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What on earth is going on here..?

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June 1963

Married couple drive home in their car after the man in the photo resigns.

The story is on the man’s face. The British Minister, Secretary of State for War, John Prefumo.

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If you have ever listened to the Billy Joel song, We Didn't Start the Fire, the photo above his linked to the line in the song, “British politician sex”, and potentially the downfall of a British Government.

It’s a long story, but basically John Prefumo eventually admits that he earlier had an affair with Christine Keeler, a model and showgirl.

Christine Keeler had also been having an affair with a Soviet naval attaché, Yevgeny Ivanov. The British Security Services saw Yevgeny Ivanov as a Russian Spy.

The whole affair was a matter on national security.

Christine Keeler
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June 1963

Married couple drive home in their car after the man in the photo resigns.

The story is on the man’s face. The British Minister, Secretary of State for War, John Prefumo.

View attachment 265352

If you have ever listened to the Billy Joel song, We Didn't Start the Fire, the photo above his linked to the line in the song, “British politician sex”, and potentially the downfall of a British Government.

It’s a long story, but basically John Prefumo eventually admits that he earlier had an affair with Christine Keeler, a model and showgirl.

Christine Keeler had also been having an affair with a Soviet naval attaché, Yevgeny Ivanov. The British Security Services saw Yevgeny Ivano as a Russian Spy.

The whole affair was a matter on national security.

Christine Keeler
View attachment 265353
Remember it well....
 
Photo from 1944

‘Colossus Mark 2’. Regarded as the world's first programmable, electronic, digital computer. The photo shows part of a set of computers being operated by women of the, ‘Women's Royal Naval Service’.

‘Colossus Mark 2’ was an improvement over the original model, first developed in 1943 by British code breakers. Nine of these machines were made. They were used to decipher encrypted German military messages, and then shared with the Allies.

After the war Winston Churchill ordered them dismantled so no one except a select few knew what the components were for, although 2 of them were never fully dismantled.

The existence of these computers and their purpose was kept secret until 1975, when the British government released photos.

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Working replica at Bletchley Park:

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History, it can be a wonderful thing.

10th November 1920: Military Servicemen keep guard over a coffin overnight, as it lay in a train carriage.

The coffin had previously been moved from the chapel at Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, France, to Boulogne. At Boulogne the French 8th Infantry Regiment stood vigil overnight. The coffin was then placed inside another casket made of oak from a tree that had grown at Hampton Court Palace. A 16th century crusader's sword was attached to the casket.

A mile-long procession led by 1’000 French school children, and escorted by a division of French troops made its way to the harbour with the coffin. It was then taken on-board the British destroyer HMS Verdun. The destroyer was then escorted to Dover, England, by six battleships.

A train from Dover took the coffin to Victoria Station, London.

This picture was taken at Victoria Station, where servicemen kept guard overnight.

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The following day the coffin made its way to the 13th century Westminster Abbey; the streets along the route were lined with people in mourning. As the coffin was being lowered into the grave in the Nave of the Abbey, King George V stepped forward and dropped a handful of French earth onto the coffin from a silver shell.

1.2 million people filed past the grave to pay their respects before the grave was closed. No-one knew of the dead man’s name, but he’s known as the Unknown Warrior.

The following year General Pershing, on behalf of the United States of America, conferred the Congressional Medal of Honor on the Unknown Warrior. That same year, the American Unknown Soldier was awarded Britain’s highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross.

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13th September, 1962. Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England.

Test pilot George Aird ejected from his English Electric Lightning aircraft. He fell through the roof of a greenhouse, breaking both legs as he landed unconscious on the ground. The water from the sprinkler system for the tomatoes woke him. He’s reported to have said that his first thought was that he must be in heaven.

"Whilst carrying out a demonstration flight, there was a fire in the aircraft’s reheat zone. Un-burnt fuel in the rear fuselage had been ignited by a small crack in the jet pipe and had weakened the tailplane actuator anchorage. This weakened the tailplane control system which failed with the aircraft at 100 feet on final approach."


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The photo is from 11th June 1964, at a British motorway service area. The car in the photo had just done 185mph on a public road. There was no speed limit on British Motorways at the time.

4 days later it became front page news, and questions were asked in the British Parliament regarding car manufactures using the public motorway as a test track. The likes of Jaguar; Aston Martin & others were using the M1 Motorway to test their race cars.

The car in the photo is an “AC Cobra A98 Coupé”. Not to be confused with Carroll Shelby’s “Daytona Cobra Coupe”. AC Cars in the UK had previously supplied Carroll Shelby in the USA with chassis & bodies. The AC Cobra A 98 Coupe had a much lower roof line than the Carroll Shelby equivalent.

The man getting out of the car in a jacket & tie is British race driver Jack Sears. The AC Cars' Engineers wanted to test the cars top speed before taking it to the Le Mans 24 hour’s race in France.

Jack Sears later said, "I was also dressed in my sports jacket and tie. I never thought to dress in anything else and if I was going to get arrested I may as well do it in style".

The man in the white jacket, who seems to be drying his eyes, is AC Cars' Managing Director, Derek Hurlock. Derek was the passenger.

