Christmas Truce during the First World War

I am reminded of reading `The Best Christmas Present in the World’ written by Michael Morpurgo when I have to do research and write about the famous Christmas Truce between England and Germany during the peak of the battles of the First World War. Morpurgo weaved a great story around this famous event and presented a very fine emotional account of it. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe came to be divided into opposing power blocs. The German Empire, that came into power in 1871 and was created from prior independent German states, emerged as one of the most dominant among Europe’s military and industrial powers. In 1879, the German Empire allied with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This came to be regarded as the Dual Alliance. In 1882, it transformed into a Triple Alliance when Italy signed a military pact with these two empires. Wary about this Triple Alliance, France rushed into a pact, known as the Dual Entente, with the Russian Empire in 1892. The British Empire, who liked to isolate itself from European affairs, became concerned of the growing power of the Triple Alliance and went on to join the French and the Russian Empires to form the Triple Entente, in 1907. These six nations were undoubtedly among the most powerful industrial and military states in the world. Each pledged to come to the help of its ally in time of need and war. This network of military pacts was to ascertain peace in the region and at the same time, all were aware that sooner or later; it would lead to a very large scale European war. The spark that ignited the First World War was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, who was heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This happened during his visit to Sarajevo on 28th June 1914. The assassin belonged to a secret society from Serbia. He opened fire when they were about to get into a car, killing the Archduke and his wife. The Austro-Hungarian Empire immediately invaded Serbia when they came to know the roots of the assassin. When this happened, Russia arranged a partial mobilisation of its reserve troops. Germany took this as a direct threat and began its own mobilisation of reserve forces and declared war on the Russians on 1st August, 1914. France and Britain, as allies, had to jump in this war to aid Russia and it turned into a full-scale World War. All those countries who helped this alliances from other parts of the world did not realise that new military tactics and technology would make this war more deadly and destructive than any other previous wars fought before. During the first Battle of Ypres, in matter of just one month; a quarter of a million German, British, Belgian and French troops became casualties of war and not a single party had successfully achieved a breakthrough in enemy lines. The Initiation of the Trenches Germany had canvassed vigorously and inducted much young blood into their armed forces and Kaiser Wilhelm II had said to them.”Well boys! Before the leaves fall from the trees here, you shall all be back in the Dear Vaterland.” A great film was made to cover this scope of the First World War. It was `All Quiet on the Western Front’ in 1930, directed by Lewis Milestone and a remake in 2022 of the same name, directed by Edward Berger. Both the films are worth a watch and they cover the narrative brilliantly. During the opening engagement of the First World War on the Western Front, the First Battle of the Marne saw German troops advancing towards the French and British defenders. The result was that more than five-hundred thousand men became casualties of war on both sides. Then, The First Battle of the Aisne was responsible for another quarter of a million casualties. The result was about the same after the First Battle of Ypres. These three battles on the Western Front saw over one million casualties. By the end of the year 1914, it became clear that traditional military tactics were simply not working because of the new weaponry. The German Empire, as was the case in the Second World War, had hoped for a quick victory against the French soldiers. When this did not happen, German troops switched to a defensive posture and started making a network of bunkers and fortified positions that would allow them to hold their territory for a longer time and then help them counter attack. The focus of these positions was to make a strong stand and protect themselves with the help of artillery and machine guns. To allow the troops to dwell within them safely, trenches were dug. They were dug in No-Man’s Land and they provided a strong line of defense in case of attacks. Supplies were passed on to these trenches from the front lines. The nature of these trench systems depended on the nature of the terrain where they were created. The films I have mentioned in this article give you a fair idea of the nature of these trenches. As a case in example, the ground area around River Somme was chalky and was easily dug out but it tended to crumble easily during heavy rain. So, many trenches were heavily secured with wood or sandbags to prevent them from collapsing. In the Ypres region, the boggy soil made the digging of trenches very difficult. Breastworks were built up above the ground, using sandbags and wood behind which the defenders could take shelter. This network of trenches was created on both sides of the front line and came to be known as the `Western Front’. Stalemate on the Western Front By the end of the year 1914, life in the battleground trenches had become a fact that had to be accepted by thousands of soldiers on the Western Front. Even when there were no attacks taking place, all the troops faced the lurking threat of death or a serious injury through artillery fire or from snipers in the opposing trench system. Enemy fire was not the only danger that was present; the living conditions were pitiful. The soldiers had to live in permanently cold and damp conditions, reminding the youth about how comfortable life was during peace days in their respective homes. The sanitation conditions were poor. Toilets often overflowed into the trenches and there were rotting dead bodies to be found frequently, nearby. Dysentery and diarrhoea were sadly common as were lice and scabies. Soldiers were suffering with a condition called Trench Foot that was caused by wet feet for longer periods. That caused their feet to swell and the skin to decay. Often, it would lead to gangrene and feet had to be amputated. Many soldiers on the Western Front had to be evacuated to get medical attention, mostly for frostbite and hypothermia. Each day became a crushing routine for them, which sapped their energy. Combat troops in a trench would have to take up defensive positions, about half an hour before dawn as most attacks began at that time. These were precautionary moves. Breakfast was usually served around 0700. The same routine was repeated around dusk. The soldiers who were not on guard duty mostly cleaned their weapons and themselves. They also made the required repairs to the bunkers or trenches. They were sometimes ordered out into No-Man’s-Land to repair barbed wire and defensive equipment. Patrols were sent out in the night to reconnoitre enemy lines and to generate maps of important positions. The actual time that was spent by men on the lines at the front depended first on the location and then on the availability of reserve troops. Each section was of about eight soldiers. It should be remembered that these soldiers were spending a twelve-day rotation in these trenches with wet, unsanitary and cold conditions with very little sleep, under the constant threat of injury or death. This was to be endured for months on end. The senior officers had the comfort and shelter of working and ordering from shelters or buildings and were away from danger as there was very little threat of being bombarded by air force. An issue for senior officers on all sides was of the potential drop in the morale within their camps and a reality check of lack of enthusiasm when coming to grips with the actual enemy. In 1915, hostilities lost their sheen and there was a time when the soldiers saw the futility of war for some stupid ideologies and decided that they wanted to reduce the risk of injury or death by inclining themselves towards a `live and let live’ policy which led to the famous truce during Christmastime in 1914. In fact, the people at the front were actually preparing to protect the men while assuring the higher command that the enemy was continuously being attacked. On several occasions, informal local cease-fires were being agreed to, mutually to allow for the removal of wounded and dead troops. There were even reports of fraternisation and exchange of goodies like tobacco and chocolate between opposing frontline trenches. The reality of the situation becomes clear that war is a horrendous, vain and futile fact of life in comparison with peace and brotherhood. The men in the trenches may have been wearing different uniforms but they shared a clear understanding of the stark horrors of life on the frontlines. This awareness grew to quite an extent among British and German troops. Hence, my referral to Morpurgo’s great novel, `The Best Christmas Present in the World’. Not many people know that King George V, the British Monarch and