A Man Of His Word

Generalleutnant Karl von Schlieben was an officer of the old school. A scion of a German military family, he was commissioned as a Fahnenjunker (the Imperial German equivalent of a cadet) in 3 Garde Regiment zu Fuß at the start of the First World War. In just over a year, he comanded his own company. By the end of the war, he had been wounded two times and risen to the rank of Lieutenant and put in charge of ordnance for Generalkommando 60.

During the interwar period, he managed to remain in the substantially reduced Wehrmacht of the Weimar Republic. In 1939, he was the commander of a rifle regiment attached to a panzer division. He would later be transferred to the Western Front in 1941, where he would command 4th Schützen Brigade of the 4th Panzer Division and then the 208th Infantry Division. For his command of the 208th Infantry Division, he was awarded the Knight's Cross.

Despite this, he was eventually ordered to take command of the 709th Infantry Division (Static). Essentially, it was a unit meant for occupation duty. Static divisions of the Wehrmacht were intended to build and occupy defensive position while Infantry, Panzer, and Panzergrenadier Divisions were better equipped to fight in a variety of situations. In addition to not having the same firepower as other formations, its men were considered to be lower quality recruits. By and large, they were on the average older if they were Germans. In many cases, they would be drawn from conquered territories, the Rhineland or Westphalia. In fact, by the time of the Normandy campaign, the 709th had lost one of its regiments and was being ordered to hold its sector with only 11 battalions.

On 6 June 1944, the combined Allied forces seized the five beachheads in Normandy. From the westernmost beach captured by the U.S. forces, Utah, the VII Corps under Major General Collins struck out to cut off the Cotentin peninsula. The object of this was to cut off and force the surrender of the German forces holding the port of Cherbourg. Cherbourg was critical in the minds of the SHAEF planners. It was only deep water port in the Normandy region that was not Calais. To be able to supply the Allied effort in Northwest France, the staff at SHAEF believed that a deep water port was absolutely necessary. Without it, they were afraid that they simply could not bhring in enough supplies to keep the men fighting.

Which brings us back to Generalleutnant von Schlieben. Von Schlieben and the 709th were the primary defenders of Cherbourg. Starting on June 18, after the U.S.'s 9th Infantry Division finished cutting off the base of the peninsula, he was faced with an attack by elements of three divisions (4th, 9th, and 79th Infantry Divisions). Essentially, he was outnumbered 27 battalions to 11 battalions. The VII Corps had about 40,000 men at the time of the Battle of Cherbourg. At full strength, which is had not been since one of its regiments was transferred prior to D-Day, the 709th would have had approximately 13,000.

To compound his problems, Hitler was overruling his field commanders, demanding that Wehrmacht units in Normandy, including on the Contentin peninsula, contest the Allied advance at every opportunity and counter-attack. Instead of being able to retreat behind the prepared Atlantic Wall fortifications, he was forced to fight. Within two days, von Schlieben's men were encircled in Cherbourg. In all, with the addition of Kriegsmarine men stationed there, von Schlieben had approximately 21,000 men. However, he was almost totally outclassed in artillery. Most of the artillery, some of which his men had held participate in the construction of battery fortifications for, could only fire on targets at sea. Like Singapore, the massive coastal cannons could not be turned on targets inland. Finally, he had no tanks and almost no antitank weapons.

Beginning on June 22, 1944, the U.S. 79th Division began the slow, arduous task of clearing the German bunker systems defending the city. On June 26, the Fort de Roule, one of the key points of the landward defense was captured. At St. Sauveur, on the outskirts of Cherbourg, the 9th Infantry Division had found von Schlieben's headquarters.

Realizing that the end was near, and under orders to deny the use of the port to the Allies, von Schlieben began stalling for time while Kriegsmarine personnel went about the task of destroying the port facilities. When called upon to surrender, he stated that he could surrender while he still had the ability to resist an infantry attack.

Noting how he had answered the surrender demand, the American commander apparently asked something along the lines of "Well, can you resist an armored attack?" To which von Schlieben responded that he could not since he had no antitank weapons left.

As soon as one could be found, a single tank was sent moving up towards von Schlieben. True to his word, von Schlieben surrendered along with the 709th on June 26, 1944.

The Battle of Cherbourg continued until June 30, when the final units, including the Kriegsmarine detachments sabotaging the harbor surrendered. Von Schlieben's defense had stalled the U.S. long enough for them to wreck the harbor so badly that it would not be able to use the harbor in even a limited fashion until the middle of August.

Who Says One Person Can't Make a Difference?

Well, then I would say they should take a look at this man. His name Gavrilo Princip. An ethnic Serb born in Bosnia, he moved to Sarajevo for his schooling. He drifted into nationalist organizations, first the Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia), and from there was eventually recruited into the Ujedinjenje ili Smrt (literally translated as Union or Death but more commonly known in English as the Black Hand).

