowers of the Forest

Nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar

Dido's lament by Henry Purcell

O Valiant Hearts by Charles Harris

Solemn Melody by Walford Davies

Last Post – a bugle call

Beethoven's Funeral March No. 1, by Johann Heinrich Walch

O God, Our Help in Ages Past – words by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft

Reveille – a bugle call

God Save The Queen

 

Other pieces of music are then played during the march past and wreath laying by veterans, starting with Trumpet Voluntary and followed by It's A Long Way To Tipperary, the marching song of the Connaught Rangers, a famous British Army Irish Regiment of long ago.

 

The following is complied from press reports on 8 November 2015:

 

"The nation paid silent respect to the country's war dead today in a Remembrance Sunday service. Leading the nation in remembrance, as ever, was the Queen, who first laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in 1945 and has done so every year since, except on the four occasions when she was overseas.

 

Dressed in her customary all-black ensemble with a clutch of scarlet poppies pinned against her left shoulder, she stepped forward following the end of the two-minute silence marked by the sounding of Last Post by 10 Royal Marine buglers.

 

The Queen laid her wreath at the foot of the Sir Edwin Lutyens Portland stone monument to the Glorious Dead, then stood with her head momentarily bowed.

 

She was joined by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who was invited to the Cenotaph for the first time to lay a wreath marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands by British troops.

 

Watched by his wife Queen Maxima, who stood next to the Duchess of Cambridge in the Royal Box, the King laid a wreath marked with the simple message, 'In remembrance of the British men and women who gave their lives for our future.'

 

Wreaths were then laid by members of the Royal Family, all wearing military uniform: Prince Philip; then Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Prince William at the same time ; then Prince Edward, Princess Anne and the Duke of Kent at the same time.

 

Three members of the Royal Family laying wreaths at the same time was an innovation in 2015 designed to slightly reduce the amount of time of the ceremony and thereby reduce the time that the Queen had to be standing.

 

Prince Charles attended a remembrance service in New Zealand.

 

The Prime Minister then laid a wreath. The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, appeared at the Cenotaph for the first time. He wore both a suit and a red poppy for the occasion.

 

His bow as he laid a wreath marked with the words 'let us resolve to create a world of peace' was imperceptible – and not enough for some critics. Yet unlike the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Battle service earlier this year, Mr Corbyn did join in with the singing of the national anthem.

 

Following the end of the official service at the Cenotaph, a mammoth column more than 10,000-strong (some 9,000 of whom were veterans) began marching along Whitehall, saluting the Cenotaph as they passed, Parliament Street, Great George Street, Horse Guards Road and back to Horse Guard Parade. The Duke of Cambridge took the salute from the column on Horse Guards Parade.

 

Time takes its inevitable toll on even the most stoic among us, and this year only a dozen World War Two veterans marched with the Spirit of Normandy Trust, a year after the Normandy Veterans' Association disbanded.

 

Within their ranks was 95-year-old former Sapper Don Sheppard of the Royal Engineers. Sheppard was of the eldest on parade and was pushed in his wheelchair by his 19-year-old grandson, Sam who, in between studying at Queen Mary University, volunteers with the Normandy veterans.

 

'It is because of my admiration for them,' he says. 'I see them as role models and just have the utmost respect for what they did.'

 

While some had blankets covering their legs against the grey November day, other veterans of more recent wars had only stumps to show for their service to this country during 13 long years of war in Afghanistan.

 

As well as that terrible toll of personal sacrifice, the collective losses – and triumphs - of some of the country’s most historic regiments were also honoured yesterday.

 

The Gurkha Brigade Association - marking 200 years of service in the British Army – marched to warm ripples of applause. The King’s Royal Hussars, represented yesterday by 126 veterans, this year also celebrate 300 years since the regiment was raised.

 

They were led by General Sir Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of Nato and Colonel of the regiment who himself was marching for the first time.

 

'We are joined by a golden thread to all those generations who have gone before us,” he said. “We are who we are, because of those that have gone before us.' "

 

Cenotaph Ceremony & March Past - 8 November 2015

Summary of Contingents

 

Column Number of marchers

B (Lead) 1,754

C 1,298

D 1,312

E 1,497

F 1,325

A 1,551

Ex-Service Total 8,737

M (Non ex-Service) 1,621

Total 10,358

 

Column B

Marker Detachment Number

1 Reconnaissance Corps 18 Anniversary

2 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment Old Comrades Assoc 10

3 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Association 60

4 Royal Artillery Association 18

5 Royal Engineers Association 37

6 Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Association 65 Anniversary

7 Airborne Engineers Association 24

8 Royal Signals Association 48

9 Army Air Corps Association 42

10 Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps Transport Assoc 54

11 RAOC Association 18

12 Army Catering Corps Association 48

13 Royal Pioneer Corps Association 54 Anniversary

14 Royal Army Medical Corps Association 36

15 Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Association 48

16 Royal Military Police Association 100

17 The RAEC and ETS Branch Association 12

18 Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association 36

19 Royal Army Veterinary Corps & Royal Army Dental Corps 18

20 Royal Army Physical Training Corps 24

21 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Assoc 48

22 Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 30

23 Royal Dragoon Guards 78

24 Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own & Royal Irish) 12

25 Kings Royal Hussars Regimental Association 126

26 16/5th Queen's Royal Lancers 36

27 17/21 Lancers 30

28 The Royal Lancers 24 New for 2015

29 JLR RAC Old Boys' Association 30

30 Association of Ammunition Technicians 24

31 Beachley Old Boys Association 36

32 Arborfield Old Boys Association 25

33 Gallipoli & Dardenelles International 24

34 Special Observers Association 24

35 The Parachute Squadron Royal Armoured Corps 24 New

36 Intelligence Corps Association 48

37 Women's Royal Army Corps Association 120

38 656 Squadron Association 24

39 Home Guard Association 9

40 British Resistance Movement (Coleshill Research Team) 12

41 British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association 48

42 British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association 24

43 Royal Hospital Chelsea 30

44 Queen Alexandra's Hospital Home for Disabled Ex-Servicemen & Women 30

45 The Royal Star & Garter Homes 20

46 Combat Stress 48

Total 1,754

 

Column C

Marker Detachment Number

1 Royal Air Force Association 150

2 Royal Air Force Regiment Association 300

3 Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoner's of War Association 20

4 Royal Observer Corps Association 75 Anniversary

5 National Service (Royal Air Force) Association 42

6 RAFLING Association 24

7 6 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Association 18

8 7 Squadron Association 25

9 8 Squadron Association 24

10 RAF Habbaniya Association 25

11 Royal Air Force & Defence Fire Services Association 30

12 Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association 30

13 Units of the Far East Air Force 28 New

14 Royal Air Force Yatesbury Association 16

15 Royal Air Force Airfield Construction Branch Association 12

16 RAFSE(s) Assoc 45 New

17 Royal Air Force Movements and Mobile Air Movements Squadron Association (RAF MAMS) 24

18 Royal Air Force Masirah & Salalah Veterans Assoc 24 New

19 WAAF/WRAF/RAF(W) 25

19 Blenheim Society 18

20 Coastal Command & Maritime Air Association 24

21 Air Sea Rescue & Marine Craft Sections Club 15

22 Federation of RAF Apprentice & Boy Entrant Assocs 150

23 Royal Air Force Air Loadmasters Association 24

24 Royal Air Force Police Association 90

25 Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service Association 40

Total 1,298

 

Column D

Marker Detachment Number

1 Not Forgotten Association 54

2 Stoll 18

3 Ulster Defence Regiment 72

4 Army Dog Unit Northern Ireland Association 48

5 North Irish Horse & Irish Regiments Old Comrades Association 78

6 Northern Ireland Veterans' Association 40

7 Irish United Nations Veterans Association 12

8 ONET UK 10

9 St Helena Government UK 24

10 South Atlantic Medal Association 196

11 SSAFA 37

12 First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 12

13 Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women 48

14 British Nuclear Test Veterans Association 48

15 War Widows Association 132

16 Gurkha Brigade Association 160 Anniversary

17 British Gurkha Welfare Society 100 Anniversary

18 West Indian Association of Service Personnel 18

19 Trucial Oman Scouts Association 18

20 Bond Van Wapenbroeders 35

21 Polish Ex-Combatants Association in Great Britain 25

22 Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów Limited 18 New

23 Royal Hong Kong Regiment Association 12

24 Canadian Veterans Association 10

25 Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen's Association (UK Branch) 24

26 Hong Kong Military Service Corps 28

27 Foreign Legion Association 24

28 Undivided Indian Army Ex Servicemen Association 11 New

Total 1,312

 

Column E

Marker Detachment Number

1 Royal Marines Association 198

2 Royal Naval Association 150

3 Merchant Navy Association 130

4 Sea Harrier Association 24

5 Flower Class Corvette Association 18

6 HMS Andromeda Association 18

7 HMS Argonaut Association 30

8 HMS Bulwark, Albion & Centaur Association 25

9 HMS Cumberland Association 18

10 HMS Ganges Association 48

11 HMS Glasgow Association 30

12 HMS St Vincent Association 26

13 HMS Tiger Association 25

14 Algerines Association 20

15 Ton Class Association 24

16 Type 42 Association 48

17 Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service 36

18 Association of WRENS 90

19 Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association 10

20 Royal Naval Communications Association 30

21 Royal Naval Medical Branch Ratings & Sick Berth Staff Association 24

22 Royal Naval Benevolent Trust 18

23 Yangtze Incident Association 24

24 Special Boat Service Association 6

25 Submariners Association 30

26 Association of Royal Yachtsmen 30

27 Broadsword Association 36

28 Aircraft Handlers Association 36

29 Aircrewmans Association 40 Anniversary

30 Cloud Observers Association 10

31 The Fisgard Association 40

32 Fleet Air Arm Armourers Association 36

33 Fleet Air Arm Association 25

34 Fleet Air Arm Bucaneer Association 24

35 Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Association 24

36 Fleet Air Arm Junglie Association 18

37 Fleet Air Arm Officers Association 30

38 Fleet Air Arm Safety Equipment & Survival Association 24

39 Royal Navy School of Physical Training 24

Total 1,497

 

Column F

Marker Detachment Number

1 Blind Veterans UK 198

2 Far East Prisoners of War 18

3 Burma Star Association 40

4 Monte Cassino Society20

5 Queen's Bodyguard of The Yeoman of The Guard 18

6 Pen and Sword Club 15

7 TRBL Ex-Service Members 301

8 The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory 4

9 The Royal British Legion Scotland 24

10 Officers Association 5

11 Black and White Club 18

12 National Pigeon War Service 30

13 National Service Veterans Alliance 50

14 Gallantry Medallists League 46

15 National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association 98

16 National Gulf Veterans & Families Association 30

17 Fellowship of the Services 100

18 Memorable Order of Tin Hats 24

19 Suez Veterans Association 50

20 Aden Veterans Association 72

21 1st Army Association 36

22 Showmens' Guild of Great Britain 40

23 Special Forces Club 12

24 The Spirit of Normandy Trust 28

25 Italy Star Association, 1943-1945, 48

Total 1,325

 

