BOOJUM!: The Way To Dusty Death

I Apologise For Quoting The Barf Of Avon

We all know that I'm not over-fond of him <hack spit> yet it's an appropriate quote for my Intro today, which concerns that wartime illustrated publication "The War Illustrated", which you may have already determined is not about knitting patterns or collectable tea-cosies. Art! less coal more goal!

Retouched in colour, I believe
(Dateline 11/12/1942 for the curious)

This picture must have led to a lot of gloasting on the Allied side, especially in This Sceptred Isle, because it's the Union Jack being raised over Tobruk once more, this time for good. Tobruk, as you should surely know, was a major port on a coastline that had very few such harbours, and was vital for any army wishing to advance beyond it in either direction. The Axis, demoralised and disorganised, didn't fire a shot in it's defence and abandoned it in haste. Rommel had been given six months to resurrect it's defences and clearly didn't bother, since he hadn't the men or material, and the Italians couldn't be bothered, either. Art!

Here you see one of the unsung heroes of the desert war, the salvage and recovery crews, hauling away a Sherman that needs TLC. Probably engine trouble, the desert sand and dust acted like sandpaper on any moving parts. Then we have a section of the REME enjoying a fag or two, because all soldiers smoked like chimneys. Beneath that is a wounded crewman being hauled out of a tank, looking remarkably unbloodied, and at lower port what is doubtless a Chetwyn special, a staged explosion near a Sherman tank demonstrating the hazards of war. Next!

Again, there'd have been a fair bit of gloasting about this picture, which shows a few of the Operation Torch invasion fleet bound for North Africa. I counted about 30 ships, which makes it 3.5% of the overall total. OT caught the Axis both flat-footed and with their pants down, a lovely mixed metaphor. Consider that the Allies assembled invasion forces from as far away as South Canada, got them across the Atlantic and made an unopposed landing in both Morocco and Algeria and you can see how badly the Axis fumbled things.

Okay, that's enough dust and death. Bring up more cheerful matters! and in the meantime, motley, you can play Dodge The Digitalis Darts.

More More More Of Le Histoire

I know, I know, it doesn't quite rhyme. Close as I'm able to get at short notice. For Lo! we are back on the theme of Historic Photographs from the BBC's website, and another one without explanation. Art!

Courtesy Tom McNally

All we're told is that this is the Brewery Shaft at Nenthead Mines. So, allow me to go away and dig - do you see what I O you do - up more information. Okay, so it is 100 yards deep from the surface, and was dug in 1839. It allows access to the Nent Force Level and the Rampgill Deep Level, and was used in mining lead. Art!

This is from a large collection of pictures taken by urban explorers, and is from another level looking into the Brewery shaft. Rather them than me! They seem to enjoy poking around abandoned mine workings, the fools. We may come back to them.

"Tormentor" Ups The Word Count

Besides hopefully entertaining and even scaring you, gentle reader. Don't forget, THIS IS NOT ALL RAINBOWS AND FLUFFY BUNNIES. With that proviso we shall begin.

Noooo, not possible. The police would have found evidence when they looked the first time. Surely?

It wasn’t pleasant to consider. Perhaps his subconscious made him ditch those ****** sleeping tablets on purpose.

Trying to busy his mind with the inconsequential, he went to work on marking and planning work for the coming week for the English lessons he took, a task normally reserved for Sunday evening. The remedial class of released criminals would have to wait until he got more details from the administration on Monday.

When he started squinting at the pages of A4, Louis suddenly realised that it was dusk again. Dusk, and he had a chore to carry out. He waited until true night fell and went up to the end of Kensington Avenue, to look at the array of flowers and notes now piled up at the end of the alleyway, which still had yellow tape sealing it off. Crossing between cars, he dropped his simple note on the pile and walked back home, scalding tears suddenly and surprisingly erupting, streaming down his face and off his chin, soaking his coat cuff when he tried to stop them.

Alone in the darkened lounge. Louis sat and stared at the pictures of Natasha and Jackie for an age, then went to bed.

THREE

An indefinable, eerie, itching feeling in his mind brought Louis out of shallow doze. If he played loud music wearing headphones he got a similar feeling, that of a hidden observer looking right between his shoulderblades. Since he lay on his side, his view of the world consisted of the pillow.

At least I haven’t kicked the ****** duvet off. That’s strange – it’s really bright in here.

His sleepy eyes picked out the bedroom window, where the curtains had been drawn wide apart, allowing the moon, big and bright as a searchlight, to shine in.

I definitely shut those before.

Shifting slightly on the bed, his feet encountered an obstruction at the end, a solid object apparently perched on top of the duvet.

Louis froze, breathing hard, goose-bumps marching all over his body.

What the **** was sitting on his bed?

That was the right word, sitting.

Oooer Matron! Heh. I like leaving you with a cliffhanger ending. You won't find out until Monday, mind.

Is Conrad Angry? You Bet I Am, Sam!

Just go along with this conceit, it's easier than not doing so and, once again, whose blog is it? For I have come to froth at the mouth over Codewords again, because these new compilers - the old ones got Remotely Nuclear Detonated - are repeating the boundary-straining solutions of their late compatriots.

"GENIC": As defined by my Collins Concise "of or relating to genes". Yes yes yes, I gather that NOW, it wasn't really obvious whilst trying to parse the solution.

So obviously genic

"SCHISM": A six-letter word with only one vowel? And one that went out of use after the eighteenth century? Come on, the only time it's used nowadays is by poseur journalists talking politics and trying to come across as educated. From the Greek 'Skhisma', meaning 'a cleft'.

Something to make a cleft with.
(Duck, compilers!)

"ZILCH": ANOTHER SOUTH CANADIAN SLANG WORD! that has no place in an ENGLISH Codeword, plus it derives from South Canadian sports, making it especially egregious, which is like unfair with bells on. Bah!

Mongol horde showing zilch mercy

Finally -

Last Friday was due to be the last week in the office for us on the Eighteenth Floor, so the rules about dress code, which are already quite lax, were laxed a tad further and we were allowed to wear our Christmas Jumpers. Conrad wore his Starry Warz one, you know, the one with Ol' Darth proclaiming -