title: Numinous

text: "Numinous" was derived in the 17th century from the Latin "numen", meaning a "deity or spirit presiding over a thing or space." It describes the power or presence or realisation of a divinity. It is etymologically unrelated to Immanuel Kant's "noumenon", a Greek term referring to an unknowable reality underlying all things.


title: Numinous

text: The word was given its present sense by the German theologian and philosopher Rudolf Otto in his influential 1917 book "Das Heilige", which appeared in English as "The Idea of the Holy" in 1923.


title: Numinous

text: Otto writes that while the concept of "the holy" is often used to convey moral perfection—and does entail this—it contains another distinct element, beyond the ethical sphere, for which he uses the term "numinous". He explains the numinous as a "non-rational, non-sensory experience or feeling whose primary and immediate object is outside the self." This mental state "presents itself as "ganz Andere", wholly other, a condition absolutely "sui generis" and incomparable whereby the human being finds himself utterly abashed."


title: Numinous

text: Otto argues that because the numinous is irreducible and "sui generis" it cannot be defined in terms of other concepts or experiences, and that the reader must therefore be "guided and led on by consideration and discussion of the matter through the ways of his own mind, until he reach the point at which 'the numinous' in him perforce begins to stir... In other words, our "X" cannot, strictly speaking, be taught, it can only be evoked, awakened in the mind." Chapters 4 to 6 are devoted to attempting to evoke the numinous and its various aspects.


title: Numinous

text: Using Latin, he describes it as a mystery () that is at once terrifying ("tremendum") and fascinating ("fascinans"). He writes:


title: Numinous

text: Otto's use of the term as referring to a characteristic of religious experience was influential among certain intellectuals of the subsequent generation. For example, "numinous" as understood by Otto was a frequently quoted concept in the writings of Carl Jung, and C. S. Lewis. Lewis described the numinous experience in "The Problem of Pain" as follows:


title: Numinous

text: Jung applied the concept of the numinous to psychology and psychotherapy, arguing it was therapeutic and brought greater self-understanding, and stating that to him religion was about a "careful and scrupulous observation... of the "numinosum"". The notion of the numinous and the "wholly Other" were also central to the religious studies of ethnologist Mircea Eliade. "Mysterium tremendum", another phrase coined by Otto to describe the numinous, is presented by Aldous Huxley in "The Doors of Perception" in this way:


title: Numinous

text: In a book-length scholarly treatment of the subject in fantasy literature, Chris Brawley devotes chapters to the concept in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in "Phantastes" by George Macdonald, in the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C. S. Lewis, and "The Lord of the Rings" by J. R. R. Tolkien; and in work by Algernon Blackwood and Ursula Le Guin (e.g., "The Centaur" and "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight", respectively).


title: Numinous

text: Neuroscientist Christof Koch has described awe from experiences such as entering a cathedral, saying he gets "a feeling of luminosity out of the numinous," though he does not hold the Catholic religious beliefs with which he was raised.


title: Numinous

text: Psychologist Susan Blackmore describes both mystical experiences and psychedelic experiences as numinous. In 2009, Czech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof re-released his 1975 book "Realms of the Human Unconscious" under the title "LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious". In his 2018 book "How to Change Your Mind", journalist Michael Pollan describes his experience trying the powerful psychedelic substance 5-MeO-DMT, including the following reflection on his experience of ego dissolution:


title: Champagne glass

text: A champagne glass is stemware designed for champagne and other sparkling wines. The two most common forms are the flute and coupe, both stemmed; holding the glass by the stem prevents warming the drink. Champagne can also be drunk from a normal wine glass, which allows better appreciation of the flavor, at the expense of accentuating the bubbles less.


title: Champagne glass

text: The champagne flute (French:" ") is a stem glass with either a tall tapered conical shape or elongated slender bowl, generally holding about of liquid.


title: Champagne glass

text: The champagne flute was developed along with other wine stemware in the early 18th century as the preferred shape for sparkling wine as materials for drinking vessels shifted from metal and ceramic to glassware. Initially, the flute was tall, conical, and slender; by the 20th century, preferences changed from a straight-sided glass to one which curved inward slightly near the lip.


title: Champagne glass

text: This inward taper is designed to retain champagne's signature carbonation by reducing the surface area for it to escape. Nucleation in a champagne glass helps form the wine's bubbles; too much surface area allows carbonation to fizzle out quickly. More bubbles create greater texture in the taster's mouth, and a flute's deep bowl allows for greater visual effect of bubbles rising to the top. The flute's narrow cross-section also minimizes the oxygen-to-wine ratio, which enhances both the wine's aroma and taste.


title: Champagne glass

text: While most commonly used for sparkling wines, flutes are also used for certain beers, especially fruit beers and Belgian lambics and gueuzes. The flute shows off the beer's color, and helps gather the aroma for the nose. The champagne flute is distinguished from the pilsner glass, which lacks a stem.


title: Champagne glass

text: The champagne coupe is a shallow, broad-bowled saucer shaped stemmed glass generally capable of containing of liquid. The coupe was fashionable in France from its introduction in the 18th century until the 1970s, and in the United States from the 1930s to the 1980s. Coupes are also often used for cocktails served up in lieu of a cocktail glass on account of the latter glass's greater propensity to spilling.


title: Champagne glass

text: Champagne is also served in a tulip glass. The white wine tulip is distinguishable from the champagne flute by its wider flared body and mouth. Some oenophiles prefer the tulip glass, as it permits the drinker to get more of the aroma than a traditional flute while the mouth is still narrow enough to avoid quick loss of carbonation. "The Washington Post" food columnist Dave McIntyre has argued that the tulip allows the champagne to move to the middle from the front of the tongue, allowing the wine's flavor to be better expressed. The glass maker Riedel particularly criticizes flutes as one-dimensional, impairing drinkers' ability to appreciate a wine's full range of aromas and taste profiles.


title: Champagne glass

text: In the 1960s, double-wall stemware was developed to slow the transfer of heat from a drinker's hand to champagne and other beverages. Inner and outer walls are separated by a small gap filled with air, a poor thermal conductor.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The siege of Calais (1940) was a battle for the port of Calais during the Battle of France. The siege was fought at the same time as the Battle of Boulogne, just before Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) through Dunkirk. After the Franco-British counter-attack at the Battle of Arras (21 May), German units were held back to be ready to resist a resumption of the counter-attack on 22 May, despite the protests of General Heinz Guderian, the commander of the XIX , who wanted to rush north up the Channel coast to capture Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk. An attack by part of the XIX was not authorised until on the night of


