Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff: Lived honourably, fought honourably and died honourably

Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff is now part of history for eternity as an example of courage, loyalty and honour as Commander of Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee. He was born in Bergen on 20 March 1894 but in  1898 the family settled down in Düsseldorf where they were neighbours of the family of Graf Maximilian von Spee.

Graf Maximilian von Spee became a German naval hero losing his life at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914 and Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff, inspired by the family of Graf Maximilian von Spee joined the Kiel Naval Academy in 1912.

Destiny took its course and in October 1938 Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff having been promoted to the rank of Kapitän zur See received command of the ship named after his hero Admiral Graf von Spee.

During an extremely successful naval campaign, Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff always respected the terms of the Hague Conventions and treated humanly both friends and foes, winning the respect of those who became his prisoners.

On 19 December 1939, Kapitän zur See Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff wrote his last letter explaining the reasons to take his own life:

 

"I can now only prove by my death that the fighting services of the Dritte Reich are ready to die for the honour of the flag. I alone bear the responsibility for scuttling the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee. I am happy to pay with my life for any possible reflection on the honour of the flag. I shall face my fate with firm faith in the cause and the future of the nation and of my Führer."

Kapitän zur See Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff, once the fate of his crew was decided, killed himself over the ensign of his ship as symbolic act of going down with his ship.

Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff was buried in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with full military honours, honoured by friends and foes in the battle for his honourable conduct.


Karl Gerhardt Hohenstauffen

Flooding: The clean up bill, the political cost and the human dimention

Somebody sitting comfortably somewhere on dry land might be quite oblivious to the realities depicted on television screens showing what is happening elsewhere in the country where people's houses and farming land have been flooded. If I had to compare it to another experience, I would compare it to the events of 9/11. It felt like watching a movie. I was sitting in my office writing for the British Foreign Commonwealth Office when I suddenly saw the images of one of the Twin Towers that had been hit by a plane. Soon afterwards, another Tower was hit and from then onwards things became a rollercoaster. More than 13 years later, we are still dealing with the effects of what happened on that fateful day.

When you watch television screens and see the images of flooding everywhere, if you are really into the news, you start putting things together. Family lives disrupted, rising costs of a clean up operation that will start as soon as the waters recede, replacement of items damaged, railways and roads to be rebuilt and the uncertainty for many farmers many of whom might be put out of business for good will be one piece of the puzzle. Keep an eye also on insurance costs because you will be financially affected by what is happening across the country but we are not just talking about material things. Human lives have been lost.

This is not a movie like the ones we are accustomed to see on television to keep ourselves entertained. This is harsh reality and reality very often surpasses any kind of fictional story that we could possibly produce. Given my background, I am grounded in reality, the kind of reality that stays with me 24/7. I cannot detach myself from the news.

Yes, there is going to be a political cost. No wonder then that politicians of all colours were out and about trying to show that they care about what is happening and trying to at least pretend that they have some kind of leadership when somebody else has been doing the real job of helping those affected by the floods. At the end of the day, we know that it will be up to ordinary people to try to sort out the mess, one day at a time.

EU and Greens: Saving the environment and killing people

Under the flood waters in Somerset there is farming land and homes because the Green idiots in their campaigns to supposedly save the planet are killing farming communities in the United Kingdom.

British communities are up in arms witnessing the destruction caused by European Union policies about the environment that did not allow the implementation of policies that could have mitigated the damage caused by flood waters. "Saving birds and plants is more important that saving people" is what more and more people in the United Kingdom are complaining about as they see their homes and their livelihoods go under water because the EU did not allow waterways to be dredged.

The cost for British communities is immense and comes on top of billions of Pounds paid into the coffers of the EU at a time when EU officials say that more than 120 billion Pound have gone amiss within an organisation that has not been able to produce verifiable accounts.

The EU is an unmitigated disaster and there is more to come. 

Conservative Tim Yeo MP who supports gay marriage is deselected and will not stand in 2015

When politicians believe that they can do whatever they want and that people will always support them, they might have a rude awakening and find out that this is not the case. Tim Yeo has behind him several decades in British politics. Born in Lewisham, London, he has been representing Suffolk. He pushed forward gay marriage and he promotes the EU agenda against the will of his own constituents and party members. The natural consequence was de-selection.

There are other gay marriage supporters on the spot. Nigel Evans, another high-rising star of the Conservative Party 'came out' in the House of Commons and when he did he was supported by the House of Commons as a sign of recognition of honesty about his private life. Few could imagine then that a few weeks later the man they supported was going to be arrested and put on trial having being accused of raping two men.

Here Nigel appears smiling escorted by two beautiful ladies. What a pity that Nigel does not like ladies and prefers men instead!