COVID strikes again!

For the last few days of our cruise I was feeling a bit under the weather. I thought that it was a bit of a cold, coupled with some diarrhoea ... and took the appropriate medication in order to carry on enjoying my cruise as best I could.

On Wednesday afternoon I attended the Installation meeting of my Mother Lodge … and about halfway through I began to sweat profusely, and my temperature seemed to go through the roof. I managed to get to the end of the meeting but decided to give the after-meeting meal (which we call a Festive Board) a miss and drove home very carefully and somewhat slowly.

When I got home, Sue insisted that I took a COVID test as my symptoms seemed to match those of the latest variant … and a very faint line on the test indicated that I had the dreaded virus yet again!

Last night I slept quite well, and I’ve spent most of today resting, although I did go outside to do thirty minutes of gardening. It raised a bit of a sweat, and although I felt tired afterwards, I felt a lot better for doing something physical.

I’ll be taking another COVID test later today, and hope that it will show that I’m clear of the virus. If not, then I’ll carry on as best I can until I’m over this latest brush with COVID.

‘Oh, we sail the ocean blue …’

Sue and I have spent the last ten days aboard P&O’s MV Ventura on a cruise that took us to Santander, Vigo, Lisbon, Porto, and Cherbourg. It gave us a much-needed break, but now it’s back to normal life. I’ll be writing about where we went and what we saw later this week … but first we have to do the unpacking and washing!

Even more photographs of John Ruddle's garden wargames

The second article about John Ruddle's garden wargames has no byline, but I suspect that it was written by the late Stuart Asquith or Duncan Macfarlane.

A German garrison town. Several regiments of German cavalry (including Uhlans and Kurassieres) can be seen in the photograph.

Part of Austrian-controlled Italy. An Austrian warship can be seen moored alongside.

A British battleship cruising off the coast of a German colony in Africa.

One of Britain's naval bases and commercial ports.

Another British commercial harbour. Several merchant ships can be seen unloading their cargoes. Royal Navy warships and a column of troops can also be seen in this photograph.

Austrian-controlled northern Italy. The sefront here looks very similar to that of Venice, including the Doge's Palace, St Mark's Basilica, and the famous Campanile.

Two of the Royal Navy's eight destroyers ...

... and two of her six torpedo boats.

A Cornish fishing village.

The home of one of Britain's Admirals.

A British cavalry barracks in India.

A British hill fort in India, garrisoned by Sikh soldiers.

One of Germany's border fortresses. Nearby is the border with Britain.

Near to the German fortress is one of Britain's. Its garrison includes a Highland regiment.

A major British barracks and railway station.

A typical German town, dominated by its ornate castle.

A British stately home. It looks a bit rundown, but this does not seem to be worrying the owners, who are enjoying the good weather on their house's terrace.

Part of the French coast. Her pocket battleship (the Richelieu) can just be seen in the naval base in the top right-hand side of the photograph.

I think that these photographs accompanied an article in an early issue of MINIATURE WARGAMES, but I am not 100% sure of that fact.

More photographs of John Ruddle's garden wargames

In my files of magazine clippings, I found a couple of articles that described John Ruddle's garden wargames.

The first article was by the late Stuart Asquith and was published in PRACTICAL WARGAMER in November/December 1990.

A British fortress, garrisoned by Royal Marines.

A typical coastal fortification that is positioned on a hill so that it can defend a small harbour.

A 'Palmerston Folly'. It overlooks an area of disputed territory.

Have I taken a wrong turning along the way?

Over a fortnight ago I read on Tradgardmastare's blog (The Duchy of Tradgardland) that he had managed to buy a copy of John Ruddle’s book about collecting Britains model soldiers. I decided to buy a copy ... and after a brief search I found and bought a copy via eBay (as can be seen from my recent book review). I have since spent several relaxing hours scanning its pages ... and it brought back memories of John Ruddle's garden wargames.

I have previously written about John Ruddle’s garden wargames (here and here), and I re-read what I had written … and this gave me quite a bit of food for thought. In particular, the following had particular significance:

'John's garden was laid out to represent six countries: Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, and Turkey, and areas that include Flanders, Africa, Arabia, and Northern Italy are regularly fought over. The actual layout was in no way geographically accurate, with the lawn acting as the 'sea', the paths as 'rivers', and the various flowerbeds and rockeries as the countries. ... Besides an army, each country had a navy. The British had two battleships, two cruisers, eight destroyers, and six torpedo gunboats, and facing them was a German force of one battleship, four cruisers, six destroyers and four torpedo boats. The French was unique in that their navy had a pocket battleship.'

One of the British battleships in harbour. Two of the six torpedo boast are moored alongside just behind her.

The French pocket battleship Richelieu moored alongside in the main French naval base. A French destroyer and two French torpedo boats can also be seen in this photograph.

It set me wondering if I might have gone off in the wrong direction with my Belle Époque project. Perhaps I might have been better to follow John Ruddle’s example and used six real nations but with imaginary geography. It would certainly make some things like place names a lot easier, and as I found with my recent Franco-Prussian War of 1810, a simple map with real place names is perfectly workable for use in an imaginary wargame campaign.

Its certainly something that I need to think about.

Collectors Guide to Britains Model Soldiers

I first saw this book when it was published in 1980 but did not buy a copy as funds were a little low at the time. (I think that it might have been related to saving up to get married!) This was something that I always regretted, and when Tradgardmastare featured it in a recent blog post, I was determined to buy a copy.

One of my regular blog reader (Elliesdad/Geoff) made me aware that several copies were on sale via eBay, I found one at a very reasonable price, put in an offer ... and I am now the proud owner of my own copy!

