August 2017
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One of the most extraordinary episodes in Irish history saw a French naval flotilla sail to the Northern coast of Mayo in 1798 to help Ireland in its long fight to break with Britain. The 1789 French Revolution had been a huge source of inspiration for Irish nationalists and in the wake of the second…
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The Drancy camp was a transit camp located near Paris. Like many other detention centres throughout France, Drancy was created by the Vichy government of Philippe Pétain in 1941 and was under the control of the French police until 3 July 1943, when Nazi Germany took day-to-day control as part of the major stepping up…
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Lange Jan(Long John) was the name of the 135 meter(442ft) tall chimney of the former coal mine “Oranje Nassau 1” in Heerlen in the province of Limburg in the south east of the Netherlands. It had been erected in 1937/1938 and had been dominating Heerlen’s skyline. To put it in perspective the Big Ben tower…
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The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place on 21 August 1673 between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets and was the last major battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which was itself part of the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678), during which Louis XIV of France invaded the Republic and sought to establish control over the Spanish Netherlands. English involvement came about because of the Treaty of Dover,…
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Sketch artists were and are often used in court cases, especially in those were no media is allowed. Below are some examples of court sketches from some very famous cases. All White Jury Frees Klan Members,By Howard Brodie Civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo was shot and killed on March 25, 1965, as she drove African American…
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I could have gone with any of 168 stories of the members of this club, but I decided to go with the highest ranking officer. The KLB Club (initials for Konzentrationslager Buchenwald) was formed on 12 October 1944, and included the 168 allied airmen who were held prisoner at Buchenwald concentration camp between 20 August and 19 October 1944.166 airmen survived Buchenwald, while two…
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Although many people know that Leon Trotsky had been assassinated I am not sure that they know it happened in Mexico. Exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky wass fatally wounded by an ice-ax-wielding assassin on 2 August 1940 at his compound outside Mexico City. The killer–Ramón Mercader–was a Spanish communist and probable agent of Soviet leader…
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Don’t worry I haven’t suddenly become a Hip Hop artist. although the title of this blog does come from a classic Hip Ho[ track. called “the Message” by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, but it is a powerful line and oh so true. Children don’t see the color of a skin or a…
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Many people have this misconception about the resistance of the Jews against the Nazi regime, many think they just gave up without a fight. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. There were many Jewish partisan groups and resistance fighters across Europe. In this blog I will put the focus on the French Armée Juive,…
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Captain Roy Wooldridge, who was in the Royal Engineers, was taken prisoner during a covert night-time mission to examine submerged mines along the French beaches weeks before the D-Day landings. Mr Wooldridge, who was twice awarded the Military Cross, was sent a telegram ordering him to report to his unit just three days after…
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