If there is time for me in the future I will devote a writing to Marshal Tito and the development of Yugoslavia, the former single nation which straddled the Adriatic and where brave adventurers travelled through by train on their way to Greece in the 1950’s and 1960’s before era of cheap air flights and the country itself became a holiday destination in its own right.
For now I want to concentrate on Joseph Tito the guerrilla freedom fighter who during World War 1 had become the youngest Sergeant Major, wounded and decorated and as the head of the communist party led behind the scenes opposition to the Germans, Italians and Hungarians who then invaded in his country in 1939. Part of his role, supported by the British in particular, is covered in the three hour film, The Battle of Neretva made with state sponsorship in the late 1960’s in Serbo-Croatian and English and distributed by American International Pictures. The film was as expensive to make as the Hollywood epic, with a cast of thousands, including 10000 members of the People’s army, and four villages and a fortress constructed and destroyed with hundreds of old soviet tanks made to look like the German Tiger Tanks and also destroyed. It was necessary to destroy the actual bridge over the river which was in fact blown up twice and then repaired but because of the smoke they eventually used a studio created model for the film footage. Imported actors included Yul Brynner, Orson Wells, Carl Jurgans and Anthony Dawson.
It is my understanding that the film accurately describes one of the definitive and course changing events of World War II at a huge cost in life and human suffering. In 1943 the Hitler led Axis set in motion an offensive to destroy Tito because of his support among the people. The plan was to encircle the Partisans with their backs to the River Neretva in Bosnia-Herzegovina having destroyed the bridge to prevent a crossing. The Axis organised six German, three Italian, two Croation and a number of Chetnik and Usasha formations against the partisans in January 1943.
In order to escape the strong armoured and professional German army, Tito needed to cross the river where he knew he could beat the Chetnik forces and escape. To achieve this objective he prepared a major deception first appearing to destroy the bridge suggesting he intended to follow the river northward so the German command hastily reorganised it forces to meet them. Part of his force did go northward to evacuate a hospital which had come under attack, but while this was happening his engineers created a low level crossing from the lowered remains of the bridge sufficient for people on foot to cross but not the artillery. His armed forces then crossed over and defeated the Chetniks and followed by the rest, including the evacuated injured, destroying the crossing before they left.
In 1943 Tito became the effective political as well as military head of the Yugoslav people which continued for some four decades and he was the only European Communist leader to break with Stalin and successfully declare independence and development relations with the rest of Europe, the USA and world in general. The Partisans paid a heavy price at Neretva with eight thousand killed and two thousand captured but the foundation of Tito’s power and influence among the people was laid in their sacrifice, something which the film portrays, emphasising the part which women played in the fighting, and using music and voice to great effect. The heroics were real and of lasting impact until after his death.
Although I knew I had an early start on Sunday in order to make use of the cheapest train ticket of the day, it was 1.30 to 2 am before I retired to bed and sleep having tested and set the alarm for 7am and got as much ready as I could leaving only the packing of clothes and food preparation for the morning. As is usually my experience I awoke within minutes of the alarm going off and had completed by getting up when it did. I was therefore able to check that I had not won any prizes on the two Euro tickets purchased the previous evening and played a level of Luxor Mahjong.
It was when making up my rolls that the first mishap occurred as the previously used small freezer bags had torn and a roll filled with coleslaw and salami fell to the floor, opening up but the coleslaw filled side end the right side up. I put in the case a small container of grapes and another of the chocolates and some crackers. The four rolls, more grapes and two pecan swirls went into the shoulder bag along with notes and papers, the laptop mains lead, headphones, mouse and radio link, and the data transfer memory stick. I hoped to be able to use the lap top on the journey. The only other temporary glitch was that I locked the interconnecting door in the home with the case on the other side.
