Background.

The Paracel Islands, called Xisha Islands (; "Xīshā Qúndǎo") in Chinese and Hoang Sa Islands ("Quần Đảo Hoàng Sa") in Vietnamese, lie in the South China Sea approximately equidistant from the coastlines of the PRC and Vietnam (200 nautical miles). With no native population, the archipelago’s ownership has been in dispute since the early 20th century.  China first asserted sovereignty in the modern sense to the South China Sea’s islands when it formally objected to France’s efforts to incorporate them into French Indochina during the Sino-French War (1884–1885). Initially, France recognized Qing China's sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos, in exchange for Chinese recognition of Vietnam as a French territory. Chinese maps since then have consistently shown China’s claims, first as a solid and then as a dashed line. In 1932, one year after the Japanese Empire invaded northeast China, France formally claimed both the Paracel and Spratly Islands; China and Japan both protested. In 1933, France bolstered their claim and seized the Paracels and Spratlys, announced their annexation, formally included them in French Indochina. They built several weather stations on them, but they did not disturb the numerous Chinese fishermen found there. In 1938 Japan took the islands from France, garrisoned them, and built a submarine base at Itu Aba (now Taiping / 太平) Island. In 1941, the Japanese Empire made the Paracel and Spratly Islands part of Taiwan, then under its rule.  In 1945, in accordance with the Cairo and Potsdam Declarations and with American help, the armed forces of the Republic of China government at Nanjing accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrisons in Taiwan, including the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Nanjing then declared both archipelagoes to be part of Guangdong Province. In 1946 it established garrisons on both Woody (now Yongxing / 永兴) Island in the Paracels and Taiping Island in the Spratlys. France promptly protested. The French tried but failed to dislodge Chinese nationalist troops from Yongxing Island (the only habitable island in the Paracels), but were able to establish a small camp on Pattle (now Shanhu / 珊瑚) Island in the southwestern part of the archipelago.  In 1950, after the Chinese nationalists were driven from Hainan by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), they withdrew their garrisons in both the Paracels and Spratlys to Taiwan. In 1954 France ceased to be a factor when it accepted the independence of both South and North Vietnam and withdrew from Indochina.  In 1956 the PLA reestablished a Chinese garrison on Yongxing Island in the Paracels, while the Republic of China (Taiwan) stationed troops on Taiping Island in the Spratlys. That same year, however, South Vietnam reopened the abandoned French camp on Shanhu Island and announced it had annexed the Paracel archipelago as well as the Spratlys. To focus on its war with the North, South Vietnam by 1966 had reduced its presence on the Paracels to only a single weather observation garrison on Shanhu Island. The PLA made no attempt to remove this force.

Prelude.

On January 16, 1974, six South Vietnamese Army officers and an American observer on the frigate "Lý Thường Kiệt" (HQ-16) were sent to the Paracels on an inspection tour. They discovered two Chinese “armored fishing trawlers” laying off Drummond Island to support a detachment of PLA troops who had occupied the island. Chinese soldiers were also observed around a bunker on nearby Duncan Island, with a landing ship moored on the beach and two additional Kronstadt-class submarine chasers in the vicinity. This was promptly reported to Saigon, and several naval vessels were sent to confront the Chinese ships in the area. The South Vietnamese Navy frigate signaled the Chinese squadron to withdraw, and in return received the same demand. The rival forces shadowed each other overnight, but did not engage.  On January 17, about 30 South Vietnamese commandos waded ashore unopposed on Robert Island and removed the Chinese flag they found flying. Later, both sides received reinforcements. The frigate "Trần Khánh Dư" (HQ-4) joined the "Lý Thường Kiệt" (HQ-16), while two PLA Navy minesweepers (#274 and #271) joined the Chinese.  On January 18, the frigate "Trần Bình Trọng" (HQ-5) arrived carrying the commander of the South Vietnamese fleet, Colonel Hà Văn Ngạc. The corvette "Nhật Tảo" (HQ-10) also reached the islands, moving cautiously because it had only one functioning engine at the time.

Balance of forces.

These four warships from the South Vietnam Navy would participate in the battle: the frigates,,, and, and the corvette. A platoon of South Vietnamese naval commandos, an underwater demolition team, and a regular ARVN platoon were by now stationed on the islands.  China also had four warships present: the PLA Navy minesweepers "271", "274", "389" and "396". These were old and small warships with an average length of and width of, and they had not been well-maintained. However, they were reinforced by two Type 037 submarine chasers ("281" and "282") by the end of the battle. In addition, two PLA marine battalions and an unknown number of irregular militia had been landed on the islands.  Although four ships were engaged on each side, the total displacements and weapons of the South Vietnamese ships were superior. The supporting and reinforcement forces of the PLA Navy did not take part in the battle.

Military engagement.

In the early morning of January 19, 1974, South Vietnamese soldiers from "Trần Bình Trọng" landed on Duncan Island and came under fire from Chinese troops. Three South Vietnamese soldiers were killed and more were wounded. Finding themselves outnumbered, the South Vietnamese ground forces withdrew by landing craft, but their small fleet drew close to the Chinese warships in a tense standoff.  At 10:24 a.m., the South Vietnamese warships "Lý Thường Kiệt" and "Nhật Tảo" opened fire on the Chinese warships. "Trần Bình Trọng" and "Trần Khánh Dư" then joined in. The sea battle lasted about 40 minutes, with vessels on both sides taking damage. The smaller Chinese warships managed to maneuver into the blind spots of the main cannons on the South Vietnamese warships and damaged all four South Vietnamese ships, especially "Nhật Tảo", which could not retreat because her last working engine was disabled. The crew was ordered to abandon ship, but her captain, Lieutenant Commander Ngụy Văn Thà, remained on board and went down with his ship. "Lý Thường Kiệt", severely damaged by friendly fire from "Trần Bình Trọng", was forced to retreat westwards. "Trần Khánh Dư" and "Trần Bình Trọng" soon joined in the retreat.  The next day, Chinese aircraft from Hainan bombed the three islands, and an amphibious landing was made. The outnumbered South Vietnamese marine garrison on the islands was forced to surrender, and the damaged navy ships retreated to Đà Nẵng.  During the battle, the South Vietnamese fleet detected two more Chinese warships rushing to the area. China later acknowledged these were the Hainan-class submarine chasers "281" and "282". Despite South Vietnamese reports that at least one of their ships had been struck by a missile, the Chinese insisted what the South Vietnamese saw were rocket-propelled grenades fired by the crew of #389 and that no missile-capable ships were present, and the Chinese ships closed in because they had no missiles. The South Vietnamese fleet also received warnings that U.S. Navy radar had detected additional Chinese guided missile frigates and aircraft on their way from Hainan.  South Vietnam requested assistance from the U.S. Seventh Fleet, but the request was denied.

Result.

Following the battle, China gained control over all of the Paracel Islands. South Vietnam protested to the United Nations, but China, having veto power on the UN Security Council, blocked any efforts to bring it up. The remote islands had little value militarily, but diplomatically the projection of power was beneficial to China.

South Vietnamese casualties.

The South Vietnamese reported that the warship "Nhật Tảo" was sunk and "Lý Thường Kiệt" heavily damaged, while "Trần Khánh Dư" and "Trần Bình Trọng" were both slightly damaged. 53 South Vietnamese soldiers, including Captain Ngụy Văn Thà of "Nhật Tảo", were killed, and 16 were wounded. On January 20, 1974, the Dutch tanker, "Kopionella", found and rescued 23 survivors of the sunken "Nhật Tảo". On January 29, 1974, South Vietnamese fishermen found 15 South Vietnamese soldiers near Mũi Yến (Qui Nhơn) who had fought on Quang Hòa island and escaped in lifeboats.  After their successful amphibious assault on January 20, the Chinese held 48 prisoners, including an American advisor. They were later released in Hong Kong through the Red Cross.

Chinese casualties.

The Chinese claimed that even though its ships had all been hit numerous times, none of them had been sunk. Warships "271" and "396" suffered speed-reducing damage to their engines, but both returned to port safely and were repaired. "274" was damaged more extensively and had to stop at Yongxing Island for emergency repairs. It returned to Hainan under its own power the next day. "389" was damaged the most by an engine room explosion. Its captain managed to run his ship aground and put out the fire with the help of the minesweepers. It was then towed back to base. Eighteen Chinese sailors were killed and 67 were wounded in the battle.

Aftermath.

A potential diplomatic crisis was averted when China released the American prisoner taken during the battle. Gerald Emil Kosh, 27, a former U.S. Army captain, was captured with the South Vietnamese on Pattle Island. He was described as a “regional liaison officer” for the American embassy in Saigon on assignment with the South Vietnamese Navy. China released him from custody on January 31 without comment.  The leaders of North Vietnam gave a glimpse of their worsening relationship with China by conspicuously not congratulating their ally. An official communique issued by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam mentioned only its desire for a peaceful and negotiated resolution for any local territorial dispute. In the wake of the battle, North Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyễn Cơ Thạch told the Hungarian ambassador to Hanoi that "there are many documents and data on Vietnam's archipelago." Other North Vietnamese cadres told the Hungarian diplomats that in their view, the conflict between China and the Saigon regime was but a temporary one. However, they later said the issue would be a problem of the entire Vietnamese nation.  After the reunification of Vietnam in April 1975, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam publicly renewed its claim to the Paracels, and the dispute continues to this day. Hanoi has praised the South Vietnamese forces that took part in the battle.

The Battle of the Paracel Islands was a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam in the Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974. The battle was an attempt by the South Vietnamese navy to expel the Chinese navy from the vicinity.


Life and career.