Although I am not able to consider myself an avid collector of Britains figures (I do have quite a few of the later ones that were sold in sets), its nice to have such an extensive catalogue to hand. Furthermore, its author has always been something of an inspiration to me ever since I first read about his garden wargames, so hiving a copy of his book on my bookshelves brings me even more pleasure.

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COLLECTORS GUIDE TO BRITAINS MODEL SOLDIERS was written by John Ruddle and published in 1980 by Model and Allied Publications 9ISBN 0 85242 568 6).

Victory in Europe, 8th May 1945

Tuesday 8th May 1945 marked the official end of the fighting in Europe, although some combat took place after that date as not all German forces had surrendered.

The surrender was authorised by Hitler's successor, Reichspräsident (formerly Großadmiral) Karl Dönitz and Act of Military Surrender took place at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAFE) headquarters in Reims, France at 02:41 local time on 7th May. This was followed at 22:43 local time on 8th May by the signing of the definitive German Instrument of Surrender at Karlsorst in Berlin.

This stated that:

1. We the undersigned, acting by authority of the German High Command, hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and simultaneously to the Supreme High Command of the Red Army all forces on land, at sea, and in the air who are at this date under German control.
2. The German High Command will at once issue orders to all German military, naval and air authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 23.01 hours Central European time on 8 May 1945, to remain in all positions occupied at that time and to disarm completely, handing over their weapons and equipment to the local allied commanders or officers designated by Representatives of the Allied Supreme Commands. No ship, vessel, or aircraft is to be scuttled, or any damage done to their hull, machinery or equipment, and also to machines of all kinds, armament, apparatus, and all the technical means of prosecution of war in general.
3. The German High Command will at once issue to the appropriate commanders, and ensure the carrying out of any further orders issued by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and by the Supreme Command of the Red Army.
4. This act of military surrender is without prejudice to, and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by, or on behalf of the United Nations and applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole.
5. In the event of the German High Command or any of the forces under their control failing to act in accordance with this Act of Surrender, the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and the Supreme High Command of the Red Army will take such punitive or other action as they deem appropriate.
6. This Act is drawn up in the English, Russian and German languages. The English and Russian are the only authentic texts.

It was signed or witnessed by the following representatives of the Allies:

• Soviet Union: Marshal Georgy Zhukov, on behalf of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army
• United Kingdom: Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur William Tedder, as Deputy Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force
• United States: General Carl Spaatz, Commanding United States Strategic Air Forces,
• France: General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, Commanding First French Army

It was signed or witnessed on behalf of Germany by:

• Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, as the Chief of the General Staff of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht)
• Generaladmiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, as Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy
• Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Stumpff, as the representative of the Luftwaffe

Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel signing the German Instrument of Surrender on 8th May 1945.

The news was greeted with celebrations across Europe, although some were more muted than others. My father, who was in Wismar on the Baltic coast of Germany on VE-Day, remembered celebrating with a bottle of warm beer, and my father-in-law, who was in Delhi, India, did not celebrate at all.

Coronation Day 1953

Back in September last year, I wrote a bit about the Coronation Day celebrations that were held in 1953. I included a photograph of me at a street party held in Frazier Street, Waterloo, SE1 ...

I subsequently realised that I was probably sitting next to my cousin Jacqueline, who is exactly three years older that me.

I do have some vague memories of the day, and I have since found a memento of the Coronation that we must all have been given at the street party. It was a newly-minted Crown coin (what would have been five shillings (5/-) or the equivalent of 25p in decimal currency) in a hard plastic case. I still have mine, ...

... along with several other commemorative coins that have been issued down the years. I understand that in good condition and still in its case, this coin is worth about £30.00.

I understand that the coin was designed by the sculptor Gilbert Ledward, and the obverse features the Queen riding on horseback rather than her face in profile, which is normal on Brtish coins. The reverse features a crown in the centre of an emblematic cross formed from a thistle, rose, leek and shamrock, the symbols of the countries that make up the United Kingdom.The edge inscription reads 'Faith and Truth I will Bear Unto You' which is taken from the Coronation Oath the late Queen took 1953.

Coronation Day

Today is the Coronation Day of Charles III, and I wish him a long and prosperous reign. I hope that the country will benefit from today's events in the same way that it did in the aftermath of his mother's coronation in the 1950s. That coincided with the beginning of a period that saw UK society gradually change for the better, and I sincerely wish that a new wave of improvement will come on the back of the ascension of our new king.

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GOD SAVE THE KING!

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A short request: please don't expect me to reply to any anti-monarchist comments that are made.

If you do not like the fact that the UK is a monarchy, that's fine by me. You are entitled to your opinion. Mine is that it is the best of a number of imperfect forms of government and having seem what a mess some 'elected' monarchies (i.e., republics) can get themselves into, I'd rather stick with a system that has been around for a very long time, even if I don't have a great deal of time for some of the individual members of the Royal Family.

We tried republicanism in the UK back in the seventeenth century, and the monarchy was eventually restored. The reasons why are open to debate, but I am not going to join in that debate here. What I will state is that the Restoration marked the beginning of the development of the parliamentary democracy we now 'enjoy' in the UK. It's by no means perfect, but it works after a fashion.

Finally, I hope that everyone in the UK, be they monarchist, republican, anarchist, or whatever manages to enjoy themselves today. I certainly will!

The flags of Hyboria

Stefan, who is one of my regular blog readers, has made me aware of an interesting blog post that appeared on Chad Thorson's Maximum Rock and Role Play blog back in 2012.

This posting featured illustrations of flags designed by Mike Stelzer for the various countries of Hyboria and is probably a resource that a lot of Hyboria fans will find interesting. I would reproduce them here, but I am unsure of the copyright situation, so I have chosen not to.