Column A

Marker Detachment Number

1 1LI Association 36

2 Royal Green Jackets Association 198

3 Parachute Regimental Association 174

4 King's Own Scottish Borderers 60

5 Black Watch Association 45

6 Gordon Highlanders Association 60

7 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association 12

8 Queen's Own Highlanders Regimental Association 48

9 London Scottish Regimental Association 30

10 Grenadier Guards Association 48

11 Coldstream Guards Association 48

12 Scots Guards Association 48

13 Guards Parachute Association 36

14 4 Company Association (Parachute Regiment) 24

15 Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment 72

16 Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) Past & Present Association 30

17 Prince of Wales' Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) Regimental Association 24

18 Royal Hampshire Regiment Comrades Association 14

19 The Royal Hampshire Regimental Club 24 New for 2015

20 Royal Northumberland Fusiliers 48 New

21 Royal Sussex Regimental Association 12

22 Green Howards Association 24

23 Cheshire Regiment Association 24

24 Sherwood Foresters & Worcestershire Regiment 36

25 Mercian Regiment Association 30

26 Special Air Service Regimental Association 4

27 The King's Own Royal Border Regiment 100

28 The Staffordshire Regiment 48

29 Rifles Regimental Association 40

30 The Rifles & Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Association 30

31 Durham Light Infantry Association 60

32 King's Royal Rifle Corps Association 50

33 King's African Rifles 14 New for 2015

Total 1,551

 

Column M

Marker Detachment Number

1 Transport For London 48

2 Children of the Far East Prisoners of War 60

3 First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 24

4 Munitions Workers Association18

5 Evacuees Reunion Association48

6 TOC H 20

7 Salvation Army 36

8 Naval Canteen Service & Expeditionary Force Institutes Association 12 Previously NAAFI

9 Royal Voluntary Service 24

10 Civil Defence Association 8

11 National Association of Retired Police Officers 36

12 Metropolitan Special Constabulary 36

13 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 36

14 London Ambulance Service Retirement Association 18

15 St John Ambulance 36

16 British Red Cross 12

17 St Andrew's Ambulance Association 6

18 The Firefighters Memorial Trust 24

19 Royal Ulster Constabulary (GC) Association 36

20 Ulster Special Constabulary Association 30

21 Commonwealth War Graves Commission 12

22 Daniel's Trust 36

23 Civilians Representing Families 180

24 Royal Mail Group Ltd 24

25 Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 24

26 The Blue Cross 24

27 PDSA 24

28 HM Ships Glorious Ardent & ACASTA Association 24 Anniversary

29 Old Cryptians' Club 12

30 Fighting G Club 18 Anniversary

31 Malayan Volunteers Group 12

32 Gallipoli Association 18

33 Ministry of Defence 20

34 TRBL Non Ex-Service Members 117

35 TRBL Women's Section 20

36 Union Jack Club 12

37 Western Front Association 8

38 Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign 18

39 Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes 24

40 National Association of Round Tables 24

41 Lions Club International 24

42 Rotary International 24

43 41 Club 6

44 Equity 12

45 Romany & Traveller Society 18

46 Sea Cadet Corps 30

47 Combined Cadet Force 30

48 Army Cadet Force 30

49 Air Training Corps 30

50 Scout Association 30

51 Girlguiding London & South East England 30

52 Boys Brigade 30

53 Girls Brigade England & Wales 30

54 Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade 30

55 Metropolitan Police Volunteer Police Cadets 18

56 St John Ambulance Cadets 18

57 YMCA 12

Total 1,621

Pink Bollworm Eradication Ceremony, on June 11, 2019, in Fabens, TX. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach will participate on behalf of Secretary Sonny Perdue to mark this historic occasion and help Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recognize partner contributions.

 

U.S. cotton production accounts for nearly 30 percent of global trade in raw cotton and $27 billion in products and services annually. It also provides hundreds of thousands of jobs across many sectors. Pink bollworm is a significant pest of cotton that was not successfully controlled until APHIS, the state departments of agriculture, and the cotton industry mounted a coordinated and integrated pest management program. The eradication of pink bollworm is the direct result of this cooperative effort. APHIS’ contributions include establishing domestic regulations and releasing sterile pink bollworm moths over infested areas.

 

Pink bollworm was first detected in Hearne, Texas, in 1917. It most likely migrated there from Mexico. Extensive efforts by Extension in coordination with individual producers eliminated the infestation in Texas and an infestation found in Louisiana in 1919. In the 1930s, the pest re-invaded the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. By the mid-1950s, the pest had spread to surrounding states and eventually reached California in 1963. Many of these infestations were suppressed through cooperative federal, state, and industry programs.

 

In 1955, APHIS established a domestic pink bollworm quarantine for infested states. Since 2000, APHIS has worked closely with the state departments of agriculture in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, and the cotton industry to carry out rigorous control and regulatory activities aimed at eliminating pink bollworm from these States, which were the only ones that remained under quarantine.

 

As a result of these cooperative efforts, APHIS lifted the domestic quarantine for pink bollworm on September 26, 2018from Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. A small wild pink bollworm colony exists in the Florida Everglades where there is no commercial cotton production. The area will remain under state quarantine.

 

Awards were presented to the following organizations:

• Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation

• South Central New Mexico Cotton Boll Weevil Control Committee

• Texas Department of Agriculture

• New Mexico Department of Agriculture

• Offices of the Texas and New Mexico State Plant Health Directors (PPQ)

 

Attendees:

UNDER SECRETARY Greg Ibach

APHIS Deputy Administrator Osama El-Lissy

Industry

• Mr. Jim Ed Miller, Texas Cotton Producer

• Dr. Don Parker, Manager, Integrated Pest Management, Pink Bollworm Action Committee; Pink Bollworm Technical Advisory Committee Member, National Cotton Council

• Mr. Larry E. Smith, Program Director, Pink Bollworm Technical Advisory Committee Member, Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation

• Mr. Samuel Carr, Texas Cotton Producer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Member

• Mr. Keith Deputy, New Mexico Cotton Producer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Member

• Mr. Robert Sloan, New Mexico Cotton Producer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Member

• Mr. Larry Turnbough, Texas Cotton Producer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Member

• Mr. Lindy Patton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Advisor, Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation

• Mr. Patrick Sullivan, Director, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Advisor, South Central NM Cotton Boll Weevil Control Committee

• Xavier Jurado, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer

• Al Alvarez, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer

• Willie Hernandez, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer

• Dosi Alvarez, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer

• Marty Sweetser, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer

• Joe Friesen, Retired Director, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee

 

TX Department of Agriculture

• Jason Fearneyhough, Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture, Texas Dept. of Agriculture

• Dale Scott, Director For Environmental and Biosecurity Program,

• Dr. Awinash Bhatkar, SPRO, Awinash Bhatkar, Awinash.

• Patrick Dudley, Coordinator For Agriculture Commodity Boards & Producer Relations, Texas Department of Agriculture, Patrick.

 

N.M. Department of Agriculture

• Secretary Jeff Witte, New Mexico Department of Agriculture

• Mr. Brad Lewis, State Plant Regulatory Official, New Mexico Department of Agriculture

• Ryan Hiles, New Mexico Department of Agriculture

 

Academia

• Dr. Charles Allen, Professor, Assoc. Dept. Head and Extension Entomologist, Chairman, Pink Bollworm Technical Advisory Committee; Pink Bollworm Action Committee Advisor, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

 

APHIS

• Osama El-Lissy

• Stuart Kuehn

• Waleska Ramirez

• Dr. Karen Maguylo, National Cotton Pests Coordinator

 

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

With no running water and no sewers in the shacks of the Chácara do Caqui favela, the sanitary and hygienic conditions of all the families is more than precarious. Their only water supply is from some old polluted wells and a water tank filled weekly with fresh drinking water from the local waterworks company.

 

Each evening, almost ritually, big tin cans are filled with water and heated over the many fires lit inbetween the shacks, as this picture illustrates. This can be quite a dangerous procedure and a sure health hazard because the fires are usually made by burning old rubber tyres, often resulting in accidents, which at their worse can cost an entire home and put lives at risk, as did happen last week with the first few shacks in this picture, leaving the families homeless.

 

The lack of basic sanitary needs has also obvious negative consequences on the health and well-being of the children who live there, who are often sick and go to school dirty, quite often suffering prejudice from the other children because of this. We have noticed that this problem also contributes to a range of other difficulties facing these children, which affect their stability in our street migration prevention programme at the new community centre.

 

One would believe, a simple problem, with a simple solution.........., at least for most of us!

 

Nevertheless, not so simple to resolve due to the dwellings being an illegal occupation in a watershed zone, causing the authorities to reject any attempts of urbanization and instead leaving the families to suffer for thirteen years without any hopes of moving them to something better. For many, this is better than where they came from; under bridges, in prostitution or living on the rubbish tip.

 

It is in this kind of scenário that our organization has started procedures to install some toilets and bathrooms to help raise the self-esteem of these children and their families. We think this can be an important first step towards believing in a different future than what most of the inhabitants are able to visualize after so many years of suffering.

 

CARF has already started installation of the first bathroom, but we will need your help to complete this work and therefore invite you, our Flickr friends, to make this your alternative Christmas Present. You can contribute quite simply through our Flickr Changemaker Campaign Page. Any amount is valid and small amounts can make a big difference. Please mark contributions with “Bathrooms”. The more contribuants, the better, because then we know we will have managed to sensibilize many more of you in realizing our goal of USD$7.200,00 for this important initiative.

 

I will be thankful and the people will be most grateful, for sure!

 

Remembrance Sunday

 

Adjutant General's Corps.

 

In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

 

Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women, members of local armed forces regular and reserve units, military cadet forces and uniformed youth organisations. Wreaths of remembrance poppies are laid on the memorials and two minutes’ silence is observed at 11 a.m.

 

The United Kingdom national ceremony is held in London at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Wreaths are laid by Queen Elizabeth II, principal members of the Royal Family normally including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Kent, the Prime Minister, leaders of the other major political parties, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and the civilian services, and veterans’ groups. Two minutes' silence is held at 11 a.m., before the laying of the wreaths. This silence is marked by the firing of a field gun on Horse Guards Parade to begin and end the silence, followed by Royal Marines buglers sounding Last Post.

 

The parade consists mainly of an extensive march past, with military bands playing music following the list of the Traditional Music of Remembrance.

 

Other members of the British Royal Family watch from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

 

After the ceremony, a parade of veterans and other related groups, organised by the Royal British Legion, marches past the Cenotaph, each section of which lays a wreath as it passes. Only ticketed participants can take part in the march past.

 

From 1919 until the Second World War remembrance observance was always marked on 11 November itself. It was then moved to Remembrance Sunday, but since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1995, it has become usual to hold ceremonies on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

 

Each year, the programme of music at the National Ceremony remains the same, following a programme finalised in 1930:

 

Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne

Heart of Oak by William Boyce

The Minstrel Boy by Thomas Moore

Men of Harlech

The Skye Boat Song

Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly

David of the White Rock

Oft in the Stilly Night by John Stevenson

Flowers of the Forest

Nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar

Dido's lament by Henry Purcell

O Valiant Hearts by Charles Harris

Solemn Melody by Walford Davies

Last Post – a bugle call

Beethoven's Funeral March No. 1, by Johann Heinrich Walch

O God, Our Help in Ages Past – words by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft

Reveille – a bugle call

God Save The Queen

Other pieces of music are then played during the march past and wreath laying by veterans, starting with Trumpet Voluntary and followed by It's A Long Way To Tipperary, the marching song of the Connaught Rangers, a famous British Army Irish Regiment of long ago.