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: By the time that the 10th Panzer Division was ready to attack Calais, the British 30th Infantry Brigade and 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3rd RTR) had reinforced the French and British troops in the port. On 22 May, the British troops had established roadblocks outside the town and French rearguards skirmished with German armoured units, as they advanced towards Calais. British tanks and infantry had been ordered south to reinforce Boulogne but were too late. They then received orders to escort a food convoy to Dunkirk but found the road blocked by German troops. On 23 May, the British began to retire to the old Calais walls (built in the 1670s) and on 24 May, the siege began. The attacks by the 10th Panzer Division were mostly costly failures and by evening, the Germans reported that about half their tanks had been knocked out and a third of the infantry were casualties. The German attacks were supported by the , while the Allied defenders were supported by their navies delivering supplies, evacuating wounded and bombarding German targets around the port.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: On the night of the defenders were forced to withdraw from the southern , to a line covering the Old Town and Citadel; attacks next day against this shorter line were repulsed. The Germans tried several times to persuade the garrison to surrender but orders had been received from London to hold out, because an evacuation had been forbidden by the French commander of the northern ports. More German attacks early on 26 May failed and the German commander was given an ultimatum that if Calais was not captured by the attackers would be pulled back and the town levelled by the . The Anglo-French defences began to collapse in the early afternoon and at the order "every man for himself" was given to the defenders, as Le Tellier, the French commander surrendered. Next day, small naval craft entered the harbour and lifted about while aircraft of the RAF and Fleet Air Arm dropped supplies and attacked German artillery emplacements.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: In 1949, Churchill wrote that the defence of Calais delayed the German attack on Dunkirk, helping to save the 300,000 soldiers of the BEF, a claim that Guderian contradicted in 1951. In 1966, Lionel Ellis, the British official historian, wrote that three panzer divisions had been diverted by the defence of Boulogne and Calais, giving the Allies time to rush troops to close a gap west of Dunkirk. In 2006, Karl-Heinz Frieser wrote that the halt order issued to the German unit commanders because of the Anglo-French attack at the Battle of Arras (21 May) had a greater effect than the siege. Hitler and the higher German commanders panicked because of their fears of flank attacks, when the real danger was of the Allies retreating to the coast before they could be cut off. Reinforcements sent from Britain to Boulogne and Calais arrived in time to forestall the Germans and hold them off when they advanced again on 22 May.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The term "Channel Ports" refers to Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk (and sometimes Ostend in Belgium). The ports are the nearest to Cap Gris Nez, the shortest crossing from England and are the most popular for passenger traffic. Calais is built on low ground with low sand dunes on either side and is enclosed by fortifications. There was a citadel in the old town surrounded by water and in 1940 on the east side, the moat was still wet but elsewhere had become a dry ditch. Surrounding the town was an , a defensive fortification, which originally consisted of twelve bastions linked by a curtain wall, with a perimeter of , built by Vauban from 1667 to 1707.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: In many places, the was overlooked by suburban buildings built in the nineteenth century. Two of the southern bastions and the wall linking them had been demolished to make way for railway lines, leading to railway sidings and quays of the in the harbour. About outside the to the west was Fort Nieulay. Two other forts to the south and east were derelict or had disappeared. Outside the town, low ground to the east and south is cut by ditches, which limit the landward approach to roads raised above ground level. To the west and south-west, there is a ridge of higher ground between Calais and Boulogne, from which Calais is overlooked.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: When plans for the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were made, the British Imperial General Staff drew from experience in the First World War. The British Expeditionary Force had used the Channel Ports as their s for supplies, even though they were only from the Western Front. Had the German spring offensive of 1918 succeeded in breaking through the front and capturing or even threatening the ports, the BEF would have been in a desperate position. During the Phoney War , the BEF had been supplied through ports further to the west, such as Le Havre and Cherbourg but the Channel Ports came into use, once mine barrages had been laid in the English Channel in late 1939, to reduce the demand for ships and escorts. When leave from the BEF began in December, Calais was used for communication and for troop movements, especially for men granted compassionate leave.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: On 10 May 1940, the Germans began an offensive against France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Within a few days, Army Group A ( Gerd von Rundstedt) broke through the French Ninth Army (General André Corap) in the centre of the French front near Sedan and drove westwards down the Somme river valley, led by comprising under Heinz Guderian and the ( Georg-Hans Reinhardt). On 20 May, the Germans captured Abbeville at the mouth of the Somme River, cutting off the Allied troops in Northern France and Belgium. The Battle of Arras, a Franco-British counter-attack on 21 May, led the Germans to continue to attack north towards the channel ports, rather than advance southwards over the Somme. Apprehension about another Franco-British counter-attack led to the "Arras halt order" being issued by the German higher commanders on 21 May. The neighbouring XV (General Hermann Hoth) was held back in reserve and a division of the XLI was moved eastwards, when the corps was only from Dunkirk.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: Late on 21 May, (OKH) rescinded the halt order; was to resume the advance and move about north, to capture Boulogne and Calais. The next day, Guderian gave orders for the 2nd Panzer Division ( Rudolf Veiel) to advance to Boulogne on a line from Baincthun to Samer, with the 1st Panzer Division ( Friedrich Kirchner) as a flank guard on the right, advancing to Desvres and Marquise in case of a counter-attack from Calais; the 1st Panzer Division reaching the vicinity of the port during the late afternoon. The 10th Panzer Division ( Ferdinand Schaal) was detached to guard against a possible counter-attack from the south. Parts of the 1st Panzer Division and 2nd Panzer Division were also held back to defend bridgeheads on the south bank of the Somme.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: Calais had been raided by bombers several times, which caused disruption to military movements, confusion and traffic jams, with refugees making for Calais meeting refugees fleeing the port. The French army units in Calais were commanded by (Major) Raymond Le Tellier and the northernmost bastions and fortifications were manned by French naval reservists and volunteers commanded by the (Capitaine de frégate Charles de Lambertye). Various army stragglers, including infantry and a machine-gun company had arrived in the town. On 19 May, Lieutenant-General Douglas Brownrigg, the Adjutant General of the BEF, appointed Colonel Rupert Holland to command the British troops in Calais and to arrange the evacuation of non-combatant personnel and wounded. The British contingent consisted of a platoon of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (A&SH) who were guarding a radar site, the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA, 58th (A&SH) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA and the 1st Searchlight Regiment RA.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: When the Germans captured Abbeville on 20 May, the War Office in Britain ordered troops to be despatched to the Channel Ports as a precaution. The 20th Guards Brigade was sent to Boulogne. The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3rd RTR, Lieutenant-Colonel R. Keller), the 1st Battalion Queen Victoria's Rifles (QVR, Lieutenant-Colonel J. A. M. Ellison-Macartney), the 229th Anti-Tank Battery RA and the new 30th Motor Brigade (Brigadier Claude Nicholson), were ordered to Calais. Most of the units dispatched to Calais were unprepared for action in some respects.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The 3rd RTR was part of the 1st Heavy Armoured Brigade (Brigadier John Crocker) and had been about to leave for Cherbourg, to join the 1st Armoured Division, which was assembling at Pacy-sur-Eure in Normandy. Their tanks had already been loaded aboard "SS City of Christchurch" in Southampton. Lieutenant-Colonel Keller received orders on the night of at Fordingbridge to move the 3rd RTR to Southampton but during the journey the personnel train was diverted to Dover. Keller was briefed at Dover to go to Calais and given sealed orders for the British port commander (although he was not told who this was). The personnel embarked aboard "SS Maid of Orleans".


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The QVR was a Territorial Army motor-cycle battalion, nominally the divisional cavalry for the 56th (London) Division. They had briefly been attached to the 30th Motor Brigade in April but then were returned to the 56th (London) Division for home defence, being deprived of their twenty-two scout cars. They were stationed near Ashford in Kent and late on 21 May, the QVR was ordered to proceed by train to Dover to embark for France; the motor-cycle combinations and other vehicles were to be left behind. After a confused move it was realised that there had been a staff error and that there was room for the motor-cycle combinations aboard the but they did not arrive before the ship sailed.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: "Maid of Orleans" and "City of Canterbury" carrying the personnel of the 3rd RTR and the QVR departed Dover at They arrived at Calais around under a pall of smoke from buildings on fire in the town. The QVR landed without motorcycles, transport or 3-inch mortars and only smoke bombs for the 2-inch mortars. Many of the men were armed only with revolvers and had to scavenge for rifles from those dumped on the quay by personnel hastily departing for England.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: While they waited for their vehicles to arrive, the men of the 3rd RTR were ordered to disperse in the sand dunes and were bombed soon after. Keller met Holland who told him to take orders from the BEF GHQ but at Brownrigg arrived in Calais and ordered Keller to move the 3rd RTR south-west as soon as it had unloaded, to join the 20th Guards Brigade at Boulogne. After Brownrigg left, Major Ken Bailey turned up from GHQ with orders for the 3rd RTR to go to St Omer and Hazebrouck, "east" of Boulogne, to make contact with GHQ. Brownrigg had gone to Dover, unaware that his orders at Calais had been superseded. He met Nicholson and briefed him to relieve Boulogne with the 30th Infantry Brigade and the 3rd RTR.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: "SS City of Canterbury" with the 3rd RTR tanks arrived from Southampton at but unloading was very slow, as of petrol had been loaded on deck and had to be moved using only the ship's derricks, as a power cut had immobilised the cranes on the docks. A power cut and a strike by the ship's crew for hours during the night of added to the delay. The captain intended to leave the harbour without waiting, until he was held up at gunpoint by a 3rd RTR officer. The dock workers were exhausted, having been at work unloading rations for the BEF for many hours and it was not until the following morning that the vehicles had been unloaded and refuelled. The cruiser tanks had been loaded first and had to be unloaded last. More delay was caused by the tank guns having been coated in a preservative and loaded separately. The guns had to be cleaned before they could be remounted.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The 30th Motor Brigade had been formed on 24 April 1940, from the 1st Support Group, to take part in the Norwegian Campaign. After these orders were cancelled, the brigade was posted to East Anglia to meet a supposed threat of invasion. The main body of the brigade were the 1st Battalion, the Rifle Brigade (1st RB, Lieutenant Colonel Chandos Hoskyns) and the 2nd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (2nd KRRC, Lieutenant Colonel Euan Miller). These were both highly trained units, each about 750 strong. They were ordered late on 21 May to move by road to Southampton. They arrived on 22 May and were embarked in a rather chaotic fashion; the vehicles aboard "SS Kohistan" and "SS City of Canterbury" which proceeded directly to Calais, the KRRC aboard and the RB and brigade headquarters aboard "SS Archangel". They sailed on 23 May, at first for Dover, where they were joined by an "Auto Carrier" containing the 229th Anti-Tank Battery RA, which had moved from Sheffield but had to leave four of the twelve anti-tank guns behind as there was no room for them on the ship. The 30th Brigade's personnel arrived at Calais in the afternoon of 23 May. They then had to wait, like the 3rd RTR, until the evening for the vehicle ships to arrive and be unloaded.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The 3rd RTR had been assembling its and at Coquelles on the Calais–Boulogne road according to the orders received from Brownrigg and a patrol of light tanks was sent down the St. Omer road according to the orders received from GHQ via Bailey. The patrol found the town empty, under bombardment and illuminated by the fires of burning buildings, at which the patrol returned to Coquelles at about in the morning of 23 May. (The patrol was fortunate to miss the 6th Panzer Division, which had laagered around Guînes, west of the St. Omer road for the night.)


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: Calais was within the range of RAF aircraft based in Britain and at , Hawker Hurricanes of 151 Squadron shot down a Junkers Ju 88 bomber between Calais and Boulogne and Spitfires of 74 Squadron shot down another , both from (LG 1). Fighters from 54 Squadron and 92 Squadron claimed five Messerschmitt Bf 109s of (JG 27, Fighter Wing 27) for one Spitfire during the morning and in the afternoon, 92 Squadron lost two Spitfires shot down to Messerschmitt Bf 110s of (ZG 26) and (ZG 76). From LG 1 lost five aircraft over the Channel ports before II./ was assigned to the group as escorts while JG 27 lost 10 Bf 109s. Six British fighters were lost. (StG 77, Dive Bomber Wing 77) lost five on this date. No. 2 Group RAF flew support sorties in the area from 21 to 25 May, losing 13 bombers.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The German advance resumed in the morning and at the panzers crossed the Authie. During the afternoon, French rearguards, with some parties of British and Belgian troops, were met at Desvres, Samer and the vicinity of Boulogne. The Allied air forces were active and made bombing and strafing attacks on the German forces, with little opposition from the . The 10th Panzer Division was released from its defensive role and Guderian ordered the 1st Panzer Division, which was near Calais, to turn east towards Dunkirk and the 10th Panzer Division to move from Doullens to Samer and thence to Calais. The 1st Panzer Division was to advance eastwards to Gravelines at the next day. The 10th Panzer Division advance was delayed around Amiens, because infantry units which were to relieve the division in the bridgehead on the south bank of the Somme, arrived late and the British reinforcements sent to Calais forestalled the Germans.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: On 23 May, the threat to the German flanks at Cambrai and Arras had been contained and ( Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen) became available to support the 10th Panzer Division at Calais. Most of the Junkers Ju 87 dive-bombers were based around St Quentin, after leap-frogging forward in the wake of the advance but Calais was at the limit of their range. As units moved forward they had also come within the range of Fighter Command aircraft in England and Richthofen assigned I JG 27 (I Wing, Fighter Group 27) to Saint-Omer for fighter cover. Among the (groups) flying in support of the 10th Panzer Division were StG 77, StG 1 ( [Lieutenant-Colonel] Eberhard Baier), StG 2 ( [Group Commander] Oskar Dinort) and the medium bombers of (KG 77, [Colonel] Dr. Johan-Volkmar Fisser).