Kurzel was born in 1976 and, with his older brother Justin Kurzel (born 1974), grew up in Gawler, South Australia. Their father, Zdzislaw Kurzel (1946–2006), was from Poland and had migrated to Australia in 1960, where he became a taxi driver. In the 1990s, Kurzel moved to Sydney, where Justin was studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).  In 2001 Kurzel on lead vocals and guitar, Anthony Johnsen on drums and a bass guitarist formed a blues-rock group, the Mess Hall in Sydney – the bass guitarist soon left but was not replaced, they continued as a duo. Kurzel recalled "When the clubs asked us where our bass player was, we used to lie and say he was sick." Their debut album "The Mess Hall" was released in June 2003. In early 2004 Johnsen was replaced by Cec Condon on drums and vocals. Their third album "Devils Elbow" (October 2007) won the Australian Music Prize.  In 2000 Kurzel composed the film score for the short subject, "Sammy Blue", at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, with Kim Farrant directing. He worked for Farrant again: providing the score for "Naked on the Inside" (2006), a feature film documentary on body image. In 2009 he composed music for "Castor & Pollux", a short film, directed by Ben Briand.  In 2011 Kurzel provided the music score for the directorial debut feature film by Justin, "Snowtown". At the APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards of 2011 Kurzel won Feature Film Score of the Year. It was nominated for Australian Film Institute Award for Best Original Music Score. The related soundtrack album was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album in that same year.  Kurzel also wrote the scores for "Son of a Gun", "Slow West" and the documentary "All This Mayhem". In 2015, he worked again with his brother on "Macbeth", followed by "Assassin's Creed" in 2016. He replaced Harry Gregson-Williams as the composer of "".

Jed Danyel Kurzel (born 1976) is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist and film composer. He is a founding member of The Mess Hall (from 2001), a blues rock duo. His older brother Justin Kurzel is a film director and screenwriter.


Geography.

Underwood is located at (47.456080, -101.139601).  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all of it land.

Demographics.

2010 census.

As of the census of 2010, there were 778 people, 326 households, and 211 families living in the city. The population density was. There were 377 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 95.5% White, 0.3% African American, 1.8% Native American, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 0.1% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.6% of the population.  There were 326 households of which 22.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 4.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.3% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.77.  The median age in the city was 49.8 years. 18.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23% were from 25 to 44; 32.9% were from 45 to 64; and 21.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.5% male and 51.5% female.

2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 812 people, 323 households, and 229 families living in the city. The population density was 910.8 people per square mile (352.3/km2). There were 381 housing units at an average density of 427.3 per square mile (165.3/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 96.80% White, 1.11% Native American, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.25% of the population.  There were 323 households out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.9% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.85.  In the city, the population was spread out with 20.9% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 20.7% from 25 to 44, 29.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $35,250, and the median income for a family was $47,578. Males had a median income of $39,375 versus $18,611 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,916. About 7.1% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over.

Climate.

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Underwood has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Education.

Underwood Public School serves the community.

Underwood is a city in McLean County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 778 at the 2010 census. Underwood was founded along a Soo Line Railroad line between Bismarck and Max in 1903 and named after Fred D. Underwood, vice president of the railroad at the time.


History.

First Eras.

Today’s organized horse races as today were conducted in Izmir on 23 September 1856 for the first time. In the leadership of Evliyazade Refik Bey and the term’s Consul General of England Mr. Patterson, Smyrna Races Club was founded. Izmir races were organized annually on Easter days. S.R.C. races were in their golden ages at the beginning of the 20th century and this ended with the start of 1st World War..

Ottoman Jockey Club.

The opinions of organizing horse races and breeding by means of jockey club in Turkey was tried to be accomplished but there is no clear knowledge on the actions of this club. According to the directory published in 1909, Grand Vizier Sait Halim Pasha was the president of Ottoman Jockey Club.

Guild of Cavalryman Races.

Refik Evliyazade started working for regular races to be organized in Istanbul when S.R.C races came to an end with 1st World War. As a result of the support by the most powerful person of the era, Enver Pasha, Guild of Cavalryman Horse Riding Club and Society of Improving Horse Breed were founded in 1913. Choosing Veliefendi as racetrack coincides with the same era.

TJK Era.

Jockey Club of Turkey was founded on 23 October 1950 by the period’s Secretary of State Fevzi Lutfi Karaosmanoglu, Deputy of Kocaeli Saim Onhon, Halim Sait Turkhan, Nejat Evliyazade and Sait Akson with the approvals of the era’s President and Prime Minister. Lounge of the club was opened on the Ziya Gokalp street in Ankara with the attendance of President Celal Bayar on 14 April 1951.  In 1954, 43 races pwere organized with a daily programme in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Today, number of the cities hosting horseraces are increased to 8 with the addition of Adana, Bursa, Sanliurfa, Elazig and Diyarbakir to Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir; also horseraces began to be organized during the whole year without interruption.  As a result of the practices of Jockey Club of Turkey, race incomes rose and huge investments has been made with those incomes. For example; modern racecourses has been built in 9 cities across Turkey in which races are organized. Also, a great importance has been attributed to horse breeding services and those facilities has been built: Pension stud farms in Bursa Karacabey for thoroughbred English Horses, Pension stud farms in Eskisehir Mahmudiye and in Sanliurfa for thoroughbred Arabic Horses. Apart from those facilities, Agean / Torbali, Izmit / Center, Adana / Seyhan, Thrace Insemination Stations has been built; valuable stud horses has been taken to both stud farms and insemination stations and been provided to service of the breeders. Izmir Kosekoy Rehabilitation Center was also opened by Jockey Club of Turkey. With a resolution of the extraordinary congress, headquarter of Jockey Club of Turkey was moved to Istanbul. In 1954 there were 24 founding members, today the number of these members increased to 116.

Activities.

Organizing Horseraces and Mutual Bettings : Authorized by the laws, TJK organizes national and international horseraces and mutual bettings.  Horse Breeding : To develop the horse breeding of thoroughbred English and Arabic horses, TJK serves to breeders in stud farms and insemination stations by importing stallions representing the most important blood lines in the world.  Horse Health : TJK provides all kinds of protective and medical services to the race horses at horse clinics located in racetracks, studfarms and insemination stations.  Training Activities : Since TJK is the only institution in its field and does not receive any support from the sources except the Horse Breeding and Racing Vocational schools that TJK and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock; TJK has undertaken the role of providing the educated and well-trained human resources to keep the sector alive.  Human resources needed by the sector in Turkey:

National and International Races in Turkey.

Jockey Club of Turkey, holds 8 international races at Ankara 75th Year Racetrack (Elizabeth II. Race) and at Veliefendi Racetrack (7 International Races).  In 2014, on 6 and 7 September International Race Festival will take place with a prize of 1.343.000 € to be distributed in 6 races.

Facilities.

TJK serves to horse races ajnd breeding with real estates over 20 Millions m2:

Contribution to Employment and Economy.

Horse racing sector creates employment to 40.000 families (160.000 people) both directly and indirectly. Turkey is one of the 10 countries contributing to employment most in horse racing and breeding sector.  With the opportunities Jockey Club of Turkey creates:

Horse Population.

There were approximately 300 thoroughbred race horses in Turkey in the 1950s, however today there are:

Current Situation of Horse Races in Turkey Today.

Ottoman Jockey Club was founded in 1909 with the name of ‘’Jockey Club of Ottoman’’. It’s been stated that Ottoman Jockey Club had the purpose of controlling the horse races at the racetrack under the auspices of the Sultan and breed thorough bred English and Arabian horses. In 1912 Society of Improving Horse Breed started conducting races at Veliefendi. In 1920 an English company started conducting races at Veliefendi. Those races continued until 1922. In 1920, under the auspices of Mustafa Kemal Pasha TBMM organized races in Ankara. Between 1923-1926 various races were held in Istanbul. In 1927 with the attendance of Mustafa Kemal, Gazi Derby to which thoroughbreds could join. The first race with cup was held under the name of ‘’Presidency Race Cup’’ in 1939. In 1953 Jockey Club received the name of Jockey Club of Turkey. Since then, races have been continuing.  Synchronously with the development of Jockey Club of Turkey, modern horse races and horse race sector gains a big leap every year domestically and internationally. While horse races were being held in 3 racecourses in 1926, today 9 racecourses, television channels, printed and electronic publications and latest technology of the field serve to the sector.

References.

1. Akson, Sait, Yariscilik Anilari, Ankara Yari Acik Cezaevi Matbaasi, Ankara, 1971 2. Uyken, Nimet, Turkiye Jokey Kulubu Tarihcesi, TJK Publishing House, Istanbul, 2000 3. Turkish Bequestrian Federation

Jockey Club of Turkey (TJK) was founded on 2 November 1950. The club was recognized as public benefit society by the resolution of Council of Ministers in 1953 and named as Jockey club of Turkey by adding the Turkey afterwards the club’s name. It is the only institution authorized to conduct horse races and organize mutual betting.


Text.

The Kannagi story first appears in the Sangam era poem "Narrinai 312". A more extended version appears in the post-Sangam era Tamil epic in "Silappatikaram" ("Epic of the Anklet).

Legend.

Kannagi was the daughter of the merchant and ship captain "Manayakan" from Puhar"." She marries the son of "Macattuvan", Kovalan, whose family were sea traders and had the sea goddess "Manimekalai" as patron deity. Later, Kovalan met a dancer Madhavi and had an affair with her, which prompted him to spend all his wealth on the dancer. At last, penniless, Kovalan realised his mistake and returned to his wife Kannagi. Kovalan hoped to recoup his fortunes by trade in Madurai, by selling the precious anklet of Kannagi.  Madurai was ruled by Pandya king Nedunj Cheliyan I. When Kovalan tried to sell the anklet, it was mistaken for a stolen anklet of the queen. Kovalan was accused of having stolen the anklet and was immediately beheaded by the king without trial. When Kannagi was informed of this, she became furious, and set out to prove her husband's innocence to the king.  Kannagi came to the king's court, broke open the anklet seized from Kovalan and showed that it contained rubies, as opposed to the queen's anklets which contained pearls. Realizing the fault, the king committed suicide in shame, after having delivered such a huge miscarriage of justice. Kannagi uttered a curse that the entire city of Madurai be burnt. The capital city of Pandyas was set ablaze resulting in huge losses. However, at the request of Goddess Meenakshi, she calmed down and later, attained salvation. The story forms the crux of Silapathikaram written by poet Ilango Adigal.

Worship.