the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, were cousins as both were grandsons of Queen Victoria. It also has to be noted that Many Germans spoke English well as many of them worked in England before the war started. All this was being done during propaganda speeches by opposing senior officers in the army as they were trying to dehumanise the enemy and presenting them as barbaric and savage. What they did not know was at the Western Front; the soldiers could clearly her and see their enemy. This was quite an unexpected outcome of trench warfare. In wars that were held before, ordinary soldiers of opposing armies had never spent long periods of inactivity while they were just about hundred yards from each other in trenches. The governments of the countries involved in this war discouraged fraternisation through threats of prison sentences for treason. Field Marshal Kitchener When the war began, Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener was made British Secretary of State for War and he predicted that this would be a long conflict and that Britain would need a large army and unlike the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there was no system in England of compulsory military training for the young blood. In comparison with the Germans, the British soldiers at the Western Front were not so experienced in the art of war. Kitchener started a publicity campaign for volunteers to join the army. He had a good response as half a million citizens volunteered and joined the British Army. As the Germans failed in the war to come in 1939, in this war too; their plans misfired. They were contemplating on a swift victory against the French and they wanted to swing their armies to the East to face the Russians. When such a victory failed, Germany found itself declaring a war on two fronts; hence, the term Western Front. The main core of the German Army was the Prussian regiments. Germany failed to defeat the French convincingly and these elite units were redeployed to the East. To replace them at the Western Front, less experienced troops were called in from Bavaria, Saxony and Westphalia. It was expected that these troops would be able to hold the Western Front. How the Singing began on the Christmas Eve? By the third week of December in 1914, the weather turned at the Western Front. It became colder, making the mud freeze and the movement within the trenches became easier. Many soldiers were dreading to face the prospect of spending Christmas in the cold trenches. A week before Christmas, the Germans took the initiative and baked a chocolate cake, sending and sharing that with the British troops. They also invited the `enemy’ to join them for a round of carols that night and asked for a cease-fire for a whole day on Christmas. The British troops gladly agreed and sent them tobacco in return. There was even a talk about playing a friendly football (soccer) match. This relaxed attitude among the soldiers did not go along too well with their seniors, particularly the singing in the night of Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht or Silent Night, Holy Night carol. The British sang the `First Noel’ and `O Come All Ye Faithful.’ The German trenches were lit by Christmas decorations. Thee was no shooting from either side. It was a mutual agreement as the troops were disillusioned with the very act of hostilities. Among the British High Command, discovering that the men in the opposite camps wished to celebrate Christmas in peace was a stunning shock. Propaganda had portrayed the Germans as brutal and merciless; the picture in reality was an altogether different one. On Christmas Day, unaccustomed silence reined on the battlefields. This famous Christmas Truce was glorified by John Morpurgo when he wrote `The Best Christmas Present in the World’. On Christmas Day in 1914, the German and British troops even played soccer games with one another in No-Man’s Land. Those who were able to speak with their enemies were surprised to learn that the propaganda they had read about did not seem to be true. One of the officers from the London Rifle Brigade wrote in a letter home, “The Germans whom I spoke with were awfully decent fellows – Saxons, intelligent, respectable-looking men. I had quite a decent talk with three of my enemy soldiers.” This letter was published in the Hull Daily Mail. This was being looked at by respective government heads as treasonous peace. One of the Corporals from the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, Adolf Hitler, wrote “Such things should not happen in wartime; have you Germans no sense of honour left at all?” Earlier in December 1914, Pope Benedict XV had sent out a request to all warring nations that they consider establishing a `truce during Christmas’. The soldiers on opposing sides took this plea seriously and they did exactly what the Pope had suggested. The New York Times ran an article on 31st December that year about this `Christmas Truce’ at the Western Front in Europe. The senior officers in Britain and Germany denied such news and called it false. They much preferred the news that the First World War was being fought in an entirely inhuman way with the scale of carnage that it brought. Under military law, the fraternisation instances were outlawed. The soldiers that took part in such a truce would be dealt with severely and charged with desertion or treason, punishable by death. The End of the Christmas Truce The acts of humanity and sanity were short-lived. On the Boxing Day, the seniors had goaded the troops to continue with their battles by announcing engagement by firing two shots in the air. The wars that have been fought since Adam and the waste of human lives have never been questioned by government and their heads (or should I say tails)! I consider war as not a necessary act but a criminal act where taking the life of a soldier of an opposing country should be deemed as cold degree murder. The night of the Boxing Day saw hostilities begin again influenced the fears of senior officers. I am digressing here but not many people know the source of the Boxing Day. It has nothing to do with the sport that made Muhammad Ali famous. It has to do with boxing the gifts that had been brought for Christmas by family members to be given to their servants and their families as well as distributing these boxes to orphanages and old-age homes. Despite the orders of the senior officers, neither the Germans nor the British were in the mood for being cruel and killing people. So, there was little activity on the Western Front in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day of 1915. This was the only remarkable example of a Christmas Truce during a World War. Such acts were not repeated during the Second World War. God had also sent much snow during this time, resulting in the battleground become muddy and slushy. Preoccupied with the rain and mud, the unofficial truce got prolonged in some regions of Flanders. Many British and Scottish units chose to spend Hogmanay and New Year’s Day in relative peace and their German opponents seemed very willing to cooperate. By the first week of January 1915, all traces of truces finally ended and the world was back to business; the business of making money with armoury and the business of killing. The Western Front returned to the misery of trench warfare and the daily danger of death or severe injury through enemy fire. This Christmas Truce at the Western Front became famous In the early part of the year 1915, the British newspapers carried several reports of this famous Christmas Truce between the Germans and the British. In a journal, `South Wales Echo’, it was noted that the way in which soldiers on both sides had adhered to this unofficial truce would certainly go down as one of the greatest surprises of a World War. There was an overpowering feeling that the men on both sides of the front lines were exposed directly to the genuine horrors of modern warfare and they understood about what was really happening while their seniors and political leaders were the ones who wanted to prolong the war. Sometime in the later part of January 1915, the `Daily Mirror’ noted that “the lull is finished. The absurdity and the tragedy renew themselves.” It took ten weeks for the British to use the new troops of the Volunteer Army to launch an attack after this notable Christmas Truce. The result was that the battle ended with over eleven thousand British and Indian casualties. A month later, the German troops launched an attack on British positions around Ypres, using poison gas. There were further casualties of about seventy thousand allied troops and about thirty-five thousand German troops. There were attempts to organise brief unofficial truces around Easter time but they were not noteworthy and fizzled out. When Christmas approached in 1915 and the war was still not over; the British senior officers were concerned about a repeat of the previous year’s truce but it did not happen as there was close monitoring and senior officers made sure that a truce did not materialise. As time moved on, there was no congeniality left among the troops. The German Zeppelin airships had also begun a large scale campaign at bombing British cities, killing large number of civilians. The RMS Lusitania was torpedoed in May 1915 by a German submarine, killing more than one thousand two hundred people including