The deadly device dates back to the era of the Russian invasion

'LSU is never on the court for the National Anthem'

Born Reginald Leonard Smith in Blackheath‚ South London‚ in 1939‚ the boy known as ‘Marty Wilde’ had an early love for music—particularly rock ‘n’ roll.  The young boy’s love for music was fostered by his family‚ and by the time he was a teen in the ’50s‚ backed by The Wildcats‚ Wilde was one of the very first teen idols (in England or America) and even predated the British Invasion with his self-penned hits “Endless Sleep‚” “Sea of Love‚” and Bad Boy.” In the ’60s‚ Wilde’s teen dreams had waned‚ but his songwriting career was taking off. He wrote hit The post Marty Wilde: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Scientists have developed a new solar-powered system to convert saltwater into fresh drinking water which they say could help reduce dangerous the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera. Via tests in rural communities‚ they showed that the process is more than 20% cheaper than traditional methods and can be deployed in rural locations around the […] The post New Solar-Powered Desalinator Keeps Producing Clean Water Without Needing Sunshine appeared first on Good News Network.

Column The Curse’s “Green Queen” and the Plight of the Sacrificial Lamb This dark satire about terrible people plays around with genre elements in a number of disconcerting ways… By Dan Persons | Published on April 2‚ 2024 Image: Showtime icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed Image: Showtime “The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree‚ and then once they are up there‚ throw rocks at them.”—Vladimir Nabokov In Luis Buñuel’s brilliant The Exterminating Angel (1962)‚ a group of affluent operagoers gather in a mansion for some socializing‚ a late-night supper‚ and a little bit of entertainment. But once they’ve enjoyed a piano performance by one of the guests‚ they discover they cannot leave their hosts’ salon. Nothing dramatic—no barricades‚ hostage-takers‚ or force-fields—they just all‚ as a group‚ spontaneously decide it’s not time to go home. Nor will that time arrive the next day‚ nor the day after‚ nor‚ it’s suggested‚ for weeks. Starvation will set in‚ social niceties will crumble‚ and a closet full of expensive vases will be turned into impromptu toilets‚ but for better or worse—mostly worse—some indefinable force of the universe has become intent on keeping these people captive‚ well past the point of endurance. Buñuel had no fondness for the moneyed elites. In films like The Phantom of Liberty and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie‚ he concocted viciously whimsical scenarios to expose their greed‚ self-involvement‚ and hypocrisy. In The Exterminating Angel he provides no overt explanation for why this particular clutch of people are damned in this way‚ just an implicit suggestion that some power beyond our ken has espied them‚ has taken their measure‚ and has decided it’s had enough. But‚ if you think about it‚ the engine of these people’s torment is much more proximate. In the first episode of The Curse (2023)‚ Asher Siegel (Nathan Fielder)‚ approaches a young‚ black‚ immigrant girl‚ Nala (Hikmah Warsame)‚ as she tries to sell cans of soda in a New Mexico parking lot. Asher’s been filming a pilot with his wife‚ Whitney (Emma Stone)‚ for a new reality show‚ Fliplanthropy‚ and at the goading of his producer‚ Dougie (Benny Safdie)‚ attempts to show his generosity by giving the child some money‚ no strings attached. Problem is‚ he only has a hundred dollar bill in his wallet. After the B-roll is logged‚ he summons the child back‚ apologizes‚ offers to come back with twenty dollars‚ and snatches the bill out of the girl’s hand. Without missing a beat‚ Nala stares Asher dead in the eye‚ and says‚ “I curse you.” At face value‚ that bit of hexing would seem to be what’s referenced in The Curse’s title. The idea is reinforced when‚ later in the episode‚ Asher discovers that his Factor_-style order of chicken penne has mysteriously arrived sans chicken‚ and upon subsequent questioning‚ Nala claims her curse—based‚ she says‚ on a TikTok trend called “tiny curses‚” in which the jinx isn’t supposed to be much more than annoying—was centered on chicken and “spaghetti.” It doesn’t take all that long‚ though‚ for a viewer to intuit that Ash isn’t alone in laboring under a curse. The big difference is that while his appears to involve some kind of cosmic intervention (he later finds the vanished chicken in a firehouse bathroom)‚ others have been burdened with whammies that are more earthbound. The TV show Fliplanthropy is supposed to be a showcase for Whitney Siegel‚ and her campaign to bring “passive housing”—homes that purport to minimize energy waste—to the poverty-stricken community of Española‚ New Mexico. It never seems to occur to her that the local Indigenous population may not have much use for the boxy‚ mirrored monstrosities Whit wants to build (fancying herself some kind of conceptual artist‚ Whit insists that the buildings’ exteriors literally reflect the community). Nor is she all that eager to concede that she and Ash are so cash-strapped that the funding for her project has come from her wealthy parents‚ a pair of notorious slumlords. Nor does she pause to consider that the‚ um‚ “-lanthropy” part of Fliplanthropy (awful name‚ that) comes not from supporting local businesses‚ but from importing the gentrifying likes of a Canadian coffee franchise and an upscale jeans store into the town’s decaying strip mall. Whit is in fact so blinded by her saintly self-image that when a wealthy but conspicuously conservative client (Dean Cain‚ playing‚ essentially‚ Dean Cain) expresses interest in purchasing one of her homes‚ she can’t see past the Thin Blue Line flag on his car to realize that the man sincerely supports many of the social causes that Whit makes a pretense to care about. If Whit is the self-deluded model of the just-throw-cash-at-the-problem liberal (when the jeans store becomes the target of shoplifters‚ Whitney tells the cashier to charge the shrinkage to her credit card‚ with predictably disastrous results)‚ Fliplanthropy’s producer Dougie is all too aware of the burden he carries. Having fled New York in the aftermath of a drunk-driving incident that killed his wife‚ he puts up a cocky‚ confident façade‚ while attempting to slough off any remnants of the Big Apple by bedecking himself in turquoise. It doesn’t conceal what we see: That he carries a breathalyzer in his car’s glove compartment‚ and that too often it tests positive; that prior to Fliplanthropy getting the greenlight from HGTV he’s been using his vehicle as an improvised hotel room; and that the weight of his responsibility goads him into such bizarre actions as begging Nala to inflict a curse on him‚ or lecturing teens on the evils of alcohol‚ then buying them beers after getting them to turn over their car keys. Ash has his own issues‚ aside from the phantom chicken curse. He’s socially awkward and near devoid of a sense of humor—taking a corporate comedy course‚ the best he can do is to bleat like a goat. He is so devoted to Whitney that he loses his cool on camera when a TV interviewer dares to ask a question about her parents‚ and then to quash the damning footage offers to betray his colleagues at the Tribal casino where he used to work. The security video he subsequently provides‚ while succeeding in indicting a state gambling official‚ also shows him laughing at the plight of a gambling addict. And he’s got a micropenis‚ the reveal of which leads to a cringey sequence where he and Whit make love via the services of a vibrator and a fantasy stud named Steven. In short‚ and to put it as delicately as possible‚ what we’ve got here is a trio of righteous shits. But it turns out‚ not all shits are created equal. Per IMDB‚ Luis Buñuel expressed regret that he wasn’t able to take the characters of The Exterminating Angel all the way to the extreme of cannibalism. However disenchanted the director may have been with the outcome‚ the restriction did lead to a telling moment in the film: The trapped partygoers‚ starved‚ thirsty—not to mention awash in the stench of unwashed bodies and unflushed excreta—have irrevocably turned on each other. Full-on violence is imminent—as is the potential for‚ yes‚ cannibalism—when a flock of sheep‚ apparently stockpiled by the host on the night of the party for some kind of prank (a bear cub is also somewhere on the premises)‚ wander into the salon. Immediately‚ the prisoners fall upon the passive beasts‚ not just as a solution for their hunger‚ but also as a way to displace the brutality they’ve begun to turn on each other. Throughout the course of The Curse‚ it becomes agonizingly clear that the friendship between Asher and Dougie‚ dating back to their youth‚ was anything but. As they reminisce about the past‚ it turns out that Dougie was an especially nasty and emotionally manipulative bully‚ dispensing cruelties that Ash has transmogrified into typical‚ childhood hijinks. And Dougie has far from outgrown that malicious aspect of his personality. He scolds his friend for never inviting him to the shabbat observances Ash and Whitney hold‚ despite Dougie evincing no particular devotion to his faith; leveraging Ash’s curse-induced paranoia‚ he has a whole roast chicken delivered to Ash’s plate when they dine out; and when Nala refuses to grant Dougie’s self-destructive wish‚ he jealously watches the oblivious Ash entering his home‚ while muttering under his breath‚ “I curse you.” Most dismayingly‚ under the guise of drumming up some dramatic tension for the series‚ he goads Whitney into turning against Ash‚ a suggestion Whit seems not so reluctant to embrace. She’s clearly chagrined at how Ash’s social ineptitude clashes with her carefully-groomed façade of empathy and social awareness‚ something not helped when she witnesses the video of him mocking the gambler. (In a reflection of the relationship between Ash and Dougie‚ Whit also has a lifelong “friend‚” Cara [Nizhonniya Austin]‚ an Indigenous artist who clearly sees through Whitney’s bullshit.) A devastating failed pregnancy and Asher’s emasculated role in their lovemaking hasn’t elevated Whit’s opinion of her husband; that her father is similarly graced with an inadequate member may also have something to do with it. (And as an aside‚ let me just say that while I understand that cringe comedy gotta cringe‚ the whole micropenis thing may be a little too on-the-nose. Or on the whatever… sorry.) So in the penultimate episode‚ when Whitney insists Asher watch the confessional where she unsparingly unloads on him‚ we know that whatever way the relationship ends up—and in this case it’s with Ash tearfully declaring his undying love after watching the devastating footage—her well of sublimated contempt for him is deep‚ and likely everlasting. All of which may go to explain the discombobulating events of “Green Queen‚” The Curse’s final episode. [Hey. There are significant spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned‚ me buckos.] It starts out pretty much of a piece with the rest of the series. Approximately one year after the events of the previous episode‚ Whit and Asher are appearing via remote on The Rachel Ray Show to promote their just-premiered—and pointedly re-titled—series‚ Green Queen. It doesn’t go especially well‚ with Whit and Ash delivering frozen grins to the camera while Vincent Pastore cooks meatballs and Ray asks questions that don’t especially allow Whit to present the show‚ and her life’s work‚ in the best light. Ash‚ for his part‚ contributes little except to ineffectually direct Ray’s attention to Whit’s burgeoning belly. Because‚ yes‚ she’s successfully pregnant‚ and due any day. Notwithstanding the botched promotional appearance‚ and Whit’s dissatisfaction that their show—already renewed for a second season—has been relegated to HGTV’s streaming service‚ the imminent arrival of a little bundle of joy