Kannagi or Kannaki Amman is eulogized as the epitome of chastity and is worshiped as a goddess in select regions. She is worshiped as goddess Pattini in Sri Lanka by the Sinhalese Buddhists, Kannaki Amman by the Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus and as Kodungallur Bhagavathy & Aatukal Devi in the South Indian state of Kerala. Keralites believe Kannaki to be an incarnation of Goddess Bhadrakali who reached Kodungalloor and attained salvation in the Kodungalloor temple.

In popular culture.

A Tamil epic film "Kannagi" directed by R.S Mani released in 1942. This was the first Tamil film based on the epic Silapadhigaaram. A similar second movie named "Poompuhar" released later in 1964. A statue of Kannagi holding her anklet, depicting a scene from "Silapathikaram" was installed on Marina Beach, Chennai. It was removed in December 2001 citing reasons that it hindered traffic. The statue was reinstalled in June 2006.  A Sinhala film called Paththini was released on 5 May 2016 in Sri Lanka. The role of the goddess Paththni or Kannagi was played by Pooja Umashankar.  A famous television serial named "Upasana" was broadcast on Doordarshan in the early 1990s and was based on the twin novels Silappatikaram & Manimekalai.

Kannagi, sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic "Silapathikaram". Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfaithfulness, their attempt to rebuild their marriage after her husband had lost everything but repented, how her husband is falsely framed then punished without the due checks and processes of justice. Kannagi proves and protests the injustice, then curses the king and city of Madurai leading to the death of the unjust Pandyan King of Madurai, who had wrongfully put her husband Kovalan to death. The society that had made her suffer, suffers in retribution as the city Madurai is burnt to the ground because of her curse. In the Chera (Kerala) and Tamil tradition, Kannagi has been deified as the symbol – sometimes as goddess – of chastity, with sculptures or reliefs in Hindu temples iconographically reminding the visitor of her breaking her anklet or tearing her bleeding breast and throwing it at the city. The earliest Tamil epic "Silapathikaram" features her as the central character.


Biography.

Early life and education.

Marcelo Spínola was born on the island of San Fernando in Cádiz Province on 14 January 1835 at 6:00am.  His parents were Juan Spínola y Osorno, Marquis of Spínola and Antonia Maestre y Osorno; they had eight children, of whom four died in infancy. He was baptized the following day in the military parish of San Fernando by the military chaplain of the second battalion of the Real Cuerpo de Artillería de la Marina. His last name is also listed as Espínola.  He did his initial studies in the school of San Fernando, directed by priests from 1843-1845; then at the Colegio Santo Tomás in Cádiz, 1845-1846 where he studied Latin, Spanish and French grammar and basic philosophy. He then went to the school of Motril, where his father had been transferred from 1846-1847. He went on to the school in Granada, 1847-1848, where he studied physics, chemistry and natural history. He then went to the University of Valencia from 1849-1852 and the University of Seville, graduating on the 29 June 1856.  He opened a law office in Huelva, offering free services to the poor. He moved to Sanlúcar de Barrameda when his father was transferred to that city as chief of the port. He decided to follow his sacerdotal vocation on the advice of Canon Diego Herrero y Espinosa de los Monteros and began to study theology at home. He received the ecclesiastical tonsure on 29 May 1863 and the diaconate on 20 February 1864.

Priesthood and Episcopate.

He was ordained on 21 March 1864. He did pastoral work in the archdiocese of Seville from 1864 in various parishes until 1880.  He was appointed titular bishop of "Milos" and auxiliary bishop of Seville by Pope Leo XIII on 16 December 1880. He was transferred to the diocese of Coria on 10 November 1884, and to the diocese of Málaga on 10 June 1886. He was promoted to the metropolitan see of Seville on 2 December 1895. He served as a Senator of the Spanish Kingdom from 1891 to 1894, and from 1898 until his death.

Cardinalate and death.

He was created a cardinal by Pope Pius X in the consistory of 11 December 1905. He was made a Cardinal-Priest but with no title assigned to him.  Spínola died at noon on 20 January 1906 in Seville. On 24 January 1913, his remains were transferred to a new mausoleum built in the chapel of Dolores in the same cathedral.

Beatification.

The cause of beatification commenced on 19 February 1956 under Pope Pius XII and began on a diocesan level in the Archdiocese of Seville. The Positio - which documented his life of heroic virtue - was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1978. This culminated with the decree of heroic virtue on 24 September 1983 in which Pope John Paul II bestowed upon him the title of Venerable.  A miracle attributed to his intercession was investigated and ratified in 1985 with documentation sent to Rome. John Paul II confirmed the miracle on 10 November 1986 and it led to his beatification on 29 March 1987.  Another miracle was then under investigation in Jaén on a diocesan level from 11 April 2011 to 7 April 2013. The documentation must be submitted to Rome and approved prior to canonization.

Blessed Marcelo Rafael José María de los Dolores Hilario Spínola y Maestre (14 January 1835 - 19 January 1906) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of Seville. He established the Handmaids of the Divine Heart.


Gameplay.

"Chick Chick Boom" is a single-player artillery game. The player commands a team of yellow-colored chicks and must use weaponry and defensive items to defeat the opposing team of black-colored chicks, led by a black Easter Bunny nicknamed the "Poster Bunny". To activate a weapon or defense item, the player needs to trace an image with a certain degree of accuracy for it to register and activate. Like Mission in Snowdriftland, Chick Chick Boom was scored by Fabian Del Priore.  The chicks will bounce throughout their field aimlessly until given commands to maneuver or send attacks. The player selects a command and is then prompted to trace a simple outline in order to activate the command. Afterwards, the command cannot be used again until the icon representing it "refills." Some commands refill faster than others.  Each drawing is given an accuracy rating, and a drawing must have an accuracy rating of at least 70% to register at all. The higher the accuracy percentage, the more effective the command. Upon finishing the ten introductory levels, Pro Mode is activated, which is essentially an "endless play" mode where the Poster Bunny's chicks are revived immediately.  A wallpaper is rewarded to the player for the completion of each introductory level. They appear in the Download center on the main menu and can be accessed at any time later. The wallpapers include "Mario Hoops 3-on-3", "Kororinpa", "Pokémon Ranger", Wii Menu, "", "", "", "Wii Sports", "Harvest Moon DS", and "Diddy Kong Racing DS".

Other commands.

Along with these commands, the player is offered the use of water sprinklers. Occasionally, it will protrude from the player's field. By clicking on it with the cursor, water will cover the field, defusing any opponent's bombs. Furthermore, while the sprinkler is active, earthworms will crawl around the field. If a chick touches a worm, life is automatically recovered. Worms will also appear when a raincloud appears over either team's field.

WiiWare.

"Chick Chick Boom" made a transition to WiiWare with new features and full 3D graphics. Based on information on the official website, the game has been released in the PAL region on October 29, 2010, in Japan on December 21, 2010 and on December 27, 2010 in North America.

Reception.

Kotaku were not fond of the mouse interface for the drawing mechanic, but found it was an excellent Wii browser game and reasoned that a "multiplayer version would be perfect on the DS."

Chick Chick Boom is an online Adobe Flash game created for Easter 2007 by German developer Extra Toxic and sponsored by Nintendo of Europe. (The two companies had previously cooperated in a similar project called "".) The game launched on April 3, 2007 and was only playable through the month of April. After the extra Toxic disabled play on April 30, 2007, a new version of the game, presenting new features and 3D visuals, was released on Q4 2010 for the Wii as a downloadable game for the WiiWare service.


Background.

Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, hero of the legendary if ill-fated airborne assault on Crete, was summoned on 8 December and told to prepare for a mission, but not given any details. Heydte was given eight days to prepare. He wanted to use his own regiment, but this was forbidden because its movement might alert the Allies to the impending counterattack. Instead, he was provided with a Kampfgruppe of 800 men. The II Parachute Corps was tasked with contributing 100 men from each of its regiments. Instead of contributing their best men as ordered, the regiments sent their misfits and troublemakers. Heydte could not afford to resist too strongly. A cousin of Claus von Stauffenberg, a central figure in the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler, he was under scrutiny.  In loyalty to their command, 150 men from Heydte's own unit, the 6th Parachute Regiment, disobeyed orders and joined him. To avoid alerting the Allied forces, the German command planned to conduct the drop without reconnaissance or current aerial photographs.

Lack of training.

The men had little time to establish unit cohesion or train together. Many of the men assigned to Heydte had never jumped out of an airplane before. Heydte later commented, "Never in my entire career had I been in command of a unit with less fighting spirit."  On 13 December, Heydte visited the headquarters of Army Group B near Bad Münstereifel to complain that the resources allocated to him for the operation were wholly inadequate. Field Marshal Walter Model, who had tried to persuade Hitler to attempt a less ambitious counterattack, replied that he gave the entire Ardennes Offensive less than a 10 percent chance of succeeding. Model told him it was necessary to make the attempt: "It must be done because this offensive is the last chance to conclude the war favorably."

Assault delay and mis-drops.

The drop was delayed for a day when the assigned aircraft did not show up. The new drop time was set for 03:00 on 17 December; the drop zone was north of Malmedy. Their objective was to seize the crossroads and hold it for approximately twenty-four hours until relieved by the 12th SS Panzer Division, hampering the flow of Allied reinforcements and supplies in the area.  Just after midnight on 17 December, 112 Ju 52 transport planes with around 1,300 paratroops took off during a powerful snowstorm with strong winds and considerable low cloud cover. The Luftwaffe was short of experienced pilots. Many of the pilots had never flown the Ju 52 before, half had never flown in combat, nor were they trained to conduct drops at night or to fly in formation. Pathfinders from the Nachtschlachtgruppe 20 were supposed to lead the way, but the pilots were so inexperienced that they flew with their navigation lights on.  Many planes went off course. Two hundred and fifty men were dropped near Bonn, from the intended drop zone. Some landed with their troops still on board. Strong winds deflected many paratroops whose planes were relatively close to the intended drop zone and made their landings far rougher. Only a fraction of the force landed near the intended drop zone. Since many of the German paratroops were very inexperienced, some were crippled upon impact and died where they fell. Some were found the following spring when the snow melted.

Confusion among Americans.