naval troops, soldiers, women and children. However, there were reports that on Christmas Day in 1915; there was a ceasefire and the respective sides were allowed break to bury their dead. An officer in a Highland Regiment reported in the Times Edition of 2nd January 1915, “So there you are; all this talk of hate, all this fury at each other that has raged since the beginning of the War, quelled and stayed by the magic of Christmas.” The fact has to be separated from the fiction. Unlike the majority, there were very few who truly saw the futility of war and hatred among races of mankind. Those who thought like this were in the minority. The fact was that this war went on for three more long years. The letters written by few soldiers on the Western Front show respect for the courage and professionalism of their enemies, as is brought out in the novel by Robert Morpurgo. The Christmas Truce of 1914 has attained a mythic status down the ages in the United Kingdom. Though it was covered in a number of books as I have suggested above, it was also reflected in few movies such as Lewis Milestone’s 1930 film, `All Quiet on the Western Front’, the 2022 remake and `Oh! What a Lovely War’ in 1969 by Richard Attenborough. Post 1915, the perspective changed and the German atrocities like the indiscriminate bombing of civilians hardened the attitude of British soldiers and the scale of carnage continued on the Western Front. The war, as was expected, did not end quickly. It is important to mention that the fraternising that took place on Christmas Day in 1914 brought in severe punishments in the form of a court martial of Captain Sir Iain Colquhoun for allowing his men to cease fire and distribute cake and wine within the enemy camp on the Western Front. Whatever the case may be, this Christmas Truce of 1914, in itself, is unique in the history of battlefield reports and in the annals of modern warfare. It is certainly worth remembering. Some records say that about ten thousand British troops may have been involved in a kind of informal cease fire agreement and that some of them may have met amicably with their German counterparts in No-Man’s Land. It was deemed as a rebellion by the High Command but it did happen. The troops involved did look at this truce as a very welcome and temporary respite before the resumption of fighting. If you ask my personal opinion, I consider the whole period of the First World War to be a state of extended horror and of pointless suffering as incompetent generals pushed their men in the name of motivation into costly and futile attacks on enemy trenches. Those troops were forced to live and fight in unhealthy conditions in those trenches. It is surprising and beyond me that people of this world simply accept such mindless wars and never question the fundamental rights of men during war and do not question the unchallenged leadership of the senior officers. *******

Franz Joseph Haydn : The Classical Symphonist from Austria

His Personality Described in One Word – Humorous Franz Joseph Haydn had told his biographer, Georg August Griesinger, “I have always preferred to see the funny side of life.” This is not to say that Haydn’s life could be described as a `bed of roses’. Haydn almost starved during his youth and that experience remained a traumatic one for him. He was not able to earn enough to eat well. When Haydn was tutoring Beethoven, he was always trying to extract some more money from Beethoven’s patron, Elector Maximilian Franz. He wrote to Franz, “While we are on the subject of Beethoven, our Highness will perhaps permit me to say a few words concerning his financial status. A hundred Ducats or 450 Gulden were allotted to him during the past year. Your Highness is no doubt convinced that this sum has been insufficient and not even enough to live from; you had your own reasons for choosing to send him into the great world with such a paltry sum. Under these circumstances and to prevent him from falling into the hands of usurers, I have in part gone bail for him and I partly lent him money; with the result that he owes me five-hundred Florins. You must know that not a Kreutzer was spent unnecessarily; which sum I would ask you to send him, here. Since the interest on borrowed money grows continually, it is very tedious for an artist like Beethoven. Please send him a thousand Florins for the coming year and you would earn his eternal gratitude, relieving him of all his distress.” This kind of writing represents a little wit rather than the tone of humour. An example of this nature could also be seen in the slow movement of his Symphony # 55, `The Schoolmaster.’ It has a tender and a moving quality, which makes the wit stand out even more. In this movement, there are sections marked `semplice’ where the violins are to play in a deadpan style and without vibrato while in the `dolce’ sections, they have to play sweetly and also with vibrato. Hints of wit are also seen in his Surprise and Clock symphony and his 88th Symphony. The String Quartets of Haydn To call Haydn the father of he symphony is wrong as Karl Stamitz and several other composers had already written symphonies much before he even began writing one. As far as string quartets are concerned, yes; Haydn was the one who made the string quartet popular. I don’t know if he invented the ensemble form. As far as I can remember, Claudio Monteverdi used to write for string quartets but the classical sonata form that Haydn introduced for the string quartets was unique and it picked up popularity in the last couple of decades of the eighteenth century. The divertimento was the preferred format for the string quartet in the early phases. Haydn’s earliest publications included the string quartets. There is plenty of self-discipline in these quartets and they have remained among his admired compositions. Haydn used fugues quite frequently in his string quartets. One of his finest is the `Lark’ string quartet, which is the fifth among the series of six quartets that Haydn wrote in 1790, op. 64. The Trumpet and Haydn The trumpet had evolved from the keyed trumpet to a valve one. Haydn was impressed by this change and wrote a concerto for this instrument which went on to become perhaps the preferred one among his concerti. The third movement is popular among the trumpeters and the audiences as it introduces its theme in a twelve-bar structure brought about by the internal repetition, first on the strings and then repeated by the full orchestra. The second theme does not begin on the tonic chord of E Flat Major. It is built out of broken chord figuration. A new motif helps end the ritornellos before the entry of the soloist. There are passages written for the trumpet with arpeggios and daring octave leaps. Haydn’s Friendship with Mozart This friendship began when Mozart edited Haydn’s manuscripts of his string quartets op. 17 for a performance in Salzburg. Both composers were fond of hearing each other’s compositions in concerts. It became cemented when Haydn joined the Masonic Lodge in December 1784. Haydn respected the music of Mozart deeply and even commented once to Leopold Mozart, “Before God and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer I know either personally or by name. He has taste in composing and has a profound knowledge on the techniques of composition. (Citations: H.C. Robbins Landon –An American musicologist from Boston University. He has done extensive research on classical composers, particularly Haydn and Mozart. He is the founder of the Haydn Society, which he formed in 1947 and has spent much of his time searching in Europe for last manuscripts of Haydn. His famous book is `The Symphonies of Franz Joseph Haydn’.)

Corporate Greed and the Dangers it poses to Rainforests and Animal and Bird Species

Two big corporate firms who cater to the sweet tooth of many are responsible for forest destruction on a very large scale in their greed for palm oil in bulk quantities. Greed is letting these corporate damage some of the rainforests. A case in example is the Leuser Ecosystem of Sumatra in Indonesia. Who is mainly responsible? Corporate and large businesses and their supply chains along with their producers and their middlemen are directly and indirectly responsible for rainforest destruction all over the planet. They are also connected to large scale land grabbing in certain indigenous territories. They are also endangering many species of animals and birds as they are destroying their habitats. Not many people know that deforestation resulting out of the activities and greed of agricultural commodity sectors is the direct source of up to one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is because trees and particularly those in the rainforests absorb and then lock away much of the excess carbon on this planet. When rainforests are burnt and bulldozed, hundreds of years’ worth of trapped carbon gets released into the atmosphere in a matter of few minutes. This also destroys indigenous economies and cultures and pushes many animal and bird species to the edge of extinction. It is forcing people into dangerous health issues, not to mention the pittance that they get for working on plantations. What does the COP27, the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference do about this? You may guess. Nothing because the rich that run the world stuff the representative mouths, too.