appears to have worked wonders in terms of Ash and Whitney’s reconciliation. Whit busies herself prepping an unpressurized nursery within their passive home‚ while directing the handyman to conceal the control panel‚ lest anyone touring the joint get the wrong idea that eco-friendly abodes might somehow be bad for newborns. Ash meanwhile unveils a premature and unusual “push” present to his wife: Gifting the distressed home that the couple were planning to flip to Abshir (Barkhad Abdi)‚ the father of Nala and her sister Hani‚ all three of whom just so happened to be squatting on the property when the Siegels acquired it. And if Abshir’s reaction to the good news doesn’t quite reach the effusive heights Ash and Whit were anticipating—he delivers clear signals that he plans to cash out as soon as the paperwork is signed and sealed—the couple rationalizes it as just a personality quirk of the man‚ so overwhelmed is he by their generosity. Secure in the afterglow of their perceived goodness‚ the couple bed down for the night‚ after singing a Hebrew lullaby to Whit’s fetus. In the morning‚ Whit awakens to discover Ash sound asleep. On the bedroom’s ceiling. Something clearly has gone horribly wrong. Or perhaps‚ from another perspective‚ something’s gone exactly right‚ as if the universe has noted Ash’s general lack of gravity‚ and decided to make his shortcoming literal. Whatever the reason‚ the Earth’s natural pull has been reversed for Ash and Ash alone‚ and in a brilliantly surreal sequence—this episode‚ as with many of the others‚ was directed by Fielder—Asher and Whitney struggle to decipher what is going on. Ash‚ not exactly mastering the inverted physics—he keeps falling upwards—thinks the newly unmodded nursery is to blame. Whit‚ for fear of being caught up in whatever sadistic force has plagued her husband‚ crab-walks her way out of the building. Complicating matters: Whitney has gone into labor. Things go from bad to worse. Determined to drive his wife to the hospital‚ Ash—in a turn that would’ve pleased Nabokov—instead winds up snagged in the branches of a tree. Dougie arrives just as Whit and her doula depart‚ and just before the fire department turns up. Nobody listens to Ash’s very precise description of what’s befallen him‚ with Dougie deploying a drone to get some second season footage of what he thinks is Ash’s crisis of fatherhood; while the firefighters follow the playbook for a treed bear‚ sawing through the branch despite Ash’s hysterical pleading. To the shock of Dougie‚ the firefighters‚ and a small gaggle of bemused onlookers‚ the tree branch goes one way‚ and Ash goes the other‚ tumbling up toward the heavens. The last we see of him is as he—or maybe his corpse—leaves Earth’s atmosphere‚ heading toward the infinite. Dougie—once again realizing his own negligence too late—sobs at the loss‚ while Whit delivers a healthy boy via C-section‚ all the while inquiring about her husband. The final shot is of firefighters and neighbors milling around in front of the accursed house‚ as the camera slowly tracks into the mirrored doorway. Cut to black. It’s a pretty damn audacious finale‚ and yet‚ not all that surprising. As Jordan Peele has successfully explored how the separation between comedy and horror can be a mere matter of degrees‚ so Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder—the joint authors of The Curse—manage to take comedy’s natural proclivity for hyperbolics and nudge it over just enough for it to qualify as genre television. It’s there in the ambiguity of whether Nala’s curse is an actual phenomenon or just a figment of Ash’s imagination; it’s there in the weird coincidence that the distressed property Ash has bought is the one that Abshir and his daughters are crashing in. There’s shock in the way the narrative takes a sudden turn to full-on fantasy‚ but in many ways‚ the show sets us up for the moment long before it arrives. The question‚ though‚ is why Ash is singled out for this punishment? I’ve read analyses that suggest that‚ with Whit bringing a new life into the world‚ the passive house has determined that Ash has become a threat to its perfect balance‚ so much waste that must be ejected. That may be a part of it‚ but I don’t think it’s all. Something else is going on‚ something that reaches beyond Ash’s failures and damns all of The Curse’s main characters. There is no doubt the show’s main trio are horrible people (Whitney’s artist friend‚ Cara‚ who has built a career upon putting her Indigenous heritage up for sale to gullible Caucasians‚ is better only in the regard that she’s fully aware of the con she’s running). But there’s an aspect that sets Ash apart. Dougie is an alcoholic and a cruel manipulator‚ forever trying to exorcise the guilt over his wife’s death and forever backsliding into his worst aspects. Whitney is in some ways worse‚ an entitled rich girl desperate to escape her parents’ shadow (while taking their money)‚ oozing performative empathy for her less-fortunate‚ Indigenous neighbors while telling herself that her pricey glass houses (hey‚ I just discovered there’s a metaphor there!) are the key to rescuing her town. (And let me just note here that if you doubted Emma Stone’s Oscar win this year‚ you need only watch as she navigates the various shades of Whitney’s awfulness. Her spoiled daughter tantrum when her parents try to steal some of her spotlight is‚ in and of itself‚ award-worthy.) Both Whit and Dougie are deserving candidates for the universe’s condemnation‚ so why just Ash? It is‚ I think‚ because both Dougie and Whit are in profound states of denial‚ desperately seeking any conduit that will siphon off the cognizance of their responsibility. Asher is the perfect target: He mistakes Dougie’s meanness for amiable joshing; he looks at Whit exerting a power dynamic over him and thinks it’s love. He’s guileless and vulnerable—the perfect shlimazel—and it would not be at all shocking to discover that‚ because of that‚ Whit and Dougie harbor a deep and abiding hate for him‚ however repressed. He is their sacrificial lamb‚ ready to relieve them of their sins. There’s another thing‚ though. I’ve been saying that it’s the universe that passes judgement on Asher‚ but that’s not really true. It’s actually Bennie Safdie and‚ more pointedly‚ the person who plays Ash‚ Nathan Fielder‚ who have condemned him to the void. Granted all storytellers—filmmakers‚ writers‚ etc.