Saturday 29 September 2012

We all Protest - historical echoes in the novel Vulture's Lair


(Chapter 13, page 85: Troops marched along the streets of Reykjavik and at the outermost harbour warships awaited orders. *)

We all protest. Icelander’s best known protests against the Danes occurred at Althing in 1851 as the Danes had sent military force to suppress any unrest. Governor Count Trampe presented the Danish proposal that Iceland should be treated as an administrative district of Denmark. When Althing said no, Trampe declared the meeting closed. “I protest,” Jón Sigurðsson said. Count Trampe marched out of the room, accompanied by president of Althing and kings´ men but most of the parliamentarians shouted: “We all protest.”


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About the book
A gripping political thriller set a few years into the future when the EU has become a fully federal superstate. A political elite out of control. A lone man seeking the truth Murder, mayhem and intrigue leading to the Vulture's Lair Brussels. The highest ranking Icelandic official at the United States of Europe, Solman Smithson, hears the voice of his old friend Krummi, who is fighting off armed guards. Krummi and Solman grew up together in the Westman Islands but while Solman became a bureaucrat, Krummi went to sea as one of Iceland's last fishermen. The Vulture is looking down on its prey. The chance encounter takes place as the new president, Erich Devereux, is installed into power. But rumours circulate that corrupt votes put him in power. Murders and violent attacks on journalists and academics proliferate in an apparently unconnected way. And as momentum builds in Iceland for independence from the USE the tempo of violence and intrigue quickens. The Vulture moves toward its prey. Fate decrees that only the big fisherman from the Westman Islands stands in the way of the dark forces of chaos. But can a fisherman from Iceland work out what is really going on. And can he survive long enough to make a difference. The Vulture closes in.

Friday 28 September 2012

WOODHALL SPA RAF MEMORIAL






Close to the crossroads in the centre of the Lincolnshire village of Woodhall Spa stands this memorial to the men who died serving in No.617 Squadron. The memorial takes the form of a dam with water gushing through a breach. 

from "Heroes of the RAF - Guy Gibson vc"
Thrilling biography of the man who led the Dambusters Raid. Guy Gibson was chosen to lead the great Dambusters Raid of 1943 as he had already proven himself to be a skilled pilot and a magnificent leader of men. Having joined the RAF in 1936, Gibson was a bomber pilot when war broke out. He won a DFC in July 1940 then, having completed a tour of operations volunteered for Fighter Command and flew nightfighters on 99 sorites during which he was awarded a bar to his DFC and the DSO. He then returned to Bomber Command and flew 46 more missions before being chosen to form and command No.617 Squadron for the Dambusters Raid. After a period off operations, Gibson returned to Bomber Command to act as a Pathfinder. He was killed on one such raid in September 1944. This book looks at the life and career of the man who led the most famous bombing raid of World War II. It is a gripping account of his life and exploits, revealing new and little known facts about Guy Gibson for the first time