Battle of Britain in the Second World War

“We shall never surrender” Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as the Prime Minister of Great Britain on 10th May, 1940. He knew very well that it was a move that brought danger in his life and his political career. It was the turning point during the Second World War as he was a capable foil to the thinking of Adolf Hitler and the strategies of the Third Reich. They were outsmarted by him. It is another matter that the backbone of the East India Company and the British Rule was broken as a result of the Second World War, resulting eventually in the Independence of the Indian Empire in August 1947. In 1940, Germany had already invaded and taken over Poland, followed by Norway and Denmark. It was marching on to take over Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland and France. Britain remained as a big thorn in the flesh and obstacle in Hitler’s plan for dominating Europe. He began believing that no one would be able to stand in the way of his plans. Hermann Goering had promised Hitler that Germany’s Luftwaffe (Air Force) would bring down England to their knees with the help of relentless air pressure and bombing and setting the buildings of principal cities on fire. Goering was hell bent on teaching the Brits a lesson that they were foolish to think that they could be a thorn in the flesh of Germany’s ambitions and the might of the Third Reich. Goering promised that the English citizens would be horrified and they would ultimately force their government to submit to the German terms in exchange for peace and end to the aerial bombing. This was how the Germans expected the scenario to unfold in 1940. Churchill and the British were not at all interested in peace in the style of Neville Chamberlain and on Germany’s terms. They were, however, very well aware that France was succumbing to Germany and the United States of America was trying to act neutral like Switzerland for the Americans thought that it was purely a European conflict. So, the British stood alone, being led by the wiles of Winston Churchill and the nation took courage from his words, “We shall never surrender.” The Germans made fun of that slogan and tested England’s boast as their Luftwaffe planes crossed the English Channel and pounded the British Territory with their bombs. The people were forced to take refuge in the air raid shelters and this became a way of life for the poor civilians for a long time. It has been documented that on one night in July 1940; the London Underground gave protection for more than one hundred and seventy thousand people. The impact on human and material life was quite a punishing one from this month onwards for the next ten months; which was the duration of the Battle of Britain. During this time, more than forty thousand people were killed. The streets of London were ravaged and turned to rubble. The damage was devastating. While the Germans were dominating the air scene, they could not make inroads for a situation that warranted surrender of Britain. Not many people are aware that during these ten months; the Royal Air Force got alerted by radar when the German planes were approaching London and many gallant air force pilots flew up to meet their foes and gave capable replies and Goering was stunned by their resistance and resilience. The Royal Air Force inspired Winston Churchill to pass his famous comment, “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.” The German Luftwaffe was puzzled by the skills of the Royal Air Force and all those who have not seen the movie, `Battle of Britain’; they need to look that up. It was released in 1969 and had Christopher Plummer, Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine and Robert Shaw in it, directed by Guy Hamilton. The Germans were finally driven away from the British skies at the end of the tenth month in May 1941 and the first military engagement that was fought between enemy air forces would end up as the first disappointment and in a way; defeat that the Germans would suffer. The Battle of Britain remains more than a military encounter. It was, as per Churchill, a test of the human will. He repeated that brave spirit at the Battle of Dunkirk again. It was not just Churchill. King George VI refused to move to Canada with his family for safety as per suggestion of the State. He had replied, “I will not leave the country in any circumstances, whatever.” It was this kind of an iron will or spirit that exemplified the resolve of the British response to German aggression. If not for such will and the patience of the British civilians, the administration would have been forced to accept Hitler’s terms and seek peace at any price. The citizens of Great Britain accepted the reality that freedom has to be earned with a price tag. Churchill never sugar-coated the harsh truths nor the threats that they faced and he was quiet successful in saving Britain from a certain Dark Age if Hitler had succeeded. Once again his words have to be quoted, “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that; if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasted for a thousand years from now; men will say that this was their finest hour.” Sitzkrieg – The Sitting War The German invasion of Poland began on 1st September 1939. Prime Minister Chamberlain declared war on 3rd September of that year. This declaration was followed by air raid sirens indicating that an air attack was imminent but the warning was a mistake. Though it was unreal, the British civilians prepared for battle, sending their children to the countryside villages, away from the cities to keep them safe from the Luftwaffe bombings. The Polish, meanwhile, were anticipating that they would be rescued from the German invaders. As the Germans drove further from the West, they realised that the Allied declaration of war was just a fart. About three million Polish were sent to Germany to work as slaves because the Germans considered Slavs to be racially inferior to them and intended ethnic cleansing. Poland would offer Lebensraum to the German, meaning living space so that they could expand their borders. Occupied Poland became site of deadly concentration and extermination camps that were managed by the Nazis; example – Auschwitz, Treblinka, Birkenau and Sobibor. These camps became centres of death as Nazis drove their annihilation efforts of Jews and other inferior races. Poland was not an attraction for Allied defence moves despite the promise made by the British to defend that nation. France was Germany’s next target. The Germans had never forgiven the French for the humiliation through the terms that Germany had to go through at the end of the First World War. These two countries have been adversaries for quite some time now. They viewed one another as natural enemies and Germany was keen to go to war with the French. The British expeditionary force began arriving in France in the second week of September 1939. There was no plan to aid the Poles. On 12th September 1939, the French and the British Supreme War Council met and decided that the Allies would put an end to their offensive operations and convert the war into a defensive one. The British sent four divisions made up of one hundred and fifty-eight thousand infantry members and twenty-five thousand vehicles. It was a small force to defend against the Germans but the French were confident that they would defend the Maginot Line along the border between France and Germany. The physical map of Europe was changing at a rapid pace as the Soviet Union was busy occupying Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland. The Allies opened a front in the Balkans and shut off oil to the Soviet Union. The British were also successful in thwarting the Germans from obtaining iron ore from Norway as shown in the film, `Heroes of Telemark’. German U-boats sank more than a hundred merchant vessels that were en route to Britain during the months of October 1939 to January 1940. German U-boats were destroying the pride of Britain which believed that it owned the seas. HMS Royal Oak was sunk by the Nazis in October 1940. The Germans were even attacking passenger liners and sunk Athenia with a loss of life toll of one hundred and twelve. In June of 1940, the Norwegian military surrendered to the Germans. Germany imported ten million tons of iron ore from Sweden. They were looking for a port that did not freeze during the winter months. They found that port in Narvik, in Northern Norway. Control of the coastline of Norway gave the Germans easy passage through the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. On 1st March, 1940, Hitler called for the invasion of Denmark. An attack by British bombers against the German warships was unsuccessful but it did make the Germans vulnerable. The Danish and the Norwegians found it difficult to ward off the Germans. The attack by the Germans was effective and Norway surrendered easily. Denmark also gave way quickly as King Christian X called for an end to resistance against the Germans. The Germans had no intention of stopping now. They were quite content with taking up France and Netherlands. They launched a blitzkrieg and their plan worked as the Dutch surrendered in six days. The Scandinavian countries were not the actual aim of Hitler. Yet, occupying Denmark gave Germany extra naval bases and they protected their iron ore shipments from Sweden. Belgium was next. The Germans sent their paratroopers and divisions along with air gliders to take over Belgium. The Belgians did not give up without a fight but after twenty days, their military surrendered. These countries that were earlier free now had to fly the Swastika and they were occupied by Germans who were all over, particularly in France. The Germans, with their superiority in the air, had an advantage in the sky battles as the allied planes were not found offering support to the infantry. They had the extra job of offering defence and aerial reconnaissance. They also lacked the ground to air communication finesse which the Germans had and their synchronised attacks were consequently; effective and efficient. The Germans knew well that they had to demoralise the people of the countries that they were attacking and occupying. Hitler and his Generals were so far successful in catching the Allied countries off guard and devastate their attempts in defence. The Allies believed that the region of Ardennes would be difficult for the Germans to move their troops into France but they were duped as Germany’s Group B rolled into action and their Group A Panzers cut off the British Army along with the French. The