Because of the extensive dispersal of the drop, "Fallschirmjäger" were reported all over the Ardennes, and the Allies believed a major division-sized jump had taken place, causing the Americans much confusion and convincing them to allocate men to secure the rear instead of facing the main German thrust at the front. An entire U.S. infantry regiment of 3000 men (U.S. 18th Infantry) along with an armored combat command of 300 tanks and 2,000 men searched several days for the German force. The 12th SS Panzer Division, unable to defeat the Americans at the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, never arrived.  By noon on 17 December, Heydte's unit had scouted the woods and rounded up a total of around 300 troops. With only enough ammunition for a single fight, the force was too small to take the crossroads on its own. Heydte first planned to wait for the arrival of the 12th SS Panzer Division when they would suddenly seize the crossroads just before their arrival. After three days of waiting, he abandoned these revised plans and instead converted his mission to reconnaissance. Oberstgruppenführer Sepp Dietrich had scoffed at Heydte's request for carrier pigeons, and none of the unit's radios survived the drop, so he was unable to report the detailed information he gathered.

Withdrawal to Germany.

With only a single day's food supply and limited water, on 19 December Heydte withdrew his forces towards the German lines. He used their limited ammunition to attack the rear of the American lines. Only about one-third reached the German rear. Heydte, wounded, frostbitten, and suffering from pneumonia, knocked on doors in Monschau until he found a German family. The next morning he sent a boy with a surrender note to the Allies.

Operation Stösser (English: Operation Hawk) was a paratroop drop into the American rear in the High Fens area during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Its objective was to take and hold the crossroads at Belle Croix Jalhay N-68 - N-672 until the arrival of the 12th SS Panzer Division. Both roads were main supply routes, the N-68 Eupen to either Malmedy or Elsenborn and the N-672 Verviers up to Belle-Croix hence up to either Malmedy or Elsenborn. The operation was led by Oberst Freiherr Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, who was given eight days to prepare the mission. The majority of the Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) and pilots assigned to the operation were undertrained and inexperienced. Kampfgruppe Von Der Heydte took up a position at Porfays in the forest east of the N-68 and conducted some local skirmishes on small US convoys and even captured some POWs. The mission was a failure.


Origin of name.

The name Lac Courte Oreilles is shared by the nearby Lac Courte Oreilles Indian Reservation. In the Ojibwe language, the lake is called "Odaawaa-zaaga'iganiing," meaning "Ottawa Lake," after another of the Anishinaabe peoples. It was referred to as such (or as "Ottowaw Lake") in early English-language descriptions of the area.  French fur trappers, the earliest European explorers in the area, named it Lac Courte Oreilles after the Ottawa Anishinaabe peoples living in the area. The French believed they cut off the edges of their ear lobes, so referred to them as the "Courte Oreilles," or "Short Ears." An alternative explanation is that some tribes in the region had a practice of distending their earlobes by earrings or other ornaments, and the local people's ears looked short in contrast. But the Indians of the Lac Courte Oreilles area did not practice that custom and had naturally shaped "short" ears.

History.

Prior to European exploration, the area of Lac Courte Oreilles was inhabited by the Ojibwa Indians. The first known visit by Europeans to the area was around 1660. Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers travelled from Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior southward through the area in 1659 and stayed for a period at an Ojibwe village on a lake that has been identified as Lac Courte Oreilles.  The English Jonathan Carver passed through the area in 1767 while traveling north from the Mississippi River up the Chippewa River. He reported staying at the Indian village on Lac Courte Oreilles (he referred to it as Ottowaw Lakes) from June 22 through 29, 1767. He described the village as being on either side of a channel between two lakes, which he referred to as the Ottowaw Lakes. He next travelled to the St. Croix River (by way of Grindstone Lake, Windigo Lake, the Namekagon Portage, and the Namekagon River) and thence northward to Lake Superior. In describing their visit to the Lac Courte Oreilles Indian village, Carver and another member of the expedition, James Stanley Goddard, said that they were the first white people to have visited the area. They likely did not know about the travels of Radisson and Groseilliers to the area about 1660, more than one hundred years before, and were not likely to have been reading French sources, if available.  The 19th-century United States Indian agent in this area, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, visited the lake and Ottawa village in 1831. He described the trip from the Namekagon River to Lac Courte Oreilles by way of the Namekagon Portage, Windigo Lake and Grindstone Lake. Schoolcraft visited the Indian village on Lac Courte Oreilles and described it as being located at the outlet of the lake. From Carver's and Schoolcraft's descriptions, the Ottawa village appeared to have been located on either side of the channel between Lac Courte Oreilles and Little Lac Courte Oreilles.  Lac Courte Oreilles and this village were well known to traders and explorers of the time, and the village was one of the larger Indian settlements in the area. Schoolcraft listed its population as 504 persons in his report based on his 1832 exploration to the sources of the Mississippi River. This meant that it was one of the largest Indian settlements in the region. The village's importance was likely associated with the strategic site of Lac Courte Oreilles on the route between the Chippewa River watershed and the St. Croix River watershed. The latter watershed was reached from Lac Courte Oreilles by travelling north and west through Grindstone Lake, Windigo Lake, and over the Namekagon Portage to the Namekagon River in the St. Croix River watershed.

Lac Courte Oreilles is a large freshwater lake located in northwest Wisconsin in Sawyer County in townships 39 and 40 north, ranges 8 and 9 west. It is irregular in shape, having numerous peninsulas and bays, and is approximately six miles long in a southwest to northeast direction and with a maximum width of about two miles (3 km). Lac Courte Oreilles is in size with a maximum depth of and a shoreline of. The lake has a small inlet stream (Grindstone Creek) that enters on the northeast shore of the lake and flows from Grindstone Lake, a short distance away to the north. An outlet on the southeast shore of the lake leads through a very short passage to Little Lac Courte Oreilles, then via the Couderay River to the Chippewa River, and ultimately to the Mississippi River at Lake Pepin.


Smithfield area.

In the Middle Ages, it was a broad grassy area known as "Smooth Field", located beyond London Wall stretching to the eastern bank of the River Fleet. Given its ease of access to grazing and water, Smithfield established itself as London's livestock market, remaining so for almost 1,000 years. Many local toponyms are associated with the livestock trade: while some street names (such as "Cow Cross Street" and "Cock Lane") remain in use, many more (such as "Chick Lane", "Duck Lane", "Cow Lane", "Pheasant Court", "Goose Alley") have disappeared from the map after the major redevelopment of the area in the Victorian era.

Religious history.

In 1123, the area near Aldersgate was granted by King Henry I for the foundation of St Bartholomew's Priory at the request of Prior Rahere, in thanks for his being nursed back to good health. The Priory exercised its right to enclose land between Aldersgate (to the east), Long Lane (to the north) and modern-day Newgate Street (to the south), erecting its main western gate which opened onto Smithfield, and a postern on Long Lane. The Priory thereafter held the manorial rights to hold weekly fairs, which initially took place in its outer court on the site of present-day Cloth Fair, leading to "Fair Gate".  An additional annual celebration, the Bartholomew Fair, was established in 1133 by the Augustinian friars. Over time, this became one of London's pre-eminent summer fairs, opening each year on 24 August. A trading event for cloth and other goods as well as being a pleasure forum, the four-day festival drew crowds from all strata of English society.  In 1855, however, the City authorities closed Bartholomew Fair as they considered it to have degenerated into a magnet for debauchery and public disorder.  In 1348, Walter de Manny rented of land at "Spital Croft", north of Long Lane, from the Master and Brethren of St Bartholomew's Hospital, for a graveyard and plague pit for victims of the Black Death. A chapel and hermitage were constructed, renamed "New Church Haw"; but in 1371, this land was granted for the foundation of the Charterhouse, originally a Carthusian monastery.  Nearby and to the north of this demesne, the Knights Hospitaller established a Commandery at Clerkenwell, dedicated to St John in the mid-12th century. In 1194 they received a Charter from King Richard I granting the Order formal privileges. Later Augustinian canonesses established the Priory of St Mary, north of the Knights of St John property.  By the end of the 14th century, these religious houses were regarded by City traders as interlopers – occupying what had previously been public open space near one of the City gates. On numerous occasions vandals damaged the Charterhouse, eventually demolishing its buildings. By 1405, a stout wall was built to protect the property and maintain the privacy of the Order, particularly its church where men and women alike came to worship.  The religious houses were dissolved in the Reformation, and their lands broken up. The Priory Church of St John remains, as does St John's Gate. John Houghton (later canonized by Pope Paul VI as "St John Houghton"), The prior of Charterhouse went to Thomas Cromwell, accompanied by two other local priors, seeking an oath of supremacy that would be acceptable to their communities. Instead they were imprisoned in the Tower of London, and on 4 May 1535, they were taken to Tyburn and hanged – becoming the first Catholic martyrs of the Reformation. On 29 May, the remaining twenty monks and eighteen lay brothers were forced to swear the oath of allegiance to King Henry VIII; the ten who refused were taken to Newgate Prison and left to starve.  With the monks expelled, Charterhouse was requisitioned and remained as a private dwelling until its reestablishment by Thomas Sutton in 1611 as a charitable foundation; it was the basis of the school named Charterhouse and almshouses known as "Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse" on its former site. The school was relocated to Godalming in 1872. Until 1899 Charterhouse was extra-parochial; that year it became a civil parish incorporated in the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. Some of the property was damaged during The Blitz, but it remains largely intact. Part of the site is now occupied by Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.  From its inception, the Priory of St Bartholomew treated the sick. After the Reformation it was left with neither income nor monastic occupants but, following a petition by the City Corporation, Henry VIII refounded it in December 1546, as the "House of the Poore in West Smithfield in the suburbs of the City of London of Henry VIII's Foundation". Letters Patent were presented to the City, granting property and income to the new foundation the following month. King Henry VIII's sergeant-surgeon, Thomas Vicary, was appointed as the hospital's first superintendent. The King Henry VIII Gate, which opens onto West Smithfield, was completed in 1702 and remains the hospital's main entrance.  The Priory's principal church, St Bartholomew-the-Great, was reconfigured after the dissolution of the monasteries, losing the western third of its nave. Reformed as an Anglican parish church, its parish boundaries were limited to the site of the ancient priory and a small tract of land between the church and Long Lane. The parish of St Bartholomew the Great was designated as a Liberty, responsible for the upkeep and security of its fabric and the land within its boundaries. With the advent of street lighting, mains water, and sewerage during the Victorian era, maintenance of such an ancient parish with so few parishioners became increasingly uneconomical after the Industrial Revolution. In 1910, it agreed to be incorporated by the Corporation of London which guaranteed financial support and security. Great St Barts' present parish boundary includes just 10 feet (3.048 m) of Smithfield – possibly delineating a former right of way.  After the Reformation, a separate parish likewise dedicated to St Bartholomew was granted in favour of St Bartholomew's Hospital; named St Bartholomew-the-Less, it remained under the hospital's patronage, unique in the Church of England, until 1948, when the hospital was nationalized in the National Health Service. The church benefice has since been joined again with its ancient partner, the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great.  Following the diminished influence of the ancient Priory, predecessor of the two parishes of St Bartholomew, disputes began to arise over rights to tithes and taxes payable by lay residents who claimed allegiance with the nearby and anciently associated parish of St Botolph Aldersgate – an unintended consequence and legacy of King Kenry VIII's religious reforms.  Smithfield and its Market, situated mostly in the parish of St Sepulchre, was founded in 1137, and was endowed by Prior Rahere, who also founded St Barts. The ancient parish of St Sepulchre extended north to Turnmill Street, to St Paul's Cathedral and Ludgate Hill in the south, and along the east bank of the Fleet (now the route of Farringdon Street). St Sepulchre's Tower contains the twelve "bells of Old Bailey", referred to in the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons". Traditionally, the Great Bell was rung to announce the execution of a prisoner at Newgate.