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The units engaged RAF fighters and 92 Squadron shot down four Bf 109s; three I JG 27 pilots were taken prisoner, one was killed in action and 92 Squadron lost three Spitfires with their pilots. To reinforce the German fighters, I "Jagdgeschwader" 1, which was also based nearby to the south, was called on to escort Ju 87 units attacking Calais. Flying from forward airfields at Monchy-Breton, (Captain) Wilhelm Balthasar led JG 1 against the British Spitfires and claimed two of the four from his unit but lost one pilot killed.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The 3rd RTR received the report of the reconnaissance patrol and Bailey went back to GHQ with a light tank escort. Bailey became separated from the escort, ran into the advanced guard of the 1st Panzer Division at a crossroads on the St. Omer road and the driver was killed. The Germans were driven off by the men of a Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) petrol convoy, which had arrived on the scene. Bailey and the wounded passenger returned to Calais at about noon and told Keller that another attempt should be made, since the Germans had retired. Keller had already received information from the French that German tanks were moving towards Calais from Marquise. Despite doubts, Keller sent the rest of the 3rd RTR to follow the light tanks from Coquelles towards St. Omer at When about south-east of Hames-Bources, the rearguard tanks and anti-tank guns of the 1st Panzer Division were spotted on the Pihen-les-Guînes road (guarding the rear of the division as the main body moved north-east towards Gravelines).


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The 3rd RTR drove back German light tanks on the St. Omer road, but despite losses, the heavier German tanks and anti-tank gun screen knocked out from tanks, before Nicholson ordered the 3rd RTR back to Calais. Other units of the 1st Panzer Division moving on Gravelines met about fifty men of C Troop, 1st Searchlight Regiment at Les Attaques, about south-east of Bastion 6 in the Calais "enceinte". C Troop had built a roadblock with a bus and a lorry, covered by Bren guns, rifles, and Boys anti-tank rifles and held out for about three hours before being overrun. German tank and infantry parties then attacked a post at Le Colombier further along the St.Omer–Calais road but were caught in crossfire from other posts and the guns of the 58th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment on high ground near Boulogne. The Germans were repulsed until the post was withdrawn at Calais was not the objective of the 1st Panzer Division but Kruger, commanding the battlegroup which was engaged at Guînes, Les Attaques and Le Colombier, had orders to take Calais from the south-east, if this could be achieved by a . As night fell the division reported that Calais was strongly held and broke off its attacks to resume the advance on Gravelines and Dunkirk.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: Earlier, at Schaal had ordered the main body of his 10th Panzer Division, consisting of the 90th Panzer Regiment (two tank battalions) and 86th Rifle Regiment (two infantry battalions) supported by a battalion of medium artillery, to advance up the main road from Marquise to the high ground around Coquelles, which would give them good observation over Calais. Meanwhile, on the right flank, a battlegroup based on the division's 69th Rifle Regiment (two infantry battalions) was to advance from Guînes to the centre of Calais.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: When Nicholson had arrived in Calais in the afternoon with the 30th Infantry Brigade, he had discovered that the 3rd RTR had already been in action and had considerable losses, and that the Germans were closing on the port and had cut the routes to the south-east and south-west. Nicholson ordered the 1st RB to hold the outer ramparts on the east side of Calais and the 2nd KRRC to garrison the west side, behind the outposts of the QVR and the anti-aircraft units outside the town, which began a retirement to the from about and continued during the night. Just after Nicholson received an order from the War Office to escort a truck convoy carrying to Dunkirk to the north-east, which was to supersede any other orders. Nicholson moved some troops from the defence perimeter to guard the Dunkirk road, while the convoy assembled but the 10th Panzer Division arrived from the south and began to bombard Calais from the high ground.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: At the 3rd RTR sent a patrol of a Cruiser Mk III (A13) and three light tanks to reconnoitre the convoy route, which ran into the 1st Panzer Division roadblocks covering the road to Gravelines. The tanks drove through the first barricade, then found many Germans beyond the third road block, who mistook the tanks for German, even when one of the tank commanders asked if they "" The British tanks drove on for about , were inspected by torchlight and then stopped at a bridge over the Marck, to clear a string of mines which had been laid across the road. Two mines were blown up by 2-pounder fire and the rest dragged clear, the tanks then becoming fouled by coils of anti-tank wire, which took twenty minutes to cut free. The tanks then drove on and reached the British garrison at Gravelines but the radio in the A13 failed to transmit properly and Keller received only garbled fragments of messages, suggesting that the road was clear. A force of five tanks and a composite company of the Rifle Brigade led the truck convoy at Near Marck, about east of Calais, they encountered a German road block which they outflanked but at daylight it was clear they would soon be surrounded and they withdrew to Calais.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: At the French coastal guns opened fire and German artillery and mortar fire began falling on the port at dawn, particularly on French gun positions, preparatory to an attack by the 10th Panzer Division against the west and south-west parts of the perimeter. The retirement of the QVR, searchlight and anti-aircraft troops from the outlying roadblocks had continued overnight until about when the troops completed their withdrawal to the "enceinte". Further west, B Company of the QVR was ordered back from Sangatte, about west of Calais at and had retired slowly to the western face of the by and a C Company platoon out on a road east of Calais, also stayed out until but before midday, the main defensive line had been established on the . The first German attacks were repulsed except in the south, where the attackers penetrated the defences until forced back by a hasty counter-attack by the 2nd KRRC and tanks of the 3rd RTR. The German bombardment was extended to the harbour, where there was a hospital train full of wounded waiting to be evacuated. The harbour control staff ordered the wounded to be put aboard the ships, which were still being unloaded of equipment for the infantry battalions and rear echelon of the tank regiment. The dock workers and rear-area troops were also embarked and the ships returned to England, with some of the equipment still on board.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: During the afternoon the Germans attacked again on all three sides of the perimeter, with infantry supported by tanks. The French garrison of Fort Nieulay, outside the western ramparts surrendered after a bombardment. French marines in Fort Lapin and the coastal artillery emplacements spiked the guns and retreated. On the southern perimeter the Germans broke in again and could not be forced back, the defence being hampered by fifth columnists sniping from the town. The German troops who broke in began to fire in enfilade on the defenders from the houses they had captured. The defenders on the ramparts ran short of ammunition and the 229th Battery was reduced to two operational anti-tank guns. The Germans had great difficulty in identifying British defensive positions and by had managed only a short advance. At the 10th Panzer Division reported that a third of the equipment, vehicles and men were casualties, along with half of the tanks.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The Royal Navy had continued to deliver stores and take off wounded. The destroyers , , , , and the Polish "Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej" (ORP) "Burza" bombarded shore targets. The Ju 87 "Stuka" units made a maximum effort during the day, "Wessex" was sunk and "Burza" was damaged by StG 2 and StG 77 during a raid at StG 2 were ordered to target shipping. Dinort attacked "Wessex" but the destroyer made an elusive target and he missed after bombing on the second dive; the other two groups made a forty-strong formation which hit "Wessex" several times. The German crews had little training on anti-shipping operations but in the absence of British fighters, dived from ; as the departed they were attacked by Spitfires of 54 Squadron which shot down three of the dive-bombers and lost three Spitfires to the Bf 109 escorts.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: "Wolfhound" put into Calais and the captain reported to the Admiralty that the Germans were in the southern part of town and that the situation was desperate. Nicholson had received a message from the War Office at that Calais was to be evacuated and that once unloading was complete, non-combatants were to be embarked; at Nicholson was told that the fighting troops would have to wait until 25 May. Lacking a reserve to counter-attack at the perimeter, Nicholson ordered a retirement to the Marck canal and Avenue Léon Gambetta and during the night, the defenders retreated to the Old Town and the area to the east, inside the outer ramparts and the Marck and Calais canals, while holding the north–south parts of the , on both sides of the port. Le Tellier had set up the French headquarters in the Citadel on the west side of the Old Town but command of the French forces remained divided, with Lambertye still in charge of the naval artillery.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: It had been arranged that French engineers would prepare the bridges over the canals for demolition but this had not occurred and the British had no explosives to do it themselves. Nicholson was informed by a signal at from General Edmund Ironside the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) that General Robert Fagalde, the French commander of the Channel Ports since 23 May, had forbidden an evacuation and that the Calais defenders must comply. As the harbour had lost its significance, Nicholson was to choose the best position from which to fight on; ammunition would be sent but no reinforcements. Nicholson was told that the 48th Division (Major-General Andrew Thorne) had begun to advance towards Calais to relieve the defenders. From the French naval gunners spiked most of their guns and made their way to the docks to embark on French ships. Lambertye refused to go, despite being ill, and asked for volunteers from the and army personnel to stay behind, about fifty men responding despite being warned that there would be no more rescue attempts. The volunteers took over Bastion 11 on the west side and held it for the duration of the siege.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: During the night, Vice-Admiral James Somerville crossed from England and met Nicholson, who said that with more guns he could hold on for a while longer and they agreed that the ships in the port should return. At dawn on 25 May, the German bombardment resumed, concentrating on the old town, where buildings fell into streets, high winds fanned fires everywhere and smoke from explosions and the fires blocked the view. The last guns of the 229th Anti-Tank Battery were knocked out and only three tanks of the 3rd RTR remained operational. Distribution of rations and ammunition was difficult and after the water mains were broken, derelict wells were the only source. At Schaal sent the mayor, André Gerschell, to ask Nicholson to surrender who refused. At noon, Schaal offered another opportunity to surrender and extended the deadline to when he found that his emissaries had been delayed, only to be refused again. The German bombardment increased during the day, despite attempts by Allied ships to bombard German gun emplacements.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: In the east, the 1st Rifle Brigade and parties of the QVR on the outer ramparts and the Marck and Calais canals repulsed a determined attack. The French then eavesdropped on a German wireless message, which disclosed that the Germans were going to attack the perimeter on the west side, held by the 2nd KRRC. At Nicholson ordered a counter-attack and eleven Bren carriers and two tanks with the 1st RB were withdrawn and assembled for a sortie. The attackers were to depart from the north of the and rush round to the south to get behind the Germans. Hoskyns, the 1st RB commander objected, since the plan required the withdrawal of tanks and men from where the Germans were close to breaking through. Hoskyns was over-ruled and it took too long to contact Nicholson, because telephone and radio communication had been lost. The attack went ahead but the carriers bogged in the sand and the attempt failed. At about the units holding the Canal de Marck were overwhelmed and Hoskyns was mortally wounded by a mortar bomb. Major A. W. Allan, the second-in-command of 1st RB, took over the battalion which then made a fighting withdrawal northwards through the streets, to the , the and the quays. In the south-east corner, at the 1st RB positions near the , a rearguard was surrounded and a counter-attack to extricate them was repulsed. Some of the rearguard broke out in a van driven by a fifth columnist at gunpoint but he stopped before reaching safety and few of the wounded reached cover. Only of the the area escaped.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The units of the RB and QVR withdrawing from the northern part of the gained a respite when German artillery mistakenly shelled their own troops (II Battalion, Rifle Regiment 69) who were forming up in a small wood to the east of Bastion No. 2. In the afternoon, a German officer with a captured French officer and Belgian soldier, approached under a flag of truce to demand a surrender, which Nicholson refused. The German attack was resumed and continued until the German commander decided that the defenders could not be defeated before dark. In the old town the KRRC and more parties of the QVR fought to defend the three bridges into the Old Town from the south but at the German artillery ceased fire and tanks attacked the bridges. Three panzers attacked and two were knocked out, the third tank retiring. At , the middle bridge, the first tank drove over a mine and the attack failed. At , near the Citadel, the attempt succeeded and the bridge was captured by tanks and infantry, who took cover in houses north of the bridge, until counter-attacked by the 2nd KRRC. Parties of French and British troops held a bastion, the French in the Citadel lost many men repulsing the attacks and Nicholson established a joint headquarters with the French.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: Shortly after Hoskyns (commanding the 1st RB) was mortally wounded, Lieutenant Colonel Keller, commanding the 3rd RTR, decided that his few remaining tanks under shellfire near the Bastion de l'Estran, could no longer play a useful part in the defence. He ordered them to withdraw eastwards through the sand dunes north of the while he himself tried to evacuate men from Bastion No. 1 to the sand dunes; the wounded were captured a short time later. Riding on a light tank, Keller later reached C Company of the 1st RB north-east of the , where he suggested that they and his tanks withdraw to Dunkirk but his last tanks broke down or ran out of fuel and were destroyed by their crews. At nightfall Keller and some of the crews made their way on foot to Gavelines. Keller and one of his squadron commanders were able to cross the Aa River; next morning they contacted French troops and were later evacuated to Dover.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: At GMT, 17 Squadron claimed three destroyed over Calais and three damaged, plus a Do 17. Air cover was maintained by 605 Squadron, which claimed four Ju 87s and a Hs 126 destroyed with another five unconfirmed claims, after an engagement at while escorting Bristol Blenheim on a reconnaissance sortie. The formation of 40 to 50 attacked shipping near the port. 264 Squadron flew escort operations in the afternoon without incident. On 25 May, 11 Group flew bomber and sorties, losing two Blenheims and two fighters, against shot down and nine damaged to all causes. RAF Bomber Command flew against land targets on 25 May. StG 2 lost four Ju 87s and one damaged. All eight of the crews shot down were captured but released after the French surrender.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: In case Fagalde relented, fifteen small naval vessels towing boats, with room for about waited offshore, some sailed into Calais harbour without an evacuation order and one vessel delivered another order for Nicholson to continue the battle. At Nicholson reported to England that the men were exhausted, the last tanks had been knocked out, water was short and reinforcement probably futile, the Germans had got into the north end of town. The resistance of the Calais garrison had led the German staff to meet late on 25 May, when Colonel Walther Nehring, the XIX Chief of Staff, suggested to Schaal that the final attack should be postponed until 27 May, when more would be available. Schaal preferred to attack, rather than give the British time to send reinforcements.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: At , the German artillery resumed its bombardment. Several artillery units had been brought up from Boulogne, doubling the numbers of guns available to Schaal. From the old town and citadel were attacked by artillery and up to 100 , after which the infantry attacked, while the German guns and StG 77 and StG 2 subjected the Citadel to heavy assaults for another thirty minutes. The 2nd KRRC continued to resist the German infantry attacks at the canal bridges. Schaal was told that if the port had not been surrendered by the division would be ordered back until the had levelled the town. The Germans began to break through around when Bastion 11 was captured after the French volunteers ran out of ammunition. On the other side of the harbour, the 1st RB held positions around the , under attack from the south and east. Major Allan, in command, held on in the belief that the 2nd KRRC might withdraw north-east to the to make a joint final defence of the harbour. At the Germans finally overran the and the . The survivors of the 1st RB made a last stand on and around Bastion No. 1, before being overwhelmed at