Once a member of the Black Hand, he was trained in the ways of terrorism. The goal was the overthrow of the Austro-Hungarian rule over the Serbs and the establishment of a Pan-Slav state. Eventually it was decided that further this, a decision was made to strike at the heart of the entity that was seen as oppressing the Serbs: the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Princip and the rest of the assassination team went to Sarajevo in time for the visit of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. After the rest of the team had bungled the attempts, pure luck dropped the Archduke's car into Princip's lap as he was trying find some food after missing his chance earlier. (And in a weird quirk, Archduke Ferdinand was unpopular with the rulers of the Empire because he was advocating giving the Serbs an enlarged voice in the Empire.)

Anyways, with a pull of the trigger, Princip set in motion the events that would lead to the start of the First World War. In four years, the conflagration would reshape the balance of power among the world's Great Powers. Gone would be the Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. Imperial Germany would cease to exist with the abdication of the Kaiser.

The war also brought about the creation of a number of nations, some still in existence, such as Iraq, Czechoslovakia, and the U.S.S.R. In effect, many of the current problems in the Middle East can be traced back to decisions made by the British and French governments who, even in the midst of a life and death struggle with Imperial Germany, showed a propensity to supporting operations to expand their colonial empires. This culminated in the Sykes-Picot agreement which divided the Middle East. (Note, when dividing up a good portion of the world, use a good scale map and do not make the marks in green crayon.)

But just as profound, there would be a change in the way that war was viewed. Prior to 1914, war was viewed as something beneficial, not to be shied away from. Yes, there was an acknowledgment of the human costs. This disappeared in the mud and blood of the Western Front. Following the war, it was the works of Wilfred Owen, Sigfried Sassoon and Robert Graves that took hold, rather than Ernst Junger's writings. Instead of the old view of war, there was the development of the way that war and conflict is popular today: War is bad, that it is to be avoided at all costs.

If Princip had not been there, or decided to just give up on the plot altogether, the world would be a very different place. The Russian Empire might not have fallen, and Bolshevik-style communism would not have risen to hold sway over so much of the world. Hitler would possibly have lived out his life as a paper-hanger and failed painter. Perhaps the Austro-Hungarian Empire would have survived, being reformed along the lines of the heir apparent in 1914, Archduke Ferdinand, to become the Austro-Hungarian-Serbian Empire.

A lot of things happened because one person managed to kill two people on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo.

RIP: Rod Beck

Before the awfulness of Armando Benitez....

Before the chaos of emergency closers like Tim Worrell, Matt Herges, and Dustin Hermanson...

Before the Nenth Inning was ever imagined....

And after the awfulness of Jeff Brantley...

There was Rod Beck.

Unfortunately Rod Beck passed away while I was away this weekend. He made his debut with the Giants in 1991, but he did not enter my mind until one night in 1992.

1992 was an awful year for the Giants. Roger Craig, the man who had guided the Giants out of the misery of its 100 loss season in 1985 to the World Series in 1989, was starting to show his age. The team was in a funk that would see it lose 90 games. The team just felt lifeless.

That lifelessness was apparent one night in the middle of the summer. It had to be a Friday night. I cannot remember (without going to my parent's house and finding my old score cards) and the Giants were in a, surprisingly, close game.

Anyways, as I recall, Beck was brought into the game in the seventh inning with runners on. I had not seen him pitch before, and was lukewarm on him (sometimes it seemed like he was good, but then sometimes, as happened often in 1992 campaign, he did not seem so good). He came into the game and just started to mow down the oppositions batters. He looked like he should be dressed in a Hell's Angels jacket and riding a Harley instead of taking the mound. When he stared in to get the sign, with his arm dangling from his side as if it was just something hanging by a hook on his shoulder, Beck looked fierce.

He finished out the seventh and took the mound to start the eighth. Then, for some inexplicable reason, the manager paid a visit to the mound after Beck had gotten the first out in the inning and called for a new pitcher. Jeff Brantley came trotting out as Beck stood there on the mound, clearly arguing with Craig saying that he wanted to stay in the game and finish it out.

In the end, Craig won out, and Beck stomped off towards the dugout. When he got about half-way there, he hurled his glove into the dugout. Out of all the people on that field at the 'Stick that night, he might have been the only one getting paid by the Giants organization who was fighting to stay in the game.

And that sort of set the tone for what I got to see over the next five seasons that he played with the Giants. When he came out, he was coming out to challenge the batters he faced. Even when was no longer able to bring the heat with 90+ mph stuff, he still had a splitter that befuddled National League hitters. There was no question, when he was called he would take the mound, looking as if he was preparing for a brawl. Coupled with Mike Jackson, it felt as if the team could just get the game to the eighth inning then all would be well.