Germans raced to the coast after the Maginot Line with seven armoured divisions. They took risks, but those risks paid off. The British Expeditionary Force was almost surrounded by the Germans and the latter knew how to capitalise on massive tank formations. Earlier, the Poles also did not know how to counter such attacks. It was becoming evident that even the Allies did not know, either. Within three days, the German armoured units made their way through the tough terrain of the Ardennes and crossed the River Meuse, forcing the Allies to retreat. The Army Group A of the Germans reached River Somme on the English Channel by the third week of May in 1940, trapping the main forces of England and France. The British began to fall back in order to survive and headed to Dunkirk. Their annihilation was looking certain. Hitler made a calculation error then and decided that the German tanks needed rest to destroy the French Army. Hermann Goering as the Luftwaffe Commander was sure that his air force would be able to destroy the British Army that had gathered at Dunkirk. This decision to rest proved costly to the Germans as the British prepared for the evacuation and it went a long way in preserving the British military. By the time the Luftwaffe attacked from the skies, the British evacuation was helped by a masterstroke of Churchill where he managed to arrange eight hundred little boats belonging to private fishermen and marines who decided to respond to the call of the nation to help more than three hundred thousand trapped soldiers. These lines of soldiers had to rush to the dunes to avoid being hit as the German planes flew overhead. Churchill applauded his nation’s feat as Germany realised that Britain was the only nation in Europe that refused to buckle down to its knees. Battle for the Skies Winston Churchill said this after the Dunkirk episode, “I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us now. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free; but if we fall, then the whole world, including the United States of America and all other countries that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age.” On 15th May, 1940, The French Prime Minister called up Churchill to tell him that the French had been beaten. The German blitzkrieg had charged through the country of Belgium and Netherlands and crossed the Meuse River, attacking the French Army at Sedan on the northern part of the Maginot Line which was a two hundred and eighty mile stretch of long fortifications that were designed to protect the French from the Germans. The Maginot Line, in reality, proved no match for the German planes and tanks. On 14th June, the Germans marched into Paris and the city was immediately divided into two zones; one was under the control of the Germans and the other zone was under the control of the World War I hero, Marshal Philippe Petain, who was now the leader of the Vichy Government. Germany started ruling France. Churchill did not lose heart after the turn of these events. He was not discouraged nor did he cow down. Even though the Germans took Poland, Scandinavia and France with ease, they faced a tough nut to crack in Churchill. He wrote at this time, “I am now walking with destiny and that all my past life; it had been but a preparation for this dark hour and this trial.” Hitler was confident that Churchill and the English would get scared of the German victories in Europe and expected them to be crushed, eventually. However, the British never negotiated nor were ready for any settlement. Soon after, Hitler’s directive for Operation Sea Lion was issued. The invasion of Southern England was scheduled for autumn and the Luftwaffe was preparing to destroy the Royal Air Force of Britain. Once air superiority was achieved, the Germans would pressurise the British to accept peace on their terms. Operation Sea Lion would unfold as per the German plans by the middle of August in that year unless Great Britain decided to come to the negotiating table. Going by numbers, The Luftwaffe did have the advantage over the Royal Air Force as they had more than three thousand fighter planes, bombers and dive bombers in comparison with the latter’s less than two thousand aircraft. The British were looking for help and suggestions to prepare their air defence. As the soldiers were saved from the shores at Dunkirk, this time the government sent out another plea for help for provisioning aluminium. The Ministry of Aircraft Productions devised a campaign that said, “We will turn your pots and pans into Spitfires and Hurricanes.” To the credit of the British, they had a darn good radar system which was effective and it was capable of detecting incoming German aircraft as they would fly over the English Channel. Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) was developed in the nineteen thirties and the British had not wasted their time in making capable and sufficient radar stations along their coastline. This system could easily identify the location of the Luftwaffe aircraft and respond promptly by sending fighters to intercept the Germans, taking out the element of surprise on the part of the Germans from the equation when they came raiding. The Royal Air Force had the benefit of maintaining the effectiveness of their aircraft. The Spitfire, with its ability of taking sharp turns, could elude its pursuers effectively. The Hurricanes would be able to carry forty-millimetre cannon guns. In comparison, the single-engine fighters of the Germans and their limited radius coupled with the insufficient bomb-load capacity would give them a slight handicap. The Germans began to attack the ships along the English coastline in the early part of July that year. This technically began the air chapter of the Battle of Britain. The date that is remembered is 10th July, 1940. British radar system started picking up the signals and reported that German reconnaissance planes were looking out for convoys to attack. More than a hundred German planes attacked a British shipping convoy in the English Channel. Dockyard installations in Southern Wales were struck by about seventy German bombers. The idea was to attack the ships so that Britain would not be able to get the supplies and material it required and to trigger and tempt the Royal Air Force fighters to come up in the skies for dog fights and air battle engagement with the Luftwaffe fighter escorts. On the first day, three British Hurricanes and four Luftwaffe planes were lost and one ship sank by the coast. It has been recorded that on that first day; the Royal Air Force flew over six hundred sorties to intercept the Luftwaffe when they came raiding. For the next round of sorties, the planes needed to be re-armed and refuelled when they returned from the skies to their base fields. Another weapon that helped the British was the Dowding System which was kept as top secret. It was linked with fighter control. As per reports, about a month of engagement; on 18th August, the Luftwaffe flew 850 sorties and the RAF responded with 927 sorties. RAF lost 68 planes against 69 of the Luftwaffe. The heroics of John Beard, a member pilot of a squadron are mentioned as he fearlessly dove onto the tails of several Heinkels. He downed all of them with a pair of two-second bursts, resulting in flames shooting out from the fuselage of the German planes and sending those planes spinning away and blowing up into many pieces. Two months into the air engagement, the Germans grew desperate and targeted their raids on the shipping warehouses on ports to damage the ability of the British to provide food for their civilians. The Battle of Britain for the Germans stretched into almost ten months, from July 1940 to end of March 1941 and resulted in a loss of 1,733 planes against 915 of RAF. The result was that the Germans had to give up their dream of gaining supremacy over British skies. The Royal Air Force had already made its mark as a certain force to be reckoned with. In a speech on 20th August, 1940, Churchill said at the House of Commons, “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.” He was referring to the diehard spirit of the Royal Air Force pilots and the boats of individual fishermen that rescued soldiers from Dunkirk beaches. The British were hell bent on not surrendering. This new twist to the developing war was turning the British civilians into a kind of domestic frontline forces. All the citizens were now accepting their new roles as defenders of their country, taking relevant positions in local organisations that were designed to protect their communities in the likelihood of attacks by the Germans. Children were being evacuated to the less populated countryside places so that they would be safe. Some children were even evacuated to places like Canada across the Atlantic, to the United States of America and to Australia. Separation was quite hard on their families but they all understood that they could not buckle down to their knees. The civilians had to go through food rationing, as was the case in Germany. In addition to food, clothing, leather and petrol were also rationed. Some private people made sure that they planted gardens and had extra food supply. For poor people, the government provided the Anderson Shelters. These were buried halfway into the ground with soil on top to offer protection from shell fragments and bomb splinters. They were made out of sheets of corrugated iron that were bolted at the top with steel plates at each end and they measured six feet by four and a half feet. People tried to stay within these shelters whenever the air raid sirens went off. Then, there were Morrison Shelters which were designed like a cage. They provided shelter to people who did not have gardens or cellars. They were initiated in March of 1941. They were assembled out of more than three hundred parts. By the end of 1941, more than half a million such shelters had been distributed. They got their names from Ministers and their aides in Home Security. They were made of heavy steel. This was a period of national unity as the civilians worked together and they were confident of their purpose in resisting the attack of the Germans. During the ten months of this Luftwaffe Blitz, the Germans dropped almost fifty thousand tons of bombs in their attack on the British civilians. More than a million were left homeless and more than forty thousand were killed. This was the first time in the history of Europe that a civilian population was punished like this by air bombing on such a huge scale. The London Blitz “During the Battle of Britain, London was ripped and stabbed with fire,” said Ernie