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The 2nd KRRC retreated from the three bridges between the old and new towns, to a line from the harbour to the cathedral between and , from one of the bridges. Troops in the Citadel began to show white flags. German tanks crossed and British troops dispersed, having no weapons to engage tanks. At the new line collapsed and the 2nd KRRC was given the order "every man for himself", after which only B Company fought as a unit, not having received orders to retreat to the harbour. The occupants of the Citadel realised that the German artillery had ceased fire and found themselves surrounded around a French officer arrived, with news that Le Tellier had surrendered.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: During the day, the RAF flew near Calais, with six fighter losses from 17 Squadron, which attacked dive-bombers of StG 2, claimed three, a Dornier Do 17 and a Henschel Hs 126. Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Fairey Swordfish aircraft, bombed German troops near Calais and the escorts from 54 Squadron claimed three and a for the loss of three aircraft. At noon 605 Squadron claimed four from StG 77 and a for a loss of a Hurricane. JG 2 protected the Ju 87s, fought off the attacks from 17 Squadron and there appear to have been no German losses, while they shot down Blenheim on a reconnaissance sortie. were able to conduct fighter sweeps over Calais after noon, with the battle almost over. Seven Bf 109s engaged a flight of Hurricanes, the dogfight extending over Calais; one Hurricane was shot down for no loss to JG 3.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: In 2006, Sebag-Montefiore wrote that the defence of the advanced posts outside Calais, by inexperienced British troops against larger numbers of German troops, may have deterred the 1st Panzer Division commanders from probing the Calais defences further and capturing the port. In the early afternoon of 23 May, it was unlikely that the British troops on the Calais were prepared to receive an attack, the 2nd KRRC and 1st RB having disembarked only an hour earlier at The unloading of the 2nd KRRC vehicles was delayed until and half of the battalion did not arrive at its positions until An attack on Calais in the early afternoon would only have met the QVR.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The day after Calais surrendered, the first British personnel were evacuated from Dunkirk. In (1950, English edition 1952), Guderian replied to a passage in "Their Finest Hour" (1949) by Winston Churchill, that Hitler had ordered the panzers to stop outside Dunkirk in the hope that the British would make peace overtures. Guderian denied this and wrote that the defence of Calais was heroic but made no difference to the course of events at Dunkirk. In 1966, Lionel Ellis, the British official historian, wrote that the defence of Calais and Boulogne diverted three panzer divisions from the French First Army and the BEF; by the time that the Germans had captured the ports and reorganised, III Corps (Lieutenant-General Ronald Adam) had moved west and blocked the routes to Dunkirk.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: In 2005, Karl-Heinz Frieser wrote that the Franco-British counter-attack at Arras on 21 May, had a disproportionate effect on the Germans, because the German higher commanders were apprehensive about flank security. Ewald von Kleist, the commander of perceived a "serious threat" and informed Colonel-General Franz Halder (Chief of the General Staff of OKH), that he had to wait until the crisis was resolved before continuing. Colonel-General Günther von Kluge, the 4th Army commander, ordered the tanks to halt, an order supported by Rundstedt, the commander of Army Group A. On 22 May, when the Anglo-French attack had been repulsed, Rundstedt ordered that the situation at Arras must be restored before moved on Boulogne and Calais. At (OKW, High Command of the Armed Forces) the panic was worse and Hitler contacted Army Group A on 22 May, to order all mobile units to operate either side of Arras and further west; infantry units were to operate to the east of the town.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The crisis among the higher staffs of the German army was not apparent at the front and Halder formed the same conclusion as Guderian, the real threat was that the Allies would retreat to the channel coast and a race for the channel ports began. Guderian had ordered the 2nd Panzer Division to capture Boulogne, the 1st Panzer Division to take Calais and the 10th Panzer Division to seize Dunkirk, before the halt order. Most of the BEF and the French First Army were still from the coast but despite delays, British troops were sent from England to Boulogne and Calais just in time to forestall the XIX Corps panzer divisions on 22 May. Had the panzers advanced at the same speed on 21 May as they had on 20 May, before the halt order stopped their advance for Boulogne and Calais would have fallen easily. (Without a halt at Montcornet on 15 May and the second halt on 21 May, after the Battle of Arras, the final halt order of 24 May would have been irrelevant, because Dunkirk would have already fallen to the 10th Panzer Division.)


