Pax Britannica

Season 2019 / 2020 – Talk 11 – Pax Britannica

Pax Britannica describes the role of the Royal Navy in the century between 1815 and 1914, where Britain acted as ‘global policeman’

The talk is given by Elizabeth Anson. She has a great personal knowledge of the Royal Navy because she is the daughter of a Rear Admiral. Her father was Flag Officer, Malta when she was born. She was also the wife of Rear Admiral Sir Peter Anson.

A hundred years without a major conflict:

The ‘War of 1812‘ with the United States was the last major naval conflict until World War 1. The war saw the smaller Frigate, HMS Shannon, defeat the US Navy’s refitted Chesapeake off Boston.

Role of the Navy:

For most of the Nineteenth Century the Navy’s role protected British trade. It also enforced the law passed in 1807 that abolished slavery as Naval ships intercepted suspected ‘slavers’.

Britain’s global trading resulted in naval bases being set up across the world. They were critical to the Navy’s global role providing dockyards and resupply points.

The ‘Trincomalee Bell’:

We hear the story of the ‘Trincomalee Bell’, originally presented to Admiral Austen, the brother of Jane Austen. The bell travelled from Naval base to Naval base. The bell was sent to Jane Austen’s home in Chawton after a request by Admiral Peter Anson.

Hear the whole story by listening to this podcast. There is an echo and some electronic buzzing sounds resulting from the PA system.

Please note: Some of the views expressed in this talk reflect views common during this period of history and do not reflect those of the speaker, Farnham U3A World History Group or The MrT Podcast Studio.

To view the photographs accompanying this talk:

These pictures are free for use with this podcast. They differ from those shown at the original talk. Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery:

About this podcast:

The Farnham U3A site is found here.

This podcast is also available through the Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify and Stitcher ‘apps’.

AKM Music has licensed Media Magazine for use as the title music.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham U3A World History Group 2020

The Sunset Limited (7)

The Sunset Limited (7) – US Rail Journeys Series 2 Episode 18

Nearing the border town of El Paso:

The Sunset Limited (7) starts in the far west of Texas as we approach El Paso. El Paso is a ‘border town’ with Mexico. We pass oil refineries, sidings and rail cars waiting to be filled to transport the oil across the US.

Our stop in El Paso:

We are still running some hours late and our stop at El Paso will be shorter than usual. There is a crew change at El Paso and we can get out for a breath of air. As the stop is being ‘expedited’ we are asked to stay near the train.

Our arrival in El Paso coincides with the call for those wanting an early dinner. If we’d been on time the call would have been for those wanting a late lunch!

The train is heading directly into the late afternoon sun. We say our farewells to people we’ve met on the journey, re-board with a new crew and set off. We climb out of El Paso for the 90 minute journey to Deming.

Overnight:

It is a wonderful sunset. We travel through the night passing through a number of small stops. There is our last ‘air break’ at Tucson. Most have gone to sleep by the time we arrive.

Morning:

I awake at 6.30 a.m. as we reach Palm Springs in California. We are still some hours behind schedule. We should have been in LA at the unhospitable time of 5.30 a.m.!

I breakfast and, as we approach Ontario (California), we pass orange groves and commuter traffic slowly driving along the roads.

The photographs that accompany the podcast:

Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery:

Next up:

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this podcast. If so, please join me in two weeks time for the next episode where the Sunset Limited reaches Los Angeles.

Links:

To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.

You can also listen to this podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify and Stitcher.

Music:

AKM Music has licensed the theme, Steam Railway, for use in this podcast.

Storyblocks has licensed Border Town by Nathan Krieswirth, Mexican Hat Danceby Ron Komie and California Sun by Bobby Cole for use as incidental music in this episode.

© The MrT Podcast Studio 2019 – 2020

The Amritsar Massacre

Season 2019 / 2020 – Talk 10 – The Amritsar Massacre and its aftermath

John Hambly tells us about the Amritsar Massacre and its aftermath. Often referred to as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre because that was the area of Amritsar where it took place in.

John starts by setting the scene and telling us about the key players on both sides.

Background:

During the First World War the Indian sub-continent had contributed many soldiers to the British war effort. Because of this there were expectations from the population for increased status.

The Defence of India Act of 1915 limited civil and political liberties. The very unpopular Rowlatt Act followed.

Michael O’Dwyer:

The Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab had been active in the passing of the Defence of India Act because it gave him great powers!

From mid-March 1919 the CID in Amritsar kept a close surveillance of two Gandhian non-violent Indian nationalists. On 10th April 1919, O’Dwyer summoned them, had them arrested and secretly escorted to Dharamasala, at the foot of the Himalayas.

He supported Dyer’s actions in the massacre. Aged 75, he was shot dead, 21 years later, at a meeting in Caxton Hall, Westminster.

Brigadier General Reginald Dyer

The Brigadier General rank was temporary because his substantive rank was Colonel.

He is known as the ‘Butcher of Amritsar’. This is because he gave the order to fire. This resulted in the death of at least 379 people and injuries to over 1,000 more.

