FUN FACT #1: Winnie The Pooh
During the first World War, troops from Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) were being transported to eastern Canada, on their way to Europe, where they were to join the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade. When the train stopped at White River, Ontario, a lieutenant called Harry Colebourn bought a small female black bear cub for $20 from a hunter who had killed its mother. He named her 'Winnipeg', after his hometown of Winnipeg, or 'Winnie' for short. Winnie became the mascot of the Brigade and went to Britain with the unit. When the Brigade was posted to the battlefields of France, Colebourn, now a Captain, took Winnie to the London Zoo for a long loan. He formally presented the London Zoo with Winnie in December 1919 where he became a popular attraction and lived until 1934. The bear was also very popular with Christopher Robin, son of author A.A. Milne. It was his favourite animal at the Zoo, and he often spent time inside the cage with it. The bear was Christopher Robin's inspiration for calling his own teddy bear Winnie.....Winnie the Pooh. A.A. Milne started to write a series of books about Winnie the Pooh, his son Christopher Robin, and their friends in the 100-Acre-Wood. These other characters, such as Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga and Roo were also based on stuffed animals belonging to Christopher Robin. |
Canadian Heritage Moment
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TAKE ME TO THE FRONT LINE!
AKE ME TO THE FRONT LINE--- the Beginning of the Great War!
The Germans under the Schlieffen Plan thought they would quickly march through Belgium and envelop France cutting them off from the rest of Europe. As it turned out, the German High Command had underestimated the amount of resistance they were likely to face. By the beginning of September 1914, the German armies had been seriously delayed by the Belgium army and the highly-trained British Expeditionary Force and the French moved its troops to the northern front. This counterattack on Sept. 5, 1914, marked the beginning of the Battle of the Marne.
Taxis to the Rescue!
During September 6-8, reinforcements for the French 6th Army arrived by long convoys of taxicabs. They also arrived by truck, limousine, and even by racing car. Altogether, General Joseph Simon Gallieni, the military commander of Paris, had commandeered 630 vehicles, including at least 150 taxicabs.
The strange procession left the Esplanade des Invalides in Paris at 10 pm on September 6. On the other side of Paris, they picked up the 103rd and 104th infantry regiments, 4-5 men per vehicle. Then they drove overnight, without headlights, to Nanteuil-le-Haudouin and Silly-le-Long, a stone’s throw away from the fighting. After their passengers got out, many of the taxicab drivers turned around to do it again.
The contribution of the taxicab drivers to the Battle of the Marne had been small, but the effect on morale was incalculable. Altogether, the drivers of the Marne managed to bring 6,000 reinforcements to the French 6th Army.
This marked the beginning of the Great War in France.
Do We Get Paid for This?
In the end, the taxicab drivers did not have to go completely without compensation for their expenses. They would later be compensated at 27% of the meter reading, and their contribution became a part of French legend.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/inside-first-world-war/part-two/10354106/battle-marne.html
http://askville.amazon.com/914-WWI-Parisian-cabdrivers-save-Paris/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=7364581
http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/the-taxicabs-of-paris-and-the-french-defense-at-the-marne-123/
The Germans under the Schlieffen Plan thought they would quickly march through Belgium and envelop France cutting them off from the rest of Europe. As it turned out, the German High Command had underestimated the amount of resistance they were likely to face. By the beginning of September 1914, the German armies had been seriously delayed by the Belgium army and the highly-trained British Expeditionary Force and the French moved its troops to the northern front. This counterattack on Sept. 5, 1914, marked the beginning of the Battle of the Marne.
Taxis to the Rescue!
During September 6-8, reinforcements for the French 6th Army arrived by long convoys of taxicabs. They also arrived by truck, limousine, and even by racing car. Altogether, General Joseph Simon Gallieni, the military commander of Paris, had commandeered 630 vehicles, including at least 150 taxicabs.
The strange procession left the Esplanade des Invalides in Paris at 10 pm on September 6. On the other side of Paris, they picked up the 103rd and 104th infantry regiments, 4-5 men per vehicle. Then they drove overnight, without headlights, to Nanteuil-le-Haudouin and Silly-le-Long, a stone’s throw away from the fighting. After their passengers got out, many of the taxicab drivers turned around to do it again.
The contribution of the taxicab drivers to the Battle of the Marne had been small, but the effect on morale was incalculable. Altogether, the drivers of the Marne managed to bring 6,000 reinforcements to the French 6th Army.
This marked the beginning of the Great War in France.
Do We Get Paid for This?
In the end, the taxicab drivers did not have to go completely without compensation for their expenses. They would later be compensated at 27% of the meter reading, and their contribution became a part of French legend.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/inside-first-world-war/part-two/10354106/battle-marne.html
http://askville.amazon.com/914-WWI-Parisian-cabdrivers-save-Paris/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=7364581
http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/the-taxicabs-of-paris-and-the-french-defense-at-the-marne-123/
THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE
During World War I, on and around Christmas Day 1914, the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies.
The Christmas Truce of 1914:
At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day in 1914, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man's-land, calling out "Merry Christmas" in their enemies' native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.
Some soldiers used this short-lived ceasefire for a more somber task: the retrieval of the bodies of fellow combatants who had fallen within the no-man's land between the lines.
The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated—future attempts at holiday ceasefires were quashed by officers' threats of disciplinary action—but it served as heartening proof, however brief, that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers' essential humanity endured.
Did You Know? On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.
The Christmas Truce of 1914:
At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day in 1914, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man's-land, calling out "Merry Christmas" in their enemies' native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.
Some soldiers used this short-lived ceasefire for a more somber task: the retrieval of the bodies of fellow combatants who had fallen within the no-man's land between the lines.
The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated—future attempts at holiday ceasefires were quashed by officers' threats of disciplinary action—but it served as heartening proof, however brief, that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers' essential humanity endured.
Did You Know? On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.