Pyle, a war correspondent and a journalist. September 15, 1940 would later come to be known as Battle of Britain Day. It was the unleashing of Nazi terror, from the skies. At 1100 hours on that fateful day, the first wave of Luftwaffe bombers came into sight with two hundred and fifty bombers crossing the English Channel. The Royal Air Force was able to intercept at least half of these planes but the rest proceeded to London. At 1400 hours, the second wave and round appeared, heading for South London and Kent. The raid and the bombing went on, through the night. Britain was saved in a way on that day as targeting London for raids posed few problems for the German aircrafts. Their escorts had limited fuel capacity and had only ten minutes of flying time left till they reached their destination. They had to turn back after that. This fact left the bombers undefended by fighter escorts. Germans were trying to adapt the Messerschmitt to take care of this deficiency but it was not a very big help. The Royal Air Force had some wise minds and they were able to scatter their bombers in effective formations so that when the Luftwaffe planes dropped their bombs, they were not as deadly as they fell over a wider region. On 15th September, the RAF shot down sixty-one German planes and it was the highest loss to the Luftwaffe while RAF lost thirty-one planes. It may seem relative but it did have one positive result. The Germans subsequently dropped their ides of bombing London during daytime and this neutralised the London Blitz. The bombing continued from 16th September during the night and it did bring destruction to the defiant Londoners. Ernie Pyle, the journalist quoted above wrote that he could feel his hotel room shaking from the vibration of the air guns. He mentioned, “You have all seen big fires but I doubt if you have ever seen the whole horizon of a city lined with great fires, scores of them, perhaps hundreds. I could see from the windows that buildings at a distance were being torn apart by the explosions from the aerial bombs. I could hear the flames from the fires as they crackled and the yelling of the firemen. Every few minutes, a new wave of planes was flying over. Their motors sounded like bees buzzing in their fury. The thing I shall always remember above all the other things in my life is the loneliness of the view of London, stabbed with great fires, shaken by explosions, its dark regions along the Thames sparkling with the pin points of white-hot bombs, all of it roofed over with a ceiling of pink that held bursting shells, balloons, flares and the grind of vicious engines. This became the most hateful single scene I have ever known.” Churchill and his Role in the War The leadership of Neville Chamberlain at the beginning of the German aggression was not at all inspirational for majority of people in the British government. When May 1940 arrived, many members of the Labour Party refused to serve under him. Winston Churchill was made the Prime Minister in a rush by the then king George VI who was in two minds and wanted to push his close friend Viscount Halifax for that job. Churchill got the nod because he had served in various government positions and was a good tactician along with good leadership skills. He served as the First Lord of Admiralty in the First World War and despite the disaster of the Gallipoli campaign was still considered better than Halifax. Churchill’s strategy, to throw the Osman Empire out of the First World War and create a direct supply route of munitions and arms to Russia through the Dardanelles Strait and the Black Sea against the canny alertness of the Germans and the Turks, was an unsuccessful one and marred his image in the eyes of King George VI. Winston Churchill was born to Lord Randolph Churchill and his American wife Jennie Jerome. He belonged to the privileged class. Lord Randolph became the First Duke of Marlborough and was also a military hero. Winston took part in action in Sudan and India. He was taken prisoner during the Boer War in South Africa but managed to escape and wrote a book on his dramatic exploits. He won a seat in the Parliament in 1900 and managed to rise up the political ladder. He promoted the modernisation of the Royal Navy as First Lord of the Admiralty and also initiated the Royal Navy Air Service. After the Gallipoli campaign disaster, Winston left the government in 1915 and rejoined the British Army, serving on the western front during the First World War. He promoted the increase in the production of munitions, airplanes and tanks. He was then made Minister of Munitions. Winston also concentrated on his fine writing ability and completed a book called `A History of the English Speaking People’ that won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. He was recognised through this book for his expertise in historical and biographical description and also for his brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values. This was also his motivation when he became Prime Minister in 1940. He considered the German Nazi group to be totally evil in their thoughts and lacking in fine human values which he held dear. When Adolf Hitler was rising in power during the early nineteen thirties, Winston Churchill recognised the threat which Nazism posed to the whole of Europe. Before the War started, he was proactive against Germany by occupying the iron mines and sea ports of Norway while Neville Chamberlain continued to resist his ideas and arguments. Chamberlain and Halifax were meek and wanted peace agreements with Germany. On 10th May 1940, Neville Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister and Winston Churchill replaced him. On that same day, the Nazis had begun their advance towards Norway. On 18th June 1940, Churchill spoke to the House of Commons and made it clear that the Battle of Britain had started. Several military experts in England had thought the country would eventually not be able to defend its land against the mighty Germans. Churchill had different ideas and he was not the one to be cowed down; even with a mind as that of Adolf Hitler’s. He convinced the British that they were fighting against an enemy which was seeking to eliminate all that were progressive and noble in civilisation. Churchill’s oratory prowess rallied the minds of the English civilians and also that of the marines and army personnel. His courage inspired his countrymen even as the Germans poured countless bombs on them and their lands. He calmed the fears of the entire nation. He told his countrymen that he could offer them nothing but “blood, toil, tears and sweat.” He knew that victory would ultimately be theirs. After the brilliant evacuation of the British from the beaches at Dunkirk, Churchill knew that one masterstroke would not take care of the struggle that lay ahead. His brilliant tactic of sending individual civilian boats to help his marooned troops was like a shot of adrenaline to all in England, much to the egoistic chagrin of Viscount Halifax and the suspicions of King George VI. He gave a speech on the radio, “We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” While this was going on to boost the morale of the English, France fell to the Germans. Despite this bad news, Churchill was not disheartened. He told the country, “we shall not sink into the abyss of a new dark age which is being made more sinister and perhaps more protracted by the lights of perverted science. Out of all this darkness, this will emerge as our finest hour.” After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on 7th December, 1941, United States entered the War and became Britain’s ally. Churchill’s service as the prime Minister of Britain during the Second World War defined his destiny and the British people never forgot him. In 2002, a survey was done to pick the greatest Briton of all time. It did not come as a surprise that Winston Churchill received 447,423 votes and won that honour. Hitler’s Move to divert his Attention to Russia that cost him the War Adolf Hitler issued a `Directive 21’ which was an instruction for “The German Wehrmacht to be prepared to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign with Operation Barbarossa”. This was not a good tactical move as it was issued even before the conclusion of the Battle of Britain. Germany’s massive raids did not bring in positive results against England by September 1942. England did not succumb and was not brought to its knees. The Germans had to reassess their timeline for the invasion of Britain. Germany had lost more than one thousand six hundred aircraft. The Luftwaffe was running out of crew as well as planes. The Germans had grossly underestimated the size and resilience of the Royal Air Force. Hitler gave Germany time till 8th October to achieve results against England. When that did not happen, he asked for Operation Sea Lion to be temporarily postponed. England did not survive without considerable damage. More than forty thousand civilians were killed and thirty-two thousand were wounded in the German air raids. The Battle of Britain had been a costly one but not without inflicting the German military and air force its first major defeat. The Royal Air Force had defended England against the German attack and was the major factor in throwing Hitler into a state of panic and towards making weak decisions. Germans had lost morale, more so than England. For Churchill, the finest argument in his favour was his masterstroke of evacuating his troops at Dunkirk. His decision, taken during his darkest hours, made sure that England and its army would not capitulate at the hands of the Germans. The Americans watched from across the Atlantic and what they saw impressed them. President Franklin Roosevelt was suspicious of England’s ability to survive the bombing and air raids of the Germans. He decided that it was time that USA supported Britain. Meanwhile, Hitler’s determination to capture the giant land mass of Russia proved his undoing as it did for Napoleon Bonaparte. The Battle of Britain made sure that England would not be conquered but from a wider perspective; it broke the spine of the British Empire and they lost their colonies, chiefly India. In a span of fifteen years after the end of the Second World War, countries in Asia, Middle East and Africa saw the British Union Jack off their flag poles. The independence of these nations was a direct by-product of the Battle of Britain. This Battle would go down in history as a battle fought and won not only by brave pilots of the Royal Air Force and efficient soldiers and sailors but also by resilient and determined civilians of Britain.