Civil history.

As a large open space close to the City, Smithfield was a popular place for public gatherings. In 1374 Edward III held a seven-day tournament at Smithfield, for the amusement of his beloved Alice Perrers. Possibly the most famous medieval tournament at Smithfield was that commanded in 1390 by Richard II. Jean Froissart, in his fourth book of Chronicles, reported that sixty knights would come to London to tilt for two days, "accompanied by sixty noble ladies, richly ornamented and dressed". The tournament was proclaimed by heralds throughout England, Scotland, Hainault, Germany, Flanders and France, so as to rival the jousts given by Charles of France at Paris a few years earlier, upon the arrival of his consort Isabel of Bavaria. Geoffrey Chaucer supervised preparations for the tournament as a clerk to the King. Along with Tyburn, Smithfield was for centuries the main site for the public execution of heretics and dissidents in London. The Scottish nobleman Sir William Wallace was executed in 1305 at West Smithfield. The market was the meeting place prior to the Peasants' Revolt and where the Revolt's leader, Wat Tyler, was slain by Sir William Walworth, Lord Mayor of London on 15 June 1381.  Religious dissenters (Catholics as well as other Protestant denominations such as Anabaptists) were sentenced to death in this area during the Crown's changing course of religious orientation started by King Henry VIII. About fifty Protestants and religious reformers, known as the Marian martyrs, were executed at Smithfield during the reign of Mary I.  G.K. Chesterton observed ironically: On 17 November 1558, several Protestant heretics were saved by a royal herald's timely announcement that Queen Mary had died shortly before the wooden faggots were to be lit at the Smithfield Stake. Under English Law death warrants were commanded by Sign Manual (the personal signature of the Monarch), invariably upon ministerial recommendation, which if unexercised by the time of a Sovereign's death required renewed authority. In this case Queen Elizabeth did not approve the executions, thus freeing the Protestants. During the 16th century the Smithfield site was also the place of execution of swindlers and coin forgers, who were boiled to death in oil.  By the 18th century the "Tyburn Tree" (near the present-day Marble Arch) became the main place for public executions in London. After 1785, executions were again moved, this time to the gates of Newgate prison, just to the south of Smithfield.  The Smithfield area emerged largely unscathed by the Great Fire of London in 1666, which was abated near the Fortune of War Tavern, at the junction of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane, where the statue of the Golden Boy of Pye Corner is located. In the late 17th century several residents of Smithfield emigrated to North America, where they founded the town of Smithfield, Rhode Island.

Smithfield Bars.

Until the 19th century the area included boundary markers known as the Smithfield Bars (or West Smithfield Bars). These marked the northern boundary of the City of London and were placed at a point approximating to where modern Charterhouse Street meets St John Street. The former Fagswell Brook, a tributary of the Fleet, originally marked the City's northern boundary in the area.  The Bars are first documented in 1197.

Today.

Since the late 1990s, Smithfield and neighbouring Farringdon have developed a reputation for being a cultural hub for up-and-coming professionals, who enjoy its bars, restaurants and night clubs.  Nightclubs such as Fabric and Turnmills pioneered the area's reputation for trendy night life, attracting professionals from nearby Holborn, Clerkenwell and the City on weekdays. At weekends, the clubs and bars in the area, having late licences, draw people into the area from outside London too.  Smithfield has also become a venue for sporting events. Until 2002 Smithfield hosted the midnight start of the annual Miglia Quadrato Car Rally, but with the increased night club activity around Smithfield, the UHULMC (a motoring club) decided to move the event's start to Finsbury Circus. Since 2007, Smithfield has been the chosen site of an annual event dedicated to road bicycle racing known as the "Smithfield Nocturne".  Number 1, West Smithfield is head office of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Market.

Origins.

Meat has been traded at Smithfield Market for more than 800 years, making it one of the oldest markets in London. A livestock market occupied the site as early as the 10th century.  In 1174 the site was described by William Fitzstephen as: a smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horses to be traded, and in another quarter are placed vendibles of the peasant, swine with their deep flanks, and cows and oxen of immense bulk. Costs, customs and rules were meticulously laid down. For instance, for an ox, a cow or a dozen sheep one could get 1 penny. The livestock market expanded over the centuries to meet demand from the growing population of the City. In 1710, the market was surrounded by a wooden fence containing the livestock within the market. Until the market's abolition, the Gate House at Cloth Fair ("Fair Gate") employed a chain ("le cheyne") on market days. Daniel Defoe referred to the livestock market in 1726 as being "without question, the greatest in the world", and data available appear to corroborate his statement.  Between 1740 and 1750 the average yearly sales at Smithfield were reported to be around 74,000 cattle and 570,000 sheep. By the middle of the 19th century, in the course of a single year 220,000 head of cattle and 1,500,000 sheep would be "violently forced into an area of five acres, in the very heart of London, through its narrowest and most crowded thoroughfares". The volume of cattle driven daily to Smithfield started to raise major concerns.  The Great North Road traditionally began at Smithfield Market and mileages were measured from here. The specific start was Hicks Hall, and its former location continued to be used for mileages even after it was demolished, soon after 1778. The road followed St John Street, and continued north, eventually leading to Edinburgh. This ended in 1829, with the establishment of the General Post Office at St Martin's-le-Grand, which became the new starting point.

Local campaigning against the cattle market.

In the Victorian period, pamphlets started circulating in favour of the removal of the livestock market and its relocation outside of the City, due to its extremely poor hygienic conditions as well as the brutal treatment of the cattle. The conditions at the market in the first half of the 19th century were often described as a major threat to public health: Of all the horrid abominations with which London has been cursed, there is not one that can come up to that disgusting place, West Smithfield Market, for cruelty, filth, effluvia, pestilence, impiety, horrid language, danger, disgusting and shuddering sights, and every obnoxious item that can be imagined; and this abomination is suffered to continue year after year, from generation to generation, in the very heart of the most Christian and most polished city in the world.  In 1843, the "Farmer's Magazine" published a petition signed by bankers, salesmen, butchers, aldermen and City residents against further expansion of the meat market, arguing that livestock markets had been systematically banned since the Middle Ages in other areas of London: Our ancestors appear, in sanitary matters, to have been wiser than we are. There exists, amongst the Rolls of Parliament of the year 1380, a petition from the citizens of London, praying – that, for the sake of the public health, meat should not be slaughtered nearer than "Knyghtsbrigg", under penalty, not only of forfeiting such animals as might be killed in the "butcherie", but of a year's imprisonment. The prayer of this petition was granted, audits penalties were enforced during several reigns. Thomas Hood wrote in 1830 an "Ode to the Advocates for the Removal of Smithfield Market", applauding those "philanthropic men" who aim at removing to a distance the "vile Zoology" of the market and "routing that great nest of Hornithology". Charles Dickens criticised locating a livestock market in the heart of the capital in his 1851 essay "" drawing comparisons with the French market at Poissy outside Paris: Of a great Institution like Smithfield, [the French] are unable to form the least conception. A Beast Market in the heart of Paris would be regarded an impossible nuisance. Nor have they any notion of slaughter-houses in the midst of a city. One of these benighted frog-eaters would scarcely understand your meaning, if you told him of the existence of such a British bulwark. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1852, under the provisions of which a new cattle market should be constructed at Copenhagen Fields, Islington. The Metropolitan Cattle Market opened in 1855, leaving West Smithfield as waste ground for about ten years during the construction of the new market.

Victorian Smithfield: meat and poultry market.

