re: GMT

Morning all

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That's wild man, looks cold AF

Oh by golly!

Morning all

Morning All

Getting ready to head out on the frozen tundra.

Another day of feeding cattle and working on ... Taxes.

The frozen tundra extends to the east

Morning all

Today in History: January 29

1813 Jane Austin publishes Pride and Prejudice.

1861 Kansas is admitted into the Union as the 34th state.

1929 The Seeing Eye, America's first school for training dogs to guide the blind, founded in Nashville, Tennessee.

1942 German and Italian troops take Benghazi in North Africa.

1944 The world's greatest warship, Missouri, is launched.

1979 President Jimmy Carter commutes the sentence of Patty Hearst.

1984 President Ronald Reagan announces that he will run for a second term.

1984 The Soviets issue a formal complaint against alleged U.S. arms treaty violations.

1991 Iraqi forces attack into Saudi Arabian town of Kafji, but are turned back by Coalition forces.


Born on January 29

1737 Thomas Paine, political essayist (The Rights of Man, The Age of Reason).

1880 W.C. Fields, comedian and actor (David Copperfield, My Little Chickadee).

Joke of the day
A newlywed farmer and his wife were visited by her mother, who immediately demanded an inspection of the place. While they were walking through the barn, the farmer's mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law, unfortunately killing her instantly.

At the funeral service, the farmer stood near the casket and greeted folks as they walked by. The pastor noticed that whenever a woman would whisper something to the farmer, he would nod his head "yes" and say something. Whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer, he would shake his head "no" and mumble a reply.
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Curious, the pastor later asked the farmer what that was all about. The farmer replied, "The women would say, 'What a terrible tragedy,' and I would nod my head and say, 'Yes, it was.' The men would ask, 'You wanna sell that mule?' and I would shake my head and say, 'Can't. It's all booked up for a year.'"

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1942 German and Italian troops take Benghazi in North Africa.

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Being American we focus on the tremendous setbacks the US suffered in early '42 but for the UK you can make a very good argument early 1942 was the death knell of the Empire.

Their holdings in Asia were wiped off the board in months, including a chunk of their now dwindling naval force (battleships were no match for the dreaded Kido Butai and its carriers), and important sources of rare materials were lost. A famine killed millions in SE Asia, and British policies certainly didn't help the matter. Even India, the crown jewel of the Empire was in danger.

Indeed, India, Australia, and New Zealand had all been stripped to the bones of military units and only the heroic stand of the Aussies in New Guinea and the Indians in SE Asia prevent utter disaster. UK forces frankly under performed their poorly equipped allies greatly.

North Africa, however, was supposed to be different. This is where Great Britain had thrown the bulk of their resources. They had squandered most of that in '41 when they foolishly sent the bulk of their forces to fight in Greece and Crete but had been bailed out by the 9th Australian Division hanging onto Tobruk. The Aussies stand had allowed Britain to replace their missing men and materials (though even in 1942 it was becoming clear that the UK was running out of manpower) and they pushed the Germans and Italians back past the border of modern day Libya.

And... they pissed it all away again in another time honored tradition of British hubris. Churchill and the UK had assumed that the fight was virtually finished in North Africa and began a leisurely build up for the final push. What they did not know is that instead of facing 35,000 Germans and Italians on their last legs, they now faced 80,000 and the reinforced Afrika Korps was about to strike.

Indian divisions thrown into the fight to slow the advance were mauled and the South African military was essentially obliterated. Only dwindling supplies stopped Rommel and the Korps just outside of Cairo. Had Cairo fallen the war would have practically been over for the UK.

In the end it was a near run thing. Australia and the United States first held the line, and then turned the tide in the Southwest Pacific. British and Indian forces (mostly Indian) stopped the Japanese advance and dug in for a prolonged fight in some of the worst terrain in the world. And Montgomery, blessed with a nigh on endless supply of US Landlease, was able to build up his forces to push the Germans back from the approaches of Cairo once and for all.

But all of Britain's colonial possessions had seen the UK humbled, even embarrassed. The sun was setting on the British Empire.

Evening All