I was ready to leave just after 8am as planned. I only met one other human, out walking a dog during the downhill walk to the Metro station. The majority of curtains were drawn so I walked slowly not to make too much noise with the wheeling case and taking the back route through lanes and open spaces. There was no train on the platform but as I walked onto the far end of the former railway station, a train came from a siding and as two as myself and another waiting passenger entered it set off. I was lucky but this meant arriving at Newcastle station in with half an hour before the departure. There was time for a bacon roll, hash browns and coffee at the Burger King, when a woman who had bought the Sunday Times discarded the sports section for me to read. I then bought a London Time Out. This is usually a waste of money, because I enjoy reading about the plays and musical and free events but rarely go to any. I then started to cross over the bridge to where the London train usually departs, looked across and realised that it was at the arrival platform and available for boarding and had been there as I went in for my breakfast. I
I ticked myself off for not checking this before anticipating I had missed the opportunity to get a window seat at a table. Fortunately the disabled seat at the end of the appointed carriage was available. This is not ideal as one has to sit at the end and lean forward to make use of the table, but although the train became full as the journey progressed I had both seats to myself throughout. I was a little anxious about taking the seat as the train announcer made it clear, three times before we set off that only those holding correct tickets for the particular train were allowed and anyone else would be required to pay the full fare. He also asked that people took their allocated seats as the train was expected to fill, and should not remove any seat allocation ticket if they were not taken up. Shortly after setting off an attractive and young female attendant went through the compartment with the food and drink trolley. I paid her little attention at the time. I cannot remember how long afterwards I looked up from organising the lap top and going online, disappointed to find that I could not listen to live commentary from the Test match in Bangladesh because it would restrict the bandwidth available for other uses and hand to rely on the changing scorecard with written notes.
I noticed that on the floor between the two compartments was a packet of sandwiches and a chocolate muffin and my first reaction was that someone had dropped them but no one appeared ahead in either direction. A woman across the aisle correctly suggested they had fallen off the trolley. I mentioned this to the ticket checker who tried to take them with him until I suggested I would keep them until the trolley returned. It was only sometime latter that I appreciate that the trolley attendant was very attractive and young and was so impressed with my honesty that she gave me a free cup of coffee and the muffin, over £2 in value. She also gave me a great smile and asked how I was on her further two visits as did the ticket collector.
Having checked that the cross river train was in operation I was concerned that there was no train listed on the notice board for Brighton, and then kicked myself when the assistant drew attention to the one listed for Three Bridges. I had to wait 20 minutes but this meant that I arrived at the Travel Lodge only 15 mins before the earliest check in time and was let into a room, which was the same room occupied less than a month ago. Although I went out to buy in food and then for a post meal walk I decided to relax rather than do something, enjoying the Antiques Road Show and Lark’s Rise to Candleford where Laura was confronted by her first and present loves.
I was tempted by the bottles of wine and other goodies but settled for a prawn salad and water for the meal with croissants for the morning.
The commentaries on the Test Match have been of secondary interest because the announcement from the Test and County Board that they plan to change the format of the county championship. The truth is the championship game could not survive with the revenue from the Test Matches, 20 20 and one day format game finals. However for those of my generation the four day county championship game is the basis of my cricket watching. It is my understanding that the problem is a revolt of some players and counties who find themselves in the second division and unable to compete for the £1 million county prize introduced last year and perhaps resenting that new team Durham and to less extent Sussex have dominated the championship over the past decade and which Durham looking as if they could do so over the next year or so. I have had difficult in finding a written report of the proposed changes but I believe the intention is to create three groups with Durham in the northern one which would continue to involve games with Yorkshire, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire as now, but mean no four day visits to Lords or the Oval which is something I have looked forward to over the years. In the Test Match Bangladesh decided to bat after winning the toss and managed a credible first innings total of 419. England did well taking it slow in the heat and looked this morning as if they could make a total of 500 or so giving potential match winning lead although a draw looked the most the likely outcome. When a tired Bell made his first mistake late in the day and was out for a magnificent 138 it still looked as if Bresnan, not out 74 at the close, and with Swann and Broad to come they could still reach the desired target. However Swann was the victim of a freak run out and Broad was out of salts, the team as 440, for 8 at the close and lead of 50 looked the likely possibility.
