I have been away. An attempt was made to join the happy campers with the hire of a Renault St. Michel camper van, cosily referred to as a motorhome. The weather was fantastic, if a bit nippy, and the views across Dartmoor are terrific. The campsite, for those interested, was very classy, near Whiddon Down, just off the A30 and is called Woodland Springs. No one under 18 is allowed on the site. Tee hee. As a result, very peaceful, and at this time of year, uncrowded. The facilities are such that there was no need to use the very cramped combination shower and chemical toilet situated at the rear of the van; however, the sleeping space is not good. Once the seating is folded out to form the bed, there is no room to do anything. It's hard as nails. To say that I ache all over is an understatement. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable, if not to be repeated experience. Much was learned. This is the object of adventure.
MISSING DAYS -
In Nanterre near Paris on 22nd March 1968, things began to happen. Nanterre University, a large new campus built to cater for the increased influx of foreign students, erupted, when on the 22nd March eight students broke into the Dean's office as a way to protest at the recent arrest of six members of the National Vietnam Committee. Among these was a sociology student by the name of Danny Cohn-Bendit. He had been part of a group who organised a strike of 10,000 students in November the previous year as a protest against overcrowding. Six days after the occupation of the Dean's office the police were called in and the campus was surrounded. 500 students inside the college divided into discussion groups. Sociology students began to boycott their exams and a pamphlet was produced entitled 'Why do we need sociologists?'. The students called for a lecture hall to be permanently made available for political discussions. From then on the 22nd March movement grew into what became know as The May Revolution of 1968, of which more later. But Cohn-Bendit was back on 22nd March 2010:
On the 23rd March 1976, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) came into force. The ICCPR is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966. It commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. As of December 2010, the Covenant had 72 signatories and 167 parties. It only took ten years to come into force, but that's pretty quick, considering the diversity of countries required to ratify any UN multilateral treaty.
In Nanterre near Paris on 22nd March 1968, things began to happen. Nanterre University, a large new campus built to cater for the increased influx of foreign students, erupted, when on the 22nd March eight students broke into the Dean's office as a way to protest at the recent arrest of six members of the National Vietnam Committee. Among these was a sociology student by the name of Danny Cohn-Bendit. He had been part of a group who organised a strike of 10,000 students in November the previous year as a protest against overcrowding. Six days after the occupation of the Dean's office the police were called in and the campus was surrounded. 500 students inside the college divided into discussion groups. Sociology students began to boycott their exams and a pamphlet was produced entitled 'Why do we need sociologists?'. The students called for a lecture hall to be permanently made available for political discussions. From then on the 22nd March movement grew into what became know as The May Revolution of 1968, of which more later. But Cohn-Bendit was back on 22nd March 2010:
On the 23rd March 1976, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) came into force. The ICCPR is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966. It commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. As of December 2010, the Covenant had 72 signatories and 167 parties. It only took ten years to come into force, but that's pretty quick, considering the diversity of countries required to ratify any UN multilateral treaty.
The 23rd March was the day in 1957, when the United States Army sold the last of its homing pigeons.
During World War II, the United Kingdom used about 250,000 homing pigeons. The Dickin Medal, which is the highest possible animal's decoration for valour, was awarded to 32 pigeons, including the United States Army Pigeon G.I. Joe and the Irish pigeon Paddy. This is important to note because on the 24th March, 1943, G.I.Joe, a pigeon noted for his service in the United States Army Pigeon Service, was born in Algiers.
G.I. Joe saved the lives of the inhabitants of the village of Calvi Vecchia, Italy, and of the British troops occupying it. The village was scheduled to be bombarded by the Allied forces on 18 October 1943, but the message that the British had captured the village, delivered by G.I. Joe, arrived just in time to avoid the bombing. Over a thousand people were saved.
In November 1946, G.I. Joe was presented the Dickin Medal for gallantry by the Lord Mayor of London. After World War II, he was housed at the U.S. Army's Churchill Loft at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey along with twenty-four other heroic pigeons. He died at the Detroit Zoological Gardens at the age of eighteen, and is mounted and on display at the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Museum at Fort Monmouth.
And on the 24th March 1944, 76 Allied Officers escaped from Stalag Luft Three, known as the Great Escape. It was in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan (now Żagań in Poland), 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Berlin. on Friday, March 24, the escape attempt began and as night fell, those allocated a place in the tunnel moved to Hut 104. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the exit trap door of Harry was found to be frozen solid, and freeing the door delayed the escape for an hour and a half. An even larger setback was when it was discovered that the tunnel had come up short. It had been planned that the tunnel would reach into a nearby forest but at 10.30 p.m., the first man out emerged just short of the tree line and close to a guard tower. (According to Alan Burgess, in his book The Longest Tunnel, the tunnel reached the forest, as planned, but the trees were too sparse to provide adequate cover.) As the temperature was below freezing and snow still lay on the ground, any escapee would leave a dark trail while crawling to cover. Because of the need to now avoid sentries, instead of the planned one man every minute, the escape was reduced to little more than ten per hour. Word was eventually sent back that no prisoner issued with a number higher than 100 would be able to escape before daylight. As they would be shot if caught trying to return to their own barracks these men changed into their own uniforms and got some sleep. An air raid then caused the camp's (and the tunnel's) electric lighting to be shut down slowing the escape even more. At around 1 a.m., the tunnel collapsed and had to be repaired.Despite these problems, 76 men crawled through the tunnel to initial freedom.
On the 26th March 1827 Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna, and on the 26th March 1874, the poet Robert Frost was born in San Francisco. Frost was 86 when he spoke and read some of his poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy on January 20th, 1961. Both he and Kennedy were to die two years later in 1963. On Frost's 18th Birthday, 26th March 1892, the then grand old man of American letters, Walt Whitman died. Frost like the late John Betjeman, was a popular and oft-quoted poet, using rural American settings in his poems to examine social and philosophical themes. He first published in 1894 and during his lifetime received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. Kennedy was a great fan.
Robert Frost……………..………..…………….Walt Whitman
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