British History – Cottage Capers

On this day in history….9th January 1806

On this day in history : 9th January 1806 – The state funeral of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson takes place at St. Paul’s Cathedral….

Lord Horatio Nelson by John Hoppner – Public domain

Nelson had been killed at the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st of October 1805 after being shot by a French musket-man…. His body was preserved in spirit and carried back to England onboard HMS Victory…. The usual practice was to bury the dead at sea but Nelson’s second in command, Lord Collingwood, knew the nation would wish to mourn and honour this greatest of naval heroes….

The Battle of Trafalgar – J.M.W. Turner (oil on canvas) – Public domain

HMS Victory eventually arrived at Greenwich on the 23rd of December…. Lord Nelson’s body was then transferred to the Commissioner’s yacht and arrived at Greenwich Hospital on the 24th – where he lay in state in the Painted Hall for 3 days, from the 5th to 7th of January 1806….

Nelson had been placed inside a coffin made from the main-mast of the L’Orient – a French ship that had been destroyed at the Battle of the Nile…. This had then been placed into a lead coffin which was soldered up – and then this in turn was enclosed in yet another coffin, made from elm…. The first mourner to pay his respects was the Prince of Wales – and over the following days it is thought as many as 100,000 visited….

On the 8th of January Lord Nelson was transported up the River Thames onboard the King’s Barge…. A large canopy, festooned with black ostrich feathers, was placed over the coffin and a two-mile procession of boats followed the barge….

Lord Nelson’s Funeral Procession by Water, from Greenwich Hospital to White Hall – Augustus Charles Pugin – Public domain

On arriving at Whitehall Steps, near to Westminster, Nelson was taken to the Admiralty in Whitehall…. The following day was dry and bright….30,000 troops and many thousands of public lined the streets to watch the procession from Whitehall to St. Paul’s Cathedral…. Nelson’s ornate funeral carriage had been designed to look like HMS Victory…. It was accompanied by royalty, nobility, ministers, high-ranking military officers and over 10,000 soldiers….

representation of the Grand Funeral Car of Lord Nelson : The Wellcome Collection

7,000 attended the funeral service, which began at 1pm and ended at 6pm…. The coffin was placed within a marble sarcophagus in the crypt of the cathedral – a resting place which had originally been intended for Cardinal Wolsey…. As the ship’s flag was removed from the coffin it was seized by HMS Victory’s seamen – who ripped it into pieces so they could each keep a personal momento….

Arrival of Admiral Lord Nelson’s funeral carriage for internment at St. Paul’s Cathedral – Augustus Charles Pugin – Public domain

Lord Nelson’s Tomb, St. Paul’s Cathedral – image: reverendlukewarm via Flickr

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….8th January 1989

On this day in history : 8th January 1989 – The Kegworth air disaster ~ A Boeing 737 crashes on to the M1 motorway near to East Midlands airport…. 47 people are killed….

A British Midland Boeing 737-400, similar to the aircraft which crashed – Pedro Aragao CC BY-SA 3.0

The British Midland operated Boeing 737, Flight 092, had taken off from Heathrow at 19.52hrs and was bound for Dublin, when one of the brand new aircraft’s engines caught fire – forcing it to divert to East Midlands airport….

It had begun its descent, passing low over the village of Kegworth in Leicestershire, when it was reported that the second engine had also failed…. The chances of this happening are a hundred million to one….

The plane crashed on to the motorway and broke into three pieces at 20.26hrs – thankfully no vehicles on the ground were caught in the impact…. The aircraft was just a few hundred metres from the runway….

Scene of the disaster – Image : Air Accidents Investigation Branch – OGL v1.0

The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch discovered a fan blade had broken in the left engine, causing the air conditioning to malfunction…. Subsequently the flight deck filled with smoke and the crew wrongly assumed a fault had occurred in the right engine…. Earlier models of the Boeing 737 had ventilated the flight deck from the right – but the new 737-400 series operated a different system – only the crew had not been made aware of this – and they had shut down the wrong engine….

Out of the 126 crew and passengers on board 47 were killed and 74 were seriously injured….

Site of the disaster – photo taken May 2006 – Andrew Tatlow – CC BY-SA 2.0

British History

On this day in history….7th January 1928

On this day in history : 7th January 1928 – The River Thames bursts its banks and floods much of Central London…. Fourteen people lose their lives and thousands more are made homeless…. The Tower of London, Houses of Parliament and Tate Gallery are all swamped….

During Christmas 1927 heavy snow had fallen in the Cotswolds, where the Thames has its source…. A sudden thaw on New Years Eve, followed by excessive heavy rain meant there was double the usual volume of water coming down river…. This coincided with a high spring tide – but at the same time a storm surge, caused by a cyclone in the North Sea meant water levels were raised in the Thames Estuary….