  

Cenotaph Ceremony and March Past - 10 November 2013 Order of March and Ticket Allocation

 

Column D [Lead Column]

 

Marker NumberDetachmentNo of marchers

 

1War Widows Association 126

2British Gurkha Welfare Society 78

3West Indian Association of Service Personnel 18

4Trucial Oman Scouts Association 18

5Bond Van Wapenbroeders 26

6Polish Ex-Combatants Association in Great Britain Trust Fund 40

7Canadian Veterans Association 10

9Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen's Association (UK Branch) 24

10Hong Kong Military Service Corps 18

11Foreign Legion Association 24

12Not Forgotten Association 54

13The Royal British Legion 348

14The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory 6 New

15The Royal British Legion Scotland 26

16Ulster Defence Regiment72

18Northern Ireland Veterans' Association 42

19Irish United Nations Veterans Association 12

20ONET UK 10

21St Helena Government UK 24

22Commando Veterans Association 30

23South Atlantic Medal Association 196

24SSAFA Forces Help 66

25First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 12

26Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women 48

27British Nuclear Test Veterans Association 48

28British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association 48

29British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association24

30Royal Hospital Chelsea 30

31Queen Alexandra's Hospital Home for Disabled Ex-Servicemen30

32The Royal Star & Garter Homes20

33Combat Stress48

34Walking With The Wounded14

Total 1,590

 

Column E

1Merchant Navy Association 150

2Royal Naval Association 160

3Royal Marines Association 198

4Aircraft Handlers Association36

5Telegraphist Air Gunners Association12

6Aircrewmans Association30

7Cloud Observers Association10

8Fleet Air Arm Armourers Association36

9Fleet Air Arm Association30

10Fleet Air Arm Bucaneer Association24

11Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Association24

12Fleet Air Arm Junglie Association18

13Fleet Air Arm Officers Association40

14Fleet Air Arm Safety Equipment & Survival Association18

15Sea Harrier Association24

16Flower Class Corvette Association18

17LST & Landing Craft Association10

18HMS Andromeda Association18

19HMS Bulwark, Albion & Centaur Association22

20HMS Cumberland Association18

21HMS Ganges Association36

22HMS Glasgow Association30

23HMS St Vincent Association36

24HMS Tiger Association20

25Algerines Association25

26Ton Class Association30

27Type 42 Association35 New

28Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service35

29VAD RN Association18

30Association of WRENS90

31Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association10

32Royal Naval Communications Association30

33Royal Naval Medical Branch Ratings & Sick Berth Staff Association 6

34Royal Naval Benevolent Trust18

35Royal Navy School of Physical Training24

36Russian Convoy Club30

37Yangtze Incident Association24

38Special Boat Service Association 6

39Submariners Association30

40Association of Royal Yachtsmen24

41Broadsword Association36

Total 1,489

 

Column F

1British Korean Veterans Association 500

2National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association98

3Normandy Veterans Association 6

4National Service Veterans Alliance 150

5Italy Star Association48

6Monte Cassino Society20

7Gallantry Medallists League36

8National Pigeon War Service30

9National Gulf Veterans & Families Association30

10Fellowship of the Services 150

11Burma Star Association50

12Far East Prisoners of War 8

14Memorable Order of Tin Hats36

15Suez Veterans Association50

16Aden Veterans Association84

171st Army Association36

18Showmens' Guild of Great Britain30

19Queen's Bodyguard of The Yeoman of The Guard18

20Popski's Private Army 4

21Pen and Sword Club18

22Black and White Club18 New

Total 1,420

 

Column A

2Royal Northumberland Fusiliers48

3The Duke of Lancaster's Regimental Association30

4Green Howards Association44

6Cheshire Regiment Association24

7Sherwood Foresters & Worcestershire Regiment36

8Mercian Regiment Association30

9Rifles Regimental Association48

10The Rifles & Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Association

30

11Royal Irish Regiment Association12

12Durham Light Infantry Association60

13King's Royal Rifle Corps Association60

14Light Infantry Association48 New

151LI Association36 New

16Royal Green Jackets Association 198

17Parachute Regimental Association 174

18The Royal Regiment of Scotland Association18 New

19Royal Scots Regimental Association40

20King's Own Scottish Borderers50

21Black Watch Association45

22Gordon Highlanders Association60

23Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association 6

24The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)24 New

25Grenadier Guards Association48

26Coldstream Guards Association48

27Scots Guards Association40

28Guards Parachute Association36

294 Company Association (Parachute Regiment)24

30Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment72

32Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) Past & Present Association30

33Royal Sussex Regimental Association12

34Royal Hampshire Regiment Comrades Association12

Total 1,443

 

Column B

 

1Blind Veterans UK 198

2Royal Scots Dragoon Guards30

3Royal Dragoon Guards78

4Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own & Royal Irish)12

5Kings Royal Hussars Regimental Association96

6The 16/5th Queen's Royal Lancers36 New

7Gurkha Brigade Association36

8JLR RAC Old Boys' Association30

943rd Reconnaissance Regiment Old Comrades Association 6

10Army Dog Unit Northern Ireland Association48

11North Irish Horse & Irish Regiments Old Comrades Association78

12Association of Ammunition Technicians36

13Beachley Old Boys Association36

14Arborfield Old Boys Association18

15Women's Royal Army Corps Association 120

16656 Squadron Association72

17Home Guard Association12

183rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Association60

19Royal Artillery Association18

20Royal Engineers Association30

21Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Association65

22Airborne Engineers Association24

23Mill Hill (Postal & Courier Services) Veterans' Association30 New

24Royal Signals Association48

25Army Air Corps Association42

26Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps of Transport Association40

27RAOC Association18

28Army Catering Corps Association48

29Royal Pioneer Corps Association54

30Reconnaissance Corps18

31Royal Army Medical Corps Association36

32Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Association48

33Royal Military Police Association 100

34The RAEC and ETS Branch Association 6

35Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association36

36Royal Army Veterinary Corps & Royal Army Dental Corps18

37Intelligence Corps Association30

38Royal Army Physical Training Corps24

39Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Association48

Total 1,783

 

Column C

 

1Royal Air Forces Association 125

2Royal Air Force Regiment Association 300

3Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoner's of War Association20

4 Federation of Royal Air Force Apprentice & Boy Entrant Associations 150

5Royal Air Force Air Loadmasters Association24

6Royal Air Force Police Association90

7Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service Association40

8Bomber Command Association20

9Royal Observer Corps Association80

10National Service (Royal Air Force) Association42

11RAFLING Association24

126 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Association18

137 Squadron Association30

14RAF Habbaniya Association30

15Royal Air Force & Defence Fire Services Association30

16Air Sea Rescue & Marine Craft Sections Club12

17Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association30

18Royal Air Force Butterworth & Penang Association 6

19Royal Air Force Yatesbury Association15

20Royal Air Force Airfield Construction Branch Association12

21Women's Auxiliary Air Force12

22Blenheim Society18

23Coastal Command & Maritime Air Association24

Total 1,152

 

Column M

 

1Transport For London48

2First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps)24

3Munitions Workers Association18

4Children of the Far East Prisoners of War60

5Evacuees Reunion Association48

6TOC H12

7Salvation Army36

8NAAFI12

10Civil Defence Association10

11British Resistance Movement (Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team)12 New

12National Association of Retired Police Officers36

13Metropolitan Special Constabulary36

14London Ambulance Service NHS Trust36

15London Ambulance Service Retirement Association18

16St John Ambulance36

17St Andrew's Ambulance Association 6

18Firefighters Memorial Trust24

19Royal Ulster Constabulary (GC) Association36

20Ulster Special Constabulary Association30

21Commonwealth War Graves Commission12

22Daniel's Trust36

23Civilians Representing Families85

24Royal Mail Group Ltd24

25Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals24

26The Blue Cross18

27PDSA24

28HM Ships Glorious Ardent & ACASTA Association24

29Old Cryptians' Club12

30Fighting G Club18

31Malayan Volunteers Group12

32Gallipoli Association18

33Ministry of Defence30

34RBL Non Ex-Service Members 123

35Union Jack Club12

36Western Front Association11

37Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign18

38Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes24

39National Association of Round Tables24

40Lions Club International24

41Rotary International24

4241 Club 6 New

43Equity12

44Romany & Traveller Society18

45Sea Cadet Corps30

46Combined Cadet Force30

47Army Cadet Force30

48Air Training Corps30

49Scout Association30

50Girlguiding London & South East England30

51Boys Brigade30

52Girls Brigade England & Wales30

53Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade30

54Metropolitan Police Volunteer Police Cadets18

55St John Ambulance Cadets18

56British Red Cross12 New

Total 1,489

 

Newindicates first time participation in 2013.

 

Cenotaph Ceremony & March Past - 10 November 2013 Summary of Contingent Composition

Column A1,443

Column B1,783

Column C1,152

Column D1,590

Column E1,489

Column F1,420

Sub-total8,877

Column M1,489

Total 10,366

  

News report on 10 November 2013

 

Remembrance Sunday 2013: The Queen leads nation in honouring fallen heroes

 

Her Majesty laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph on Whitehall as the UK fell silent at 11am in tribute to those who lost their lives in conflict

 

The Queen was joined by Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family as she led the nation in honouring members of the Armed Forces killed in conflict.

 

The monarch laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph on Whitehall to commemorate all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the decades since the First World War, bowing her head after paying her respects.

 

As Remembrance Sunday services took place around the UK to remember our war dead, the royals, politicians, military leaders, veterans and serving personnel laid wreaths of poppies at the monument.

 

Prince Harry was laying the wreath on behalf of his father Prince Charles, who is currently abroad on an official tour of India with the Duchess of Cornwall, and was marking the occasion there.

 

Kate Middleton, who dressed in a navy, military-style coat, watched from a balcony with Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Princess Anne's husband, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence.

 

Troops in Afghanistan were joined by the Duke of York, who laid a wreath during a service held at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province to mark Remembrance Sunday.

 

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond also flew to Afghanistan last night to join servicemen and women.

 

Millions across the UK fell silent in tribute to those lost in war, joining the crowds gathered in central London who stood in a moment of quiet contemplation as Big Ben struck 11am.

 

During the two-minute silence, only the distant sounds of traffic and the rustling of leaves could be heard, despite the fact that police said Whitehall was at capacity.

 

The beginning and end of the silence was marked with the firing of a round by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, using a 13-pounder First World War gun.

 

In cold but bright weather, the royals and dignitaries then laid their wreaths at the Cenotaph.

 

Prime Minister David Cameron was first after the royals to do so, followed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband.

 

Former prime ministers Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and London Mayor Boris Johnson also attended the ceremony.

 

The Duchess of Cambridge was accompanied on the Foreign Office balcony by the Countess of Wessex and Vice Admiral Tim Laurence.

 

The Duke of Edinburgh, who joined the Royal Navy in 1939, wore the uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet for the ceremony. Prince Harry, who has undertaken two tours of duty in Afghanistan, wore the uniform of a Captain in the Household Cavalry. His brother William left operational service recently after more than seven years in the forces. He wore the uniform of Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant.

 

Following the wreath-laying, the Bishop of London the Right Reverend Richard Chartres conducted a short service in his role as Dean of HM Chapels Royal.

 

More than 10,000 veterans and civilians then marched past the Cenotaph to pay their respects to their departed comrades, led this year by members of the War Widows Association, wearing black coats and red scarves.