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: In 1952, Guderian wrote that the British surrendered at and that 20,000 prisoners were taken, including British troops, the remainder being French, Belgian and Dutch, most of whom had been "locked in cellars by the British" after they had ceased to fight. In 2006, Sebag-Montefiore wrote that German casualties killed and wounded during the battle were not recorded but probably amounted to several hundred. Brigadier Nicholson was never able to give his views as he died in captivity on 26 June 1943 aged 44. Lieutenant-Colonel Chandos Hoskyns, commanding the Rifle Brigade, was mortally wounded on 25 June and died in England. Charles de Lambertye, commanding the French contingent, died of a heart attack while touring the defences of Calais on 26 May. German situation reports recorded lost or damaged from the RAF lost


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: When the evacuation of troops was stopped, the Vice-Admiral Dover, Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay sent smaller craft to remove surplus men and the launch "Samois" made four journeys to take wounded back to England. The yacht HMY "Conidaw" entered the harbour on 26 May and ran aground. The yacht was refloated on the afternoon tide and brought away as other vessels took on more casualties. During the night of Ramsay had the motor yacht HMY "Gulzar" painted with red crosses and sailed to Calais to recover wounded. At "Gulzar" entered the harbour and docked at the "Gare Maritime" pier; a party went ashore and was fired on.


title: Siege of Calais (1940)

text: The party ran back and the boat cast off, as "Gulzar" was fired on from around the harbour. British troops on the eastern jetty called out and shone torches, which were seen by the crew; "Gulzar" turned back, the fugitives jumped aboard as the yacht was still under fire and escaped. On 27 May, the RAF responded to a War Office request the evening before, to drop supplies to the Calais garrison and sent twelve Westland Lysander aircraft to drop water at dawn. At dropped ammunition on the Citadel, as nine Swordfish of the FAA bombed German artillery emplacements. Three Lysanders were shot down and a Hawker Hector was damaged.


title: John McDonnell

text: John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell served as chair of the Socialist Campaign Group in Parliament and Labour Representation Committee; he also chaired the Public Services Not Private Profit Group. He is also parliamentary convenor of the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group of eight left-wing trade unions representing over half a million workers. McDonnell attempted to stand for the position of Labour Party leader following Tony Blair's resignation in 2007, but failed to get enough nominations. He was a candidate for the party leadership again in 2010 following Gordon Brown's resignation after Labour's electoral defeat, but withdrew in favour of Diane Abbott, feeling that he would be unable to secure enough nominations.


title: John McDonnell

text: Alongside Jeremy Corbyn, McDonnell has been seen as a key figure on the left-wing of the party. After being elected Labour leader in 2015, Corbyn appointed McDonnell to his Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. As Shadow Chancellor, McDonnell pledged to increase spending on infrastructure and research, describing his vision for the economy as "socialism with an iPad".


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell was born in Liverpool to a family with an Irish Catholic background. His father, Bob, was a docker who also served as a sergeant in the Sherwood Foresters during World War II, whilst his mother Elsie worked as a cleaner. He moved with his family to his mother's hometown, Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, when he was very young as his father was unable to find work at the docks; his father became a bus driver and was a branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union and his mother worked for British Home Stores. McDonnell attended Great Yarmouth Grammar School. McDonnell received a Local Authority grant to attend St Joseph's College, Ipswich, a Roman Catholic boarding fee-paying independent school for boys (now co-educational). " McDonnell is now irreligious, but refers to himself as a "cultural Catholic" and is a regular churchgoer.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell failed his A-levels at grammar school, partly due to holding down part-time jobs in bars and a bingo hall. Upon leaving education, McDonnell held a series of unskilled jobs. After marrying his first wife, he returned to A-level studies at night school at Burnley Technical College, and at the age of 23, he moved to Hayes in Greater London, attended Brunel University, and earned a bachelor's degree in government and politics. During this period, he helped his wife run a small children's home in Hayes, and was active on behalf of his local community and for National Union of Public Employees. After completing his master's degree in politics and sociology at Birkbeck, University of London, he became a researcher and official with the National Union of Mineworkers from 1977 to 1978, and later the Trades Union Congress from 1978 until 1982. From 1985 to 1987, McDonnell was head of the policy unit at Camden Borough Council, then chief executive of the Association of London Authorities from 1987 to 1995, and the Association of London Government from 1995 until 1997.


title: John McDonnell

text: In 1981, McDonnell was elected to the Greater London Council (GLC) as the member for Hayes and Harlington. He became the GLC's chair of finance and deputy leader to Ken Livingstone, who described him as having an "absolute grasp for detail and every year he produced a balanced budget, no borrowing". He was sacked by Ken Livingstone in 1985 over the strategy to oppose rate-capping—Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government had capped council rates (now called council tax), an action which the GLC had claimed, based on figures calculated by McDonnell, would lead to £135 million in cuts. However, Livingstone claimed in his autobiography to have found that the authority could actually still increase spending and cap the rates; Livingstone said that McDonnell had 'exaggerated' spending figures to support his case that the GLC had to ignore the rates cap, and that he confronted McDonnell, saying "If these figures are right we’re going to look like the biggest fucking liars since Goebbels." McDonnell described Livingstone's account as "complete fiction".


title: John McDonnell

text: In an interview with Ronan Bennett for "The Guardian" newspaper, he described his role during this time as being "to translate policies into concrete realities on the ground." He further discussed his performance by indicating, "I was a fairly hard-nosed administrator. We set in train policies for which we were attacked from all sides but are now accepted as mainstream: large-scale investment in public services; raising the issue of Ireland and arguing for a dialogue for peace; equal opportunities; police accountability. We set up a women's committee, an ethnic minorities committee."


title: John McDonnell

text: Following the abolition of the GLC in 1986, McDonnell was employed as head of the policy unit at Camden London Borough Council. In 1987, he became Chief Executive of the Association of London Authorities (eventually the Association of London Government), where he represented all the London boroughs in their relations with central government and Europe. Having previously unsuccessfully contested Hampstead and Highgate in 1983, McDonnell fought for his home constituency of Hayes and Harlington at the 1992 general election, but lost by 53 votes, after three recounts, to the Conservative incumbent, Terry Dicks. During the campaign, Dicks sued for libel over critical material in McDonnell's campaign leaflets; McDonnell settled and paid Dicks damages of £15,000 plus legal costs of £55,000. McDonnell would later refer to Dicks as a 'stain' on the character of the House of Commons and a stain on the Conservative Party, and a 'malignant creature' during his maiden parliamentary speech.


title: John McDonnell

text: When Terry Dicks then stood down, McDonnell became the MP for Hayes and Harlington at the 1997 general election, with 62 per cent of the vote and a majority of over 14,000. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 6 June 1997, where he notably launched a scathing attack against his predecessor, against parliamentary tradition. He has been involved in several local community campaigns, including one opposing the expansion of Heathrow Airport and its impact on local communities. He opposed New Labour policies of the Iraq War, foundation hospitals, student top-up fees, trust schools and anti-terror laws. When Ken Livingstone was elected Mayor of London, as an independent in 2000, he appointed McDonnell to his cabinet with responsibility for local government in London.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell voted against the 2003 Iraq War, stating in 2007: In October 2006, McDonnell was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for a parliamentary inquiry into the war in Iraq.


title: John McDonnell

text: In May 2003, he made controversial comments about the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), saying:


title: John McDonnell

text: Threatened with expulsion from the Labour Party, he went on to offer a rationale for his comments in an article written for "The Guardian" in June 2003 ("Expulsion would be an odd reward for telling hard truths"), stating:


title: John McDonnell

text: According to a report in "The Times" published in November 2015, McDonnell had made similar comments at a Labour Committee on Ireland meeting in 1985, before the start of the Northern Ireland peace process. The "Deptford Mercury" asserted at the time that McDonnell had suggested there was a role for "the ballot, the bullet and the bomb" in achieving a United Ireland, and joked about "kneecapping" the "gutless wimp" Labour councillors who had declined to join the meeting.


title: John McDonnell

text: In September 2015, McDonnell apologised on the BBC television programme "Question Time" for any offence caused by his remarks on the IRA. He said that his remarks in 2003 had been an attempt to persuade republicans to support the peace process and to afford the IRA the opportunity to disarm without humiliation stating: "There was a real risk of the Republican movement splitting and some of them continuing the armed process."


title: John McDonnell

text: In his study at Hayes, McDonnell has a plaque presented to him by Gerry Kelly dedicated to the "H-Block Martyrs 1981", referring to those who died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike. A spokesman for McDonnell said the plaque "merely commemorates the peaceful protest in prison, not the prior actions of those involved".


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell is a leading member of several all-party groups within Parliament, including groups representing individual trade unions, such as the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and justice unions such as NAPO. He is also a leading member of groups on a wide range of issues such as Britain's Irish community, the Punjabi community, endometriosis, and Kenya. McDonnell is a member of the Labour Land Campaign, which advocates introducing a land value tax.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell chairs the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), a left-wing group of Labour activists, local parties, trade unions and MPs that campaigns for the adoption of a raft of socialist policies by the Labour Government. The group was founded on Saturday, 3 July 2004, and currently has more than 800 members and 90 affiliates. He also chairs the Public Services Not Private Profit, an anti-privatisation campaign that brings together sixteen trade unions and several campaigning organisations, such as the World Development Movement, Defend Council Housing and the National Pensioners Convention. An early day motion in support of the campaign attracted more than ninety MPs. The campaign held a mass rally and lobby of Parliament on 27 June 2006, which was attended by more than 2,000 trade unionists.


title: John McDonnell

text: In 2006, McDonnell said that "Marx, Lenin and Trotsky" were his "most significant" intellectual influences. Footage emerged of McDonnell in 2013 talking about the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and stating, "I've been waiting for this for a generation! We’ve got to demand systemic change. Look, I’m straight, I’m honest with people: I’m a Marxist." He was accused of celebrating the financial crisis of 2007–2008; McDonnell denied the allegation and claimed he was "joking". During an interview with Andrew Marr when the footage was played and McDonnell was asked, "Are you a Marxist?", he replied: "I believe there's a lot to learn from reading "", yes of course there is, and that's been recommended not just by me but many others, mainstream economists as well." In 2018, McDonnell attended the Marx 200 conference, where he said, "Marxism is about the freedom of spirit, the development of life chances, the enhancement of democracy." In 2019, McDonnell during an interview stated that Marx’s "Kapital" is "one of the important analyses of the modern capitalist system".