Floods at Reading in January 1928 – showing the impact of the Thames flooding even further down river…. Image credit : Alan Farrow via Flickr

The situation was made even worse by dredging work that had been carried out in the Capital between 1909 and 1928 to deepen the river channel – to allow easier access for shipping in to the Port of London….

The river burst its banks just after midnight – when most Londoners were in their beds…. The first section to break was a 75ft stretch at Millbank – opposite the Tate Gallery…. Water poured into the gallery, up to 8ft deep on the ground floor….18 paintings were damaged beyond repair, 226 badly damaged and a further 67 received minor damage…. Many were by renowned artist J.M.W. Turner….

Westminster Hall and the House of Commons were flooded, as were most underground stations close to the river…. The Blackwall Tunnel was submerged, as was the Rotherhithe Tunnel…. The moat surrounding the Tower of London, which had been empty for over 80 years, was filled…. The flooding extended from the City of London and Southwark right to Putney and Hammersmith….

A Southern Railway electric multiple unit tackles floods at Kew Bridge railway station Credit : Andy Dingley (scanner) – Public domain

However, the most devastating part of the disaster has to be the human cost…. As the embankment near to Lambeth Bridge broke floodwaters gushed onto the streets of the run-down working-class area between Southwark and Blackfriars, which backed on to the river…. Water poured into the basements….which were the homes of so many of London’s poorer people….

There was little time to escape; police went from door to door, urging people to leave….many did, wearing just their nightclothes….but for some it was too late….

As the water poured into these basements nine people drowned – and another died from a heart attack brought on by the shock…. Alfred Harding later had to identify the bodies of 4 of his daughters:- Florence Emily, 18 – Lillian Maude, 16 – Rosina, 6 and Doris, who was only 2-years-old….

Two more died in Hammersmith, domestic servants Evelyn Hyde, aged 20 and Annie Masters Moreton, aged 22 – who shared a basement room…. Another two people died in Fulham…. 4,000 were made homeless….

The flood peaked at 1.30am, at a level of over 18ft above the Ordnance Datum line….the highest water level ever recorded in the Thames at London…. The water had subsided by the end of the day – but it took a month to pump all of it away…. The damage took several years to repair….many of the old slum areas had to be demolished, Millbank and the surrounding area had to be virtually rebuilt…. Political rows broke out over who should pay for the clean-up operation – was it the responsibility of local or central government…. Arguments also occurred amongst authorities and politicians over the role the dredging work had played in the disaster….

Thames flood level markers at Trinity Hospital, Greenwich

The embankments had once been marshland but were reclaimed during the Victorian era and had been developed for housing and commercial purposes…. As a result of the 1928 flood the river’s embankments were raised…. Thankfully it was the last major flood to occur in the city – but it came close again in 1953 – when the river almost broke the embankment – and did cause some flooding at Bermondsey and other low-lying areas…. A further flood occurred on the Lower Thames in 1959….

At last the government were prompted to consider flood defence – once again there were disagreements over who should foot the bill…. Plans were made in the mid 1960s for a flood barrier – and in 1974 work finally got underway…. The Thames Barrier officially opened in 1984….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….6th January 1781

On this day in history : 6th January 1781 — The English defeat the French in the Battle of Jersey – the last attempt by the French to invade the Channel island of Jersey….

It was the height of the American War of Independence and the French wanted to remove the threat to shipping between themselves and America…. Jersey was a central base for British privateers….

Baron Phillippe de Rullecourt was a 36-year-old colonel in the French army, he was a bit of an adventurer and also very ambitious…. He put forward a plan to King Louis XVI on how he could take Jersey….and the king promised to make Rullecourt a general once he had captured St. Helier, the capital of Jersey…. A rough army, made up mainly of deserters and prisoners was put at Rullecourt’s disposal…. His second in command was an Indian by the name of Prince Emire, who had been captured by the British in India and sent to France as a prisoner – by all accounts he was a rather barbaric man….

French School; Philippe Charles-Felix Macquart (1744-1781), Baron de Rullecourt; Jersey Heritage; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/philippe-charles-felix-macquart-17441781-baron-de-rullecourt-137146

Rullecourt had inside information; he knew what he was up against….some sources suggest he had made a prior trip to Jersey disguised as a merchant…. The British, aware of the military importance of the island, had heavily fortified the coastline with forts and gun batteries…. The Jersey Militia consisted of some 3,000 men in five regiments; they were supported by the 95th (Yorkshire) Regiment of Foot and various other units – giving a total of around 9,250 troops…. However, being the time of year it was most of the British commanding officers were back in England, enjoying an extended Christmas leave…. Jersey also had naval support in the form of ‘The Jersey Squadron’ – but it was away fighting with the Dutch…. Rullecourt would no doubt have known all this….