 

They were all warmly applauded as they paraded past, some veterans in wheelchairs and motorised scooters as they marked the loss of their comrades.

 

There was a large contingent of veterans from the Korean War, the armistice of which was 60 years ago.

 

The 70th anniversaries of the Battle of the Atlantic and the Dambusters' Raid were also marked this year.

 

This guy was standing on the sidewalk with a female co-worker, soliciting contributions for some charity ... I can't even remember which one now.

 

His strategy was to approach almost every passer-by, and reach his hand out to get a handshake. If you slowed down, or accepted the handshake, then he would start his shpiel, and ask for money.

 

I just frowned at him as I walked by. Maybe it was legitimate, but the majority of the ones I've seen here in NYC have been scams ...

 

***************************

 

About a year ago, I created Flickr album for photos that I had started taking with my iPhone5s; and now I’m creating a new Flickr album for photos that I’ve begun taking with myiPhone6, which just arrived from T-Mobile this morning.

 

In last year’s album, I wrote, "Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, it’s hard to walk around with a modern smartphone in your pocket, and not be tempted to use the built-in camera from time-to-time. Veteran photographers typically sneer at such behavior, and most will tell you that they can instantly recognize an iPhone photo, which they mentally reject as being unworthy of any serious attention.

 

"After using many earlier models of smartphones over the past several years, I was inclined to agree; after all, I always (well, almost always) had a “real” camera in my pocket (or backpack or camera-bag), and it was always capable of taking a much better photographic image than the mediocre, grainy images shot with a camera-phone.

 

"But still … there were a few occasions when I desperately wanted to capture some photo-worthy event taking place right in front of me, and inevitably it turned out to be the times when I did not have the “real” camera with me. Or I did have it, but it was buried somewhere in a bag, and I knew that the “event” would have disappeared by the time I found the “real" camera and turned it on. By contrast, the smart-phone was always in my pocket (along with my keys and my wallet, it’s one of the three things I consciously grab every time I walk out the door). And I often found that I could turn it on, point it at the photographic scene, and take the picture much faster than I could do the same thing with a “traditional” camera.

 

"Meanwhile, smartphone cameras have gotten substantially better in the past few years, from a mechanical/hardware perspective; and the software “intelligence” controlling the camera has become amazingly sophisticated. It’s still not on the same level as a “professional” DSLR camera, but for a large majority of the “average” photographic situations we’re likely to encounter in the unplanned moments of our lives, it’s more and more likely to be “good enough.” The old adage of “the best camera is the one you have with you” is more and more relevant these days. For me, 90% of the success in taking a good photo is simply being in the right place at the right time, being aware that the “photo opportunity” is there, and having a camera — any camera — to take advantage of that opportunity. Only 10% of the time does it matter which camera I’m using, or what technical features I’ve managed to use.

 

"And now, with the recent advent of the iPhone5s, there is one more improvement — which, as far as I can tell, simply does not exist in any of the “professional” cameras. You can take an unlimited number of “burst-mode” shots with the new iPhone, simply by keeping your finger on the shutter button; instead of being limited to just six (as a few of the DSLR cameras currently offer), you can take 10, 20, or even a hundred shots. And then — almost magically — the iPhone will show you which one or two of the large burst of photos was optimally sharp and clear. With a couple of clicks, you can then delete everything else, and retain only the very best one or two from the entire burst.

 

"With that in mind, I’ve begun using my iPhone5s for more and more “everyday” photo situations out on the street. Since I’m typically photographing ordinary, mundane events, even the one or two “optimal” shots that the camera-phone retains might not be worth showing anyone else … so there is still a lot of pruning and editing to be done, and I’m lucky if 10% of those “optimal” shots are good enough to justify uploading to Flickr and sharing with the rest of the world. Still, it’s an enormous benefit to know that my editing work can begin with photos that are more-or-less “technically” adequate, and that I don’t have to waste even a second reviewing dozens of technically-mediocre shots that are fuzzy, or blurred.

 

"Oh, yeah, one other minor benefit of the iPhone5s (and presumably most other current brands of smartphone): it automatically geotags every photo and video, without any special effort on the photographer’s part. Only one of my other big, fat cameras (the Sony Alpha SLT A65) has that feature, and I’ve noticed that almost none of the “new” mirrorless cameras have got a built-in GPS thingy that will perform the geotagging...

 

"I’ve had my iPhone5s for a couple of months now, but I’ve only been using the “burst-mode” photography feature aggressively for the past couple of weeks. As a result, the initial batch of photos that I’m uploading are all taken in the greater-NYC area. But as time goes on, and as my normal travel routine takes me to other parts of the world, I hope to add more and more “everyday” scenes in cities that I might not have the opportunity to photograph in a “serious” way.

 

**************************

 

Okay, so now it’s September of 2014, and I’ve got the iPhone 6. They say that the camera is better, and that the internal camera-related hardware/firmware/software is better, too. Obviously, I’ve got the newer iOS, too, and even on the “old” phones, it now supports time-lapse videos along with everything else.

 

I’ve still got my pocket camera (an amazing little Sony ERX-100 Mark III), and two larger cameras (Sony RX-10, and Sony A7), but I have a feeling that I won’t even be taking them out of the camera bag when I’m out on the street for ordinary day-to-day walking around.

 

That will depend, obviously, on what kind of photos and videos the iPhone6 is actually capable of taking … so I’m going to try to use it every day, and see what the results look like …

 

Like I said last year, “stay tuned…"

Remembrance Sunday

 

Union Jack flies over Government offices in Whitehall.

 

In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

 

Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women, members of local armed forces regular and reserve units, military cadet forces and uniformed youth organisations. Wreaths of remembrance poppies are laid on the memorials and two minutes’ silence is observed at 11 a.m.

 

The United Kingdom national ceremony is held in London at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Wreaths are laid by Queen Elizabeth II, principal members of the Royal Family normally including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Kent, the Prime Minister, leaders of the other major political parties, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and the civilian services, and veterans’ groups. Two minutes' silence is held at 11 a.m., before the laying of the wreaths. This silence is marked by the firing of a field gun on Horse Guards Parade to begin and end the silence, followed by Royal Marines buglers sounding Last Post.

 

The parade consists mainly of an extensive march past, with military bands playing music following the list of the Traditional Music of Remembrance.

 

Other members of the British Royal Family watch from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

 

After the ceremony, a parade of veterans and other related groups, organised by the Royal British Legion, marches past the Cenotaph, each section of which lays a wreath as it passes. Only ticketed participants can take part in the march past.

 

From 1919 until the Second World War remembrance observance was always marked on 11 November itself. It was then moved to Remembrance Sunday, but since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1995, it has become usual to hold ceremonies on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

 

Each year, the programme of music at the National Ceremony remains the same, following a programme finalised in 1930:

 

Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne

Heart of Oak by William Boyce

The Minstrel Boy by Thomas Moore

Men of Harlech

The Skye Boat Song

Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly

David of the White Rock

Oft in the Stilly Night by John Stevenson

Flowers of the Forest

Nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar

Dido's lament by Henry Purcell

O Valiant Hearts by Charles Harris

Solemn Melody by Walford Davies

Last Post – a bugle call

Beethoven's Funeral March No. 1, by Johann Heinrich Walch

O God, Our Help in Ages Past – words by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft

Reveille – a bugle call

God Save The Queen

Other pieces of music are then played during the march past and wreath laying by veterans, starting with Trumpet Voluntary and followed by It's A Long Way To Tipperary, the marching song of the Connaught Rangers, a famous British Army Irish Regiment of long ago.

  

Cenotaph Ceremony and March Past - 10 November 2013 Order of March and Ticket Allocation

 

Column D [Lead Column]

 

Marker NumberDetachmentNo of marchers

 

1War Widows Association 126

2British Gurkha Welfare Society 78

3West Indian Association of Service Personnel 18

4Trucial Oman Scouts Association 18

5Bond Van Wapenbroeders 26

6Polish Ex-Combatants Association in Great Britain Trust Fund 40

7Canadian Veterans Association 10

9Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen's Association (UK Branch) 24

10Hong Kong Military Service Corps 18

11Foreign Legion Association 24

12Not Forgotten Association 54

13The Royal British Legion 348

14The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory 6 New

15The Royal British Legion Scotland 26

16Ulster Defence Regiment72

18Northern Ireland Veterans' Association 42

19Irish United Nations Veterans Association 12

20ONET UK 10

21St Helena Government UK 24

22Commando Veterans Association 30

23South Atlantic Medal Association 196

24SSAFA Forces Help 66

25First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 12

26Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women 48

27British Nuclear Test Veterans Association 48

28British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association 48

29British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association24

30Royal Hospital Chelsea 30

31Queen Alexandra's Hospital Home for Disabled Ex-Servicemen30

32The Royal Star & Garter Homes20

33Combat Stress48

34Walking With The Wounded14

Total 1,590

 

Column E

1Merchant Navy Association 150

2Royal Naval Association 160

3Royal Marines Association 198

4Aircraft Handlers Association36

5Telegraphist Air Gunners Association12

6Aircrewmans Association30

7Cloud Observers Association10

8Fleet Air Arm Armourers Association36

9Fleet Air Arm Association30

10Fleet Air Arm Bucaneer Association24

11Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Association24

12Fleet Air Arm Junglie Association18

13Fleet Air Arm Officers Association40

14Fleet Air Arm Safety Equipment & Survival Association18

15Sea Harrier Association24

16Flower Class Corvette Association18

17LST & Landing Craft Association10

18HMS Andromeda Association18

19HMS Bulwark, Albion & Centaur Association22

20HMS Cumberland Association18

21HMS Ganges Association36

22HMS Glasgow Association30

23HMS St Vincent Association36

24HMS Tiger Association20

25Algerines Association25

26Ton Class Association30

27Type 42 Association35 New

28Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service35

29VAD RN Association18

30Association of WRENS90

31Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association10

32Royal Naval Communications Association30

33Royal Naval Medical Branch Ratings & Sick Berth Staff Association 6

34Royal Naval Benevolent Trust18

35Royal Navy School of Physical Training24

36Russian Convoy Club30

37Yangtze Incident Association24

38Special Boat Service Association 6

39Submariners Association30

40Association of Royal Yachtsmen24

41Broadsword Association36

Total 1,489

 

Column F

1British Korean Veterans Association 500

2National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association98

3Normandy Veterans Association 6

4National Service Veterans Alliance 150

5Italy Star Association48

6Monte Cassino Society20

7Gallantry Medallists League36

8National Pigeon War Service30

9National Gulf Veterans & Families Association30

10Fellowship of the Services 150

11Burma Star Association50

12Far East Prisoners of War 8

14Memorable Order of Tin Hats36

15Suez Veterans Association50

16Aden Veterans Association84

171st Army Association36

18Showmens' Guild of Great Britain30

19Queen's Bodyguard of The Yeoman of The Guard18

20Popski's Private Army 4

21Pen and Sword Club18

22Black and White Club18 New

Total 1,420

 