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell has consistently opposed the privatisation of public services and chaired the Public Services not Private Profit Campaign launched in 2006 and supported by sixteen trade unions linking up with students, pensioners, health campaigners and the World Development Movement.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell is "not supportive of PFI schemes", declaring that he has "opposed every PFI scheme that was proposed". In 2006, during the parliamentary debate on the Budget Resolutions, McDonnell warned against public-private finance initiatives (PFIs), calling for an inquiry:There are numerous examples. I refer hon. Members to the work of Alison Pollock and to the publications by Unison in recent months, which contain example after example in the public services, health and education where PFI has been used to exploit the public purse, has failed to deliver and has delivered large bonuses and profits to individual company directors. That is why I regret that the Chancellor is going along that line. I would welcome a Government inquiry into PFI, which would probably echo the work done by the Public Accounts Committee on individual PFI schemes, which has demonstrated their lack of deliverability and cost effectiveness.


title: John McDonnell

text: Throughout his time in Parliament, McDonnell has championed the cause of tax justice, hosting the Parliamentary launch of the Tax Justice Network in 2003.


title: John McDonnell

text: In 2002, McDonnell worked with William Campbell-Taylor and Maurice Glasman, who challenged a parliamentary bill concerned with the City of London Corporation in relation to alleged tax avoidance:Apart from a couple of brave, independent-minded Labour MPs, notably John McDonnell, nobody supported Glasman and Campbell-Taylor to challenge the bill. Such is the fear that the corporation inspires in parliament.


title: John McDonnell

text: During the 2011 Budget Resolutions, McDonnell highlighted his long-term consistent work calling for better regulation of the banking and finance sector:We seem to forget that the cause of that crisis was the cause of this crisis—speculation by the banks and other speculators and, yes, a Government who failed to regulate. I have to say, however, that when a number of Members called for bank regulation in this House, there was an element of quietude on all sides. I remember fighting for four years, in almost a solitary capacity, to secure the passage of the City of London (Ward Elections) Bill at a time when we were pressing for regulation.


title: John McDonnell

text: In February 2013, McDonnell was among those who supported the People's Assembly Against Austerity in a letter published by "The Guardian" newspaper.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell has been a vocal opponent of plans to expand Heathrow Airport with a third runway—the proposed site lies within his constituency. During a debate on the expansion of the airport on 15 January 2009, he was suspended for five days by Deputy Speaker Alan Haselhurst after disrupting Commons proceedings. McDonnell picked up the ceremonial mace and placed it down on an empty bench in the Commons while shouting that the lack of a vote on the third runway was "a disgrace to the democracy of this country."


title: John McDonnell

text: In 2015, McDonnell's name appeared on a letter calling for the armed police and MI5 to be disbanded. He claimed that he had not signed the letter, which was produced by the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory (SCLV), but he was photographed holding a copy of the letter, although he later said that he did not know that the demand was on the letter.


title: John McDonnell

text: On 14 July 2006, McDonnell announced his intention to stand for leadership of the Labour Party when Tony Blair announced the date of his resignation. He called for "a challenge to the present political consensus", and, "a real Labour government based upon the policies that our supporters expect from us". McDonnell said he would like to see a return to the Labour Party's more traditional areas.


title: John McDonnell

text: Initially, McDonnell and Michael Meacher were the two candidates representing the left wing of the party. McDonnell's campaign concentrated on grassroots efforts, which earned him an endorsement from the Trades Union Congress. In a YouGov opinion poll of more than 1,100 Labour Party members asking their preferred choice in the leadership contest, McDonnell received 9% support, and was ranked second to Chancellor Gordon Brown, who led with 80% of the vote. Declared supporters included Diane Abbott, Tony Benn, and Ann Cryer. In total, eleven Labour MPs declared their support on McDonnell's campaign website.


title: John McDonnell

text: Labour Party rules require candidates to be nominated by 12.5% of Labour MPs (45 out of a total of 355 in 2007). Gordon Brown received 313 (88.2%) nominations, while McDonnell failed to collect the 45 nominations required to proceed to the Electoral College. As the only nominated candidate, Gordon Brown was declared leader by the NEC.


title: John McDonnell

text: On 18 May 2010, news broke that McDonnell wanted to stand in the Labour Party leadership election, to be held following the resignation of Gordon Brown, and would announce it the following day at the Public and Commercial Services Union conference in Brighton. McDonnell noted that it would be "difficult" to get the 33 nominations needed from the Parliamentary Labour Party required to stand in the election.


title: John McDonnell

text: During a hustings for the GMB Union on 7 June, McDonnell was asked what single act he would do to improve the world if he could travel back to the 1980s. His off-the-cuff reply was that "I was on the GLC that Mrs. Thatcher abolished, I worked for the NUM and we had the NUM strike, I think I would assassinate Thatcher". Conservative MP Conor Burns told the BBC that "[it was] very distasteful" and "a very silly remark". McDonnell told the BBC: "I'm sorry if I have caused offence to anyone. It was a joke and in that audience it was taken as a joke ... it was taken out of context, I can see if people are upset about that and if I have caused offence to anyone of course I apologise".


title: John McDonnell

text: By 9 June 2010, the deadline for nominations, he had secured only 16 nominations and withdrew from the contest.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell was one of the thirty-six Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn (who was elected as Labour leader with 59.5% of the vote) as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. McDonnell managed Corbyn's leadership campaign, and he was appointed Shadow Chancellor in September 2015.


title: John McDonnell

text: In an article in "The Guardian" in the previous month, he set out the economic principles that a Corbyn government would follow:


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell's first speech as Shadow Chancellor was at the 2015 Labour Party conference in Brighton. In the speech, he set out Labour's thinking and priorities in key areas, as well as encouraging Labour MPs who had refused to serve under Corbyn to return.


title: John McDonnell

text: He surprised many by calling upon Labour MPs to back Conservative Chancellor George Osborne's Fiscal Charter, arguing that supporting the proposed deficit reduction framework showed Labour's commitment to "living within their means." However, he reversed that call in October, citing his trip to visit former steelworkers at a recently closed plant in Redcar as the reason for not wanting to be associated with supporting government cuts. McDonnell repeated the word "embarrassing" five times in his Commons response to the U-turn, adding that "a bit of humility amongst politicians never goes amiss".


title: John McDonnell

text: In a November speech ahead of Osborne's Spending Review, McDonnell pledged that a Labour government would spend 3.5% of GDP on infrastructure and fund research through an Innovation Policy Council, describing his vision for the economy as "socialism with an iPad".


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell has explored ideas surrounding "alternative models of ownership", publishing a report on the subject in June 2017 and hosting a discussion conference in London in February 2018. The report sets out the "practicality and necessity of a shift to a variety of alternative forms of ownership and control of productive enterprises, including co-operatives, municipal and locally-led ownership forms, and ... new democratic forms of national ownership".


title: John McDonnell

text: During his response to the 2015 Autumn Statement in which he accused George Osborne of "sheer economic illiteracy", McDonnell highlighted that the government was "selling off at least £5,000,000,000 worth of our own assets" to foreign investors, emphasising China. To make this point he quoted from a copy of Chairman Mao Zedong's "Little Red Book" and then threw it across the despatch box towards the Conservative front bench. A clearly amused Chancellor Osborne, responded by quipping that it was McDonnell's own signed copy.


title: John McDonnell

text: On 29 September 2016, he was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and may therefore use the title "The Right Honourable".


title: John McDonnell

text: In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, McDonnell said those who died in it were "murdered" by political decisions, arguing "The decision to close fire stations and to cut 10,000 fire fighters and then to freeze their pay for over a decade contributed to those deaths inevitably". The use of the word "murder" was questioned by some of his colleagues as well as the Conservative Party, with Jim Fitzpatrick, leader of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fire Safety suggesting it was "premature" to draw conclusions about what caused the deaths.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell said that Grenfell "symbolised for many everything that's gone wrong in this country since austerity was imposed upon us" and used it to highlight pay cuts across the public sector, arguing that Conservatives praise the emergency services "every time there's a tragedy" while cutting jobs and wages.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell sparked controversy when he joked that Conservative politician Esther McVey should be lynched and described her as a "stain on humanity." He said that he was quoting a constituent speaking at a public meeting convened to oppose McVey's policies on benefits and did not endorse the sentiment. The Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, called the remark "truly evil."


title: John McDonnell

text: In 2017, McDonnell said: "I will be the first socialist Labour Chancellor". McDonnell in his "Who’s Who" entry posted one of his hobbies as "fermenting [sic] the overthrow of capitalism". In 2018, McDonnell said that he "wants to "overthrow capitalism" and replace it with a "socialist society"". He also said Venezuela's economic problems were because it was no longer a socialist country.


title: John McDonnell

text: In September 2018, McDonnell said he would only back a second referendum on the European Union if the option to remain is not present. He also agreed with shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner, when he suggested a second referendum could lead to social unrest.


title: John McDonnell

text: In February 2019, McDonnell sparked controversy when he referred to the former Prime Minister Winston Churchill as a "villain." Writing on Twitter, Boris Johnson said: "JM should be utterly ashamed of his remarks and withdraw them forthwith."


title: John McDonnell

text: During a comprehensive interview conducted by former Labour Party member Alastair Campbell for British "GQ" in October 2019, McDonnell stated his disapproval of the former's expulsion from the party and indicated he would support his return. He also expressed his own view that the next party leader should be female, and that the party should employ positive discrimination to aid that prospect if Jeremy Corbyn were to lose the next general election. When asked to name any current Tory politician whom he respected, he declined, subsequently stating that he "can't forgive any of them". Campbell followed up by asking the same question about any historic Tories, to which McDonnell replied "No".


title: John McDonnell

text: Upon the election of Keir Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party, McDonnell stood down as Shadow Chancellor and was succeeded by Anneliese Dodds.


title: John McDonnell

text: He is running a campaign to pass a motion supporting proportional representation at the 2022 Labour Party conference after it failed in 2021 due to a lack of trade union support.


title: John McDonnell

text: On 24 February 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, McDonnell was one of 11 Labour MPs threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which questioned the legitimacy of NATO and accused the military alliance of "eastward expansion". All 11 MPs subsequently removed their signatures.