Towards the end of 1780 Rullecourt’s rag-tag army of troops assembled at Le Havre….and then commenced to march to Granville – stealing what they could to eat on the way – they arrived on the 27th of December…. Around 30 small boats awaited them and they sailed on the 1st of January…. A previous attempt had to be aborted because of bad weather; this time they were to get just 12 miles from Jersey before once again having to turn back due to a severe storm…. It was the 5th of January before they had another chance….

Reports vary…. Some say as many as 2,000 men set sail – but it appears only around 1,000 landed…. Those that did were poorly equipped and half starved…. However, Rullecourt himself was successful at landing a contingent on the eastern coast of the island – by guiding his own division of 800 men through a narrow channel and landing undetected…. English guards who had meant to be on lookout duty had gone on a drunken binge – for this they later faced court martial….This first division landed at La Rocque and here they stayed the night…. A second division of 400 men were to perish on the rocks – and a third division of 600 became separated from the main fleet and either retreated or took refuge…. A final fourth small fleet of 200 men managed to land at La Rocque early the following morning….

Rullecourt marched his men to St. Helier – it was early and most of Jersey was still asleep…. On arriving in the town they set up their camp in the market square – and at 7am the Governor of Jersey, Moyse Corbet, was roused and detained at Government House…. He was told of how thousands of French troops had taken Jersey – Rullecourt threatened to burn the town and slaughter its inhabitants…. Corbet promptly surrendered….and ordered British troops based at Elizabeth Castle and at the nearby Saint Peter’s Barracks to lay down their arms…. Rullecourt set off to take control of the castle….

Only the commander at Elizabeth Castle, one Captain Alyward, was having none of it and refused to give in…. He sent word to Rullecourt that if he advanced any further he would have to face the consequences…. Rullecourt ignored him – the British opened fire, several French soldiers were killed and one officer wounded…. A furious Rullecourt retreated back to St. Helier….

Elizabeth Castle from the west – Image credit : Wolfgang Pehlemann CC BY-SA 3.0

Meanwhile the British were scurrying around mustering up their own troops…. Soon more than 2,000 had been assembled and plans for attack began…. Word was received from Rullecourt that if the British did not surrender then he would order the ransack of the town…. By now the British had got wind of just how few French troops there really were and quite understandably gave the notion of surrender the proverbial two-fingered salute….

Attack began…. The British had so many men that a third of the number could have done the job…. In fact some were at a loss at what to do, so resorted to simply firing their guns into the air…. The resistance from the French lasted all of 15 minutes….in panic their troops fled, trying to find the way back through the countryside to their boats…. Over 600 prisoners were taken that day – and found themselves on their way to England…. Others were not so fortunate – many were killed (whereas only about 30 on the British side lost their lives)…. Rullecourt himself sustained an injury from which he died the following day….

The Death of Major Peirson by John Singleton Copley – Pub

It seems obvious that the French had received help from informers…. They had details of fortifications, how many British troops there were – and even the names of their commanding officers…. Two Jersey-men were subsequently arrested…. Moyse Corbet was criticised for his actions and faced court martial in London – where he was convicted and sacked from his position as Governor of Jersey….

Historical re-enactment soldiers of 1781 Jersey Militia marching in the Royal Square, St. Helier – where the Battle of Jersey took place…. To the right of the picture a public house can be seen, ‘The Pierson’…. This was the home of Dr. Lerner, where Rullecourt died…. Image : Man Vyi – Public domain

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….5th January 1993

On this day in history : 5th January 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground off the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling its 84,700 tons of crude oil….

Location of the wreck – Eric Gaba, NordNordWest, Uwe Dedering CC BY-SA 3.0

The 800ft ship, which had been built in Japan in 1975, did not have the more modern double hull, which would have offered more protection from spillage…. The Liberian-registered tanker was travelling from Bergen in Norway to Quebec in Canada when it ran into trouble after being caught in Force 11 gales…. At 5.19am the Lerwick Coastguard was first notified that the vessel had lost power….

Desperate efforts by salvage teams were made to try and avert disaster…. Anchor handling vessel Star Sirius was brought in to attempt to tow the stricken ship….but was unsuccessful – and so the crew of the tanker had to be airlifted to safety by helicopter….

At 11.19am MV Braer was confirmed at having run aground on rocks at Quendale Bay, at the southern tip of Shetland…. From the moment of impact oil could be seen pouring into the sea – in an area renowned for its sea birds and marine wildlife…. A week later, during the most intense extratropical cyclone ever recorded in the northern Atlantic, the tanker broke up….

Bow of the Braer visible in June 1993 – Mike Pennington CC BY-SA 2.0

A later report into the disaster chiefly blamed bad weather but also held the Greek captain, Alexandros Gelis, to account for lack of basic seamanship….