The present Smithfield meat market on Charterhouse Street was established by Act of Parliament: the 1860 Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Market Act. It is a large market with permanent buildings, designed by architect Sir Horace Jones, who also designed Billingsgate and Leadenhall Markets. Work on the "Central Market", inspired by Italian architecture, began in 1866 and was completed in November 1868 at a cost of £993,816 (£ as of ).  The Grade II listed main wings (known as "East" and "West Market") are separated by the "Grand Avenue", a wide roadway roofed by an elliptical arch with decorations in cast iron. At the two ends of the arcade, four prominent statues represent London, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Dublin; they depict bronze dragons charged with the City's armorial bearings. At the corners of the market, four octagonal pavilion towers were built, each with a dome displaying carved stone griffins.  As the Market was being built, a cut and cover railway tunnel was constructed underground City street level to create a triangular junction with the railway between Blackfriars and Kings Cross through Snow Hill Tunnel. Closed in 1916, it has been revived and is now used for Thameslink rail services. The construction of extensive railway sidings, beneath Smithfield Park, facilitated the transfer of animal carcasses to its Cold Store, and directly up to the Meat Market via lifts. These sidings closed in the 1960s. They are now used as a car park, accessed via a cobbled descent at the centre of Smithfield Park. Today, much of the meat is delivered to market by road.  The first extension of Smithfield's meat market took place between 1873 and 1876 with the construction of the "Poultry Market" immediately west of the Central Market. A rotunda was built at the centre of the old Market Field (now West Smithfield), comprising gardens, a fountain and a ramped carriageway to the station beneath the market building. Further buildings were subsequently added to the market. The "General Market", built between 1879 and 1883, was intended to replace the old Farringdon Market located nearby and established for the sale of fruit and vegetables when the earlier Fleet Market was cleared to enable the laying out of Farringdon Street between 1826–1830.  A further block (also known as "Annexe Market" or "Triangular Block",) consisting of two separate structures (the "Fish Market" and the "Red House"), was built between 1886 and 1899. The "Fish Market", built by John Mowlem & Co., was completed in 1888, one year after Sir Horace Jones' death. The "Red House", with its imposing red brick and Portland stone façade, was built between 1898 and 1899 for the "London Central Markets Cold Storage Co. Ltd.". It was one of the first cold stores to be built outside the London docks and continued to serve Smithfield Market until the mid-1970s.

20th century.

During the Second World War, a large underground cold store at Smithfield was the theatre of secret experiments led by Dr Max Perutz on pykrete, a mixture of ice and woodpulp, believed to be possibly tougher than steel. Perutz's work, inspired by Geoffrey Pyke and part of Project Habakkuk, was meant to test the viability of pykrete as a material to construct floating airstrips in the Atlantic to allow refuelling of cargo planes in support of Admiral the Earl Mountbatten's operations. The experiments were carried out by Perutz and his colleagues in a refrigerated meat locker in a Smithfield Market butcher's basement, behind a protective screen of frozen animal carcasses. These experiments became obsolete with the development of longer-range aircraft, resulting in abandonment of the project.  At the end of the Second World War, a V-2 rocket struck the north side of Charterhouse Street, near the junction with Farringdon Road (1945). The explosion caused massive damage to the market buildings, affecting the railway tunnel structure below, and causing more than 110 deaths.  The original "Poultry Market" designed by Sir Horace Jones was destroyed by fire in 1958. Its replacement building was designed by Sir Thomas Bennett in 1962–63, with a reinforced concrete frame, and external cladding of dark blue brick. It is Grade II listed. The main hall is covered by an enormous concrete dome, shaped as an elliptical paraboloid, spanning by and only thick at the centre. The dome is believed to have been the largest concrete shell structure built at that time in Europe.

Today.

Smithfield is the City of London's only major wholesale market (Leadenhall Market nowadays attracts more tourist trade) which has escaped relocation out of central London to cheaper land, better transport links, and more modern facilities. (Covent Garden, Spitalfields and Billingsgate have all relocated). The market operates to supply inner City butchers, shops and restaurants with quality fresh meat, and so its main trading hours are 4:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon each weekday. Instead of moving away, Smithfield Market continues to modernise its existing site: its imposing Victorian buildings have had access points added for the loading and unloading of lorries.  The buildings stand above a warren of tunnels: previously, live animals were brought to market by hoof (from the mid-19th century onwards they arrived by rail) and were slaughtered on site. The former railway tunnels are now used for storage, parking and as basements. An impressive cobbled ramp spirals down around West Smithfield's public garden, on the south side of the Market, providing access to part of this area. Some of the buildings on Charterhouse Street on Smithfield north side maintain access to the tunnels via their basements.  Some of the former meat market buildings have now changed use. For example, the former Central Cold Store, on Charterhouse Street is now, most unusually, a City centre cogeneration power station operated by Citigen. The Metropolitan Cold Stores was converted in 1999 into the nightclub Fabric.  Smithfield comprises the market as its central feature, surrounded by many old buildings on three sides and a public open space (or Rotunda Garden) at West Smithfield, beneath which there is a public car park. The south side is occupied by St Bartholomew's Hospital (known as "Barts" in common parlance), and on the east side by the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great. The Church of St Bartholomew the Less is located next to the King Henry VIII Gate, the hospital's main entrance.  The north and south of the square are now closed to through traffic, as part of the City's security and surveillance cordon known as the "Ring of steel". Security for the market is provided by its market constabulary.

Future.

In early 2019, it was proposed in plans put forward by the Court of Common Council, the City of London Corporation's main decision-making body, that Billingsgate Fish Market, New Spitalfields Market, and Smithfield Market would move to a new consolidated site in Barking Reach. A formal planning application was made in June 2020.

Demolition and development plans.

Since 2005, the "General Market" (1883) and the adjacent "Fish Market" and "Red House" buildings (1898), part of the Victorian complex of the Smithfield Market, have been facing a threat of demolition. The City of London Corporation, ultimate owners of the property, has been engaged in public consultation to assess how best to redevelop their disused property and regenerate the area. Former property developers Thornfield Properties had planned to demolish the historic site and build a seven-storey office block, offering of office space, with a retail outlet on the ground floor.  Several campaigns, promoted by English Heritage and Save Britain's Heritage among others, were run to raise public awareness of this part of London's Victorian heritage. Grade II listed building protection was approved for the "Red House Cold Store" building in 2005 by then-Culture Secretary Dame Tessa Jowell, on the basis of new historical evidence qualifying the complex as "the earliest existing example of a purpose-built powered cold store".  Whilst the market continues to trade, its future remains unclear following Government Planning Minister Ruth Kelly's instigating a major public inquiry in 2007. The public inquiry for the demolition and redevelopment of the General Market Building took place between 6 November 2007 and 25 January 2008. In August 2008, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears announced that planning permission for the General Market's redevelopment had been refused, stating that the threatened buildings made "a significant contribution" to the character and appearance of Farringdon and the surrounding area.  On 12 October 2012, Henderson Group unveiled its £160 million-plan for redeveloping the western side of the Central Market. Henderson proposed that the fish market, General Market and Red House buildings, all over a century old, be demolished to make way for restaurants, retailers and office buildings, while they would restore and retain much of the Market building's original perimeter walls, with a new piazza being created in the General Market. Marcus Binney of the campaign group Save Britain's Heritage said: "This proposal constitutes the worst mutilation of a Victorian landmark in the last 30 years."  Some of the buildings on Lindsey Street opposite the East Market were demolished in 2010 to allow the construction of the new Crossrail Station at Farringdon. The demolished buildings include "Smithfield House" (an early 20th-century unlisted Hennebique concrete building), the "Edmund Martin Ltd." shop (an earlier building with alterations dating to the 1930s), and two Victorian warehouses behind them.  In March 2015, the Museum of London revealed plans to vacate its Barbican site and move into the General Market Building. The cost of the move is estimated to be in the region of £70 million and, if funding can be achieved, would be complete by 2021.

Smithfield is a district in located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England. The principal street of the area is West Smithfield.


Life of Saint Alena.

The traditional account of Saint Alena's life, dating to the twelfth century, states that she was born in Dilbeek, just outside Brussels, Belgium, to pagan parents, the nobleman Levold and his wife, Hildegaart. Alena chose to be baptized without the knowledge of her parents. As a Christian, she had to attend Mass secretly.  When her father discovered that she was worshipping as a Christian, he came to the conclusion that Christians had bewitched her into conversion. He sent guards to bring her home; she resisted, and during the fighting she lost one arm. She subsequently died in prison due to her injuries.  Various (unspecified) miracles were claimed at the burial site of Alena's body, and one of Levold's subjects, Duke Omundus, had his sight restored by invoking Alena's prayers.  An angel appeared and took the severed arm to the chapel where she worshipped. Alena's parents were shocked, but the miracles, and the witness given by her determined faith, led them to examine Christianity, and they themselves were converted.

Veneration of Saint Alena.

The Bishop of Cambrai gave permission for Abbot Godeschalk of Affligem Abbey to enshrine Alena's remains in the Priory of Forest, then a dependency of Affligem, as the relics of a saint on Pentecost Sunday, 19 May 1193. This was effectively a canonisation.  The chapel with Alena's relics became a popular place of pilgrimage. Her shrine became incorporated into the parish church of Forest as a chapel which held her cenotaph and relics. By around 1600, her jawbone and upper arm were preserved in the parish church, each in its own jewel-studded reliquary dating from the 15th century. The rest of the bones, with the exception of the collarbones, were preserved in the abbey church in a Baroque reliquary (1644) commissioned by Françoise de Bette, abbess 1637–1666. When the abbey was suppressed in 1796 the last abbess, Juana Francisca de Rueda de Conteras (1785–1818), removed this reliquary to a monastery near Würzburg. It was returned to Forest only in 1812. The collarbones are still kept in a reliquary in the church of St Ambrosius in Dilbeek.  Saint Alena is depicted in art as a princess with one arm torn off. She might also be portrayed healing a blind man, or with an angel helping her.  She is venerated in Brussels, and is invoked for eye troubles and toothache.  Her feast day is given as 17 June by the Polish Breviary but other Polish-language sources also recognise 16 June, 28 July and 16 December; with 16 June and 16 December often being kept as the name day in Poland. Her feast is cited as 19 June in Italy, and 24 June by English-language sources. It is kept locally on 16 June in the Brabant region of Belgium. The Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of North America commemorates her on 18 June. She does not appear in the index of the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology.

Saint Alena (also written Alène or Alina) is a Christian saint who, if historical, was martyred around the year 640. She is sometimes referred to as Alena of Forest, or Alena of Brussels, having died in Forest, Belgium which is now one of the nineteen municipalities of Brussels.


Matrix ping pong.

Matrix Ping Pong is the name of a popular movie clip from the show showing performers mixing moves in the style of "The Matrix" with Ping Pong, using kurokos—stagehands in kabuki theatre—to hold the props up, facilitating humorous and otherwise impossible movements. Most of the elements in the performance are set against black, rendering the stagehands invisible at first. In fact, the scene appears to be a normal game of ping pong at first sight, until the incredible feats are performed. This performance, led by team captain Hideki Kajiwara (), won the competition on March 31, 2003. The movie clip became an internet meme for a while.