title: John McDonnell

text: McDonnell has two daughters from his first marriage, which ended in 1985, and a son from his second marriage to Cynthia Pinto in 1995.


title: John McDonnell

text: While raised as a Roman Catholic and attending a minor seminary, McDonnell now identifies as an atheist. Despite this McDonnell still respects the Church and acknowledges that he owes a "debt" to it for shaping his politics, later saying "The values of Catholicism are the inherent values of the Labour Party and the inherent values of socialism..."


title: Squishmallows

text: Squishmallows is a brand of stuffed toy that was launched in 2017 by Kelly Toys Holdings LLC. Squishmallows are round and come in a variety of colors, sizes, animals, and textures. The brand has created over 1,000 Squishmallows characters with unique names and background stories. Depending on the size and store, prices can range between $3-$50 but rarer collections are often priced higher.


title: Squishmallows

text: Kelly Toys Holdings, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, was founded in 1986 by Jonathan Kelly. In an interview with Yahoo! Finance, Kelly stated that he came up with the idea for Squishmallows when he went to Japan and saw a variety of appealing toy products, including plush toys. Kelly and his team then spent several months creating a toy that emulated the “soft, cute, and kawaii” look of the Japanese plush toys. After collaborating for one year, Kelly Toys Holdings was acquired by Jazwares Inc, a privately owned company, in 2018. Thus, Kelly Toys Holdings expanded its position in the market for toys and obtained opportunities to get further licenses for the brand. Kelly Toys Holdings was Jazwares’ second acquisition following their acquisition of Wicked Cool Toys.


title: Squishmallows

text: Squishmallows first gained success during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 through social media outlets, like TikTok, where Squishmallow collectors would post about their plush toy collections. The TikTok hashtag #Squishmallows has gained over 550 million views. Squishmallows has acquired nearly 100,000 followers on Twitter and nearly 500,000 followers on Instagram. Almost 2 years after launching Squishmallows, Kelly Toys Holdings has sold over 50 million units.


title: Squishmallows

text: Squishmallows are made from soft spandex and filled with polyester fiber. As mentioned by Squishmallows on their Twitter account, they are manufactured in China. Squishmallows originally came in four sizes, but are now sold in 12 different sizes ranging from a clip-on 3.5 inches to a large 24 inches. Squishmallows shouldn't be submerged, as it affects the fabric and stuffing the pillow. Spot cleaning with a stain-removing pen or a wet washcloth is recommended. Following this, the drying temperature should not be too hot to avoid damaging the polyester filling. Authentic Squishmallows can be identified by their three attached tags. Squishmallows have also extended their line to include HugMees, Squish-Doos, Heroes, Flip-A-Mallows, Squishville, Mystery Squad, and Stackables.


title: Squishmallows

text: Squishmallows were originally sold directly through the KellyToys website and later became available in retail locations through partnerships with stores such as Walgreens. Squishmallows can now be found in many stores including Costco, CVS, Hot Topic, London Drugs, Five Below, GameStop, Walmart, and Hamrick's. The higher-priced and more high-end Squishmallows are sold at Hallmark while the more cost-efficient Squishmallows are typically found at Costco, Target, and Walmart. Squishmallows are sold in Canada, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.


title: Squishmallows

text: Due to the demand for the toy, Squishmallows are often sold by resellers for an increased price. The average resell price for a Squishmallow depends on the size, condition, and rarity of the specific item. Some limited edition or high-demand Squishmallows are sold by resellers and collectors for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Jack the Black Cat, known for its closed white eyes and white whiskers, is one of the rarest Squishmallows sold to date. KellyToys introduced the limited edition stuffed animal on their website in 2020, where it sold out within two hours. Third party websites like eBay host listings for Jack the Black Cat valued at nearly $2,000. Among the many Squishmallows that are sold, some of the most popular include Patty the Cow and Philippe the Frog. There are reports that resellers are harassed and doxxed by the community.


title: Squishmallows

text: Event-exclusive Squishmallows are Squishmallows that are only awarded as prizes in the events such as Select Series: Lamont Sweepstakes or Trading Card Sweepstakes. Event-exclusive Squishmallows are generally considered rare and the odds of winning can be as low as approximately 1 in 10,000 such as the prize for Squishmallows Trading Card Sweepstakes: JSK Business Cat.


title: Squishmallows

text: Kelly Toys Holdings has a charitable donation program called Kelly Toys Care where Kelly Toys Holding’s employees would volunteer to host charitable events and donate toys to anyone that needs comfort. According to Kelly Toys Care, they value “Education, Inclusion, and Mental Health and Wellness.” They also want to support any charitable organizations around the world with the same mission and spread awareness regarding mental health.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: "Woodstock" is a popular song written by Joni Mitchell. Three versions of the song were released in the same year, 1970. Mitchell's own version was first performed live in 1969 and appeared in April 1970 on her album "Ladies of the Canyon" and as the B-side to her single "Big Yellow Taxi". This publication was preceded by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's cover version, which appeared on their March 1970 album "Déjà Vu" and became a staple of classic rock radio and the best-known version in the United States. A third version, by the British band Matthews Southern Comfort became the best known version in the United Kingdom, and was the highest charting version of the song, reaching the top of the UK singles chart in 1970.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: The song's lyrics refer to the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival of 1969, telling the story of a concert-goer on a trek to attend the festival. Mitchell, who was unable to actually perform at the festival herself due to scheduling conflicts, was inspired to write the song based on an account of the festival relayed to her by then-boyfriend Graham Nash, who had performed there. The anthemic song, as well as the festival it commemorates, is symbolic of the counterculture of the 1960s.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: Joni Mitchell composed the song based on what she had heard from her then-boyfriend Graham Nash about the Woodstock Music and Art Festival. She had not been there herself, since a manager had told her that it would, instead, be more advantageous for her to appear on "The Dick Cavett Show". She composed it in a hotel room in New York City, watching televised reports of the festival. "The deprivation of not being able to go provided me with an intense angle on Woodstock," she told an interviewer shortly after the event. David Crosby, interviewed for the documentary "Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind," stated that Mitchell had captured the feeling and importance of the Woodstock festival better than anyone who had actually been there.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: The lyrics tell a story about a spiritual journey to Max Yasgur's farm, the place of the festival, and make prominent use of sacred imagery, comparing the festival site with the Garden of Eden ("and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden"). The saga commences with the narrator's encounter of a fellow traveler ("Well, I came upon a child of God, he was walking along the road") and concludes at their ultimate destination ("by the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong").


title: Woodstock (song)

text: There are also references to the horrific "mutual assured destruction" of the Cold War ("bombers riding shotgun in the sky...") contrasted against the peaceful intent of the festival goers ("...turning into butterflies above our nation").


title: Woodstock (song)

text: Prior to its release on any album, Mitchell performed "Woodstock" at the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival, one month after Woodstock. The solo performance can be seen in the festival concert film "Celebration at Big Sur", released in 1971. Mitchell had not yet developed her distaste for large festival gigs. Released on Mitchell's third album "Ladies of the Canyon" in March 1970, "Woodstock" served as the B-side for that album's single "Big Yellow Taxi". Mitchell re-recorded "Woodstock" for her two live albums, "Miles of Aisles" and "Shadows and Light". The original track was included on the 1996 compilation "Hits". Mitchell's original version featured a stark and haunting arrangement – a solo vocal, multi-tracked backing vocals, and a tremoloed Wurlitzer electric piano, all performed by Mitchell.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: About the same time that "Ladies of the Canyon" appeared, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's upbeat hard rock arrangement was released as the lead single from their 1970 "Déjà Vu" album. This version opens with a lead guitar riff played by Neil Young, who also plays the solo. Stephen Stills sings the lead vocal with backing harmonies from David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Young. The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young version of "Woodstock" is also notable for the stop-time instrument patterns, just prior to the "We are stardust, we are golden..." chorus.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had learned the song from Mitchell herself, who was Nash's girlfriend at the time, but the band's version introduced major changes in tone. Jimi Hendrix was involved early in the song's development, and a recording taped on 30 September 1969, half a year before the album came out, with Hendrix playing bass and overdubbing guitar was released in 2018 on the album "Both Sides of the Sky". Sound engineer Eddie Kramer stated that with Jimi "... helping the song along, it sounds like Crosby, Stills & Hendrix". The final version had Stephen Stills singing a slightly rearranged version of Mitchell's lyrics which put the line, "we are billion year old carbon" — which only appeared in her final chorus — into each of the first three choruses. Then that line was replaced with "we are caught in the devil's bargain" in the last chorus, which was also in Mitchell's final chorus.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: "Woodstock" was one of the few "Déjà Vu" tracks where Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young all performed their parts in the same session. Later the original lead vocal by Stephen Stills was partly replaced with a later vocal recorded by Stills, who recalled: "I replaced one and a half verses that were excruciatingly out of tune." Neil Young disagreed, saying that "the track was magic. Then later on [Crosby, Stills & Nash] were in the studio nitpicking [with the result that] Stephen erased the vocal and put another one on that wasn't nearly as good."


title: Woodstock (song)

text: The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young version of "Woodstock" peaked at #11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in May 1970 and #3 in Canada. A different recording of "Woodstock" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young was played under the closing credits of the documentary film "Woodstock" released March 1970.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: "Woodstock" became an international hit in 1970 and 1971 through a recording by Matthews Southern Comfort. The group performed "Woodstock" on the "Live in Concert" program broadcast live by BBC Radio 1 on 28 June 1970 – frontman Iain Matthews would recall that the group required an additional song for their set on the scheduled radio session, and that the choice of "Woodstock" was his own suggestion, Matthews having just become familiar with the Joni Mitchell version as he had purchased her "Ladies of the Canyon" album earlier that week. Due to the positive response to that song, the BBC contacted Matthews's label, Uni Records. According to Matthews, the label "had no idea what the [BBC] were talking about and contacted my management, who asked me about it. Uni suggested that we record the song and add it to the newly recorded Matthews Southern Comfort album, "Later That Same Year". I declined to mess with the completed album, but agreed to have them release the song as a single."


