13 November-Pat Reid

Captain Patrick Reid whose family were from Carlow, Ireland was one of the few people to escape from Colditz Castle during World War II. Colditz Castle is located in the state of Saxony in Germany. It was used as prisoner-of-war camp by the Nazi’s during the war.

Patrick Robert Reid was born in November 1910 in Ranchi the capital of the state of Jharkhand in north eastern India. His father John Reid was from Grange near Tullow, Co Carlow. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College Co Kildare, Ireland and graduated from King’s College London in 1932. He later trained as a civil engineer.

In 1935 Patrick Reid joined the British Army. He was mobilised for active duty on August 24th 1939. Whilst serving as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he was captured by the Germans on May 27th 1940 near Cassel about 30km south of Dunkirk in France. He was sent as a prisoner of war to Laufen Castle in Bavaria close to the Austrian border. Three months later having dug a tunnel Reid and five other prisoners escaped and tried to reach Yugoslavia. They were captured within days and returned to prison.

In November 1940 they were sent to ‘escape proof’ Colditz Castle, which is located in the town of Colditz, between Leipzig and Dresden. Following several escape attempts Reid and three others escaped from Colditz. Reid crossed the border into Switzerland in October 1942 and remained there for the remainder of the war.

After the war Reid served for a time as a diplomat in Turkey. He was later appointed as an administrator of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (now the OECD) based in Paris. He also became a writer detailing his experiences as a prisoner of war and his escape attempts. Some of his writings about Colditz formed the basis for a film in 1955 and later for a series on television. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1945. Captain Reid died in Bristol in 1990 at the age of 79.

Patrick Reid, whose family were from Carlow, Ireland was one of the few people to escape from Colditz Castle during World War II. He was born in the year 1910 On This Day.

Colditz Castle by NH53 on 2014-10-21 11:14:39

Escape tunnel… by lostajy on 2009-08-31 13:27:23

 

12 November-Auguste Rodin

Auguste Rodin was a French Sculptor who became world famous in his lifetime. Oscar Wilde held Rodin’s work in great esteem. A bust which he cast of his friend George Bernard Shaw can be seen in the Musée Rodin in Paris. After the World Fair in Paris in 1900 his work was in great demand by wealthy clients. His sculptures include such famous pieces as The Age of Bronze, The Kiss and The Thinker.

François-Auguste-René Rodin was born Paris in November 1840. He entered a drawing school at the age of 13 but four years later failed to gain entry to École des Beaux-Arts. He worked for a time in the decorative arts. By the mid 1860’s he had completed his first major work, ‘Mask of the Man With the Broken Nose’. During the following years Rodin became a world-renowned artist. He died in Meudon at the age of 77 on November 17th 1917.

Auguste Rodin, French Sculptor who became world famous in his lifetime, was born in the year 1840 On This Day.

Auguste Rodin for PIFAL. by Arturo Espinosa on 2012-07-03 22:42:36

The Thinker by Japanexperterna.se on 2015-02-11 14:10:23

05 October-Myles na gCopaleen

Myles na gCopaleen was one of the pseudonyms used by the Irish novelist and satirist Brian O’Nolan (Brian Ó Nualláin). He used several other pseudonyms during his lifetime, including Flann O’Brien, George Knowall and Brother Barnabas. Apart from his novels O’Nolan, who was fulltime civil servant, also wrote a satirical column for the Irish Times for twenty six years.

Brian O’Nolan was born in Strabane, Co Tyrone in 1911. He was educated at Blackrock College and at Synge Street Christian Brothers School in Dublin. Having studied German at University College Dublin O’Nolan joined the civil service in 1930. The novel At Swim-Two-Birds, considered to be O’Brien’s masterpiece, was published in 1939. His other novels include, The Third Policeman, An Béal Bocht, The Hard Life and The Dalkey Archive.

Myles na gCopaleen (Brian O’Nolan), Irish novelist and satirist, was born in the year 1911 On This Day.

For Éamon Myles Charles

Myles na gCopaleen – Flann O’Brien

 

 

 

30 September-Boris Yeltsin at Shannon Airport

Boris Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation serving from 1991 to 1999. During his first term as President he made a stopover at Shannon Airport in 1994. He was returning to Moscow following a visit to the US. He was due to hold talks with An Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. However the meeting was cancelled because the Russian President failed to emerge from his jet. It was reported that he was sleeping and was not wakened on medical advice.