—are the puppet masters of their creations‚ but sometimes the creator’s invisible hand becomes not-so-invisible. Fielder’s filmic career—notably with the “reality” TV series Nathan for You and The Rehearsal (the latter of which was more cringe than even I could handle; I didn’t get past the first episode)—has frequently cast him as the sad-sack target held responsible for his social awkwardness. Like Buñuel toying with his hapless aristocrats‚ like Nabokov acknowledging the author’s active participation in their characters’ fates‚ you can sense Fielder casting final judgement on Ash for his spineless acquiescence‚ banishing him to the great beyond for sins that are not fully his. It’s a rare situation when you can detect an artist saying‚ “Okay‚ this has gone far enough‚” to their creation. The Curse is a social satire that indicts high-profile do-gooders for their hypocrisies‚ but it’s also a demonstration of how the artist can make their presence overt within their works‚ and speak to the audience directly about their feelings. The best of art forms a bond between creator and spectator; with the likes of The Curse‚ that connection becomes even more intimate. Benny Safdie has indicated that The Curse could continue on to subsequent seasons‚ although it’s hard to figure out how that will happen now that one of its main characters has been evicted from the narrative. Then again‚ a universe that can suddenly eject a person off the face of the Earth is just as capable of ejecting him back. Had I my druthers‚ I’d be more inclined to continue on without poor Ash‚ to see how Whit and Dougie cope with their own curses once their convenient whipping boy is gone. I’m not a TV exec‚ though‚ I have no control. Maybe you are‚ or maybe you just have thoughts about what The Curse’s startling finale means‚ and what could be in store for its characters in the future. If you do‚ we have a comments section below‚ ready for your thoughts. Just be cordial and friendly when you post—let’s restrict the cringe to the TV screen.[end-mark] The post <;i>;The Curse<;/i>;’s “Green Queen” and the Plight of the Sacrificial Lamb appeared first on Reactor.

Norman Crockatt is not a well-known name‚ but the British intelligence officer was responsible for one of the most controversial decisions of World War II. When the War Office in London created Military Intelligence Section 9 (MI9) on December 23‚ 1939‚ it chose the 45-year-old Crockatt to head the new organization. The former head of the London Stock Exchange‚ he was seen as “the right sort of chap” for the post despite his scant experience in military intelligence. MI9’s mission was to help British military personnel escape and evade the enemy. That might mean smuggling maps and miniature compasses to prisoners of war held in Nazi camps or assisting shot-down airmen in enemy territory to evade capture and get back to Britain or Allied-controlled territory. MI9 was a small branch of British intelligence‚ but in June 1943 Crockatt had the responsibility of making a momentous decision about the fate of 80‚000 Allied POWs incarcerated in Italian prison camps. The Allies were gearing up to invade Italy and Crockatt had to decide whether the POWs there should stay put and wait for the arrival of Allied troops or break out and try to make their own way to freedom. Crockatt chose the former option‚ stating in an order issued on June 7‚ 1943‚ that “officers commanding prison camps will ensure that prisoners of war remain within camp. Authority is granted to all officers commanding to take necessary disciplinary action to prevent individual prisoners of war attempting to rejoin their own units.” Several factors influenced Crockatt’s final decision. First was the physical state of the prisoners‚ many of whom were believed to be malnourished after years in captivity. Then there was the prospect of tens of thousands of prisoners on the loose‚ providing easy targets for vengeful Nazis and fascist Italians loyal to Mussolini. Above all‚ Crockatt believed that the Allies’ advance north through Italy would be swift and British and American troops would quickly liberate the camps. Why risk a mass breakout and jeopardize the lives of so many men? Lieutenant Colonel Charles “Tony” Simonds of the British A Force received orders to plan the rescue of prisoners of war who had escaped from their prison camps in Italy. To get word to the POWs of what they should do‚ Crockatt used a secret code contained within the script of a popular BBC program‚ The Radio Padre‚ a favorite among the prisoners. But what MI9 didn’t do‚ remarkably‚ was inform British prime minister Winston Churchill or his War Cabinet of his decision. From the outset of negotiations with Italy Churchill had made plain his wish to see POWs returned to the Allies once the Armistice came into force. Article 3 of the Italian surrender agreement stipulated that prisoners were to be “immediately turned over to the Allied commander-in-chief and none of these may now or at any time be evacuated to Germany.” When the Armistice was made public on September 8 the Italian War Ministry kept faith with its obligations and told 80‚000 Allied prisoners that they were free to leave. But the majority remained in their camps‚ where they risked falling under the control of the Germans. Churchill was aghast when he learned of Crockatt’s order for POWs to stay put‚ but by then it was too late for many prisoners. Contrary to what Crockatt had anticipated‚ the Germans had wasted little time in taking over most of the camps and were soon hunting the estimated 30‚000 who had defied the stay-put command and taken