The Postcard
A Valentine's Series postcard that was posted in Skegness using a 1d. stamp on Thursday the 3rd. October 1918. It was sent to:
Miss Beatrice Pitson,
Women's Land Army Depot,
Great Chart,
Nr. Ashford,
Kent.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"3/10/18.
'Westward Ho',
Trafalgar Avenue,
Skegness.
My Dearest Queen,
Just a P.C. to wish you
Many Happy Returns of
your birthday.
I hope this will find you
feeling better.
You have never written
to let me know if you had
the parcel safe - did you?
I wish you were here with
us.
Eddy and Betty are enjoying
themselves very much. They
send you lots of love and
kisses.
Goodbye with my fondest
love and kisses to you, and
I am ever your loving sister
Ann.
I hope you will write to me
soon."
Skegness Clock Tower
The clock tower was erected by public subscription as a tribute to Queen Victoria, with the opening ceremony taking place in August 1899.
Skegness Magazine tells us that in 1940 the clock tower sustained bomb damage, and at first it was feared that it would have to be dismantled.
However both the council surveyor and Mr. Frank Jeffries, a local jeweller who was contracted to wind the clock and keep it in good repair, felt that the clock itself was only slightly damaged.
But because the glass clock-face was shattered, the elements were affecting the mechanism, so the council ordered the surveyor to proceed with the repairs without delay.
On the 27th. January 2009, a car collided with the wall surrounding the clock tower (yes, there's now a low wall round it) and demolished part of it.
The police had to shut the roads around the clock tower and divert traffic while the fire service cut the 34 year old driver out of his maroon-coloured Fiat.
April Fools' Day
Later the same year, on the 1st. April 2009, the clock tower became the subject of a hoax in the Skegness Standard, when the newspaper claimed that it was about to be dismantled and moved to a museum.
April Fools' Day has also spawned news stories about spaghetti trees, metric time, legislated changes in the value of pi, and left-handed Whoppers. Many people buying a Whopper on the 1st. April asked for a normal one because they were right-handed.
BMW have been active in this field, with mini-wipers for exterior BMW logos, and warnings against counterfeit BMW's with the blue and white of the logo reversed.
On the 1st. April 2009, BMW announced Magnetic Tow Technology (MTT):
"This ingenious system locks on to the
car in front via a magnetic beam. Once
your BMW is attached, you are free to
release your foot from the accelerator
and turn off your engine.
The vehicle in front will then do the
pulling, with no loss of manoeuvrability.
When turning off MTT, we suggest a
courteous flick of your headlights to let
the driver in front know that you are
leaving them".
The Lost Battalion
So what else happened on the day that Ann posted the card to her sister?
Well, on the 3rd. October 1918, German forces attacked the "lost" portion of the American 77th. Infantry Division. They were dug into a hill in the Argonne Forest that they had taken the previous day.
The communications line had been cut, making it impossible to call for reinforcements or emergency supplies, and an attempt to break out left heavy casualties.
Despite heavy fire, the Americans held onto the hill.
The US Army homing pigeon Cher Ami was awarded the Croix de Guerre for getting a message from the Lost Battalion through to relief forces during the Meuse–Argonne offensive.
The Sinking of the Burutu
Also on that day, the British ocean liner Burutu collided with another vessel and sank, killing at least 170 people.
North Sea Sinkings
Also on the 3rd. October 1918, German destroyers SMS S33 and SMS S34 were both lost at the same time in the North Sea.
S34 struck a mine and sank, and S33 was torpedoed by Royal Navy submarine HMS L10 while rescuing survivors from the other ship. At least 70 sailors were lost.
The Sinking of HMS L10
Also on that day, the Royal Navy submarine HMS L10 was sunk in the Heligoland Bight by two German destroyers, with the loss of all 38 crew.
Willy Coppens
Also on the 3rd. October 1918, Belgian pilot Willy Coppens survived an attempt on his life.
German troops had loaded the basket of an observation balloon, his favorite target, with explosives, and used artillery fire on Allied units to lure him into the trap.
The Germans detonated the explosives when Coppens arrived in his Hanriot plane to attack the balloon, but he flew through the explosion, and emerged uninjured.
Siegfried Sassoon
Also on that day, British writer Siegfried Sassoon visited his mentor journalist Robbie Ross for the last time. Sassoon later wrote that:
"Ross, in saying goodbye, gave me
a presentiment of final farewell."
