Historic Military Facts You Probably Didn't Know ( Part 3 of 3 )

Military Facts You Probably Didn't Know

( Part 3 of 3 )

Written by : Jeffrey R Hilton

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Odd Man Out

The last man of the British navy that was ever hung from the yardarm was John Dalliger, of the H.M.S. Leven,  on July 13, 1860,  in China for attempted murders.

H.M.S. LEVEN

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It's All In The Name

You can tell her heroes from the pubs names and the beers they drink there.  Admiral Keppel,  Admiral Codrington, Lord Nelson,  The Duke of Grafton,  The Marquess of Granby, The Grenadier.  Many pub names in the U.K. commemorate historic military events and the heroes that fought in them.  Heroes of Lucknow pub  in Aldershot,  memorializes the Indian Mutiny.  Mafeking Hero, ( Bishops Waltham ) memorializes the Boer War.  Trafalgar,  Waterloo,  they're all there.  One never knows whom you might be quaffing a pint with,  at least in spirit anyway.

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L12 Over And Out

      

The first of many bomb dropping German Zeppelins ever shot down at night over Britain was by Leefe Robinson of Harrow Weald,  in Middlesex in nearby Cuffey in 1916 while flying his 2c night fighter. 

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Code Name Pluto

Pluto was the code name for the undersea pipelines constructed in WWII leading from the English Coast and Shanklin on the Isle Of Wight to Cherbourg in Normandy and Boulogne in France to supply petrol to the advancing allied armies.  They were named Dumbo and Bambi respectively,  and were a colossal undertaking and a marvelous feat of engineering .

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Wife Broke And Whipped

Sultan Ahmed I of Turkey started in effect,   a silk war with Persia in 1611 because he couldn't afford gifts for his 3,000 wives and was determined to acquire, 1,000,000 pounds of silk for them.

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Bad Temper Leads To Hot Boxing

Siraj-ud-daula became a nabob of Bengal at age 19,  in 1756 and broke away from the British raj.  He attacked Calcutta,  sending Europeans living there running for the safety of Fort William,  headquarters of the East India Trading Company.  Thinking that a great treasure was hidden in the fort,  he became angry with the Europeans

when they could not lead him to the treasure and stuffed 145 of them in a 18x15ft prison cell.  Given the fact that it was the hot season, by morning only 23 prisoners had survived the night.  Lord Clive took the city back in 1757.

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Marching Marathon

Craufurd

Sir Arthur Wellesley who would later become the Duke of Wellington fought in the battle of Talavera in Toledo Spain.  Robert Craufurd ( 1764-1812 ) set on relieving Sir Arthur,  quick marched his brigade 62 miles in 26 hours.

Wellesley

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Irony Of War

Ermenegildo was killed in the great war by a bomb splinter at age 24.  His son Constantino was killed in the Spanish war by a bomb splinter at the age of 24.

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Incompetence And Lunch At The Paris Zoo

In spite of his incompetence,  Achille Francois Bazaine 1811-1888, managed to secure a position of Marshall of France that ended with him being jailed for Treason. Achille had another ally in incompetence in that of 

Napoleon III,  gave him supreme command of french Forces in the French Prussian war at Metz,  which was under siege for 54 days.  After some questionable diplomatic exchanges with Germany,  designed to save France from herself, he surrendered.  He was held responsible for the citizens being forced to survive by eating all of the animals at the Paris zoo, costing France millions in reparations and embarrassment.  He was court martialed and sentenced to 20 years solitary confinement. He then at least escaped and lived his remaining life outside of France.

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The Wicked Son 

Stefan Dusan 1308-1355,  also known as Stefan Uros IV

gained his second title by imprisoning his own father,  Stefan Uros III,  and strangling him to death,  thus succeeding him in 1346.  he then ordered the archbishop to crown him czar and autocrat of the Serbs,  Greeks,  Bulgarians and the Albanians.  He brought Serbia to a great power  with his brilliant and ruthless warfare.  Not satisfied,  he took over Macedonia,  Thessaly and Epirus from the Byzantine's.  When his further ambitions took him to attack Constantinople, his murderous reign was finally over.  Not because he was killed in battle,  but by a fever that killed him.

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The Evil Butcher Of China

Chang Hsien Chung,  Emperor of China 1644 killed 40,000,000 people in just 5 years,  including 32,310 students,  27,000 Buddhist priests,  280 of his own wives

400,000 women,  600,000 inhabitants of Chengtu,  and 38,000,000 inhabitants of Ssechuan,  and destroyed every building in the country.

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Russian Diplomacy

When Peter III of Russia 1728-1762, inherited the throne upon the death of the Empress Elizabeth he pulled Russia out of the seven years war,  wasting all effort gained.  He was overthrown by a conspiracy orchestrated by Catherine The Great and her lover,  Grigori Orlov,  and his brother.  Peter was assassinated by Orlov,  after only 186 days of his succession.  Peter III had none of the military savvy afforded to his grandfather, Peter the Great,  and when it came to war he liked only to play war with toy soldiers.  when a rat knocked over some of his toy soldiers, he actually had the rat formally court martialed and hung.

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He Put His Back Into His Work

Valdivia,  was a Mexican artilleryman in his countries war against Spain. To enable his comrades to attack a Spanish fortress,  he supported a 700 lb. cannon on his back,  acting as a human gun carriage throughout the siege.

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Look As I Do

Jenghiz khan, another famous Mongolian ruler,  fancied himself as somewhat of an authority on men's grooming to the point of starting a war with the Persian Empire,  thus completely destroying them,  all because he didn't like the habit of Persian Monarchs wearing their mustaches pointing upwards,  wanting them to point down,  as was his custom.

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Drummed Out Evo

the Kettle drum originated with the Calvary of the Ottoman Turks,  the snare drum from the Swiss Mercenaries, the Tenor drum was used in fife and bugle bands,  and the long drum later known as the bass drum in England in the 18th century when it was played in the Turkish manner with paddled stick in one hand and a handful of birch twigs in the other.

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Jeffrey R Hilton