flight. Nothing could be done now to liberate the prisoners in the camps‚ but Churchill demanded a plan to rescue the fugitives. The man chosen to lead the operation was Lieutenant Colonel Charles “Tony” Simonds‚ who had joined MI9 in 1941 after fighting alongside General Orde Wingate in what is now Ethiopia. Based in Cairo‚ Simonds was in charge of A Force‚ which had responsibility to set up escape lines for Allied prisoners across occupied Europe. Summoned to Allied Forces HQ in Algiers on September 23‚ Simonds received orders to devise a plan to rescue the thousands of escaped Allied prisoners roaming Italy. He had at his disposal personnel from Britain’s 1st Airborne Division‚ Second Special Air Service Regiment (2SAS)‚ and Special Operations Executive (SOE)‚ as well as the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The mission received the codename Jonquil. In 1940 Bill established a training center at Lochailort‚ Scotland‚ where commandos could practice amphibious landings like those the SAS used for the POW rescue mission in Italy. Simonds established his headquarters at Brindisi‚ a port on the eastern heel of the Italian boot‚ and arranged a meeting with officers from 2SAS‚ billeted 75 miles northwest in the coastal city of Bari. This elite British special forces unit had been formed in North Africa in 1941 by brothers David and Bill Stirling‚ and while stationed in Cairo Simonds had heard tales of their effectiveness in raiding Axis targets deep inside their territory. David Stirling had been captured in January 1943 but Bill‚ in command of 2SAS‚ sent two of his officers‚ Major Felix Symes and Captain Peter Power‚ to Brindisi to discuss the rescue operation. They arrived on the evening of September 26 and for the next three hours Simonds briefed the SAS officers on the nature of the mission. Standing in front of a large map of the east coast of Italy‚ Simonds explained that he had divided the region into four areas‚ from Ancona in the north to Ortona in the south‚ a range of approximately 100 miles. Simonds defined the role of 2SAS in the operation thus: “In each area two parties will go in‚ one to be dropped by parachute inland‚ with the object of sending all P.W.s down to the coast‚ and one party to land by sea to form a beach party to guide‚ shepherd‚ and protect the prisoners‚ and also to supervise their embarkation after having signaled the boats.” There were seven soldiers in each party‚ and the boats were vessels that would rendezvous off the beaches to take on the escapees. Furthermore‚ Simonds planned to have two other parties landed in the most southerly of the four areas to collect a large number of prisoners known to have gathered close to the town of Chieti. Attached to each A Force team would be an Italian speaker to question villagers about the prisoners’ whereabouts.      Simonds recruited a handful of interpreters locally‚ but he also could exploit the linguistic skills of the American OSS‚ which had a sub-unit called the Operational Group (OG) with the role of organizing‚ equipping‚ and training indigenous populations to fight common enemies. Unlike Britain in the first half of the 20th century‚ America had a “melting pot” society that enabled the OSS to recruit operatives from Chinese‚ Japanese‚ Greek‚ Norwegian‚ Italian‚ and other communities. The standard OG comprised four officers and 30 enlisted men‚ and the Italian unit was commanded by 1st Lieutenant Peter Sauro. Born in Yonkers‚ New York‚ to Italian parents‚ the 31-year-old Sauro had been a tree surgeon before the war; he was small and past his physical prime‚ but he had a good grasp of his ancestral language. Sauro and his section reached OSS headquarters in Algiers on September 8‚ the day that Italy officially surrendered. Designated Unit A‚ First Contingent‚ Operational Groups‚ 2677th Headquarters Company Experimental (Provisional) AFHQ‚ Sauro’s OG was the first of its kind to be activated and spent the next two weeks in parachute training. On September 25 OSS HQ informed Sauro of the A Force mission to round up escaped Allied prisoners in Italy. He had 24 hours to select 18 men for the operation and equip them as necessary. They received the codename Simcol. Once they had reached Italy‚ Sauro’s team of Italian speakers traveled by vehicle to Bari‚ where A Force had established its new base and where Simonds introduced Sauro to the SAS officers. Simonds asked him to provide one of his men to each of the four SAS parachute parties and another to each of the five teams who would land by fishing boat. Sauro and his remaining nine members of the OG would take part in a parachute operation independent of the British.  One of the men Power brought with him was 20-year-old Bob Tong. Sauro’s team left Bari airfield in the late afternoon of October 2 for the short flight north to Catignano‚ a village 20 miles inland from Pescara. They parachuted onto the drop zone without incident.  A few hours after Sauro’s party had flown from Bari‚ a fleet of eight schooners sailed out of the city’s port under the command of SAS Captain Peter Power‚ a 32-year-old Irishman. Their voyage up the eastern coast took them longer than expected because of fierce fighting at Termoli‚ 125 miles north of Bari‚ where for three days a battle raged between the British 78th Infantry Division and the German 1st Parachute Division. At Termoli‚ Power and his 12 men exchanged the schooners for LSI’s (Landing Ship‚ Infantry) and continued on their mission‚ finally going ashore at 2:00 a.m. on October 7 at Grottammare‚ 100 miles north of Termoli and 50 miles north of Sauro and his men. They had landed several miles south of their intended disembarkation point so they marched north overnight through torrential rain to reach the correct stretch of coast. On the night of October 9-10 Power signaled ashore a naval dinghy stocked with supplies. It also brought the message that it would not be back again “until the nights of October 24/25 and 25/26 owing to the moon‚ and that all prisoners must be embarked on these nights.” Power’s party had a formidable task ahead of them. Deep inside enemy territory‚ without any wireless sets—none had been provided despite repeated requests—they had no means of extraction for a fortnight.  