title: Woodstock (song)

text: According to Matthews his band's BBC Radio performance of "Woodstock" echoed the Joni Mitchell original: however for their studio recording of the song – made at the Willesden Green studio Morgan Sound – the band radically customized the song's arrangement. Matthews would later admit to unease upon eventually meeting Joni Mitchell because he had changed the melody – "I couldn't reach [her] high notes" – but Mitchell replied that she preferred his arrangement. Matthews Southern Comfort bassist Andy Leigh would recall: "We took [the song] apart and reassembled it and we knew we had something. We were an album band. We didn't do singles." In fact, Uni had issued one single off each of the first two of the three Matthews Southern Comfort albums. "But we knew this [track] ... was something special."


title: Woodstock (song)

text: MCA Records, Uni's parent company, agreed to release Matthews Southern Comfort's version of "Woodstock" only if the Crosby Stills Nash & Young version failed to chart in the United Kingdom; when that proved to be the case, MCA "reluctantly released ours because of that agreement but they wouldn't spend a penny on promotion ... But our managers, who were excellent, hired a PR, a songplugger. Tony Blackburn, who had the breakfast show on Radio 1, played 'Woodstock' and kept playing it and other DJs started doing the same." Matthews would recall that once Tony Blackburn made "Woodstock" by Matthews Southern Comfort his record of the week, "it began to sell 30,000 copies a day, eventually going from #10 to #1 in a week."


title: Woodstock (song)

text: Issued on 24 July 1970, "Woodstock" debuted on the UK Top 50 on 26 September 1970 and reached #1 on 31 October 1970 remaining there for two additional weeks: a #2 hit in Ireland, "Woodstock" also had widespread success on the European continent, charting in Austria (#15), Denmark (#9), Finland (#23), Germany (#27), the Netherlands (#17), Norway (#2), Poland (#2), and Sweden (#2). In early 1971, the track also reached #3 in South Africa, #4 in New Zealand, and was a minor hit in Australia (#55).


title: Woodstock (song)

text: In November 1970, "Woodstock" by Matthews Southern Comfort had its US single release on the group's regular US label, Decca Records, another MCA affiliate. Initially the single's US release had only marginal impact, with "Woodstock" by Matthews Southern Comfort spending six weeks on the 101–150 singles chart in "Record World" in December 1970 – January 1971 and then dropping off having peaked at #110. However upon "Woodstock's" January 1970 single release in Canada – where a 30% Canadian Content radio airplay quota was being phased in – the track received airplay at least partially because of its Canadian authorship, and assisted by airplay on Canadian radio stations with US listeners – notably CKLW, the Windsor ON station credited with the track's Canadian "breakout"- "Woodstock" accrued newfound US interest, debuting on the "Billboard" Hot 100 dated 6 March 1971 at #83 to rise to a #23 Hot 100 that May. In Canada "Woodstock" reached a #5 peak on the "RPM" 100 singles chart.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: But by the time of the North American success of Matthews Southern Comfort's "Woodstock", the band was no more: an October 1970 shake-up at MCA Records (UK) had resulted in Matthews Southern Comfort splitting with MCA – with the resultant cancellation of a US tour set to begin that November, the month of "Woodstock's" US single release – and in December 1970 Matthews had abruptly quit. Matthews would attribute his departure to the demands incumbent on his band's success with "Woodstock:" "It created all this peripheral stuff that took up my time. What would've been time learning to be a songwriter, it became time spent doing interviews, photographs, tours and appearances;" "It all came to a head after a dreadful soundcheck at Birmingham town hall. I left the building, walked down to the station, got on a train home and locked my door for a week." Matthews' debut solo album "If You Saw Thro' My Eyes" was a Vertigo Records release of 1 May 1971 while his former co-members – as Southern Comfort – would have three Harvest Records album releases before disbanding in 1972.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: In the UK, "Woodstock" would be the final single release by Matthews Southern Comfort – who had had two precedent non-charting UK singles – and "Woodstock" would remain Matthews' sole UK charting single: although previously a member of Fairport Convention Matthews had not been featured on their one charting single: "Si tu dois partir", and Matthews would never rank in the UK charts as a solo artist. In other territories two further tracks were issued as singles from the third and final Matthews Southern Comfort album "Later That Same Year" – which outside the British Isles included "Woodstock" – : "Mare, Take Me Home" and "Tell Me Why" both of which just made the "Billboard" Hot 100 at respectively #96 and #98, while "Mare, Take Me Home" peaked at #86 in Canada (Matthews Southern Comfort had a total of four US single releases, having had one non-charting US single: "Colorado Springs Eternal", in April 1970). Iain Matthews – as Ian Matthews – would as a solo act place three singles on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and also the Canadian charts, one of which: the November 1978 release "Shake It", would become a major hit, reaching a "Billboard" Hot 100 peak of #13 in April 1979, also reaching #6 in Canada.


title: Woodstock (song)

text: Despite his issues with "Woodstock's" success in 1970, Iain Matthews would state in 2017: "Any kind of success in this business takes me by surprise. 'Woodstock' was the first and most exciting. It's still opening new doors to this day."


title: Alie Ward

text: Alison Ann "Alie" Ward (born November 6, 1976) is an American writer, actress, and television and podcast host.


title: Alie Ward

text: Ward was born Alison Ann Ward in San Francisco, California, to Nancy, an accountant, and Lawrence, a journalist and news broadcaster. She has two older sisters, Celeste and Janelle. Ward moved frequently around northern California during her childhood due to her father's career, living in Tahoe, Sacramento, El Dorado Hills, and Cameron Park before returning to the Bay Area. When she was 18, she enrolled at University of California - Santa Barbara to study biology, with the intention of pursuing a career in biological illustration. Eventually, she changed her course of study and obtained a degree in cinema before moving to Los Angeles. Her father had multiple myeloma.


title: Alie Ward

text: While studying cinema in San Francisco, Ward attended an audition for the television series "Nash Bridges", which filmed in the area. The role recurred for three seasons. After moving to Los Angeles, Ward continued to take television roles while pursuing writing and painting. She has appeared in several small roles for television, including "Grey's Anatomy", "King of the Hill", and Comedy Central's "Key & Peele".


title: Alie Ward

text: Ward has recorded a number of fan recaps for the ABC series, "Once Upon a Time", "Revenge", and "Scandal".


title: Alie Ward

text: In 2014, she became a correspondent on the CBS series "Innovation Nation", for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Special Class in 2016.


title: Alie Ward

text: In 2020, she co-hosted Netflix's first season of the investigative series "100 Humans" alongside Sammy Obeid and Zainab Johnson.


title: Alie Ward

text: Ward's paintings are often acrylic on wood and employ wordplay or are in diptych form, which she calls her "dichotomy series". She likens her painting approach to sign making.


title: Alie Ward

text: Ward comes from a family of journalists. In late 2005, "L.A. Weekly" hired her to illustrate the column "24/7" and in early 2006 she was offered a writing assignment to cover a concert. Within a few months, Ward had a weekly nightlife and culture column called "The Mental Ward".


title: Alie Ward

text: Ward also wrote for the "Los Angeles Times" and for Metromix L.A., a website and newspaper owned by the "Los Angeles Times", as well as appearing on-camera for live news segments on KTLA.


title: Alie Ward

text: In early 2009, Ward and her friend Georgia Hardstark jokingly created a cocktail called the McNuggetini, drafting plans on the back of a popcorn bag at the L.A. dive bar The Roost. Hardstark blogged about it on the website This Recording.


title: Alie Ward

text: The website This is why you're fat linked to the recipe and it became virally popular. Hardstark and Ward next shot a short instructional video, enlisting their friend Peter Atencio, a feature director who had also created shorts for Funny or Die, to direct. The video appeared on YouTube in October 2009, and became the most watched how-to, with over 10,000 hits per day. The pair followed up with two farcical how-to videos for the Ham Daiquiri and a Bloody-Maryesque drink known as the Bloody Bacon & Cheese.


title: Alie Ward

text: Next, Ward and Hardstark began making "Classy Ladies with Alie & Georgia" cocktail videos for Scripps Network and Cooking Channel websites, and appearing on the Cooking Channel travel-dessert show "Unique Sweets".


title: Alie Ward

text: Their Feral Audio podcast, "Slumber Party with Alie & Georgia", premiered in 2012 and ran for 93 episodes, ending in 2017.


title: Alie Ward

text: In June 2013, their travel-food show "Tripping Out with Alie & Georgia" premiered on Cooking Channel. Giada De Laurentiis was an executive producer of the show.


title: Alie Ward

text: "Alie and Georgia", as they are known, have been covered by "The New York Times", "Time", "Cosmopolitan", the Associated Press, "The Village Voice", "Huffington Post", Serious Eats, "Daily Beast", "Los Angeles Times", "Los Angeles" and Perez Hilton. The McNuggetini has also been featured on "The Today Show".


title: Alie Ward

text: In 2017 Ward began hosting "Ologies", a science podcast. A different expert is interviewed by Ward each week, including topics such as volcanology, primatology, paleontology, gemology, cosmetology, cosmology and horology. The tagline for the show is "Ask smart people stupid questions".


title: Alie Ward

text: At the end of a podcast episode in January 2021, Ward shared that she became engaged to her boyfriend of about ten years, Jarrett Sleeper. As of 2021, she lives in Eagle Rock, California.


title: Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012

text: The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, officially recorded as Republic Act No. 10175, is a law in the Philippines that was approved on September 12, 2012. It aims to address legal issues concerning online interactions and the Internet in the Philippines. Among the cybercrime offenses included in the bill are cybersquatting, cybersex, child pornography, identity theft, illegal access to data and libel.


title: Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012

text: While hailed for penalizing illegal acts done via the Internet that were not covered by old laws, the act has been criticized for its provision on criminalizing libel, which is perceived to be a curtailment of the freedom of expression—"cyber authoritarianism". Its use against journalists like Maria Ressa, of Rappler, has drawn international condemnation.