Then there was the 1997 game versus the Dodgers. Brian Johnson hammered the homerun to put the Giants up, but it was Beck who nailed the coffin shut.

Unfortunately, that would be his last season with the Giants. After that would come a series of stops with other teams, including the Cubs, Red Sox and Padres. I was sad when I heard he had arm troubles with the Red Sox that resulted in him being written off. When he caught on with the Cubs minor league team in 2003, I cheered for him. When he made it back to the majors with I cheered for his success (except those outings when he as facing the Orange and Black... and even then I did not treat him like He-who-must-be-booed). Eventually though, his arm troubles and his own personal problems surfaced once again to put a final end to his career.

It was nice to see that the Giants had a little memorial for him tonight before the game. He was a good Giant who will be missed.

Apparently someone got the name wrong

This is one of the most famous pictures in American History. After at least three movies, and September 11 (when comparisons were drawn from this photograph to the picture of the fireman raising a flag at the WTC) it is a good bet that most people would be able to tell you that this is a picture of the U.S. Marines raising the flag on Mt. Suribachi at Iwo Jima.

The only problem is, apparently the island was not called Iwo Jima. Like Bunker Hill (which was actually fought on Breed's Hill), Iwo Jima was not known as Iwo Jima until someone made an error in paperwork. In fact, until the error, which is believe to have happened during the evacuation of the island's inhabitants in 1944, the island was referred to as Iwo To.

Both Iwo Jima and Iwo To mean the same thing: Sulphur Island. The residents of the island, unhappy with the publicity of the movies Flag of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima have been mounting a campaign to have the name of the island changed back to Iwo To. This campaign has succeeded, and the Japanese Geographical Survey Institute will start printing maps with the name altered to its original.

Apparently, the hubub started when the former inhabitants and current inhabitants of Ogasawara (the municipality which administers Iwo Jima and 2 other islands) were upset because of the usage of Iwo Jima as opposed to Iwo To in the movies.

No matter how many times you tell someone that the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on Breed's Hill, people still call the ground Bunker Hill. Somehow, I think that Iwo To will forever be referred to as Iwo Jima.

Its Designed to Break Your Heart

Being a Giants' fan (that would be the San Francisco Giants, not that New York team that plays football) that is.

Over at the McCovey Chronicles, Grant is ready to throw in the towel and buckle in for a repeat of 1985. However, as the ObsessiveCompulsiveGiantsFan points out, the Giants are not out of it under the Dusty Baker rule (games back > weeks to play = out of it; games back < weeks to play = still in the hunt).

Personally, this team is not, yet, as bad as the 1985 team. Reminds me more of the 1992 team. The only thing is, I can not see the chance for us to get rid of any the players that we would want to get rid of. I mean, what fool would possibly trade to get Pedro Feliz? Sure he has a golden glove caliber skills, but his ability to take a pitch is almost non-existent, his hitting comes more and more infrequently, and he strikes out too much. Then there is Ray Durham. Sure, he has power but two hamstrings which are so tempermental that after Bonds, he is the most fragile player on the team.

And then there's Ryan Klesko? Rich Aurillia? Steve Kline? I'm sorry, but only the San Francisco Giants are crazy enough to pay for these players.

What we have to offer are pitchers coming out of our ears. However, in order to get anything of value, the Giants would need to be willing to give up either Lowry, Caine, Lincecum, or Sanchez. Some teams might possibly be wiling to trade for Morris. Giving up one,.... would hurt and probably end up like the Joe Nathan-Francisco Liriano deal the way that Sabean's track record has been in the last few years.

Ok, surely it cannot be this bad. Right? Will someone tell me not to jump yet? I'm trying to believe, but I'm just seeing oncoming trains.

The Black Hole of Calcutta

Have you ever heard the phrase, when referring to a mess, that it looks like the Black Hole of Calcutta?

Well, if you have, and ever wondered what it refers to, it is a reference to a dungeon in Calcutta, India (now Kolkota). Located in Fort William, in Calcutta, it was where the Nawab of Bengal imprisoned British prisoners during a conflict with the East India Company.

After capturing Fort William in June 1756, the Nawab's troops place British prisoners in the dungeon. The precise number is disputed. The only first-hand account comes down to us from John Zephaniah Holwell, the surgeon who was left in command of the fort after the rest of garrison escaped. He states that there were 146 prisoners who were originally incarcerated in the dungeon. The dungeon itself was said to measure 14 feet by 18 feet. The next day, without any food or water, there were only 23 survivors.

Scholars have disputed this claim, partly on the grounds that the records available show that there were only 69 men left defending the fortress when it fell.

The survivors of the fortress remained in the hands of the Bengalis until Robert Clive recaptured the city in February 1757.

Great Orators

Until I was reminded today, I had completely forgotten about one of the other notable events that happened many a year ago today: Winston Churchill's third address to the House of Commons.