Power divided his force into four groups‚ three of which would search the surrounding countryside to the north‚ west and south. The fourth party‚ under the command of Sergeant Major Bill Marshall‚ would remain by the coast to receive prisoners as they were brought in‚ and conduct a sweep of the coastal area for any other escapees. When he set off north on October 10 Power had two men with him: Bob Tong‚ a 20-year-old private from Shropshire‚ and sergeant Joe Marino‚ one of Sauro’s OG interpreters. Power kept a daily tally of their accomplishments in his log. On the evening of October 11‚ he noted that they contacted 14 prisoners‚ including two South African officers. They next day‚ “British officers arrived at 11.00 hrs and told us there were a number of prisoners near Corridonia.” On October 13 they contacted another six prisoners‚ and when they reached the Corridonia area the next day they found a prisoner who said he knew of 30 more. They found nine more on October 15‚ and on the 16th made contact with a communist who was hiding about 30 escapees.  On the return march to the beach‚ Power collected more prisoners‚ all of whom he corralled into a farmhouse about two miles from the coast under the supervision of Tong and Marino. When he reached Marshall’s base camp on October 20 Power found 34 more POWs that Marshall and his men had collected over the week. “All going well‚” wrote Power in his journal. Now they just had to sit tight and wait for the naval vessels to arrive in four days.  Captain Raymond Lee of the SAS was also known as Raymond Couraud. Lee nearly met his death aboard an Italian Motor Torpedo Boat like this one during the rescue mission. Their fortunes turned the next morning. A routine German patrol spotted Marshall’s base camp and in the ensuing firefight two SAS were captured and a number of Germans killed and wounded. On hearing the firing‚ Power shepherded the POWs from the farmhouse into a ravine where they remained for the day. To make matters worse‚ Sergeant Marino was unwell‚ a condition Power described in his journal as “delayed V.D.”  Fortunately‚ the Germans did not launch a follow-up operation. Power posted lookouts on the coastal road but they spotted nothing untoward. On October 23 SAS parties from the other three operational areas began arriving with their haul of wandering POWs. In total‚ noted Power‚ by the morning of the 24th they had “about three or four hundred prisoners.” Many were excited at the prospect of their impending salvation‚ while others were tired‚ hungry‚ and irritable. Months and years as prisoners and weeks as fugitives had eroded much of their military discipline. Eventually‚ however‚ the SAS led them to within a few hundred yards of the beach.  The boat was scheduled to arrive at half past midnight on October 25‚ and Power’s instructions to the prisoners were to “come in parties not larger than three.” Marino‚ though still debilitated by illness‚ was to act as their dispatcher. Power and Tong started out for the beach at 11:40 p.m. They had hardly arrived before they heard “bursts of automatic fire” and then the unmistakeable sound of trucks arriving. Panicking‚ the gathered POWs “stampeded back into the hills.” Power and Tong ran north along the beach away from the sound of gunfire. They didn’t know if the two captured SAS men had revealed the evacuation plan under questioning by their captors‚ or if the Germans had discovered the large number of prisoners on their own.  At daylight Power and Tong continued their trek north‚ believing the operation had been fatally compromised. But that evening a Royal Naval launch arrived and picked up the SAS party‚ now under the command of Sergeant Major Bill Marshall and including Joe Marino. After the previous night’s panic only 23 prisoners remained of the 400 brought to the beach. Power and Tong didn’t return to Allied lines for a month‚ when they sailed into Termoli in a fishing boat piloted by an Italian aviation officer. They brought five POWs with them.  Pete Sauro found himself in a predicament similar to Power’s. Having parachuted into Catignano‚ Sauro and his men had collected 250 fugitives within 24 hours. The Americans instructed the POWs to muster on the coast at Francavilla‚ some 20 miles due east from Sauro’s operational base. A naval vessel was supposed to arrive on the nights of October 4‚ 6‚ 8‚ and 10 between midnight and 1:00 a.m. and flash a light every 15 minutes. The password was “Jack London.” The three other SAS parties scouring the countryside west and south of Pescara were also directing POWs toward Francavilla. In total 600 had reached the coast: 350 British‚ 200 Yugoslav‚ and 50 American. But‚ as the SAS report stated: “They had signalled for four nights (October 4‚ 6‚ 8‚ and 10)‚ without success‚ though on the fourth night what was believed to have been a German MTB [Motor Torpedo Boat] switched its searchlight on them‚ and there was an exchange of fire. At the same time a truckload of German troops arrived on the coast road above them.”  