Friday, March 7, 1924. End of a Revolution and a Mutiny.

De la Huerta.

The Delahueristas surrendered with President Álvaro Obregón offering them an amnesty which they largely accepted and de la Huerta entered into the US, going to Los Angeles.  Mexican army officers who had been part of the revolution who held a rank higher than major were ordered to be executed.

De la Huerta's revolution came after Obregón endorsed Plutarco Calles as his successor and was favored by Catholics, conservatives and a considerable portion of the army officers.  Obregón was supported by the U.S. government, agrarians, workers and it resulted in the establishment of the Mexican Air Force.

An Irish Army demobilization, resulting in reduced numbers, met the opposition of the Irish Republican Army Organization (IRAO) which delivered an ultimatum to President Cosgrave from Major-General Liam Tobin and Colonel Charles Dalton, demanding it cease.  Defense Minister Richard Mulcahy ordered the arrest of both officers on charges of mutiny.

President Coolidge held a press conference:

Press Conference, March 7, 1924

Date: March 7, 1924

Location: Washington, D.C.

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Here is an inquiry about the appointment of Commissioners for the District of Columbia, and wanting to know whether I propose to wait for information from the various citizens organizations in the District. I think I am already pretty well advised by their opinions. I have here endorsements of Mr. Rudolph and Mr. Oyster by the Dairy Farm Citizens Association, Congress Heights Citizens Association, the Southwest Civic Association, Dupont Circle Citizens Association, West End Citizens Association, Garfield Citizens Association, South Washington Citizens Association, and the Merchants and Manufacturers Association, the Washington Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trade, Federated Citizens Association, and the Thomas Circle Citizens Association. I think there is also an endorsement by the Republican Organization of the District, and I am not certain about the Democratic organization.

Mr. President, are you approaching a decision on that matter?

I think so, very soon. There are several other names suggested, but these men have practically a unanimous endorsement. The different associations and political organizations, quite naturally I would refer to for an opinion.

Will they probably be reappointed, Mr. President?

I wouldn’t assume too much about appointments until they are made. I got caught once or twice by thinking I had an appointment all settled when I was Mayor or Governor, and announced it, and then found out there were reasons why it couldn’t be done. It is embarrassing.

When do you think you will make them, Mr. President? I think very soon. I think their term of office runs out sometime next week. I think early in the week I shall submit their names. Here is an inquiry about the duty on wheat. I don’t know just what can be done about that. I have submitted the report to the Treasury Dept. to draw up a proper proclamation, if one is warranted by the report, in order that it may be done by the experts of the Treasury Department under whose jurisdiction, of course, the collection of revenue comes. I don’t know just what they will find or just when they will find it. I think though that that ought to be returned to me within two or three days. Here is another inquiry about the Mexican Claims Commission. 1 think that the Convention has been ratified and sent up here, but the proclamation so far as I recall has not come to me. That would be the next step necessary; to make the proclamation; and after that is made then I could make the appointments.

Here is an inquiry about a joint resolution for a reduction of 25% in the tax on 1923 incomes as a separate measure. I have seen that referred to in the news dispatches. I don t think I could be said to be advocating it, nor on the other hand am I opposing it. I do feel it would be very desirable if we could get that resolution adopted before the 15th of March, in order that it might apply to the first payment as well as the others. That would be my general reaction about it, but there may be some reasons why that wouldn’t make any difference, although that is the particular point about it that occurs to me. I think the first tax payments are due the 15th of March, and if this 25% were to be deducted from them, it would result in an easing up of the necessary amounts of credits that have to be transferred. I haven’t decided on a successor to Secretary Denby. I should think that if I should decide I could send the name to the Senate any time before his resignation becomes effective, which is next week sometime.

Did the newspaper men make any suggestions, Mr. President, or give you any aid?

Well, 1 think some of them have been suggestive. I haven’t got quite as many as I expected. Perhaps it isn’t so easy as it may have appeared to pick out the right kind of a man.

Here is a statement about an international conference on Europe’s economic situation, and suggesting that it might follow the report of the Dawes’ Committee on reparations, and inquiring whether I care to say whether the U. S. would participate in such a conference, should it take place.