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The year of this historic photo is unknown, but it’s thought to be the first ever photo taken of workmen looking down a hole. :)

Workmen all around the world have intentionally kept this scene alive ever since. Some re-enacting the scene more enthusiastically than others.

C'mon, you’ve all seen it. You all know what I meeean! – don’t pretend you don’t!

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Here's a more modern version of the same practice. They are wearing high visibility jackets to make sure everyone sees them, as they don’t want people to think this highly specialised & important practice has ended.

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In this example, the workman was so overcome with emotion of the prospect of taking part in the re-enactment, that he became too enthusiastic whilst having a closer look. At first his co-workers tried to laugh it off, but they haven’t spoken to him since, due to his over enthusiastic actions. He remains ostracized to this day. Even his own dog turns away from him! It was later reported that his co-workers had felt really disappointed & let down by him. They haven't mentioned his name ever since.

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As you can probably tell, it’s a subject matter I’ve studied extensively over the years, and one that I've found really fascinating. In time I might even create a Wikipedia page about it.
 
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My wife at San Miguel mission in 1957. We visited several of these:..



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Situated midway between the missions of San Luis Obispo and San Antonio de Padua, San Miguel was destroyed by fire in 1806. The new church, built between 1816-18 by the padres and natives from nearby missions, remains one of the best preserved interiors among all the California mission structures. The artwork on the walls, created by Monterey artist Esteban Munras with help from the native neophytes, features false balconies and pillars, faux marble and filigre, and an "all-seeing eye of God" above the altar and is unique to this site. Following secularization, the buildings served as a dance hall, general store and saloon/restaurant. The graves of the early padres can be found in the sanctuary floor.​
Sixteenth Mission Built​

 

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On February 12, 1963 construction began on the Gateway Arch National Historic Landmark in St. Louis, Missouri. The Arch, located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, was designed by Eero Saarinen to symbolize “The Gateway to the West.” When this picture was taken in 1965 completion was still two years away.

Submitted by Roger Keehner

Image by Kevin William Kelly, CCA-SA 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons.
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Violet Constance Jessop, stewardess for the British Red Cross.

In 1911
, Violet began working as a stewardess for the White Star liner RMS Olympic. Olympic being the largest civilian liner at that time. She was on board when the ship collided with the British warship HMS Hawke, which punched two large holes in Olympic's hull.

In 1912, Violet was a stewardess on Olyimpic’s sister ship, Titanic, when it sunk in the Atlantic. She was ordered up on deck to serve as an example of how to behave for the non-English speakers who could not follow the instructions given to them. She was later ordered into lifeboat 16, and as the boat was being lowered, one of Titanic's officers gave her a baby to look after.

In 1916, she was on HMHS Britannic, the sister ship of Olympic & Titanic. Britannic had been converted into a hospital ship. She was serving as a stewardess for the British Red Cross when the ship was hit by naval mine. Violet and other passengers were nearly killed by Britannic’s propellers that were shredding lifeboats that collided with the propellers. She had to jump out of her lifeboat.


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RMS Olyimpic
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RMS Titanic
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HMHS Britannic
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Violet said of Britannic in her memoirs, “The white pride of the ocean's medical world ... dipped her head a little, then a little lower and still lower. All the deck machinery fell into the sea like a child's toys. Then she took a fearful plunge, her stern rearing hundreds of feet into the air until with a final roar, she disappeared into the depths.”
 
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Welland Viaduct, crosses the valley of the River Welland between Harringworth in Northamptonshire and Seaton in Rutland, England.

The viaduct is 1,275 yards long and has 82 arches, each with a 40 feet span. It is the longest masonry viaduct across a valley in the United Kingdom. Built by the contractor Lucas and Aird, a total of 30 million bricks were used in the viaduct's construction. Completed during 1878, it has since become a Grade II listed building. Victorian enterprise at it's best. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welland_Viaduct
 

Christmas Day 1914​

A photo held in the National Army Museum. British and German soldiers fraternising between the trenches in no-mans-land.

From a letter by General Walter Congreve to his wife:


"Darling dear - as I cannot be with you all, the next best thing is to write to you.

We have had a 'seasonable weather' day - which means sharp frost & fog & never a smich of sun. I went to church with 2 of my battalions in an enormous factory room & after lunch took down to the N. Staffords in my old trenches at Rue du Bois Mother's gifts of toffee, sweets, cigarettes, pencils, handkerchiefs & writing paper.

There I found an extraordinary state of affairs - this a.m. a German shouted out that they wanted a day's truce & would one come out if he did; so very cautiously one of our men lifted himself above the parapet & saw a German doing the same. Both got out then more & finally all day long in that particular place they have been walking about together all day giving each other cigars & singing songs.

Officers as well as men were out & the German Colonel himself was talking to one of our Captains. My informant, one of the men, said he had had a fine day / of it & had smoked a cigar with the best shot in the German army, then not more than 18. They say he's killed more of our men than any other 12 together but I know now where he shoots from & I hope we down him tomorrow.

I hope devoutly they will - next door the 2 battalions opposite each other were shooting away all day & so I hear it was further north, 1st R.B. playing football with the Germans opposite them - next Regiments shooting each other. I was invited to go & see the Germans myself but refrained as I thought they might not be able to resist a General
."


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