Rescued ex-prisoners of war welcome the cigarettes handed down to them as their craft reaches Termoli. The SAS officer overseeing the evacuation was Captain Raymond Lee. A colorful character who craved excitement‚ Lee was really a Frenchmen named Raymond Couraud who had won the Croix de Guerre for his actions with the French Foreign Legion in Norway‚ but later deserted. Arrested‚ he spent some time in prison‚ then operated in France as a gangster before joining the SOE and then the SAS under his assumed name. Lee told the prisoners “to split up and make their way through the lines.” He added that Termoli‚ 75 miles away‚ was now in British hands after a three-day battle‚ and it was safer to travel overland than by sea‚ where they risked attack from enemy vessels or aircraft. Sauro issued similar instructions to half of his OSS team‚ but he and four men continued to scour the area for escaped prisoners‚ briefing those they found on how to reach Allied lines. Sauro sent three more operatives south on November 3‚ while he and one other remained searching. Eventually the pair were captured by the Germans. Captain Lee returned safely to Termoli and volunteered on the night of November 2 to accompany a search and rescue party aboard an Italian MTB. With him was Captain Richard Lewis‚ a 26-year-old Illinoian and Harvard graduate (who would win the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his biography of Edith Wharton)‚ and Augusto Ruffo‚ an 18-year-old Italian recruited to A Force‚ whose father was the 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda. “We were part of an Anglo-American intelligence outfit known in Washington as MIS-X [Military Intelligence Service X] and in London as MI-9‚” wrote Lewis in his memoir. “In Italy‚ we had various cover titles.” One of these was A Force. The Italian MTB left Termoli and arrived at the rendezvous point off Silvi‚ seven miles north of Pescara. The vessel’s skipper flashed the recognition signal to shore‚ where the A Force team‚ including a British Lieutenant Lyte‚ spotted it. With them were 12 POWs. Before they could respond to the signal‚ said Lyte‚ “machine gun fire and 20mm Breda fire [were] directed at a boat about 1½ miles off shore.” Lewis and Ruffo were below deck talking on their bunks when the firing started. “I could see tracer bullets flying and could hear shouts of consternation and rapid orders from above‚” recalled Lewis. “My young Italian friend‚ in the midst of a sentence‚ fell forward from the bunk to lie dead on the floor; a bullet had penetrated the side of the boat and entered his back.” Lewis flattened himself on the floor as rounds tore through the MTB. When he eventually emerged on deck‚ he counted the corpses of half a dozen Italian soldiers. “Flames were licking along the railing‚” remembered Lewis. “From out in the blackness I could hear the desperate appeal of the Italian sailors who had jumped overboard with their life belts and were floating about crying for help.” Also in the water was Captain Raymond Lee. Despite being shot in the shoulder‚ he managed to swim the mile ashore where he was subsequently found by Lyte. Lewis also swam ashore‚ staggering up the beach and into a dune. “As I watched‚ exhaustedly‚ the fire on board reached the torpedo and the boat blew up.” Lewis was now in the same predicament as the men he had set out to rescue. He struck out south and initially made good progress‚ relying on the generosity of “kind and unquestioning Italian peasants.” One provided him with an old suit. Although ditching his uniform removed his status as a soldier and raised the possibility that he could be executed as a spy if captured‚ Lewis believed the tattered suit gave him a better chance of reaching the Allied lines than his combat fatigues. “I was almost within sight of the British lookout posts when I got stuck‚” said Lewis. “The long‚ drawn-out battle of the Sangro River had begun‚ and the front lines were far too lively for me to attempt to cross.” Though the British Eighth Army had secured Termoli on October 6‚ the advance up the east coast of Italy turned into a bloody slog. They finally crossed the Sangro (32 miles northwest of Termoli) on November 23‚ but it required another five weeks of hard fighting before the 1st Canadian Infantry Division captured the deep-water port of Ortona. Bob Tong returned to Italy in 2013 to remember his fallen comrades. He had been one of the first to volunteer for Bill Stirling’s 2SAS back in 1943. As the fighting raged‚ Lewis hunkered down in a stone cottage near the village of Crecchio‚ about 12 miles north of the Sangro. “While both armies surged forward and fell back in what‚ from my fretful vantage point‚ seemed sheer tactical messiness‚ I made useless little forays toward making my way to safety‚ only to retreat each time‚” recalled Lewis. The American finally made it through the lines on December 17‚ “having swallowed enough raw red wine to give me the requisite courage.” Captain Lee‚ who had reached Termoli after a 10-day trek‚ had informed A Force that Lewis had been killed on the MTB‚ so his arrival was greeted with delight.   Simonds estimated that about 900 former prisoners made the same journey as Lewis and Lee in the autumn of 1943‚ either by boat or on foot. Some received A Force’s  assistance but others relied on their own initiative. It was a disappointing tally considering that an estimated 30‚000 prisoners had walked out of their camps in September; in total it is estimated that between 11‚000 to 14‚000 POWs reached freedom‚ either in southern Italy or by crossing into neutral Switzerland. Those involved in the A Force operation quickly pinpointed the major flaw in the operation: the lack of radio communication. Colonel Russell B. Livermore of OSS’s 2677th Headquarters Company had been unable to contact any of the men on Simcol and wrote in his report‚ “My reaction…is that hereafter we carry out all our own operations and discontinue these ‘joint’ ones with the British.” Lieutenant Colonel Bill Stirling‚ commanding officer 2SAS‚ cited several other reasons for the operation’s ineffectiveness‚ including the “extremely erratic” timekeeping of the navy that made coordination with the men ashore difficult. But his major complaint echoed Livermore’s: “Signalling arrangements were not satisfactory‚” he wrote. “Walkie-Talkies between shore and ship might have been useful. Wireless communications with the base would have prevented the ignorance of the parties of the amended orders issued.” What frustrated Stirling most was the missed opportunity. “[G]iven a simple plan with a reliable means of communication‚ and R.Vs [rendezvous]‚ which could be depended on‚ it might have produced more satisfactory results.” In the end‚ it remained a lost opportunity.

