Month: December 2020

Four-Masted Sailing to Tragedy

Pamir, a four-masted barque, was one of the famous Flying P-Liner sailing ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz. She was the last commercial sailing ship to brave the notorious rounding of Cape Horn, in 1949. By 1957, the barque had been out-dated by modern bulk carriers and was by then unable to operate at a profit.

Cash for Ash

The eyebrows of my cardiologist lifted when I conceded that I once smoked 40 cigarettes a day. Smiling, he then told me that had I said I had never smoked he wouldn’t have known. My lungs had completely recovered from the effects of 25-years of heavy smoking. My addiction started when I was a 16-year-old sailor and continued until I was 40-years-of-age.

France’s Pearl Harbour

The French surrendered to the Germans on June 22, 1940. The terms of the capitulation were unusual. The Germans permitted the new French administration, under Marshall Petain, to establish itself in the city of Vichy in the south and central France. From there, unoccupied independent Vichy France governed over half of the French landmass in the south of France whilst retaining their overseas colonies and their navy.