International broadcast.

The show is also aired internationally in some countries. Hong Kong airs this programme under the name of "全民創意爭霸賽" on the with Cantonese dubbing. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore on the other hand airs it under the name of "Masquerade". The Indonesian and Singaporean broadcasts under this title are aired dubbed, on RCTI in Indonesian and MediaCorp okto in English respectively, whereas the Malaysian broadcast on TV3 is aired with Malay subtitles. Southeast Asia also airs it as "Masquerade (year)" on Sony Gem TV aired every Christmas Day.  In the Philippines, the version of the show airs on GMA Network as part of "Bilib Ka Ba Nights" block of the network under the name of "Masquerade" and hosted by Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola, it ran from August 20, 2008 to March 11, 2009.

In other popular culture.

The show was featured in the music video for the 2004 single "Flamboyant" by British pop-duo Pet Shop Boys. Directed by Nico Beyer, the music video follows one of the real participants of the show that eventually goes on to win the competition with their recreation of billiards.

Kasou Taishou (; Kinchan and Katori Shingo's All Japan Costume Grand Prix) is a semi-annual show on NTV in which various amateur groups (or solo artists) perform short skits, which are rated by a panel of judges. Especially in recent years, many of the skits have revolved around clever methods of "faking" cinematic special effects on a live stage. The show is hosted by Kinichi Hagimoto and Shingo Katori. Worldwide, the most famous of these skits, and among the most successful at "fake special effects" was a skit which is widely known as "Matrix ping pong".


Early years.

Mackrell was a printer by trade.

Rugby football.

Mackrell began playing rugby union for the City Newton club. He represented Auckland between 1901 and 1905 and earned North Island selection in 1905. His last first class rugby union match in New Zealand was for Auckland against the All Blacks in 1905 as they prepared for a short tour of Australia.  Mackrell was then selected to be part of The Original All Blacks 1905 tour of Great Britain and France but injury hampered his tour and he played in only one test match, against France in Paris on New Years Day, 1906. On his return he was replaced in the Auckland side by Charlie Dunning.

Rugby league.

Mackrell, along with Newton team mates Harold Rowe and William Trevarthan, was selected for the professional All Blacks in their 1907-1908 tour of Great Britain and Australia. As a result, he received a life ban from the New Zealand Rugby Union. He played in two test matches on the tour, including the first ever rugby league test match against Wales on New Years Day, 1908. He played in the first ever trans-Tasman test which was the debut match of the Australia national rugby league team.  When he returned to New Zealand, Mackrell was involved in establishing the Newton rugby league club. He also played in the first ever provincial game of rugby league in New Zealand, helping Auckland defeat Wellington 16-14 on 24 August 1908.  In 1911 Mackrell again played for New Zealand in an exhibition match against Auckland. Mackrell received a kick to the head in a 1912 match which forced his retirement and may have also led to his early death.  Mackrell died in Auckland on 15 July 1917 as a result of a paralytic seizure, five days before his 36th birthday.

William "Bill" Henry Clifton Mackrell was a New Zealand rugby footballer who represented New Zealand in both rugby union and rugby league. He was part of the 1905 The Original All Blacks tour and the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.


History.

In 1967, about 2,000 members of the South African Police were deployed to guard the northern border of Rhodesia (modern day Zimbabwe) to assist Rhodesian security forces in maintaining law and order in the country as guerrilla attacks became more frequent during the Rhodesian Bush War. These police members proved to be ill-equipped and ineffective at dealing with guerrilla warfare and terrorism. As a result of these events the Security Branch of the Police began to envision a special police unit to deal with high-risk situations such as hostage situations. Captain J.J. de Swardt of the Security Branch of the Police as well as Sergeant Roelf de Plooy (a counter insurgency (COIN) instructor), both veterans of the deployments in Rhodesia against Zimbabwe African National Union rebels, began a grass roots attempt to form a group of police representatives with a shared vision of formalising a police-based special forces unit. They began to train candidate police officers in survival and bush skills to execute high-risk COIN operations and drastically reduce friendly fatalities.  The members of this ragtag group were required to join the South African Police shooting club in order to acquire R1 battle rifles. Camouflage uniforms were also unofficially acquired. Because this group, who had taken on the name of 'Bliksems', was an unofficial group within the Police Force, the normal training facilities were not accessible. A vacant area near the Baviaanspoort Correctional Services that could be used for live-fire handgun and rifle training, and which also had an urban environment with rural terrain, was eventually found by Col. van der Merwe. Capt. J.J. de Swardt then proceeded to hire instructors from Hunter Group of the South African Defence Force (SADF) such as martial arts specialist, Joe Grant Grierson. Training was based around weapons handling, rural patrol formations and tactics, ambushes and skirmishes and was based on military protocol. Rock climbing, rope access, rescue work, skydiving and parachute training also occurred later on. Other instructors of the team were Bill du Toit (an ex-special forces soldier) who specialised in terror tactics, Mr K. Lucy who was an expert in rope work and abseiling, Mr T. Segala who had an extensive knowledge of booby traps and Improvised explosive devices, Gary Magnusson and Hannes Smit who were experienced civilian skydivers and Major Jakkals de Jager who was a paratrooper in the SADF.  In 1973 during the South African Games, the Israeli government stated that it would send their team but only on the sole condition that their security would be guaranteed. Gen. Mike Geldenhuys, who was the head of the South African Police Security Branch at the time, arranged for Capt. de Swardt and his 'Bliksems' to provide security for the foreign team. For this, the South African Police received much praise and attention from the international press as well as a commendation from the South African Secretary for Foreign Affairs which solidified the idea of a police special forces unit. On 28 April 1975, however, a hostage siege occurred at the Israeli embassy and the Police (lacking an official counter terrorist force) could not resolve the situation. This became known as the Fox Street Siege. In 1975 the counter insurgency conflict in South-West Africa (now named Namibia) also broke out and police and military manpower was now stretched between two COIN campaigns. The South African Police was forced to withdraw from the South-West African border as well as from Rhodesia and earned the Battle Honour Rhodesia.  In 1975 the Bureau of State Security supported the creation of the unit and on 6 June 1975, Brigadier Vic Verster wrote an official recommendation from the South African Police Security Branch to the Commissioner of the South African Police and proposed the structure, command and control plans for the Special Task Force. Then finally on 1 February 1976 Lt. Gen. Mike Geldenhuys officially authorised the creation of the Special Task Force. Col. Dries Verwey was appointed as the first commanding officer (CO) of the Special Task Force and Capt. J.J. de Swardt and the core group of the 'Bliksems' were transferred to the Special Task Force as instructors. During the first phase of selection the unit received 113 applications, yet only 38 were accepted including 4 reserve members including one medic.  After Gen. Mike Geldenhuys was appointed as the Commissioner of the South African Police in 1978, he transferred command and control of the Special Task Force from the Security Branch of the SAP over to Counter Insurgency (COIN) under the command of Major General Vic Verster. The divisional commander was Colonel Bert Wandrag with operational command under Major JJ de Swardt.

Functions.

Source:

Equipment.

The Special Task Force uses a wide variety of arms and assorted equipment: Pistols  Sub-Machine Guns  Assault rifles  Sniper rifles  Shotguns  Machine guns  Grenade launcher  Grenades Other equipment  Vehicles  Aircraft

Major operations.