Otherwise known as the "Finest Hour" speech, it is Churchill telling the government and the British Empire that even though they have just experienced one of the most crushing defeats in modern history, tempered only by the miracle of Dunkirk, that the war will go on. This was perhaps the nadir of Britain's fortunes in the war. What was left of her army had no weapons, and no way of immediately replacing them. The Royal Navy, no longer as dominant as it had been in 1914, was face with the prospect of covering not only areas originally envisionaged but now having to extend its strained resources to protect the Mediterranean sea lanes which France had promised to protect. The RAF, though concentrated on British isles, was preparing to face off against the Luftwaffe which outnumbered it nearly 3 to 1. The Soviet Union was abiding by its Non-Agression Pact with the Nazis and the United States was keeping its head firmly buried in the sand, hoping that the war would not cross the ocean.

He could have mentioned that the situation was the result of the policies of the British and French governments for the previous decades. He does not. He could have trumpted his own horn, since he had been almost alone in predicting what Hitler's true intensions were. He did not. Instead he simply, clearly, concisley states what the new policy will be, and why it will work.

In this speech, Churchill laid out exactly what the penalty was for failing to stand up to the Nazi menace, now only tens of miles away across the English Channel. The decision was simple: to either fight the Nazi foe and win or to see the world"sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science."

People do not talk like this anymore.

If you take into account the time zones

Then it would be 8:00 a.m. in the morning in Belgium. 192 years ago (that is if I am doing my math correctly), at about this time, a combined force of British, Dutch, Hanoverian and Brunswickers were assembling in a line of battle under the command of Arthur Wellesley, better known as the Duke of Wellington.

The line formed by the Allied force was perpendicular to the main road to Brussels. To their front, two farms, La Haye Sainte and Hougmont, had been coverted in makeshift fortresses. In La Haye Sainte, the men of the King's German Legion's 1st and 2nd Light Battalions, reinforced with the light company of the King's German Legion's 5th Line Battalion. In the Hougamont, the men of th 95th Rifles waited.

The Allied line looked down on the low slope of the ridge towards their oppostion: Emperor Napoleon and his Grande Armee. This was the 100th day since Napoleon had returned from his exile on Elba.

In the previous 99 days, Napoleon had seemed to return to form. Within days of his landing, virtually the entire army of the restored Bourbons had gone over to him. After reassuming control of France, he had quickly reassembled the Grande Armee. His arrival had caught his enemies by surprise. The coalition which had brought down his empire had drifted apart. Russia and Austria had turned back to dealing with their own interests. Britain had dispatched may of her best units to deal with the war against the United States. With the Coalition forces scattered, Napoleon had a chance to deal with the separate components and defeat them in detail.

The first clashes happened on June 16. Trying to prevent the Allied force under Wellington from combining with the Prussian Army under Blucher, Napoleon split his forces and surprised both columns. At Ligny, Napoleon ordered two corps, 2nd Corps and the 3rd Cavalry Corps, to block Blucher's army. Outnumbered 68,000 to 84,000, the French force drove off the Prussian in a day long battle. Nearby at Qatre Bras, the balance of the Grande Armee ran into the lead elements of Wellington's force. Although the battle ended in a draw, with both sides suffering more than 4,000 casualties, it was the Allies who had to withdraw.

This brings up to June 18. After a day of manuevering, and a long night in the rain, the Allied forces found themselves near the Mont St. Jean, near the town of Waterloo, on a low ridge blocking the road to Brussels. Blucher had sent word that he was bringing his army to meet up with Wellington's, despite his subordinates questioning whether they should. Until Blucher arrived, Wellington would have approximately 67,000 men to hold off approximately 73,000 French troops.

In a way, this was the equivalent of two boxing champions meeting for the first time. Despite nearly twenty years of war between the Great Britain and France, the Sepoy General (as Wellington was sometimes derisively referred) had never faced the Corsican Corporal. As he ate his breakfast with his Marshals, a number of whom had been beaten by Wellington in the Peninsula Campaign, Napoleon was reported to have said, "Just because you have all been beaten by Wellington, you think he's a good general. I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad troops, and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast."

In the years to come, he probably had to regret that remark. By the end of the day, the Grande Armee would be broken as an offensive force. Nearly a third of its strength would lie dead or dying on the field of battle. Another 7,000 would be prisoner and 15,000 would be missing from its rolls. The battle would not be easy for the Allied and Prussian armies, who would lose respectively 15,000 and 7,000 men.

For the full story of the Battle of Waterloo, you might want to read Jac Weller's Wellington At Waterloo, Elizabeth Longford's Wellington the Years of the Sword, or Waterloo New Perspectives: The Great Battle Reappraised by David Hamilton-Williams. Or if you want a fictional account, you could always treat yourself to Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Waterloo.