For now I want to concentrate on Joseph Tito the guerrilla freedom fighter who during World War 1 had become the youngest Sergeant Major, wounded and decorated and as the head of the communist party led behind the scenes opposition to the Germans, Italians and Hungarians who then invaded in his country in 1939. Part of his role, supported by the British in particular, is covered in the three hour film, The Battle of Neretva made with state sponsorship in the late 1960’s in Serbo-Croatian and English and distributed by American International Pictures. The film was as expensive to make as the Hollywood epic, with a cast of thousands, including 10000 members of the People’s army, and four villages and a fortress constructed and destroyed with hundreds of old soviet tanks made to look like the German Tiger Tanks and also destroyed. It was necessary to destroy the actual bridge over the river which was in fact blown up twice and then repaired but because of the smoke they eventually used a studio created model for the film footage. Imported actors included Yul Brynner, Orson Wells, Carl Jurgans and Anthony Dawson.
It is my understanding that the film accurately describes one of the definitive and course changing events of World War II at a huge cost in life and human suffering. In 1943 the Hitler led Axis set in motion an offensive to destroy Tito because of his support among the people. The plan was to encircle the Partisans with their backs to the River Neretva in Bosnia-Herzegovina having destroyed the bridge to prevent a crossing. The Axis organised six German, three Italian, two Croation and a number of Chetnik and Usasha formations against the partisans in January 1943.
In order to escape the strong armoured and professional German army, Tito needed to cross the river where he knew he could beat the Chetnik forces and escape. To achieve this objective he prepared a major deception first appearing to destroy the bridge suggesting he intended to follow the river northward so the German command hastily reorganised it forces to meet them. Part of his force did go northward to evacuate a hospital which had come under attack, but while this was happening his engineers created a low level crossing from the lowered remains of the bridge sufficient for people on foot to cross but not the artillery. His armed forces then crossed over and defeated the Chetniks and followed by the rest, including the evacuated injured, destroying the crossing before they left.
In 1943 Tito became the effective political as well as military head of the Yugoslav people which continued for some four decades and he was the only European Communist leader to break with Stalin and successfully declare independence and development relations with the rest of Europe, the USA and world in general. The Partisans paid a heavy price at Neretva with eight thousand killed and two thousand captured but the foundation of Tito’s power and influence among the people was laid in their sacrifice, something which the film portrays, emphasising the part which women played in the fighting, and using music and voice to great effect. The heroics were real and of lasting impact until after his death.
Although I knew I had an early start on Sunday in order to make use of the cheapest train ticket of the day, it was 1.30 to 2 am before I retired to bed and sleep having tested and set the alarm for 7am and got as much ready as I could leaving only the packing of clothes and food preparation for the morning. As is usually my experience I awoke within minutes of the alarm going off and had completed by getting up when it did. I was therefore able to check that I had not won any prizes on the two Euro tickets purchased the previous evening and played a level of Luxor Mahjong.
It was when making up my rolls that the first mishap occurred as the previously used small freezer bags had torn and a roll filled with coleslaw and salami fell to the floor, opening up but the coleslaw filled side end the right side up. I put in the case a small container of grapes and another of the chocolates and some crackers. The four rolls, more grapes and two pecan swirls went into the shoulder bag along with notes and papers, the laptop mains lead, headphones, mouse and radio link, and the data transfer memory stick. I hoped to be able to use the lap top on the journey. The only other temporary glitch was that I locked the interconnecting door in the home with the case on the other side.