Column A

2Royal Northumberland Fusiliers48

3The Duke of Lancaster's Regimental Association30

4Green Howards Association44

6Cheshire Regiment Association24

7Sherwood Foresters & Worcestershire Regiment36

8Mercian Regiment Association30

9Rifles Regimental Association48

10The Rifles & Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Association

30

11Royal Irish Regiment Association12

12Durham Light Infantry Association60

13King's Royal Rifle Corps Association60

14Light Infantry Association48 New

151LI Association36 New

16Royal Green Jackets Association 198

17Parachute Regimental Association 174

18The Royal Regiment of Scotland Association18 New

19Royal Scots Regimental Association40

20King's Own Scottish Borderers50

21Black Watch Association45

22Gordon Highlanders Association60

23Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association 6

24The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)24 New

25Grenadier Guards Association48

26Coldstream Guards Association48

27Scots Guards Association40

28Guards Parachute Association36

294 Company Association (Parachute Regiment)24

30Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment72

32Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) Past & Present Association30

33Royal Sussex Regimental Association12

34Royal Hampshire Regiment Comrades Association12

Total 1,443

 

Column B

 

1Blind Veterans UK 198

2Royal Scots Dragoon Guards30

3Royal Dragoon Guards78

4Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own & Royal Irish)12

5Kings Royal Hussars Regimental Association96

6The 16/5th Queen's Royal Lancers36 New

7Gurkha Brigade Association36

8JLR RAC Old Boys' Association30

943rd Reconnaissance Regiment Old Comrades Association 6

10Army Dog Unit Northern Ireland Association48

11North Irish Horse & Irish Regiments Old Comrades Association78

12Association of Ammunition Technicians36

13Beachley Old Boys Association36

14Arborfield Old Boys Association18

15Women's Royal Army Corps Association 120

16656 Squadron Association72

17Home Guard Association12

183rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Association60

19Royal Artillery Association18

20Royal Engineers Association30

21Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Association65

22Airborne Engineers Association24

23Mill Hill (Postal & Courier Services) Veterans' Association30 New

24Royal Signals Association48

25Army Air Corps Association42

26Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps of Transport Association40

27RAOC Association18

28Army Catering Corps Association48

29Royal Pioneer Corps Association54

30Reconnaissance Corps18

31Royal Army Medical Corps Association36

32Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Association48

33Royal Military Police Association 100

34The RAEC and ETS Branch Association 6

35Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association36

36Royal Army Veterinary Corps & Royal Army Dental Corps18

37Intelligence Corps Association30

38Royal Army Physical Training Corps24

39Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Association48

Total 1,783

 

Column C

 

1Royal Air Forces Association 125

2Royal Air Force Regiment Association 300

3Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoner's of War Association20

4 Federation of Royal Air Force Apprentice & Boy Entrant Associations 150

5Royal Air Force Air Loadmasters Association24

6Royal Air Force Police Association90

7Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service Association40

8Bomber Command Association20

9Royal Observer Corps Association80

10National Service (Royal Air Force) Association42

11RAFLING Association24

126 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Association18

137 Squadron Association30

14RAF Habbaniya Association30

15Royal Air Force & Defence Fire Services Association30

16Air Sea Rescue & Marine Craft Sections Club12

17Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association30

18Royal Air Force Butterworth & Penang Association 6

19Royal Air Force Yatesbury Association15

20Royal Air Force Airfield Construction Branch Association12

21Women's Auxiliary Air Force12

22Blenheim Society18

23Coastal Command & Maritime Air Association24

Total 1,152

 

Column M

 

1Transport For London48

2First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps)24

3Munitions Workers Association18

4Children of the Far East Prisoners of War60

5Evacuees Reunion Association48

6TOC H12

7Salvation Army36

8NAAFI12

10Civil Defence Association10

11British Resistance Movement (Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team)12 New

12National Association of Retired Police Officers36

13Metropolitan Special Constabulary36

14London Ambulance Service NHS Trust36

15London Ambulance Service Retirement Association18

16St John Ambulance36

17St Andrew's Ambulance Association 6

18Firefighters Memorial Trust24

19Royal Ulster Constabulary (GC) Association36

20Ulster Special Constabulary Association30

21Commonwealth War Graves Commission12

22Daniel's Trust36

23Civilians Representing Families85

24Royal Mail Group Ltd24

25Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals24

26The Blue Cross18

27PDSA24

28HM Ships Glorious Ardent & ACASTA Association24

29Old Cryptians' Club12

30Fighting G Club18

31Malayan Volunteers Group12

32Gallipoli Association18

33Ministry of Defence30

34RBL Non Ex-Service Members 123

35Union Jack Club12

36Western Front Association11

37Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign18

38Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes24

39National Association of Round Tables24

40Lions Club International24

41Rotary International24

4241 Club 6 New

43Equity12

44Romany & Traveller Society18

45Sea Cadet Corps30

46Combined Cadet Force30

47Army Cadet Force30

48Air Training Corps30

49Scout Association30

50Girlguiding London & South East England30

51Boys Brigade30

52Girls Brigade England & Wales30

53Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade30

54Metropolitan Police Volunteer Police Cadets18

55St John Ambulance Cadets18

56British Red Cross12 New

Total 1,489

 

Newindicates first time participation in 2013.

 

Cenotaph Ceremony & March Past - 10 November 2013 Summary of Contingent Composition

Column A1,443

Column B1,783

Column C1,152

Column D1,590

Column E1,489

Column F1,420

Sub-total8,877

Column M1,489

Total 10,366

  

News report on 10 November 2013

 

Remembrance Sunday 2013: The Queen leads nation in honouring fallen heroes

 

Her Majesty laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph on Whitehall as the UK fell silent at 11am in tribute to those who lost their lives in conflict

 

The Queen was joined by Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family as she led the nation in honouring members of the Armed Forces killed in conflict.

 

The monarch laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph on Whitehall to commemorate all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the decades since the First World War, bowing her head after paying her respects.

 

As Remembrance Sunday services took place around the UK to remember our war dead, the royals, politicians, military leaders, veterans and serving personnel laid wreaths of poppies at the monument.

 

Prince Harry was laying the wreath on behalf of his father Prince Charles, who is currently abroad on an official tour of India with the Duchess of Cornwall, and was marking the occasion there.

 

Kate Middleton, who dressed in a navy, military-style coat, watched from a balcony with Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Princess Anne's husband, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence.

 

Troops in Afghanistan were joined by the Duke of York, who laid a wreath during a service held at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province to mark Remembrance Sunday.

 

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond also flew to Afghanistan last night to join servicemen and women.

 

Millions across the UK fell silent in tribute to those lost in war, joining the crowds gathered in central London who stood in a moment of quiet contemplation as Big Ben struck 11am.

 

During the two-minute silence, only the distant sounds of traffic and the rustling of leaves could be heard, despite the fact that police said Whitehall was at capacity.

 

The beginning and end of the silence was marked with the firing of a round by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, using a 13-pounder First World War gun.

 

In cold but bright weather, the royals and dignitaries then laid their wreaths at the Cenotaph.

 

Prime Minister David Cameron was first after the royals to do so, followed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband.

 

Former prime ministers Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and London Mayor Boris Johnson also attended the ceremony.

 

The Duchess of Cambridge was accompanied on the Foreign Office balcony by the Countess of Wessex and Vice Admiral Tim Laurence.

 

The Duke of Edinburgh, who joined the Royal Navy in 1939, wore the uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet for the ceremony. Prince Harry, who has undertaken two tours of duty in Afghanistan, wore the uniform of a Captain in the Household Cavalry. His brother William left operational service recently after more than seven years in the forces. He wore the uniform of Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant.

 

Following the wreath-laying, the Bishop of London the Right Reverend Richard Chartres conducted a short service in his role as Dean of HM Chapels Royal.

 

More than 10,000 veterans and civilians then marched past the Cenotaph to pay their respects to their departed comrades, led this year by members of the War Widows Association, wearing black coats and red scarves.

 

They were all warmly applauded as they paraded past, some veterans in wheelchairs and motorised scooters as they marked the loss of their comrades.

 

There was a large contingent of veterans from the Korean War, the armistice of which was 60 years ago.

 

The 70th anniversaries of the Battle of the Atlantic and the Dambusters' Raid were also marked this year.

 

A contribution to showtime Saturday! The Hero Car is caught in mid air during the reverse direction jump. I was really stoked with the timing of this shot and how well everything lined up.

 

Disney's Hollywood Studios | Streets of America | Lights Motors Action Extreme Stunt Show

 

Thanks for looking! I appreciate feedback.

Summer Holiday 2011 Napoli

  

Italy Listeni/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana),[7][8][9][10] is a unitary parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. To the north, Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia, and is approximately delimited by the Alpine watershed, enclosing the Po Valley and the Venetian Plain. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula and the two biggest Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia.

 

Italian territory also includes the islands of Pantelleria, 60 km (37 mi) east of the Tunisian coast and 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Sicily, and Lampedusa, at about 113 km (70 mi) from Tunisia and at 176 km (109 mi) from Sicily, in addition to many other smaller islands. The sovereign states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and has a largely temperate climate. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the 5th most populous country in Europe. Among the world's most developed countries, Italy has the 4th-largest economy in the European Union, 3rd in the Eurozone and 9th in the world by GDP (IMF, 2012).

 

Italy's capital and largest city, Rome, has for centuries been the leading political and religious centre of Western civilisation, serving as the capital of both the Roman Empire and Christianity. During the Dark Ages, Italy endured cultural and social decline in the face of repeated invasions by Germanic tribes, Muslims and Normans, with Greek-Roman heritage being preserved largely by Christian monks. Beginning around the 11th century, various Italian cities, communes and maritime republics rose to great prosperity through shipping, commerce and banking (indeed, modern capitalism has its roots in Medieval Italy);[11] concurrently, Italian culture flourished, especially during the Renaissance, which produced many notable scholars, artists, and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. Meanwhile, Italian explorers such as Polo, Columbus, Vespucci, and Verrazzano discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery. Nevertheless, Italy would remain fragmented into many warring states for the rest of the Middle Ages, subsequently falling prey to larger European powers such as the Holy Roman Empire, France, Spain, and later Austria. Italy would thus enter a long period of decline that lasted until the beginning of the 18th century.

 

After many unsuccessful attempts, the second and the third wars of Italian independence resulted in the unification of most of present-day Italy between 1859 and 1866.[12] From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the new Kingdom of Italy rapidly industrialised and acquired a colonial empire becoming a Great Power.[13][14]However, Southern and rural Italy remained largely excluded from industrialisation, fuelling a large and influential diaspora. Despite victory in World War I as one of the Big Four with permanent membership in the security council of the League of Nations, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil, which favoured the establishment of a Fascist dictatorship in 1922. The subsequent participation in World War II, at the side of Nazi Germany and Japan forming the Axis Alliance, ended in military defeat, economic destruction and civil war. In the years that followed, Italy abolished the monarchy, reinstated democracy, and enjoyed a prolonged economic boom, thus becoming one of the most developed nations in the world,[5][15][16][17][18] with the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP by the early 1990s. Italy was a founding member of NATO in 1949 and one of the Inner Six of the European Community in 1957, which became the EU in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the Eurozone since 1999.