Why are Tasmanian Devils dying from oral cancer?

Before we get into this ailment, let us understand what these Tasmanian devils are - a Tasmanian devil is a well-built marsupial with a large head and powerful jaws; they have black fur and they are not found anywhere else in the world except in Tasmania. They are lethargic and slow-moving but aggressive and feed mainly on carrion. The Tasmanian devil is the world’s largest living carnivorous marsupial. It is about the size of a small dog, Tasmanian devils are well known for their piercing nocturnal shrieks and their strong jaws. They are found only on the island of Tasmania, to the south of the mainland of Australia. Being marsupial mammals, Tasmanian devils give birth to tiny and underdeveloped young, completing their development in the mother’s pouch. The Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) is a distinctive form of transferable cancer which harms its victims by causing tumours to grow around the face. These tumours interfere with their feeding patterns and lead ultimately to starvation. The lack of genetic variation in Tasmanian devil population leaves them particularly vulnerable to mass infection. Hence, the disease has eradicated a large percentage of Tasmanian devils, inflicting havoc in the survival of this already endangered species. Perhaps no animal is better suited to its name than the Tasmanian devil. While it might look cuddly; in reality, this animal is quite the opposite. With the strongest bite of any mammal and a wicked blood-curdling scream, the Tasmanian devil is a ferocious creature which is known to assault animals many times its size. The irony is that even this devil is no match for its supreme enemy - an unusual and contagious face cancer, wrecking the population. The first glimpse of this mysterious disease was given about two decades ago when people sighted large tumours on Tasmanian devils’ faces. They began to grow common. The news channels then started reporting that in the past twenty years; a third of their population had already died from this mysterious illness. The tumours were growing at a rapid and uncontrollable rate until they were noticed. The tumours were slowly covering their mouths and eyes and were giving indication that this could be cancerous. Neither the people living in Tasmania were able to figure nor were the scientists there able to determine the cause of such large tumours that were pervasive and growing fast. Usually, cancer starts as a result of a single mutation or a change to a section of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid). Most mutations are safe but often; they can cause a cell to grow and divide in an uncontrollable manner. This unrestricted enlargement causes the rogue cells to amass, forming the masses that we recognise as cancerous tumors. As cancer cells continually grow and divide, they tend to get more and more mutations in their DNA, resulting in tumors that give birth to a broader landscape of mutations. However, as mutations are considered random events, cancer often looks different in each individual. For example, two people having breast cancer may have tumors with completely different armoury of mutations. This is what makes the case of the Tasmanian devil so puzzling. It is almost impossible for so many of these animals to independently develop similar type of cancer so quickly through the classical mutation technique. Even more intriguing is that every tumor sample has shown the same pattern of alterations in the Tasmanian devils’ chromosomes. This finding was quite odd, especially compared to how cancer has been generally shown to appear through a series of random mutations to DNA. The fact that all Tasmanian devil samples showed the same irregular chromosome patterns made researchers suspect that the devils were not suffering from a typical type of cancer as it would be nearly impossible for so many creatures to grow with the same exact mutations in their DNA. Instead, the lethal cancer spreading through their population might be infectious, spreading from one animal to another through bites to the face during sessions of fighting. Intriguingly, the cancer affecting the Tasmanian devils showed no sign of viral transmission and the similarity among tumors did not support the mutation model. How this is then spreading from one animal to another? The answer may lie in what is called the MHC or Major Histo-compatibility Complex. The immune system has various ways of protecting the body against invasion by viruses, bacteria and parasites and any intrusive or cancerous cells. The first line of defense is built up by an inborn immune response made up of barriers like skin, tears, saliva and mucus. This is followed by defensive mechanisms built up by adaptive immune reactions that are more specific for the intruder. Adaptive immunity includes both a humoral response (macro-molecules) produced by antibodies and a cell-mediated reaction produced by T-cells that have the ability to destroy other cells. The cell-mediated adaptive immune reaction is synchronised by the Major Histo-compatibility Complex (MHC). It is called that because it is responsible for the rejection of graft or tissue compatibility. As per reports, compared with the figures of Tasmanian devils in the past decade, almost sixty percent of their population has been destroyed by this disease. From the time of the initial discovery of DFT1, a second mutation has arisen as a variation in the form of DFT2 and has been devastating their population. There is a very fine article written by Sharon Guynup in Mongabay magazine, which will help throw up better light on this issue facing the Tasmanian devils. Here is the link: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/in-harms-way-our-actions- put-people-and-wildlife-at-risk-of-disease/ . This article elaborates on facts like how infectious diseases such as these pose a grave threat to not only Tasmanian devils but also chimpanzees, tigers, African wild dogs and Ethiopian wolves. Some viral diseases are being spread by humans, other domestic animals and livestock and this can culminate in giving a knockout punch to already endangered species that are bordering on extinction’s edge. Not many people realize that a collection of humans, pigs, cows, dogs or chickens into wild areas can bring in further risk of the already endangered species. Somewhere along the line, man has had a broken relationship with nature in its wild patches. Corporate greed has also proved that the rich are quite separate from the rest of the species on earth. Activity of rich corporate thinkers has altered natural systems on earth in a rapid way. It has been so dramatic in the last few decades that it has brought in a new geological eon. These changes include deforestation which has gone out of control, farming, ranching, international travel, global commerce and wildlife trade with the help of poachers has affected climate change and has also helped spread diseases. Why does this happen? It is because such activities bring livestock, people and wildlife into contact, exposing all concerned to viruses and bacteria. Often, the ones suffering lack immunity in a rapidly warming world. Ticks, mosquitoes and several other parasitic carriers of diseases have an expanded range now, bringing debilitating ailments along with them. These changes have also helped new diseases to appear and spread to newer areas. This may lead perhaps to outbreaks soaring in the future. We have already seen recently how a pandemic could impact the whole ecosystem of this planet. Paradoxically, the ecosystem benefits when the dark satanic mills run to less than their optimal range and people are not polluting the atmosphere with carbon monoxide. Here is the ominous part! Roughly around seventy per cent of all the growing and re-emerging pathogens are becoming zoonotic diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans. We have no idea when the next threat or the next Disease X will strike and when. This is also the sentiment shared by the Director of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus when he voiced the same at a meeting concerned with global animal health. Most infectious viruses are emerging from tropical areas which are also home to a rich variety of species and the volume of pathogens they can host and these areas are China, parts of Southeast Asia, Africa and India. We simply have to face the fact that we have to live with diseases as they have become a part of this natural world. Bacteria and viruses have become interwoven into our ecosystems in a varied environment where indigenous residents have now evolved immune systems which prevent high rates of infection and subsequent deaths. Ecosystems have become intact and they maintain equilibrium. For example, as per Rick Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, USA, the web of life is thriving in tropical forests and also keeping hosts of diseases like rodents in decent check. Coming back to our main focus, the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease involves a couple of independent transmissible cancerous cells which have killed a majority of these species. These cells are originating from Schwann cells and spread between them as they bite each other as that is a common kind of behaviour during their mating season. DFT1 and DFT2 spread as a result of direct contact between them in situations involving fights over food and mates. It is a point to be noted that like most other cancer remedial care, there is no satisfactory treatment procedures for DFT1 and DFT2. Several chemotherapeutic medicines have been on trial for DFT1 but not even one has shown any real efficacy towards treating this disease. Preliminary trials of immunotherapy have shown better promise in case of DFT1. So, what is actually been done to save these Tasmanian devils. The government of Australia has started a funded initiative with the aim of saving this species. Research is being directed that will help understand the cause of these growing tumours. The main objective is to develop a vaccine; and if not, at least some form of intervention or therapy.