I was ready to leave just after 8am as planned. I only met one other human, out walking a dog during the downhill walk to the Metro station. The majority of curtains were drawn so I walked slowly not to make too much noise with the wheeling case and taking the back route through lanes and open spaces. There was no train on the platform but as I walked onto the far end of the former railway station, a train came from a siding and as two as myself and another waiting passenger entered it set off. I was lucky but this meant arriving at Newcastle station in with half an hour before the departure. There was time for a bacon roll, hash browns and coffee at the Burger King, when a woman who had bought the Sunday Times discarded the sports section for me to read. I then bought a London Time Out. This is usually a waste of money, because I enjoy reading about the plays and musical and free events but rarely go to any. I then started to cross over the bridge to where the London train usually departs, looked across and realised that it was at the arrival platform and available for boarding and had been there as I went in for my breakfast. I
I ticked myself off for not checking this before anticipating I had missed the opportunity to get a window seat at a table. Fortunately the disabled seat at the end of the appointed carriage was available. This is not ideal as one has to sit at the end and lean forward to make use of the table, but although the train became full as the journey progressed I had both seats to myself throughout. I was a little anxious about taking the seat as the train announcer made it clear, three times before we set off that only those holding correct tickets for the particular train were allowed and anyone else would be required to pay the full fare. He also asked that people took their allocated seats as the train was expected to fill, and should not remove any seat allocation ticket if they were not taken up. Shortly after setting off an attractive and young female attendant went through the compartment with the food and drink trolley. I paid her little attention at the time. I cannot remember how long afterwards I looked up from organising the lap top and going online, disappointed to find that I could not listen to live commentary from the Test match in Bangladesh because it would restrict the bandwidth available for other uses and hand to rely on the changing scorecard with written notes.
I noticed that on the floor between the two compartments was a packet of sandwiches and a chocolate muffin and my first reaction was that someone had dropped them but no one appeared ahead in either direction. A woman across the aisle correctly suggested they had fallen off the trolley. I mentioned this to the ticket checker who tried to take them with him until I suggested I would keep them until the trolley returned. It was only sometime latter that I appreciate that the trolley attendant was very attractive and young and was so impressed with my honesty that she gave me a free cup of coffee and the muffin, over £2 in value. She also gave me a great smile and asked how I was on her further two visits as did the ticket collector.
Having checked that the cross river train was in operation I was concerned that there was no train listed on the notice board for Brighton, and then kicked myself when the assistant drew attention to the one listed for Three Bridges. I had to wait 20 minutes but this meant that I arrived at the Travel Lodge only 15 mins before the earliest check in time and was let into a room, which was the same room occupied less than a month ago. Although I went out to buy in food and then for a post meal walk I decided to relax rather than do something, enjoying the Antiques Road Show and Lark’s Rise to Candleford where Laura was confronted by her first and present loves.
I was tempted by the bottles of wine and other goodies but settled for a prawn salad and water for the meal with croissants for the morning.
The commentaries on the Test Match have been of secondary interest because the announcement from the Test and County Board that they plan to change the format of the county championship. The truth is the championship game could not survive with the revenue from the Test Matches, 20 20 and one day format game finals. However for those of my generation the four day county championship game is the basis of my cricket watching. It is my understanding that the problem is a revolt of some players and counties who find themselves in the second division and unable to compete for the £1 million county prize introduced last year and perhaps resenting that new team Durham and to less extent Sussex have dominated the championship over the past decade and which Durham looking as if they could do so over the next year or so. I have had difficult in finding a written report of the proposed changes but I believe the intention is to create three groups with Durham in the northern one which would continue to involve games with Yorkshire, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire as now, but mean no four day visits to Lords or the Oval which is something I have looked forward to over the years. In the Test Match Bangladesh decided to bat after winning the toss and managed a credible first innings total of 419. England did well taking it slow in the heat and looked this morning as if they could make a total of 500 or so giving potential match winning lead although a draw looked the most the likely outcome. When a tired Bell made his first mistake late in the day and was out for a magnificent 138 it still looked as if Bresnan, not out 74 at the close, and with Swann and Broad to come they could still reach the desired target. However Swann was the victim of a freak run out and Broad was out of salts, the team as 440, for 8 at the close and lead of 50 looked the likely possibility.
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