 

Italy is considered to be both a major regional power and a leading middle power,[19][20][21][22][23][24] with membership in prominent institutions such as the UN, the EU, the NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the DAC, the WTO, the G4, G6, G7, G8, G10, G20, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Latin Union, the Council of Europe, the Central European Initiative and the Uniting for Consensus. Italy currently maintains the world's tenth-largest nominal defence budget and is a participant in the NATO nuclear sharing policy. On 1 July 2014, Italy replaced Greece as the seat of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

  

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy

  

Naples (Italian: Napoli [ˈnaːpoli] ( listen), Neapolitan: Napule [ˈnɑːpələ]; Latin: Neapolis; Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις, meaning "new city") is the capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy, after Rome and Milan. As of 2012, around 960,000 people live within the city's administrative limits. The Naples urban area has a population of between 3 million[3] and 3.7 million,[4] and is the 9th-most populous urban area in the European Union. Around 4 million people live in the Naples metropolitan area, one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea.[2]

 

Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC.[5] A larger colony – initially known as Parthenope, Παρθενόπη – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages.[6][7][8] The city was refounded as Neápolis in the sixth century BC[9] and became a lynchpin of Magna Graecia, playing a key role in the merging of Greek culture into Roman society and eventually becoming a cultural centre of the Roman Republic.[10] Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, serving as the capital city of the Kingdom of Naples between 1282 and 1816. Thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. During the Neapolitan War of 1815, Naples strongly promoted Italian unification.

 

Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II.[11] Much of the city's 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolini's fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II. In recent decades, Naples has constructed a large business district, the Centro Direzionale, and has developed an advanced transport infrastructure, including an Alta Velocità high-speed rail link to Rome and Salerno, and an expanded subway network, which is planned to eventually cover half of the region. The city has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment levels in the city and surrounding Campania have decreased since 1999.[12] However, Naples still suffers from political and economic corruption,[13] and unemployment levels remain high.[14]

 

Naples has the fourth-largest urban economy in Italy, after Milan, Rome and Turin. It is the world's 103rd-richest city by purchasing power, with an estimated 2011 GDP of US$83.6 billion.[15][16] The port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe, and has the world's second-highest level of passenger flow, after the port of Hong Kong.[17] Numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises Italy S.p.A, are headquartered in Naples. The city also hosts NATO's Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the SRM Institution for Economic Research and the OPE Company and Study Centre.[18][19][20] Naples is a full member of the Eurocities network of European cities.[21] The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution ACP/UE[22] and was named a City of Literature by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.[23] The Villa Rosebery, one of the three official residences of the President of Italy, is located in the city's Posillipo district.

 

Naples' historic city centre is the largest in Europe,[24] covering 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) and enclosing 27 centuries of history,[25] and is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Naples has long been a major cultural centre with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras.[26] In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous culturally and historically significant sites, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Culinarily, Naples is synonymous with pizza, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar and the mandolin, as well as notable contributions to opera and folk standards. Popular characters and historical figures who have come to symbolise the city include Januarius, the patron saint of Naples, the comic figure Pulcinella, and the Sirens from the Greek epic poem the Odyssey. According to CNN, the metro stop "Toledo" is the most beautiful in Europe and it won also the LEAF Award '2013 as "Public building of the year".[27][28]

 

Naples' sports scene is dominated by football and Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions and winner of European trophies, who play at the San Paolo Stadium in the south-west of the city.

  

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples

Kyrenia is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus.

 

While there is evidence showing that the wider region of Kyrenia has been populated before, the city was built by the Greeks named Achaeans from the Peloponnese after the Trojan War (1300 BC). According to Greek mythology, Kyrenia was founded by the Achaeans Cepheus and Praxandrus who ended up there after the Trojan War. The heroes gave to the new city the name of their city of Kyrenia located in Achaia, Greece.

 

As the town grew prosperous, the Romans established the foundations of its castle in the 1st century AD. Kyrenia grew in importance after the 9th century due to the safety offered by the castle, and played a pivotal role under the Lusignan rule as the city never capitulated. The castle has been most recently modified by the Venetians in the 15th century, but the city surrendered to the Ottoman Empire in 1571.

 

The city's population was almost equally divided between Muslims and Christians in 1831, with a slight Muslim majority. However, with the advent of British rule, many Turkish Cypriots fled to Anatolia, and the town came to be predominantly inhabited by Greek Cypriots. While the city suffered little intercommunal violence, its Greek Cypriot inhabitants, numbering around 2,650, fled or were forcefully displaced in the wake of the Turkish invasion in 1974. Currently, the city is populated by Turkish Cypriots, mainland Turkish settlers, and British expats, with a municipal population of 33,207.

 

Kyrenia is a cultural and economical centre, described as the tourism capital of Northern Cyprus. It is home to numerous hotels, nightlife and a port. It hosts an annual culture and arts festival with hundreds of participating artists and performers and is home to three universities with a student population around 14,000.

 

The history of Kyrenia, a city in Cyprus that the Turks have occupied since 1974, dates back to Prehistoric Cyprus and continues into the present.

 

Prehistoric and ancient times

Kyrenia dates to the end of the Trojan War when many settlers arrived there from Achaea in the Peloponnese with Kephios[1] and established towns in the district. Evidence from archeological sites excavated in and around the town of Kyrenia bespeak of the area's settlement since the Neolithic period, 5800-3000 BC. Moreover, many Mycenaean, Geometric and Achaean tombs dating from 14th to 5th centuries BC, were also discovered. A fine climate, fertile soil and an abundance of water offered ideal conditions for the town's early settlement.

 

Cepheus from Arcadia is believed to be the founder of the town of Kyrenia. A military leader, he arrived at the north coast of the island bringing with him many settlers from various towns in Achaea. One such town, located near present-day Aigio in the Peloponnese, was also called Kyrenia.

 

The earliest reference made to the town of Kyrenia is found, together with that of the other seven city kingdoms of Cyprus, in Egyptian scripts dating from the period of Ramesses III, c. 1186–1155 BC.

 

From its early days of settlement, Kyrenia's commerce and maritime trade benefited enormously from its proximity to the Asia Minor coast. Boats set sail from the Aegean islands, travelled along the Asia Minor coast, and then crossed over the short distance to the northern shores of Cyprus to reach the two city kingdoms of Lapithos and Kyrenia. This lively maritime activity (late 4th or early 3rd century BC) is evident in an ancient shipwreck discovered by Andreas Kariolou in 1965, just outside Kyrenia harbour. The vessel's route along Samos, Kos, Rhodes, the Asia Minor coastline and then Kyrenia, demonstrates the town's close maritime relations with other city kingdoms in the eastern Mediterranean.

 

During the succession struggle between Ptolemy and Antigonus that followed Alexander the Great's death in 323 BC, Kyrenia was subdued under the rule of the kingdom of Lapithos that allied itself with Antigonus. Once the Ptolemies were successful in dominating the whole island, all city kingdoms were abolished. Kyrenia however, because of its maritime trade, continued to prosper. In the 2nd century BC, it is cited as one of six Cypriot towns which were benefactors to the Oracle at Delphi, that is, it received its special representatives who collected contributions and gifts. The town's prosperity at this time is also evident from its two temples, one dedicated to Apollo and the other to Aphrodite, and from the rich archeological finds dating from the Hellenistic period excavated within the present-day town limits.

 

The Romans succeeded the Ptolemies as rulers of Cyprus and during this time Lapithos became the administrative centre of the district. The numerous tombs excavated and the rich archeological finds dating from this period indicate however, that Kyrenia continued to be a populous and prosperous town. An inscription found at the base of a limestone statue dating from 13 to 37 AD, refers to "Kyrenians Demos" that is, the town's inhabitants. Here the Romans left their mark by constructing a castle with a seawall in front of it so that boats and ships could anchor in safety.

 

Christianity found fertile ground in the area. The first Christian martyrs used the old quarries of Chrysokava, just east of Kyrenia castle, as catacombs and cut-rock cemeteries which are considered among the island's most important remains from this period. Later, some of these caves were converted into churches and feature beautiful iconography, the most representative of which is that found at Ayia Mavri. From these early days, the town of Kyrenia was an episcopal see. One of its first bishops, Theodotus, was arrested and tortured between 307 and 324, under the reign of Licinius.

 

The persecution of Christians officially ended in 313, when Constantine I and his co-emperor, Licinius, issued the Edict of Milan, which mandated toleration of Christians in the Roman Empire and freedom of worship. The martyrdom of Theodotus, however, occurred in 324 and it is this event that the Church annually commemorates on March 2.

 

Medieval Ages

With the division of the Roman empire into an eastern and western empire, in 395 Cyprus came under the Byzantine emperors and the Greek Orthodox Church. The Byzantine emperors fortified Kyrenia's Roman castle and in the 10th century, they constructed in its vicinity a church dedicated to St. George, which the garrison used as a chapel. Then, when in 806, Lambousa was destroyed in the Arab raids, Kyrenia grew in importance because its castle and garrison offered its inhabitants protection and security. Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus, the island's last Byzantine governor, sent his family and treasures to the castle for safety in 1191 when King Richard I of England of England went to war with him. However, Richard defeated Comnenus and became the island's new master.

 

King Richard's rule was not welcomed in Cyprus so he sold the island first to the Templars, and then in 1192, to Guy of Lusignan. Under Frankish rule, the villages of the district of Kyrenia became feudal estates and the town became once again the administrative and commercial centre for its region. The Lusignans enlarged the castle, built a wall and towers around the town, and extended the fortifications to the harbour. They also fortified the Byzantine castles of Saint Hilarion, Bouffavento and Kantara, which, together with Kyrenia Castle, protected the town from land and sea attacks. Kyrenia castle played a pivotal role in the island's history during the many disputes among the Frankish kings, as well as the conflicts with the Genoese. On numerous occasions the castle came under siege, but it never capitulated.

 

In 1489, Cyprus came under Venetian rule. The Venetians modified Kyrenia Castle to meet the threat that the use of gunpowder and cannons posed. The castle's royal quarters and three of its four thin and elegant Frankish towers were demolished and replaced by thickset circular towers that could better withstand cannon fire. These new towers, however, were never put to the test. In 1571, the castle and the town surrendered to the Ottoman army.

 

Kyrenia Under Ottoman Rule

Under Ottoman rule, Kyrenia district was at first one of four, then one six, administrative districts of the island and the town remained its administrative capital. The town's fortunes declined however as it was transformed into a garrison town. The Christian population was expelled from the fortified city, and no one was allowed to reside within the castle other than the artillerymen and their families. These men terrorized the town's inhabitants and those of the surrounding villages, Christian and Muslim alike, with their arbitrary looting and crimes. The few local inhabitants who dared to stay were merchants and fishermen whose livelihood depended on the sea. They built their homes outside the city wall, which through time, neglect and disrepair, turned to ruin. The rest of the inhabitants moved further out to the area known as Pano Kyrenia or the ‘Riatiko' (so called because it once belonged to a king) or fled further inland and to the mountain villages of Thermeia, Karakoumi, Kazafani, Bellapais and Karmi.

 

The town revived again when bribes and gifts paid to local Turkish officials caused them to permit local maritime trade with Asia Minor and the Aegean islands to resume. In 1783, the church of Chrysopolitissa was renovated. Then in 1856, following the Hatt-I-Humayum, which introduced social and political reform and greater religious freedom for the various peoples of the Ottoman Empire, the church of Archangel Michael was rebuilt on a rocky mount overlooking the sea. At about this time, many of the Christian inhabitants of the surrounding villages reestablished themselves in the town. Local agriculture and maritime trade, particularly the export of carobs to Asia Minor, allowed the people of Kyrenia to have a comfortable living, and some even to educate their children and pursue other cultural activities.