That is a very hypothetical question, and I don’t believe I could give a hypothetical answer to it. All I can say is that we have repeatedly refused to participate in a conference of that kind. I don’t know of any reason up to the present time for a change in our attitude in that direction.

Here is another inquiry that wants to know when the Dept. of Justice will begin presentation of evidence relating to charges disclosed by the Chicago Grand Jury. Of course I have no information about that, nor have I any information about the nature of the charges, other than what is in the paper. I do not even know whether the Department of Justice feels that it has sufficient evidence to warrant a presentation of that evidence to the Grand Jury. All I can say is if they have evidence, or if their investigation discloses to them evidence, I assume they will make a presentation right away. I have suggested to the Department that they proceed expeditiously for the purpose of securing action. Here is this rumor that some members of Congress were involved, which was very distressing to the House, if they are entitled to have the matter cleared up at once. If the Department had evidence that could be presented to the Grand Jury, and if there was sufficient to warrant an indictment, it would be reported and everyone would know who was involved. If it wasn’t sufficient to secure an indictment, why that fact should be made known and everybody would be cleared. Whatever evidence they had as a result of the Chicago investigation, I assumed that they would proceed with it at once. What that is, I don’t know. My only suggestion was that they be as expeditious as possible about it.

Here is an inquiry about the evidence of Ira Bennett. I think I have seen him here once or twice. I can’t give any recollection about his conversation with me, or mine with him. It is in my mind that he came in to say how-do-you-do. I don’t recall any conference with him since this matter became acute. But it may be that he came in during a conference and stopped after the conference to say now-do-you-do.to me. I don’t recall very much about it.

Will you say anything about the telegram that you sent with reference to a Mr. Prescott, to Mr. McLean?

I noticed the statement given out yesterday, but it isn’t quite clear.

So, that was an inquiry that I made. I sent it to Mr. McLean because it ‘as sent, as you perhaps notice from the date of it, at 9.30 or so in the evening. If I had been over here and my office force were here, I could have found out if Mr. Slemp left. But I didn’t know just what time Mr. Slemp was going and I didn’t have his address. I knew that Mr. McLean was a resident there each winter and well known, and so I made the inquiry of him, and also for the purpose of shortening up the telegram. I remembered that Mr. McLean had said to me one time that if you ever want to know anything about District matters, Mr. Prescott would be a good men to talk with. That was the occasion of that telegram.

That had reference to the expiration of the terms of the two District Commissioners, didn’t it?

No, not that especially. Just district matters. I wasn’t very much acquainted with the men in the District who knew of District matters, and as he was out of town I inquired who I could ask about District matters. I recollected that he said Mr. Prescott was Republican City Chairman here. I tried to get Mr. Prescott one time, but he was out of town. So I made that inquiry of Mr. McLean. Does that make the matter plain?

Last prior:

Thursday, March 6, 1924. The US Olympic Equestrian Team.

Sunday, August 22, 1943. Gertie from Berlin.

Irish army recruiting poster during World War Two.  Note the odd shade of the uniform, which was a very grass shade of green, a color unique to the Irish Army, but well suited for the island nation.  This depiction shows an Irish soldier after the adoption of the British style helmet, which came at the UK's request.  Before that the Irish had used a British Vicker's produced version of the German M1916 helmet, which was in fact a better pattern.  Ireland had a hard time staffing its Army during "the Emergency" as military aged men joined the British Army in such large numbers.

Sarah Sundin reports, on her blog:

Today in World War II History—August 22, 1943: German 10th Army is activated in southern Italy under Gen. Heinrich von Vietinghoff. 

In the Mediterranean, all fighter groups and medium bomb groups in the US Ninth Air Force are transferred to the Twelfth Air Force.

The Germans began to withdraw from Kharkiv to avoid encirclement.

Andrei Gromyko was named Ambassador to the United States, replacing Maxim Litvinov who had returned to the Soviet Union under Stalin's orders in May.  Gromyko was Belarusian.

US forces occupied islands in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands including Nukufetau and Namumea without opposition.

George S. Patton thanked the troops of his Army for their efforts in Sicily, noting:

As a result of this combined effort, you have killed or captured 113,350 enemy troops. You have destroyed 265 of his tanks, 2324 vehicles, and 1162 large guns, and, in addition, have collected a mass of military booty running into hundreds of tons.