Books Buffalo Bill: Scout‚ Showman‚ Visionary (2010‚ by Steve Friesen) This is my biography of William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody‚ written when I was the director of the Buffalo Bill Museum &; Grave. What sets it apart is a wealth of original photographs and images of artifacts and documents associated with the showman’s life‚ making it equally at home on a reference bookshelf or coffee table. Wild Bill Hickok &; Buffalo Bill Cody: Plainsmen of the Legendary West (2022‚ by Bill Markley) Buffalo Bill Cody and friend James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok were‚ and still are‚ often confused with one another. Author Bill Markley does an excellent job of distinguishing their life paths and exploring the relationship between them. Two biographies in one‚ the book is a well-researched and highly readable analysis of two legendary Westerners. Buffalo Bill’s America: William Cody &; the Wild West Show (2005‚ by Louis S. Warren) The thickest tome among these picks‚ Louis Warren’s book is chock-full of information about the famed showman‚ all carefully documented with extensive footnotes. My only problem with the book is the author’s emphasis on Cody’s “imposture.” Merriam-Webster defines that word as “the act or practice of deceiving by means of an assumed character or name.” While Buffalo Bill may have been Cody’s show business persona‚ it was not a deception and indeed based on real-life exploits. The Life of Hon. William F. Cody‚ Known as Buffalo Bill‚ the Famous Hunter‚ Scout and Guide: An Autobiography (1879) Cody’s autobiography has been reprinted many times since 1879. Some historians regard it as largely a work of fiction. I am not one of them. Written in an era dominated by dime novels‚ it has its exaggerations. But it is useful as a primary source‚ since it is his autobiography. All in all‚ it is an educational and entertaining read. Devil in the White City: Murder‚ Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (2004‚ by Erik Larson) This is the only book in this list that does not devote itself primarily to Buffalo Bill. But author Erik Larson has carefully woven Cody into the central narrative of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the deadly deeds of one of the nation’s first mass murderers. It is a nonfiction book that reads as entertainingly as a novel. Movies The Life of Buffalo Bill (1912‚ on YouTube)Produced on three reels by the Buffalo Bill &; Pawnee Bill Film Co.‚ this silent film was the first feature about Cody and included both real and fictional scenes from his life. Though an actor portrays Buffalo Bill through most of the film‚ it opens and closes with appearances by the aging showman himself and is worth watching for that alone. Young Buffalo Bill (1940‚ on DVD and YouTube) Directed by Joseph Kane and starring Roy Rogers and George “Gabby” Hayes‚ this oater bears absolutely no resemblance to Buffalo Bill’s actual life‚ nor does it intend to. Running just under an hour‚ it is a film version of the many 19th century dime novels about Cody‚ offering the thinnest of plots and plenty of action. Buffalo Bill (1944‚ on DVD and YouTube) Directed by William Wellman and starring Joel McCrae in the title role and Maureen O’Hara as wife Louisa‚ this Western is as accurate as one can expect from a Hollywood effort. It is loosely based on an article written by Frank Winch‚ who knew Cody and created an early chronology of his life. Though it strays from that chronology‚ expect to be entertained. Annie Get Your Gun (1950‚ on DVD and Blu-ray)  This MGM musical comedy‚ directed by George Sidney with music by Irving Berlin‚ stars Betty Hutton as Annie Oakley and Howard Keel as Frank Butler. Though primarily a love story about the two performers‚ who did marry in real life‚ it is set within the context of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and presided over by Cody (played by Louis Calhern). Among the popular songs on the soundtrack is “There’s No Business Like Show Business‚” indeed a theme for Buffalo Bill’s life. Buffalo Bill and the Indians‚ or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976‚ on DVD) and Hidalgo (2004‚ on DVD and Blu-ray) According to Sandra K. Sagala’s book Buffalo Bill on the Silver Screen‚ as of 2013 more than 80 film and television productions have included Cody in some form. Most don’t even feign accuracy‚ which is fine‚ as long as they are presented as entertainment. These two films profess to include truth‚ but they are so full of falsehoods‚ I cannot recommend them.

Migrant Caravan Heads to El Paso

No‚ Hunter‚ We're Not Dropping the Tax Charges