 

Under British Rule

In 1878, following a secret agreement between the British and Ottoman governments, the island was ceded to Great Britain as a military base in the eastern Mediterranean. At first, Great Britain did not undertake major administrative changes, so Kyrenia remained the district's capital. A road was constructed through the mountain pass to connect the town to the island's capital, Nicosia, and the harbour was repaired and expanded to accommodate increasing trade with the opposite coast. The town's municipal affairs were put in order and the municipal council took an active role in cleaning and modernizing the town. In 1893, a hospital was built through private contributions and effort. By the 1900s (decade), Kyrenia was a buzzing little town with a new school building, its own newspaper, social, educational and athletic clubs. It was also a favoured vacation spot for many wealthy Nicosia families. Many homes were converted into pensions and boarding houses and in 1906, the first hotel, The ‘Akteon,' was built by the sea. These first decades of British rule however, also saw increased economic hardship for the population. High taxation, frequent droughts and a world economic depression were precipitating factors for a mass exodus of people from the town and district, first to Egypt and then to the United States.

 

Kyrenia from the air in 1959

In 1922, the episcopal see of Kyrenia returned to the town after the completion of a new metropolitan building. That same year, the Greco-Turkish war brought to a halt all trade with the opposite coast causing a serious economic depression. To the rescue came a young repatriate from the USA who built the town's first modern hotels; first the ‘Seaview' in 1922 followed by the ‘Dome' in 1932 - both built with a foreign tourist clientele in mind. Kyrenia's mild climate, picturesque harbour, numerous archeological sites, panoramic views that combined sea, mountains and vegetation, coupled with modern amenities, soon attracted many travellers and Kyrenia's economy revived through tourism. After the Second World War, more hotels were built and the town remained a favoured vacation spot for Nicosia residents and foreign travellers alike. To the town's Greek and Turkish inhabitants were added many from Great Britain who chose Kyrenia as their permanent place of residence.

 

After Cypriot Independence

In 1960, Cyprus gained its independence from Great Britain. However, the intercommunal conflict that broke out in 1963-64 between the island's Greek and Turkish population again eroded Kyrenia's prosperity. While skirmishes in Kyrenia were minimal, Turkish Cypriot irregulars blockaded the Kyrenia-Nicosia road and occupied Saint Hilarion castle. Despite these difficulties, the 1960s and early 1970s was a period of lively cultural and economic activity. A new town hall was built and a Folklore Museum established. The ancient shipwreck [1] already alluded to was reassembled, together with all its amphorae and cargo, and permanently exhibited at the castle. The number of new hotels and tourists multiplied and a new road was constructed in the early 1970s connecting the town to Nicosia from the east. The town's cultural activities greatly increased. Other than the many traditional cultural and religious fairs and festivals annually celebrated, flower shows, yachting races, concerts and theatre performances were organized. Kyrenia, the smallest of Cypriot towns, was undoubtedly the island's most precious jewel.

 

The town's inhabitants, Greek, Turk, Maronite, Armenian, Latin and British peacefully coexisted and cooperated in their daily affairs and the town had grown beyond its two historic neighbourhoods of Kato (Lower) Kyrenia and Pano (Upper) Kyrenia. It expanded towards the mountain slopes to form the new neighbourhood of "California", and eastward it had just about reached the outskirts of Thermeia, Karakoumi and Ayios Georgios. On July 20, 1974, Turkey landed on the island to protect the Turkish minority from attack from the Greek military coup for enosis . The Greek Cypriots of Kyrenia abandoned their homes and headed to south of what is now the green line.

 

In 1974, there were 47 villages in the district of Kyrenia . Greek and Maronite Cypriots constituted 83% of the district's total population, while the Turkish Cypriots constituted just 15% of the total.

 

After the Turkish invasion

In 1974 the Turkish military conducted the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus. As a result, the Greeks of Kyrenia were expelled from their homes and became refugees. Today, the Republic of Cyprus continues to have a bishop of Kyrenia and the pre-1974 Greek inhabitants of Kyrenia continue to participate elections for the Kyrenia municipality in exile.

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

My contribution to the group Macro Monday for this week theme: SMOKING.

 

I don't smoke and nobody in my family does, so I had to look for something a little different.

I could have used some incense stick, as so many tutorials teach to do all over the internet, but I chose to create smoke in a different way.

Always liked the way that metal thing suffocates the flame and the way smoke comes down.

So I tried to freeze that moment when you don't have a flame any more, But it's still burning and a dense white smoke start to flow.

 

Hope you will enjoy, HMM!

This is my first contribution to 52 Weeks for Dogs. Bosco is a three year old working line German Shepherd.

 

My Christmas gift from my husband, Martin, this year was his willing assistance in working through the exercises in Helen King's book, "What's Your Angle?: Understanding Angulation and Structure for the Performance Dog". The book stresses that you have to take a stack photo using stickers stuck to eight structural points on the dog. This is really challenging to do since we are working with an unhappy “real” dog that doesn't like stickers stuck to his body, particularly, on his hock. It's also winter here in Central Alberta. :) The photo is an outtake from the stacking session and I'm unsure who is more irked with the process - Bosco or Martin.

Another contribution for the 07_07_07 group. I was again running out of ideas on what else to contribute to the July 7. 2007 group. I have a lot of photos taken from the past few days, and plan to go out a few days from now on some real nice place, but then again, why cheat myself on the exact date. So I thought. After lunch today, I thought of just relaxing or taking a nap, and take some more wimbledon tv photos, then I glanced afar and saw this..

 

Not bad for the 07_07_07 groups, and not bad for other flickr groups as well...

 

Taken on July 7, 2007 (07/07/07).

The B-17 played a critical role as part of the Eighth Air Force, often enduring heavy losses while operating deep into enemy territory without escort early in the war. Its ability to sustain significant damage and return to base made it a symbol of Allied resilience. The aircraft also served in other theaters, including the Pacific, conducting reconnaissance, anti-shipping missions, and supplying resistance forces. The B-17’s contributions to disrupting Germany's production and logistics were instrumental in achieving Allied victory.

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Remembrance Sunday, 8 November 2015

 

In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November, Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

 

Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women, members of local armed forces regular and reserve units, military cadet forces and uniformed youth organisations. Two minutes’ silence is observed at 11 a.m. and wreaths of remembrance poppies are then laid on the memorials.

 

The United Kingdom national ceremony is held in London at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Wreaths are laid by Queen Elizabeth II, principal members of the Royal Family normally including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Kent, the Prime Minister, leaders of the other major political parties, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and the civilian services, and veterans’ groups. Two minutes' silence is held at 11 a.m., before the laying of the wreaths. This silence is marked by the firing of a field gun on Horse Guards Parade to begin and end the silence, followed by Royal Marines buglers sounding Last Post.

 

The parade consists mainly of an extensive march past by veterans, with military bands playing music following the list of the Traditional Music of Remembrance.

 

Other members of the British Royal Family watch from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

 

After the ceremony, a parade of veterans and other related groups, organised by the Royal British Legion, marches past the Cenotaph, each section of which lays a wreath as it passes. Only ticketed participants can take part in the march past.

 

From 1919 until the Second World War remembrance observance was always marked on 11 November itself. It was then moved to Remembrance Sunday, but since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1995, it has become usual to hold ceremonies on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

 

Each year, the music at the National Ceremony of Remembrance remains the same, following a programme finalised in 1930:

 

Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne

Heart of Oak by William Boyce

The Minstrel Boy by Thomas Moore

Men of Harlech

The Skye Boat Song

Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly

David of the White Rock

Oft in the Stilly Night by John Stevenson

Flowers of the Forest

Nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar

Dido's lament by Henry Purcell

O Valiant Hearts by Charles Harris

Solemn Melody by Walford Davies

Last Post – a bugle call

Beethoven's Funeral March No. 1, by Johann Heinrich Walch

O God, Our Help in Ages Past – words by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft

Reveille – a bugle call

God Save The Queen

 

Other pieces of music are then played during the march past and wreath laying by veterans, starting with Trumpet Voluntary and followed by It's A Long Way To Tipperary, the marching song of the Connaught Rangers, a famous British Army Irish Regiment of long ago.

 

The following is complied from press reports on 8 November 2015:

 

"The nation paid silent respect to the country's war dead today in a Remembrance Sunday service. Leading the nation in remembrance, as ever, was the Queen, who first laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in 1945 and has done so every year since, except on the four occasions when she was overseas.

 

Dressed in her customary all-black ensemble with a clutch of scarlet poppies pinned against her left shoulder, she stepped forward following the end of the two-minute silence marked by the sounding of Last Post by 10 Royal Marine buglers.

 

The Queen laid her wreath at the foot of the Sir Edwin Lutyens Portland stone monument to the Glorious Dead, then stood with her head momentarily bowed.

 

She was joined by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who was invited to the Cenotaph for the first time to lay a wreath marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands by British troops.

 

Watched by his wife Queen Maxima, who stood next to the Duchess of Cambridge in the Royal Box, the King laid a wreath marked with the simple message, 'In remembrance of the British men and women who gave their lives for our future.'

 

Wreaths were then laid by members of the Royal Family, all wearing military uniform: Prince Philip; then Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Prince William at the same time ; then Prince Edward, Princess Anne and the Duke of Kent at the same time.

 

Three members of the Royal Family laying wreaths at the same time was an innovation in 2015 designed to slightly reduce the amount of time of the ceremony and thereby reduce the time that the Queen had to be standing.

 

Prince Charles attended a remembrance service in New Zealand.

 

The Prime Minister then laid a wreath. The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, appeared at the Cenotaph for the first time. He wore both a suit and a red poppy for the occasion.

 

His bow as he laid a wreath marked with the words 'let us resolve to create a world of peace' was imperceptible – and not enough for some critics. Yet unlike the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Battle service earlier this year, Mr Corbyn did join in with the singing of the national anthem.

 

Following the end of the official service at the Cenotaph, a mammoth column more than 10,000-strong (some 9,000 of whom were veterans) began marching along Whitehall, saluting the Cenotaph as they passed, Parliament Street, Great George Street, Horse Guards Road and back to Horse Guard Parade. The Duke of Cambridge took the salute from the column on Horse Guards Parade.

 

Time takes its inevitable toll on even the most stoic among us, and this year only a dozen World War Two veterans marched with the Spirit of Normandy Trust, a year after the Normandy Veterans' Association disbanded.

 

Within their ranks was 95-year-old former Sapper Don Sheppard of the Royal Engineers. Sheppard was of the eldest on parade and was pushed in his wheelchair by his 19-year-old grandson, Sam who, in between studying at Queen Mary University, volunteers with the Normandy veterans.

 

'It is because of my admiration for them,' he says. 'I see them as role models and just have the utmost respect for what they did.'

 

While some had blankets covering their legs against the grey November day, other veterans of more recent wars had only stumps to show for their service to this country during 13 long years of war in Afghanistan.

 

As well as that terrible toll of personal sacrifice, the collective losses – and triumphs - of some of the country’s most historic regiments were also honoured yesterday.

 

The Gurkha Brigade Association - marking 200 years of service in the British Army – marched to warm ripples of applause. The King’s Royal Hussars, represented yesterday by 126 veterans, this year also celebrate 300 years since the regiment was raised.

 

They were led by General Sir Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of Nato and Colonel of the regiment who himself was marching for the first time.