English language German radio propagandist "Gertie from Berlin" was revealed to be Gertrude Hahn, a native of Pittsburgh who had gone to Germany in 1938 when her family returned to their native country.

The United Islamic Society of America formed in Newark, New Jersey.

Friday, August 3, 1923. Silent Cal awoken, sworn in, and goes back to bed

On this day in 1923, Silent Cal Coolidge, staying on the family homestead in Vermont, was awoken in the early morning hours, and then went back to bed.

Coolidge was a Massachusetts barred lawyer from Vermont, who had entered the profession at the urging of his father after graduating from Amherst.  He practiced commercial law and operated under the maxim that he best served his client's by staying out of court, showing his wisdom.  While practicing law he entered local politics, rose in that field, and had become Governor of Massachusetts prior to becoming Harding's Vice President.

Harding died at 7:30 p.m. on August 2.  He had fallen ill, as we have noted, on his trip sought from a Canadian port of call on his Voyage of Understanding, with his illness first attributed to food poisoning. The exact cause of his death has never really been determined, and there's some speculation that the nature of medical knowledge of the day contributed directly to it.  The Coolidge residence in Vermont lacked electricity or telephones and Coolidge wasn't informed until after 2:00 a.m..  He dressed, said a prayer, went downstairs and took the oath of office from his father, who was a notary.

He then went back to bed.

Coolidge was a wise and practical man.

Later in the day Coolidge would take the train to Washington, D.C.

Kenesaw Mountain Landis suspended baseball for the day.

The Irish Free State passed the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Act", to create "an armed force to be called Oglaigh na hEireann (hereinafter referred to as the Forces) consisting of such number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men as may from time to time be provided".

Nazir Gayed Roufail (نظير جيد روفائيل, IPA: [nɑˈzˤiːɾ ˈɡæjjed ɾʊfæˈʔiːl]) was born Salaam, Egpyt. He would become Pope Shenouda III (Coptic: Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ϣⲉⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲅ̅   Papa Abba Šenoude pimah šoumt; Arabic: بابا الإسكندرية شنودة الثالث Bābā al-Iskandarīyah Shinūdah al-Thālith) of the The Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, romanized: Ti-eklisia en-remenkimi en-orthodhoxos; Arabic: الكنيسة القبطية الأرثوذكسية, romanized: al-Kanīsa al-Qibṭiyya al-ʾUrṯūḏuksiyya).  He would occupy that position for over 40 years.

The Coptic Church is not in communion with Rome, but is an Apostolic Christian Church with Apostolic Succession.   The Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church grew closer together during his reign.

Confederate spy Laura Ratcliffe, universally recognized as gracious and cheerful, died after being bedridden following an accident at her home in Virginia. She was 87.

Wednesday, March 7, 1923. Atrocity

Local Irish Free State officials and the Irish Army executed eight inmates at Ballyseedy in County Kerry by taking them to a crossroad that had been mined and tying them together, which was obviously a reprisal, and a sick one at that.  Survivors, save for Stephen Fuller, were shot by the Irish Army.  Stephen Fuller somehow escaped when he was blown free and crawled to safety. Rescuers took him to the home of Charlie Daly the following day, where he hid in a dug out.  He was found there by Dr. Edmond Shanahan who treated him for his injuries while he remained in hiding.

The perpetrators of the atrocity immediately covered it up.  Fuller later went on to be a member of the Dáil, where he never mentioned it as he didn't want it to become an issue and inspire renewed hatred.

Hitler expressed his support for a Henry Ford Presidential run to the Chicago Tribune.  Hitler and Ford were both antiSemites and Ford's newspaper The Dearborn Independent had published Nazi antisemitic writings

Thursday, August 10, 1922. Cork taken and burned.

The Irish army, having made seaborne landings the day prior, took Cork, although the withdrawing IRA set it on fire first.  The city had been burned during the Anglo-Irish War two years prior.

One of my great-grandmother's was from Cork, although she would have left the city, at age three, well before this time period.