The Plant Kingdom

Plant life gives us a picture that has a history older than animal life. Fossilised remains of one-celled and simple organisms that are plant-like have been found in rocks dating even before the animal kingdom came into being.. Plants are one of the foundations for animal life and they have the capacity to produce their own food by a process that we know as `photosynthesis’. Energy from sunlight is absorbed by the plants as they use the green colouring matter known as chlorophyll. They also absorb carbon dioxide from the air while they absorb water which is mineral laden from the soil. Using the sunlight’s energy, plants convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars and various other chemical substances. Animals are not able to do this and they have to eat plants or other animals that have fed on plants in order to be nourished. The select few plants that do not produce their own food are fungi. They depend on other sources. Plants include the oldest and the biggest living things on Planet Earth. Take for example, the giant sequoias of California USA; they are the heaviest living things and they weigh up to ten times as much the largest animals; an example being the blue whale. The oldest living sequoias are easily estimated to be four thousand years old. The bristlecone pines that grow in the eastern parts of Nevada are dated around five thousand years old. These trees live long, too if they have favourable conditions. In contrast, the lifespan of the oldest known animals such as the giant tortoises is under two-hundred years. Plants have evolved over the years to adapt to changing conditions on earth. Some species are living fossils and have changed very little with time. One plant , as an example, is the ginkgo which is also known as the maidenhair tree. Where the climate is cold and the winds are strong, plants are short in size like the lichens, dwarf shrubs and mosses and the Arctic tundra trees. In the humid conditions of the vegetation of the tropics, the trees are lush and tall. Plants that have to live in dry conditions have adapted ro store moisture and lose very little by evaporation amidst hot sunshine. An example could be the cacti that have succulent and a water-storing body and a waxy and thick outer covering. Some desert plants have the ability to survive even in a dead state when they survive months of drought. An example id the Rose of Jericho in the desert conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean region. It loses its leaves in dry weather and blows in the desert like loose and twiggy balls. When the weather is moist and it rains; the plant will open up and produces leaves with the help of its roots and stem. In the deserts, the trees will have root systems that are wide-spreading and they will grow well apart so that they are not competing directly for the scarce moisture that there may be in the soil. In the tropics with their lush forests, conversely, the plants will grow quite close to each other and they will also grow rapidly. Some bamboo plants are expected to grow almost up to three feet in a day. It is a known fact that plants usually compete with each other for the sunshine and water that is available to them. The lichen plant is unique as it cooperates with other plants for its survival. It consists of an alga and fungus that exist together. The fungus absorbs water but cannot make its own food by means of photosynthesis. It is the alga that makes its food but it needs water. In unity, they make the most of both moisture and sunshine available to them. You will find lichens surviving in places where many plants would find it difficult, like the surface of rocks, the intense heat of the deserts and the sharp cold of the tundra. Lichens are also among the longest living plants and can survive for more than four thousand years. The plants need nitrogen element and they absorb that from the soil. There are some flowering plants that have survived by supplementing inadequate supply of nitrogen by getting it from the bodies of insects under the ground. The carnivorous plants have a selection of lures and traps with which they catch their victims. An interesting plant is the Venus’ Flytrap that has leaves in halves of two that are hinged together. They are open but when an insect lands in the trap section gets trapped when it touches sensitive portions of the plant. The two halves snap shut when such a touch is triggered and the insect gets caught and digested over a period of many days. When this process gets completed, the trap opens again and the remains of the insects are blown away in the wind. In the plant kingdom, the largest living things in the world are the giant sequoia trees. In particular, General Sherman is the largest and the tallest. This tree is in Sequoia Park in California, USA. Besides being the tallest tree in the world, it also contains the largest volume of timber than any other tree. It is one of the oldest living entities on this planet. The top part of the General Sherman tree has been damaged when it was struck by lightning. Mangrove trees thrive in shallow and salty water and they gain their extra support in their habitat by putting down roots from their lower branches in the form of a series of stilts in the shape of flying buttresses. An example is a swamp of mangrove on the shores of River Tana in Kenya, Africa. The network of their root structures helps in trapping nourishing silt and vegetable debris. The plant that has the largest leaves is the Amazon giant water lily. It is called Victoria Regia. The leaves are tray-shaped and they can grow and spread up to six feet across. They are found in the backwaters of the Amazon River. They are covering the water surface for more than a mile. A deep vein network on the underside of these leaves creates a series of air pockets that help the leaves to float. They can support the weight of an infant. They were first found in British Guyana around 1837 and were named after Queen Victoria. The pink and rose coloured flowers of Victoria Regia are large and they can be as big as three feet in circumference. They later develop into fruit that could be as big as the size of a man’s head. Around the 1500s, a big flower called the passion flower was discovered by Christian priests in Latin America. This flower has a remarkable blossom and the flower got its name as it appeared to symbolise the suffering of Jesus and the five petals and five sepals were the ten apostles while the corona in the middle represented the crown of thorns.

The Definitive Ring of Wagner by Solti

For his Musik Drama, Richard Wagner had made it clear with his directives that more important than the singing was the acting and the orchestra accompaniment component. Wagner was concerned entirely with the outline of his musical leitmotifs that are woven in the fabric of this music drama. An Introduction to the Ring, the beautiful white box set presented by Derryck Cooke, still stays in my mind as the ideal introduction set for anyone visiting the Nibelungen Ring Drama for the first time. Cooke collaborated with Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic. These recordings were engineered by Mr. John Culshaw between 1958 and 1965. Das Rheingold has to be one of the most famous of Solti's recordings. I have heard many Rheingolds in the past thirty eight years from Masters like Furtwangler, Keilberth, Karajan, Boulez and Maazel. They do not come even close to Solti. Solti and Decca have created a miracle. The `Gramophone' magazine has voted it in 1997 as the greatest opera recording ever made. I will agree with it. An extract of a review of Siegfried’s performance by Solti and Vienna Philharmonic: Reviews of the 1962 Solti’s Siegfried recording with the Vienna Philharmonic are positively overwhelming, praising the recording as a landmark achievement in sound and musical interpretation. Critics highlighted the exceptional playing of the Vienna Philharmonic, the stellar cast led by Wolfgang Windgassen as Siegfried and Georg Solti's conducting as magnificent and powerful. The recording was described as revolutionary for its time, considered by many to be the greatest recording of Siegfried and a pinnacle of the Solti Ring Cycle. Orchestral performance: The Vienna Philharmonic's playing was described as exceptional and magisterial. Singing: The cast was considered unbeatable with Wolfgang Windgassen's Siegfried praised for being both lyrical and heroic. Hans Hotter was considered more impressive than ever on this recording and Joan Sutherland and Birgit Nilsson were singled out as having legendary interpretations of their roles. Solti's conducting was hailed as powerful and magnificent.