Boris Yeltsin was born in Sverdlovsk [now Yekaterinburg], Russia on the border between Europe and Asia. Having studied at the Ural Polytechnic Institute he majored in construction and worked in the building industry. He became active in politics, eventually being appointed mayor of Moscow by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. However Yeltsin was critical of Gorbachev and the slow pace of reform and was forced to resign in 1987. He continued to campaign for reform and was elected President of the Russian Federation in June 1991.

In power Yeltsin rapidly introduced the reforms which Gorbachev had initiated. In the event, during the change from communism to capitalism, some people became very wealthy but many Russians experienced poverty. The fall in the standard of living led to a fall in popularity for Yeltsin but he was re-elected as President in July 1996. He served until December 31st 1999 when he resigned and named Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as acting president.

Boris Yeltsin paid a visit to the United States in late September 1994. During a busy schedule he gave an address to United Nations General Assembly and held a summit with President Clinton. He also held business meetings in cities such as New York, Washington and Seattle. On his return journey to Moscow the Russian President was due to hold a meeting with An Taoiseach Albert Reynolds at Shannon. The meeting was to be followed by a reception at nearby Drumoland Castle.

President Yeltsin’s plane circled Shannon Airport for an hour before landing. When it finally landed the red carpet was rolled out. Mr Reynolds together with officials from the Irish Government and officials from the Russian Embassy waited for 15 minutes on the tarmac before being told that Mr Yeltsin was not available to meet them. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets, who reported the President was asleep held a brief meeting with An Taoiseach. Later in Moscow Yeltsin said he had overslept and would punish the officials who had failed to wake him. Yeltsin returned to Ireland in 2006. He went shark fishing off the Cliffs of Moher and had lunch on Inis Oírr.

Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation, failed to leave his plane at Shannon Airport to meet with Taoiseach Albert Reynolds in the year 1994 On This Day.

President Yeltsin photo

Photograph of President Boris Yeltsin and President William Clinton at Springwood the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York 10/23/1995

Photo by The U.S. National Archives

Boris Yeltsin monument by Harald Groven on 2015-10-20 16:09:48

 

29 September-James Hoban Stamp

James Hoban, Architect of the White House, was born in Kilkenny, Ireland. In 1981 a stamp was jointly issued in his honour by the Irish Post Office and the United States Postal Service. It was the first occasion that the Irish Post Office did a joint stamp issue with a foreign postal service. Called the James Hoban Commemoration Stamp its design was the same for both countries.

James Hoban was born in Kilkenny 1758. He grew up on an estate of the Earl of Desart in Cuffesgrange near Callan, County Kilkenny. Until his early 20’s, he worked on the estate as a wheelwright and carpenter. From there he moved to Dublin to study at the Dublin Society’s Drawing School on Lower Grafton Street where he excelled at his studies. Having completed his studies in 1779 he worked on various building projects in Dublin including Dublin City Hall. He is credited with the building of Belcamp House in Dublin. The building has been described as a mini Whitehouse complete with ‘oval office’. Belcamp House later became Belcamp College which closed in 2004.

By the year 1785 Hoban, having emigrated to the United States, had established himself as an architect in Philadelphia. He later moved to Charleston South Carolina where he designed both private and public buildings. The courthouse in Charleston which he remodelled form the old colonial state house is still in use today.

James Hoban won a competition to design the residence of the President of the United States now called the White House. He oversaw its construction from 1793 to 1800. During the war of 1812 the building was attacked and burned by the British who had invaded from their base on Ireland Island in the Caribbean. Hoban supervised the restoration work which was completed in 1817. The White House is modelled on Leinster House in Dublin, a fact acknowledged by President John F Kennedy in his speech to the Oireachtas in 1963.

Irish artist Ron Mercer and American designer Walter Richards collaborated to design a stamp in honour of James Hoban. A dedication ceremony announcing the release of the stamp was attended by the then First Lady Nancy Regan and the then Irish Ambassador to the United States Sean Donlan.

The dedication ceremony for the James Hoban Commemoration Stamp took place in the White House, Washington DC, in the year 1981 On This Day.

The White House Northside by Glyn Lowe Photoworks. on 2012-05-31 15:44:20

Architect James Hoban Stamp photo

Image from page 34

Photo by Internet Archive Book Images