Author Archives

Mike

Liverpool born poet and writer Michael Walsh traces his Liverpool roots back to 1865. This was the year his Irish great-grandmother arrived in the Second City of Empire. His parents were born at the turn of what was to become the most tumultuous century in history. Michael's father, Patrick, fought in three major conflicts before reaching his fortieth birthday. His mother, Kathleen, was a former nun turned gun-running renegade.
On leaving school at 15 years of age, Michael spent 12 weeks at the Merchant Navy School for Sailors in Sharpness, Gloucestershire. During his years at sea, he was to visit and work in over 60 countries.
The journalist and broadcaster since provided articles and columns for numerous magazines and international news media. In 2011 he was awarded Writer of the Year by the publishers of Euro Weekly News, Europe's highest-circulation newspaper of its kind. He has authored, edited and ghosted over 70 book titles.

A BOMBER PILOT’S REGRET

FEBRUARY 14 marks the day when the City of Dresden and up to one million residents and refugees was in just two days fed into the Allied RAF and USAF incinerators. Inconvenient History, this internationally recognised war crime will stain the escutcheon of Britain, the United States and their sadistic air armies.

The Tsar’s Gold

One of the 20th Century’s great mysteries is what happened to Imperial Russia’s gold reserves following the Wall Street-financed coup in 1917 that overthrew the Tsarist government. This coup is known wrongly as the Russian Revolution. At the outbreak of World War One the gold reserves of Imperial Russia were by far the largest in the world. Leaving aside Russia’s priceless arts likewise looted and sent abroad the gold in Russia’s vaults weighed 1,311 tonnes. At today’s value the stolen bullion’s value is $60 billion. Gold reserves that fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks totalled considerably more at 1.101 million rubles. After signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, German bankers asked Lenin to hand over part of Russian gold. Such is the sensitivity surrounding the Russian gold reserve’s eventual destination that there is virtually no mention of its fate in the English language.

ORIGINS OF THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST GREETING

‘I made it the salute of the Party after the Duce (Benito Mussolini) had adopted it. I had read the description of the sitting of the Diet of (the city of) Worms, in the course of which Luther was greeted with the German salute. It was to show him that he was not being confronted by arms, but with peaceful intentions.

Alaaf! Carnival in Cologne

Carnival in Cologne is almost as old as the history of the city itself. But it has been celebrated in the organized fashion we know today for only about 190 years. The Greeks and the Romans celebrated joyous spring festivals in honor of Dionysus and Saturn with wine, women and song. The ancient Germans celebrated the winter solstice in order to pay homage to the gods and drive out the evil demons of winter. In later times, the Christians adopted these heathen customs. Lent, the period of fasting before Easter, was ushered in by carnival (carne vale = Farewell to meat!).