War

The Victoria Cross awarded to one of the luckiest survivors of the First World War is being sold 101 years later for £140,000. Corporal Sidney Day survived numerous close calls. He was shot six times, almost blown up by a grenade and later escaped a bombing raid that destroyed his home in the Second World War. At the Somme in 1916 he suffered four bullet wounds from machine gun fire. Incredibly, a packet of postcards in his breast pocket deflected one bullet aimed for his heart. A second embedded in a leather compass case in his trousers, leaving a bruise on his groin. Sidney's compass pouch stopped a German bullet ( Image: BNPS) The damaged case is being sold alongside his Victoria Cross. Having also been shot in the thigh and back, a wounded Cpl Day sheltered for 12 hours in a shell hole. He then crawled the three miles back to a dressing station in the dark. He cheated death again the year before, when he was shot during the Battle of Loos as he tried … [Read more...] about Victoria Cross given to one of World War I’s luckiest soldiers who survived being shot six times on sale for £140k

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 GENEVA (AP) — Russian athletes who do not endorse their country’s war in Ukraine could be accepted back into international sports, IOC president Thomas Bach said in an interview published Friday. “It’s about having athletes with a Russian passport who do not support the war back in competition,” Bach told Italian daily Corriere della Sera, adding, “We have to think about the future.” Most sports followed International Olympic Committee advice in February and banned Russian team and athletes from their events within days of the country’s military invasion of Ukraine. With Russians starting to miss events that feed into qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, an exile extending into next year could effectively become a wider ban from those Games. In an interview in Rome, Bach hinted at IOC thinking after recent rounds of calls with Olympic stakeholders asked for views on … [Read more...] about IOC’s Bach eyes return to sports for anti-war Russians

THE WHALEBONE THEATRE, by Joanna Quinn Whales loom large not just in the ocean but in landlocked imaginations: these mysterious mammals, gentle but fearsome, threatened and threatening, almost unfathomably enormous. So like us with their warm blood and communication skills, and yet so not. You might never have cracked Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” and still use the phrase “great white whale” to mean an obsessive but elusive goal. The massive model of a blue whale in the American Museum of Natural History was immortalized further by Noah Baumbach in “The Squid and the Whale.” Don’t forget Carvel’s Fudgie, the ’70s sheet cake that won’t quit . And one of the most appealing characters in Lidia Yuknavitch’s recent novel “Thrust” was the wearily maternal whale who helped out the human protagonist. The 60-foot-long, seven-foot-tall creature that appears in Joanna Quinn’s first novel, “The Whalebone Theatre,” is, alas, D.O.A., found beached on the coast of Dorset, England, by a … [Read more...] about Bright Young Things, Revisited: War Clouds a Childhood Idyll

Russia has illegitimately annexed four regions of Ukraine under Russian Federation control, a move not recognized by foreign governments including the U.S. Citizens in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson were said to have voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining—results the U.S. State Department and democracy advocates described as a "sham." However, following Putin's decree and signing on September 30, 2022, of annexation documents, there is still dispute over just how much of these regions Russian forces hold on to. The Claim Multiple tweets sent ahead of Putin's decree to recognize the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, on September 30 claim that Russia does not have full control over the regions it wants to bring under its control. In one of those tweets, CNN global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga wrote: "Here's the problem for the Kremlin: Russia doesn't fully control these territories, and Ukraine is only going to double down … [Read more...] about Fact Check: Putin’s Russia doesn’t fully control annexed Ukrainian regions

A Victoria Cross awarded to a World War One soldier who single-handedly took out an enemy trench, leading to the capture of 180 Germans has sold for more than £300,000. Corporal Lawrence Weathers stared death in the face when he rushed alone under heavy fire towards the German lines. He then threw several hand grenades into their trench, killing the commanding officer, before rushing back to his position to get more. He repeated his heroics before urging his comrades to join him in taking control of the trench. The action resulted in the capture of 180 prisoners and three machine guns. He also helped his unit take an enemy position on the outskirts of the French town of Peronne, which was liberated on the same day after four years of German occupation. Afterwards, a bloody Cpl Weathers described to his colleagues how his actions on September 2, 1918 had merely “put the wind up” the enemy. The prestigious Victoria Cross ( Image: BNPS) Sadly, Cpl Weathers … [Read more...] about Victoria Cross awarded to WW1 hero who took out German trench ON HIS OWN fetches £300,000 at auction