 

'We are joined by a golden thread to all those generations who have gone before us,” he said. “We are who we are, because of those that have gone before us.' "

 

Cenotaph Ceremony & March Past - 8 November 2015

Summary of Contingents

 

Column Number of marchers

B (Lead) 1,754

C 1,298

D 1,312

E 1,497

F 1,325

A 1,551

Ex-Service Total 8,737

M (Non ex-Service) 1,621

Total 10,358

 

Column B

Marker Detachment Number

1 Reconnaissance Corps 18 Anniversary

2 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment Old Comrades Assoc 10

3 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Association 60

4 Royal Artillery Association 18

5 Royal Engineers Association 37

6 Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Association 65 Anniversary

7 Airborne Engineers Association 24

8 Royal Signals Association 48

9 Army Air Corps Association 42

10 Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps Transport Assoc 54

11 RAOC Association 18

12 Army Catering Corps Association 48

13 Royal Pioneer Corps Association 54 Anniversary

14 Royal Army Medical Corps Association 36

15 Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Association 48

16 Royal Military Police Association 100

17 The RAEC and ETS Branch Association 12

18 Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association 36

19 Royal Army Veterinary Corps & Royal Army Dental Corps 18

20 Royal Army Physical Training Corps 24

21 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Assoc 48

22 Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 30

23 Royal Dragoon Guards 78

24 Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own & Royal Irish) 12

25 Kings Royal Hussars Regimental Association 126

26 16/5th Queen's Royal Lancers 36

27 17/21 Lancers 30

28 The Royal Lancers 24 New for 2015

29 JLR RAC Old Boys' Association 30

30 Association of Ammunition Technicians 24

31 Beachley Old Boys Association 36

32 Arborfield Old Boys Association 25

33 Gallipoli & Dardenelles International 24

34 Special Observers Association 24

35 The Parachute Squadron Royal Armoured Corps 24 New

36 Intelligence Corps Association 48

37 Women's Royal Army Corps Association 120

38 656 Squadron Association 24

39 Home Guard Association 9

40 British Resistance Movement (Coleshill Research Team) 12

41 British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association 48

42 British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association 24

43 Royal Hospital Chelsea 30

44 Queen Alexandra's Hospital Home for Disabled Ex-Servicemen & Women 30

45 The Royal Star & Garter Homes 20

46 Combat Stress 48

Total 1,754

 

Column C

Marker Detachment Number

1 Royal Air Force Association 150

2 Royal Air Force Regiment Association 300

3 Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoner's of War Association 20

4 Royal Observer Corps Association 75 Anniversary

5 National Service (Royal Air Force) Association 42

6 RAFLING Association 24

7 6 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Association 18

8 7 Squadron Association 25

9 8 Squadron Association 24

10 RAF Habbaniya Association 25

11 Royal Air Force & Defence Fire Services Association 30

12 Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association 30

13 Units of the Far East Air Force 28 New

14 Royal Air Force Yatesbury Association 16

15 Royal Air Force Airfield Construction Branch Association 12

16 RAFSE(s) Assoc 45 New

17 Royal Air Force Movements and Mobile Air Movements Squadron Association (RAF MAMS) 24

18 Royal Air Force Masirah & Salalah Veterans Assoc 24 New

19 WAAF/WRAF/RAF(W) 25

19 Blenheim Society 18

20 Coastal Command & Maritime Air Association 24

21 Air Sea Rescue & Marine Craft Sections Club 15

22 Federation of RAF Apprentice & Boy Entrant Assocs 150

23 Royal Air Force Air Loadmasters Association 24

24 Royal Air Force Police Association 90

25 Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service Association 40

Total 1,298

 

Column D

Marker Detachment Number

1 Not Forgotten Association 54

2 Stoll 18

3 Ulster Defence Regiment 72

4 Army Dog Unit Northern Ireland Association 48

5 North Irish Horse & Irish Regiments Old Comrades Association 78

6 Northern Ireland Veterans' Association 40

7 Irish United Nations Veterans Association 12

8 ONET UK 10

9 St Helena Government UK 24

10 South Atlantic Medal Association 196

11 SSAFA 37

12 First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 12

13 Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women 48

14 British Nuclear Test Veterans Association 48

15 War Widows Association 132

16 Gurkha Brigade Association 160 Anniversary

17 British Gurkha Welfare Society 100 Anniversary

18 West Indian Association of Service Personnel 18

19 Trucial Oman Scouts Association 18

20 Bond Van Wapenbroeders 35

21 Polish Ex-Combatants Association in Great Britain 25

22 Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów Limited 18 New

23 Royal Hong Kong Regiment Association 12

24 Canadian Veterans Association 10

25 Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen's Association (UK Branch) 24

26 Hong Kong Military Service Corps 28

27 Foreign Legion Association 24

28 Undivided Indian Army Ex Servicemen Association 11 New

Total 1,312

 

Column E

Marker Detachment Number

1 Royal Marines Association 198

2 Royal Naval Association 150

3 Merchant Navy Association 130

4 Sea Harrier Association 24

5 Flower Class Corvette Association 18

6 HMS Andromeda Association 18

7 HMS Argonaut Association 30

8 HMS Bulwark, Albion & Centaur Association 25

9 HMS Cumberland Association 18

10 HMS Ganges Association 48

11 HMS Glasgow Association 30

12 HMS St Vincent Association 26

13 HMS Tiger Association 25

14 Algerines Association 20

15 Ton Class Association 24

16 Type 42 Association 48

17 Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service 36

18 Association of WRENS 90

19 Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association 10

20 Royal Naval Communications Association 30

21 Royal Naval Medical Branch Ratings & Sick Berth Staff Association 24

22 Royal Naval Benevolent Trust 18

23 Yangtze Incident Association 24

24 Special Boat Service Association 6

25 Submariners Association 30

26 Association of Royal Yachtsmen 30

27 Broadsword Association 36

28 Aircraft Handlers Association 36

29 Aircrewmans Association 40 Anniversary

30 Cloud Observers Association 10

31 The Fisgard Association 40

32 Fleet Air Arm Armourers Association 36

33 Fleet Air Arm Association 25

34 Fleet Air Arm Bucaneer Association 24

35 Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Association 24

36 Fleet Air Arm Junglie Association 18

37 Fleet Air Arm Officers Association 30

38 Fleet Air Arm Safety Equipment & Survival Association 24

39 Royal Navy School of Physical Training 24

Total 1,497

 

Column F

Marker Detachment Number

1 Blind Veterans UK 198

2 Far East Prisoners of War 18

3 Burma Star Association 40

4 Monte Cassino Society20

5 Queen's Bodyguard of The Yeoman of The Guard 18

6 Pen and Sword Club 15

7 TRBL Ex-Service Members 301

8 The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory 4

9 The Royal British Legion Scotland 24

10 Officers Association 5

11 Black and White Club 18

12 National Pigeon War Service 30

13 National Service Veterans Alliance 50

14 Gallantry Medallists League 46

15 National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association 98

16 National Gulf Veterans & Families Association 30

17 Fellowship of the Services 100

18 Memorable Order of Tin Hats 24

19 Suez Veterans Association 50

20 Aden Veterans Association 72

21 1st Army Association 36

22 Showmens' Guild of Great Britain 40

23 Special Forces Club 12

24 The Spirit of Normandy Trust 28

25 Italy Star Association, 1943-1945, 48

Total 1,325

 

Column A

Marker Detachment Number

1 1LI Association 36

2 Royal Green Jackets Association 198

3 Parachute Regimental Association 174

4 King's Own Scottish Borderers 60

5 Black Watch Association 45

6 Gordon Highlanders Association 60

7 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association 12

8 Queen's Own Highlanders Regimental Association 48

9 London Scottish Regimental Association 30

10 Grenadier Guards Association 48

11 Coldstream Guards Association 48

12 Scots Guards Association 48

13 Guards Parachute Association 36

14 4 Company Association (Parachute Regiment) 24

15 Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment 72

16 Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) Past & Present Association 30

17 Prince of Wales' Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) Regimental Association 24

18 Royal Hampshire Regiment Comrades Association 14

19 The Royal Hampshire Regimental Club 24 New for 2015

20 Royal Northumberland Fusiliers 48 New

21 Royal Sussex Regimental Association 12

22 Green Howards Association 24

23 Cheshire Regiment Association 24

24 Sherwood Foresters & Worcestershire Regiment 36

25 Mercian Regiment Association 30

26 Special Air Service Regimental Association 4

27 The King's Own Royal Border Regiment 100

28 The Staffordshire Regiment 48

29 Rifles Regimental Association 40

30 The Rifles & Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Association 30

31 Durham Light Infantry Association 60

32 King's Royal Rifle Corps Association 50

33 King's African Rifles 14 New for 2015

Total 1,551

 

Column M

Marker Detachment Number

1 Transport For London 48

2 Children of the Far East Prisoners of War 60

3 First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 24

4 Munitions Workers Association18

5 Evacuees Reunion Association48

6 TOC H 20

7 Salvation Army 36

8 Naval Canteen Service & Expeditionary Force Institutes Association 12 Previously NAAFI

9 Royal Voluntary Service 24

10 Civil Defence Association 8

11 National Association of Retired Police Officers 36

12 Metropolitan Special Constabulary 36

13 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 36

14 London Ambulance Service Retirement Association 18

15 St John Ambulance 36

16 British Red Cross 12

17 St Andrew's Ambulance Association 6

18 The Firefighters Memorial Trust 24

19 Royal Ulster Constabulary (GC) Association 36

20 Ulster Special Constabulary Association 30

21 Commonwealth War Graves Commission 12

22 Daniel's Trust 36

23 Civilians Representing Families 180

24 Royal Mail Group Ltd 24

25 Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 24

26 The Blue Cross 24

27 PDSA 24

28 HM Ships Glorious Ardent & ACASTA Association 24 Anniversary

29 Old Cryptians' Club 12

30 Fighting G Club 18 Anniversary

31 Malayan Volunteers Group 12

32 Gallipoli Association 18

33 Ministry of Defence 20

34 TRBL Non Ex-Service Members 117

35 TRBL Women's Section 20

36 Union Jack Club 12

37 Western Front Association 8

38 Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign 18

39 Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes 24

40 National Association of Round Tables 24

41 Lions Club International 24

42 Rotary International 24

43 41 Club 6

44 Equity 12

45 Romany & Traveller Society 18

46 Sea Cadet Corps 30

47 Combined Cadet Force 30

48 Army Cadet Force 30

49 Air Training Corps 30

50 Scout Association 30

51 Girlguiding London & South East England 30

52 Boys Brigade 30

53 Girls Brigade England & Wales 30

54 Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade 30

55 Metropolitan Police Volunteer Police Cadets 18

56 St John Ambulance Cadets 18

57 YMCA 12

Total 1,621

The glacial contribution to river flow varies greatly, both annually and within and between catchments. The hydrological significance of glacier runoff also depends on other components of the hydrological cycle, such as precipitation, evapo-transpiration, and groundwater flow. In consequence, the impacts of glacier mass loss will be highly variable both locally and worldwide. Some regions will undoubtedly be affected by water shortage, whereas others are unlikely to be significantly affected by glacial melt. Much detailed work remains to be done to adequately predict regional and local hydrological responses to climate change. Flood risks are expected to increase in some regions, including increased frequencies of glacier lake outburst flood (GLOFs) and weather-related flash floods in both the Hindu Kush Himalayas and in the Andes.

 

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This photo has been graciously provided to be used in the GRID-Arendal resources library by: Lawrence Hislop