On the same day, IRA men Joseph O'Sullivan and Reginald Dunne were executed in London for the June 22 assassination of Sir Henry Wilson.

The Sammarinese Fascist Party was founded by Giuliano Gozi.  It would rule San Marino for twenty years, falling during the end of the Second World War, during which San Marino was a neutral tiny power.

Friday, August 4, 1922. Parabellum

An ROTC contingent was in camp, receiving training from the U.S. Army.  The tanks in these photographs were the World War One Renault pattern, one of the better tanks of the First World War.

While I'm not completely certain, I think the instructor depicted above is actually wearing hearing protection while his student shoots a Browning machine gun.  Of interest, in spite of the lessons of the Great War, none of the men in these photographs, and they're all men, are wearing helmets.

On the same day, a photographer took photos of the Coast Guard Cutter Seneca.

In an ongoing war, the Irish Free State landed 1,500 troops at three ports in County Kerry to take the Munster region from the Irish Republican Army.  The IRA was pretty rapidly losing ground in the conventional fight.

At 6:25 p.m. Eastern Time, during the internment of Alexander Graham Bell, all telephone service in the United States was suspended for one minute.

The Aliens Decree was issued by the Bolshevik government of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic basically allowing everyone over 14 to become Soviet Citizens, and making anyone below that age Soviet Citizens, save for those who had opposed the Soviets or who failed to apply by the end of the  year.

Friday, June 30, 1922. End of the Four Courts Seige

An explosion and fire at the Four Courts resulted in a cease fire, and then a surrender of the IRA men occupying the structure.

The United States agreed to end its occupation of the Dominican Republic, which had started in 1916.  The last U.S. troops would withdraw in 1924.

Congress passed the Lodge-Fish Resolution endorsing the Balfour Declaration.  The State Department opposed the move.

Movies In History: The Siege of Jadotville

This very recent release premiered in the United States on Netflix.

The movie concerns a September 1961 battle which pitted a company of Irish Army United Nations Peacekeepers against forces fighting for the breakaway province of Katanga in the Congo.  A more or less forgotten event in the United States, the 1960s were a time of intense turmoil in the former Belgian colony.  Mineral rich Katanga took a run at separating from the Congo in this time frame, with the economic aspect of it being a distinct aspect of the attempt, as the Congo nationalized its mineral wealth.  The Katangan forces were a mix of local gendarme and European mercenaries and made a very serious run at separating the province. The United Nations opposed the efforts which descended into outright war.

The Irish unit was a lightly armed infantry company sent by the Republic of Ireland as part of its peacekeeping mission. There was no thought to the unit being engaged in a full scale siege, but following the decline of the situation this is exactly what occurred and the unit fought for over three days against a mixed Katangan/mercenary force which grossly outnumbered it, surrendering only when the Irish unit had completely expended all of its ammunition. During the course of the battle not a single Irish soldier was killed while over 500 of the attacking force were.

This film was recently made with an Irish cast and based upon a novel on the topic.  While based on a novel, at least based on what little I know of the battle, the movie is quite faithful to the history of the event.  I'll confess, however, that I'm not an expert on this historical episode by any means.

In terms of material details the movie is superb.  Indeed, it's surprisingly accurate.  Taking place, as it does, in 1961 it involves a point in military history when armies were just switching over from bolt actions to automatic rifles.  The film correctly depicts the Irish troops mostly armed with World War Two era weapons, such as Lee Enfield bolt action rifles, a Bren gun and a Vickers machine-gun.  A few FAL's appear, but they would have been brand new at the time.  Madsen submachineguns (at least I think they are Madsen's) also appear in Irish hands.  Likewise, the Katangan forces have a few FALs but are mostly armed with Mauser 98 rifles, which would likely also have been correct. A few French submachineguns are shown in use.

Accuracy even extends out to odd things like vehicles and the single example of a Katangan jet aircraft, which is accurately shown to be a Fouga Magiste, a fairly obscure trainer of the period.  I certainly would not have expected that level of accuracy out of any film.  This is not to say it is perfect, a particularly glaring example of the opposite being the use of a Bren gun for a sniping shot in one episode but all in all, this film gets very high marks.

Indeed, it gets high marks in every respect.  Well worth seeing.