Dyer was removed from duty following the massacre and widely condemned in both Britain and India.

The aftermath

Many senior Indians had been pushing for Dominion status (like Canada and Australia) before the massacre. After, many abandoned their loyalty to British rule and became Nationalists who distrusted British rule.

Hear the whole story by listening to this podcast. There is an echo and some electronic buzzing sounds resulting from the PA system.

The are no graphics to accompany this talk.

Please Note: The description of scenes in this talk may be distressing to some people.

The quotations and actions described in this talk represent views held at the time of the Massacre. They do not represent the views of John Hambly, the Farnham U3A World History Group and The MrT Podcast Studio.

About this podcast:

The Farnham U3A site is found here.

This podcast is also available through the Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify and Stitcher ‘apps’.

AKM Music has licensed Media Magazine for use as the title music.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham U3A World History Group 2020

The Sunset Limited (6)

The Sunset Limited (6) – US Rail Journeys Series 2 Episode 17

Near the Southern Border of the United States:

The Sunset Limited (6) continues our journey across Texas. We are near the southern border of the US and will later start to see the agriculture made possible by the Rio Grande.

The land certainly isn’t as bare as it was earlier, we pass an orchard and some ploughed fields with people working in them. This is certainly more hospitable than earlier when all we saw was a few cattle.

Some of the agriculture is supported by large irrigation systems.

Trying to catch up?

As we pass from agriculture back into semi desert the train picks up speed. I wonder if we are trying to recover from some of the delays that we’ve had earlier.

As we pass through the semi-desert we see a few birds of prey circling.

Points failure:

We slow and then stop. Lunch comes, and goes. People doze in the sun although the air conditioning is keeping the temperature pleasant.

We wait because there is a freight train ahead of us. Then we hear that there is a points failure. Two hours pass before we start again. There is a further delay because the eastbound Sunset Limited has to pass before we can proceed. We should have left El Paso over two hours before it arrived!

We finally get going again and as we approach El Paso, hours late, we reach 80 mph.

The photographs that accompany the podcast:

Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery:

Next up:

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this podcast. If so, please join me in two weeks time for the next episode where we continue on the Sunset Limited through El Paso and along the southern border of the United States towards Los Angeles.

Links:

To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.

You can also listen to this podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify and Stitcher.

Music:

AKM Music has licensed the theme, Steam Railway, for use in this podcast.

Storyblocks has licensed Southern Border by Richard Ted Ivanoff and Mexican Cantina by Steve Glotzer for use as incidental music in this episode.

© The MrT Podcast Studio 2019 – 2020

British Art between the Wars

Season 2019 / 2020 – Talk 09 – British Art  between the Wars

Peter Duffy tells us about the key contributors to British Art between the Wars. Peter starts by introducing is to Britain before the First World War. He tells us about art at that time,

Artists:

We are introduced to the leading artistic talents of the time.

  • Paul Nash a British surrealist painter and war artist. He was also a photographer, writer and designer of applied art. He was among the most important landscape artists of the time and played a key role in the development of Modernism in English art.

Self portrait woodcut – in the Public Domain

  • by George Charles Beresford, half-plate glass negative, 1913 – In the Public Domain

    Wyndham Lewis was an English writer, painter, and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist art movement and edited the Vorticist literary magazine called Blast.

Posted to the western front as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, he spent much of his time ‘spotting’ in Forward Observation Posts. He registered targets and called down fire from batteries massed around the rim of the Ypres Salient. After the 3rd Battle of Ypres he was appointed as an official war artist for both the Canadian and British governments.

  • We hear about other members of the Vortices Group including:
    • William Roberts,
    • David Bomberg,
    • Eric Wadsworth
    • Jacob Epstein,
    • Jessica Dismorr,
    • C R W Nevinson, all of whom studied at the Slade School of Art. Many of these artists studied under Henry Tonks, an ex surgeon given to sarcasm.
More artists:

Peter then talks about the artists:

  • Stanley Spencer,
  • Mark Gertler,
  • Dora Carrington, and
  • Ben Nicholson.

World War 1:

The war had a great impact on Society and the artists. There was a great difference between those who fought and those who didn’t.

The Bloomsbury Group artists were non-combatants and were conscious of the changes that the war had brought. This led to divergences of opinion.

Many of the artists who were war artists were very far behind the lines others had direct experience of the conflict.

Those who had experience of the front line include Paul Nash, David Bomberg, Wyndham Lewis, William Roberts and David Jones. Jessica Dismorr cared for the wounded.

Hear the whole story by listening to this fascinating podcast.

The are no graphics to accompany this talk:

Copyright restrictions apply to much of the art in the original talk and so it cannot be included on this page. You will find much of it on the Internet on the sites of the owners of the copyright.

About this podcast:

The Farnham U3A site is found at Farnham U3A Home Page.

This podcast is also available through the Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify and Stitcher ‘apps’.

AKM Music has licensed Media Magazine for use as the title music.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham U3A World History Group 2020