A tank commander’s Victoria Cross considered one of the “hardest-won” of the Second World War is to fetch £360,000. Lieutenant Colonel David Currie earned the gong for the battle that paved the way to liberating Paris. He and his 15 tanks and 130 men plugged the Falaise Gap in Normandy – where 60,000 surrounded Nazis fought desperately for three days to break through. Lt Col Currie saw all of his officers killed or wounded and ordered Allied artillery to keep firing even though rounds were landing 15 yards from his own tank. The Victoria Cross awarded to Currie ( Image: BNPS) And he took up a rifle to shoot German snipers from his turret after they had sneaked to within 50 yards of the position. The fearless tank commander is snapped on top of his vehicle ( Image: BNPS) Soldiers at the Falaise Gap ( Image: BNPS) In all, 50,000 Germans were captured and 10,000 killed in the Battle of Falaise Pocket . The heroics meant the Allies won … [Read more...] about WW2 tank hero’s “hardest won” Victoria Cross medal to sell for £360,000 at auction

In an act of bravery and skill that won him the Victoria Cross, Commander Gordon Campbell allowed HMS Farnborough to be hit to lure the enemy into a trap. The skipper of the German submarine fell for the ruse and steered to within 30ft of the badly damaged and sinking Royal Navy vessel to finish it off. When the U-boat had surfaced and was close enough to attack, Campbell ordered his ship’s hidden guns to be opened up and the sub was destroyed. Campbell's VC is expected to fetch £300,000 ( Image: Morton&Eden/BNPS) The VC he won 100 years ago in the First World War is now set to be auctioned. His medal collection is expected to fetch around £300,000. David Kirk, of London auctioneers Morton & Eden which is selling the items, said Campbell is “among the greatest names in British military history”. Campbell turned down a second VC for yet more heroics. A German U-boat in 1916 ( Image: Getty) HMS Farnborough – an oldmerchant vessel – was one … [Read more...] about WW1 Victoria Cross hero let his ship be torpedoed – then the sank sub which did it

On paper, Russia could very well be considered one of the more formidable states in the international system. The country has more than 5,900 nuclear warheads , a permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council, and significant influence in world energy markets. Russian President Vladimir Putin 's war of choice in Ukraine, however, has raised a critical question the strongman is too frightened to ask himself: Is Russia still a great power? Before the conflict in Ukraine erupted in February 2022, Russia was widely seen as a force to be reckoned with. Sure, the Russian economy was smaller than Italy's . The Russian budget relied extensively on oil and gas exports. And the Russian military was largely untested in conventional warfare, with the Kremlin increasingly turning to mercenaries in locales like Mali, the Central African Republic, and Syria instead of professional soldiers. But there was a general assumption that Moscow had the capacity and motivation to effectively pursue … [Read more...] about Is Russia still a great power? | Opinion

Ukraine announced on Friday that it will be signing an application to accelerate its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) after Russia annexed four Ukrainian territories. "Today, here in Kyiv, in the heart of our country, we are taking a decisive step for the security of the entire community of free nations," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a translated statement on Friday morning. "Today I held a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The meeting of the National Security and Defense Council has just ended. We have a decision." Zelensky continued, "De facto, we have already completed our path to NATO. De facto, we have already proven interoperability with the alliance's standards, they are real for Ukraine—real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction....Today, Ukraine is applying to make it de jure. Under a procedure consistent with our significance for the protection of our entire community. Under … [Read more...] about Ukraine puts NATO allies’ support to the test after Putin claims territory

A World War I -era German U-boat submarine has been found 100 years after it was wrecked in U.S. waters. According to a report from National Geographic , the U-boat, which had the designation U-111 , was discovered 40 miles off the Virginia coast by maritime historian, shipwreck researcher and technical wreck diver Erik Petkovic on September 5. The U-111, the last World War I-era German submarine to be discovered in U.S. waters, was sunk off the coast of Virginia in 1922 by the U.S. Navy, sinking to the seabed at what was thought to be a depth of 1,600 feet. Strangely, Petkovic discovered it in waters only 400 feet deep. Five German submarines from World War I, and a further eight from World War II, have been found in U.S. waters, with the U-111 being the only one known to be sunk off the U.S. coast to remain undiscovered. Experts assumed since the Navy reported that it sunk in over 1,600 feet of water, it was too deep to reach. In addition to the depth, wreckages … [Read more...] about Shipwreck of WWI German U-boat Discovered Off Virginia in 400ft of Water