25 January 1980: On 25 January 1980 three MK Cadres – Stephen Mafoko, Humphrey Makhubo and Wilfred Madela – were allegedly on their way to carry out a planned MK sabotage mission on petrol depots at Watloo near Mamelodi. En route, ‘the Trio’ realised they were being tailed by the police. In an attempt to escape, they took refuge in a branch of Volkskas Bank in Silverton, Pretoria. They held 25 civilians in the bank hostage, making a number of demands, including a meeting with State President Vorster, the release of Nelson Mandela and a man called Mange, as well as R100 000 in cash and an aircraft to fly them to Maputo.  After a series of negotiations, which included the police handing over food to the cadres and hostages, in the ensuing release operation, Special Task Force members killed all three cadres. Two civilians, Valerie Anderson and Anna de Klerk, were killed and many others were wounded in the shootout.  25–30 January 1981: Laingsburg flood disaster. The Special Task Force lead the search and rescue operations. Forty-seven bodies were recovered in five days. The Special Task Force also rendered disaster relief assistance to the local population.  30 July 1988: Hostage situation, Goedemoed Prison. Using sharpened objects, 22 prisoners attacked the prison warders at Goedemoed Prison in the southern Free State. One of the warders failed to escape and was taken hostage in a cell. The hostage was stabbed twice in the neck while one of the warders was trying to negotiate with the prisoners. The SAPS Special Task Force was called in to assist in the matter. Nine members of the Special Task Force were flown to Goedemoed Prison. The Special Task Force freed the hostage with the assistance of the negotiator (warder) and the Reaction Unit of Bloemfontein. The two prisoners who held the warder hostage, were wounded, one of them fatally.  14 September 1988: The Bus Capture at Lesotho. The Pope visited Maseru on the above date. Four members of the Lesotho Freedom Alliance hijacked a bus transporting 74 passengers at the British Embassy. The SAPS Special Task Force was called in to assist in the matter. When negotiations failed, the terrorists began shooting at the bystanders in the British Consulate. They then attempted to use the bus to ram through the embassy gates. The Special Task Force stormed the bus, killing three terrorists and capturing one. They disarmed an improvised booby trap (explosive device). 17 hostages who were injured by hostile gunfire were stabilised by Special Task Force medics.  13 December 1989: Body recovery at Selby Mine, Johannesburg. Two members of the Special Task Force assisted the Brixton Murder and Robbery Unit in recovering a corpse from the Selby mineshaft, Johannesburg. The corpse was found at a depth of 141 meters. Obstructions, bad construction and the threat of toxic gases created additional hazards. Two members of the Special Task Force were individually lowered into the shaft, but were forced to return to the surface owing to respiratory difficulties. One member was given oxygen apparatus and lowered down the shaft again. After securing the corpse to a rope, he was hoisted to the surface. Both members were awarded the South African Police Cross for Bravery for their unselfish deed.  11 January 1993: Hostage situation in Walmer, Port Elizabeth. An ex-defence force member took a woman hostage and held her at gunpoint. As negotiations failed, the Special Task Force entered the building and incapacitated the captor with 2 shots. The hostage was not hurt.  4 July 1993: Hijacked Fokker F-28 at Jan Smuts International Airport. A Fokker F-28 airliner of Royal Swazi Airlines with 21 passengers on board was hijacked and diverted to Jan Smuts Airport, near Johannesburg. The SAPS Special Task Force was summoned to the scene and 22 members were dispatched to the airport to contain the situation and release the hostages. After being informed by the psychologist on the scene that the hijacker was emotionally unstable and irrational and a threat to the hostages, the Special Task Force was given the command to recapture the aircraft and to release the hostages. The hijacker was wounded in the head during the storming of the aircraft. A hostage was wounded in the shoulder and the pilot in the leg. No casualties were sustained by members of the Special Task Force.  10 July 1994: Arrest of Weapon Smugglers at Nduma. Weapons are regularly smuggled from Mozambique to South Africa via the Kruger National Park which borders on Mozambique. The Organized Crime Unit and Firearm Tracing Unit requested the Special Task Force to be of assistance by way of observation duties of specified areas which had been identified by informers as areas which the smugglers readily use. Ten members of the Special Task Force were deployed to the Nduma area in the Kruger National Park where they established observation posts. The operation was successful and three (3) Mozambicans were traced and arrested. The members seized 30 AK-47 rifles and three SAM-7 ground-to-air missiles.  27 October 1994: Hostage Situation and Attempted Suicide at Telkom Offices, Pretoria. A man armed with a firearm and was upset about the non-payment of his salary, entered the Telkom Distribution offices where he worked and took a number of people hostage. The hostage negotiators and 21 members of the Special Task Force were deployed to the scene. After prolonged negotiations, all the hostages were released but the man refused to surrender and threatened to take his own life. The Special Task Force were still in position and ready to take action while the negotiations with the man continued. While the negotiations were taking place, the man decided, without warning, to move to another office. The man was overwhelmed in the passage after his attention had been drawn by a stun grenade and he was disarmed. Neither the man or the people who disarmed him were injured in the incident.  15 June 1994: Rescue Operation SALU Building, Pretoria. 28 members of the Special Task Force raced to the city center to assist with a rescue operation. A building with a number of floors was on fire and personnel working in the building above the floors which were on fire, were trapped. Members of the Special Task Force, SAPS Air Wing and SA Air Force using helicopters rescued people from the top of the building. Other members used roping equipment to evacuate the trapped people to safety. Only a small number of people were treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation.  1 March 1995: Hostage Situation Bella Vista, Johannesburg. A man took his fiancee and her little daughter hostage after a family dispute. The hostage negotiators and six members of the Special Task Force were deployed to the scene. During negotiations, the man continually held a knife against the throat of his fiancee and also sodomised her in the presence of her daughter. The child was also ill-treated by the man while his fiancee had to watch. A tactical release of the hostages was the only way out. One member of the Special Task Force was employed as a sniper and during the tactical release of the hostages, the man was fatally wounded. A firearm was found in the room where the man had held the woman and child hostage.  27 November 1995: Kidnapping and Hostage Situation, Vereeniging. The Intelligence Service and CID of Secunda and Vereeniging requested the assistance of the Special Task Force in an operation to locate the whereabouts of a man who had been kidnapped and was being held hostage. Information at hand was that the man had been kidnapped by 3 men and was being held hostage in a Daleside, Vereenigng house. Nine members of the Special Task Force were made available for the operation and the kidnapped man was released uninjured during a tactical release. All three men were arrested without a single shot being fired. Five firearms which had been used by the hostage takers were seized.  6 August 1995: Hostage Situation Hollywood Café, Sunnyside. A man fleeing from the SAPS on 6 August 1995, took a woman hostage in the Hollywood Café, Esselen Street, Sunnyside. The Special Task Force was summoned to the scene by Radio Control, after which the hostage taker was arrested and the hostage tactically released. The man was found guilty of armed robbery, kidnapping, pointing of a firearm and possession of an unlicensed firearm.  24 to 25 February 1995: Hostage Situation, St Albans Prison – Port Elizabeth. Twenty-two members of the Special Task Force were summoned to St Albans Prison, Port Elizabeth where approximately 105 prisoners had taken a prison warder hostage. During the night of 24–25 February 1995, after prolonged negotiations the prison warder was released after a tactical release lasting 20 seconds. One hostage taker was fatally wounded. One injured and the other prisoners were arrested. The hostage was released without injuries. Two firearms and a M26 hand grenade were seized after the operation.  12 August 1996: Hostage Situation 34 Baccus Street, Irene. On 12 August 1996 a man took a year old baby hostage at 34 Baccus Street, Irene. The Special Task Force deployed 21 members to the scene. During negotiations, snipers were deployed in the vicinity. The snipers observed that the man held the baby in front of him with a knife to its throat all the time. The hostage taker only moved a curtain occasionally to see what was going on outside, but never let go of the baby. Negotiations which had lasted a long time did not succeed and it was decided on a tactical release of the baby by members of the Special Task Force. During the tactical release, both snipers fired simultaneously, fatally wounding the hostage taker. The baby was safely released without any injuries.  22 May 1997: Hostage Situation Nando's, Johannesburg. Three robbers trying to rob Nando's on the corner of Cromhout and Kimberley Streets, Johannesburg were cornered by members of the SAPS Johannesburg after being alerted by members of the public. The robbers took the employees of Nando's hostage. A gun-battle between the robbers and the SAPS took place during which two members of the SAPS were wounded. 19 members of the Special Task Force were deployed. During the release of the hostages, the three robbers were wounded and arrested. No members of the public were injured. 25 June 2006: The Jeppestown Massacre, Jeppestown, central Johannesburg. After a robbery, 23 robbers were followed by a police helicopter to a safe house. Four SAPS members were murdered and eight robbers were killed in the siege before the remaining 15 gang members surrendered. Members of the Special Task Force were deployed to assist the SAPS in ending the siege.  15 December 2009: Special Task Force snipers ended a 20-hour-long hostage situation at a farm outside Petrusburg in the Free State when two armed attackers took a farmer hostage when he and his son-in-law confronted them, after they had robbed another farmer. Thereafter the attackers hijacked the farmers' vehicle. His son-in-law managed to escape by diving out of the moving vehicle. Police chased after the vehicle at about 14:00, but the hijackers refused to hand themselves over and negotiations were carried out by the police hostage negotiator at about 16:00. The Special Task Force arrived on the scene between 17:00 and 18:00. At about 7:00 Special Task Force snipers shot and killed both attackers. The hostage only had minor injuries and was taken to the hospital.  10 August – 20 September 2012: Marikana Miners Strike, Rustenburg. Members of the Special Task Force were deployed to the Lonmin owned mine in the Marikana area after two police officials, two security guards and four miners were murdered by striking miners between 12 and 14 August. On 16 August, after storming police forces with traditional weapons and small arms, 34 miners were shot dead by SAPS members and another 78 miners were injured. This became known as the Marikana Massacre.  24 November 2012: Protea Coin cash compound, Robertsville, western Johannesburg. At around 17:00, the Special Task Force confronted a group of 20 heavily armed cash-in-transit robbers in a foiled robbery. After the robbers were cornered and opened fire on the members of the Task Force, they returned fire killing seven and wounding nine of the robbers. None of the Task Force members were injured in the shootout.  In December 2013: The Special Task Force was deployed to provide additional security when about 91 heads of state and leaders attended the state memorial service of Nelson Mandela and his funeral after he died on 5 December 2013.  10 December 2016: Eight suspected ATM bombers were killed in a shoot-out when Special Task Force officers intercepted them as they were travelling to Howick. No Special Task Force members were injured.

Recruitment and training.

Prospective members have to be at least 21 years old and must have served at least two years in the South African Police Service. The volunteer must also show certain traits such as:  Applicants for a career in the Special Task Force must be:  All Task Force applicants are volunteers and have to comply with stringent physical requirements before being admitted to the basic training and selection course. The basic training course is twenty-six weeks long and includes weapons, rural and urban combat as well as basic parachute training courses. Compulsory advanced courses include special skills such as diving, VIP protection, explosives and medical training. The initial training period is nine months, but completing all the requisite advanced courses to become a full-fledged Special Task Force operational member may last up to three years.  Highlighting the stringent selection process during the Special Task Force Training Course in 2005 a total of 453 applications were received. When pre-selection was done, only 108 of the 453 candidates measured up to pre-selection requirements. Of the 108 who made it through pre-selection, only 42 completed the Preparation and Condition (PREPCON) phase, and only 20 candidates managed to complete the Vasbyt phase. The recruits who didn't pass the PREPCON phase admitted that their failure to do so was due to insufficient preparation for the course because they had thought that STF’s standards have been lowered. Members of the unit have visited foreign units of a similar role on several occasions, to ensure that the structure and procedures of the unit is in line with international training courses, and to keep up with changes in training and other specialized fields.  According to the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), the recipients of the "National Diploma: South African Special Forces Operations" qualification (Qualification ID: 48879) will be able to:  Although membership of the Special Task Force is open to both male and female SAPS members, female operatives undergo a separate selection course.

Current.

In 2004 it was reported that the SAPS Special Task Force may have lost nearly 60 percent (130 operators) of its active members (230 operators) to private companies recruiting security personnel to work in Iraq and other conflict countries due to the demand for their skills.  As of 2004, with the implementation of affirmative action policy and a special course for females, the Special Task Force welcomed their first female operators in its ranks.  In 2010 top officers of the unit were sent to the United States to brush up on their crisis response skills.

The Special Task Force (STF) is the elite police tactical unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS). The Special Task Force handles high risk operations that fall beyond the scope of classic policing which require specialised skills.