THE BULLYTIN Official News Letter of Field Marshal Shellhole JUNE 2017 Dear Readers, This will be my last “GO” at “the Bullytin” as duty calls elsewhere for now, thank you to those who took the time to read it. To all who provided articles and photographs your contributions were always greatly appreciated. Best wishes to you all Yours Aye – The Editor Moth Johnny Demetroudes. Australia's First National Boer War Memorial in Canberra 1 The 31st May is the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging that ended the South African War in 1902. In 2017, 115 years from the day peace was concluded, the completed Australian National Boer War Memorial will be dedicated in ANZAC Parade Canberra. – Article supplied by Moth Renaud Booysen – Gorgeous Wrecks Shellhole. http://www.bwm.org.au/site/Boer_War_Day2017.php 2 Somme sketches: British soldier’s beautiful pencil drawings detailing life on the Western Front revealed in stunning artwork - By Rachael Burford For Mailonline Lieutenant Morris Meredith Williams filled 15 sketch books while serving on the Western Front during WW1 He drew at every opportunity and there are some shocking sights, including a body caught in barbed wire His drawings are included in book An Artist's War along with letters Lt Williams sent to his wife Alice Williams Lt Williams served in the 17th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment in France from 1916 until the end of the war A Tommy's drawings showing life on the front line during the First World War are set to be published for the first time. Lieutenant Morris Meredith Williams was a talented artist and filled 15 pocket-sized sketch books while serving on the Western Front. The drawings, along with letters Lt Williams sent to his wife Alice Williams, are now compiled in the book An Artist's War. Lieutenant Morris Meredith Williams drawings which show life on the front line during the First World War are set to be published for the first time 3 There are drawings of men carrying timber, digging ditches for cables and drainage and many of soldiers in trenches, patrolling, sitting, sleeping, repairing and using a periscope to see over the top. Pictured: Soldiers burying bodies Lt Williams carried a pad and pencils wherever he went and drew at every opportunity. He was often in a hurry or interrupted by a German attack, but still managed to record scenes in detail. He recorded some shocking sights including, a body caught in barbed wire, another outside a collapsed dugout, a detached skull still wearing a helmet, men digging graves and the decomposing body of a horse. His drawings show how men slept in the open air under mackintosh sheet while marching from one area to another. Farm buildings became temporary encampments with stores, shoemaking workshops and mobile kitchens known as cook carts. The drawings even illustrate the communication trenches and tunnels dug through the basements of civilian houses, which provided convenient, ready-made dugouts. 4 Lt Williams carried a pad and pencils wherever he went and drew at every opportunity. He was often in a hurry or interrupted by a German attack, but still managed to record scenes in detail. Pictured: Destroyed railway trucks 5 At the outbreak of the war, Lt Williams was initially rejected from the army for being too short (he was below 5ft 3in) but as the conflict progressed the rules were changed and he began training. Pictured: Solider on the move with horses and cart There are drawings of men carrying timber, digging ditches for cables and drainage and many of soldiers in trenches, patrolling, sitting, sleeping, repairing and using a periscope to see over the top. He sketched landscapes of shattered trees and buildings, roads pitted with one water- filled hole after another with men on foot and horseback and lorries and mule-drawn carts making their way along them. Lt Williams and his sketchbooks survived the war. His work was later left to relative Phyllida Shaw, who has now published the pictures 100 years after they were originally produced. Lt Williams was married to a sculptor, Alice. They met in Paris when they were both studying art and married in Devon in 1905. He recorded some shocking sights including, a body caught in barbed wire, another outside a collapsed dugout, a detached skull still wearing a helmet and men digging graves 6 They moved to Edinburgh in 1906, where Lt Williams had found a part-time job as a drawing teacher at Fettes College, Edinburgh. At the outbreak of the war, he was initially rejected from the army for being too short (he was below 5ft 3in) but as the conflict progressed the rules were changed and he began training. He served in the 17th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment in France from 1916 until the end of the war. Lt Williams spent 10 months in and out of the trenches of the Western Front near Loos, Arras and the Somme, later mapping enemy positions from aerial reconnaissance shots. In 1918 he joined the Royal Engineers' camouflage unit at Wimereux where the more tranquil surroundings permitted him more time to spend on his paintings. 7 Lt Williams and his sketchbooks survived the war. His work was later left to relative Phyllida Shaw, who has now published the pictures 100 years after they were originally produced. Pictured left: A shoemaker. Pictured right: A soldier patrolling After the war ended he was one of just a handful of artists kept back to do paintings for the official record. He toured the shattered landscape in an old ambulance car. Lt Williams and his wife received commissions for public and private memorials in stained glass, wood, stone and bronze, including pieces for the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle. His letters are full of evocative descriptions of the devastation of war. In one harrowing passage he describes looking up from a trench to see the facade of a building, only to realise the rest of it had been blown away. The letters are all in pencil, so that words could be rubbed out by the censor if necessary. He wrote: 'I do long for paints to do some of the things one sees, they are so tremendously impressive. Lt Williams spent 10 months in and out of the trenches of the Western Front near Loos, Arras and the Somme, later mapping enemy positions from aerial reconnaissance shots. Pictured: Soldiers in a bivouac shelter 8 To read more and view more of these remarkable sketches click on the link below: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4367810/British-soldier-s-drawings- life-Western-Front.html 9 The daring US wiretapping operation carried out 400 feet underwater that helped steal Soviet secrets and end the Cold War - Operation Ivy Bells was launched by the US in 1972 but details remain classified - The daring wiretapping operation was conducted 400 feet underwater in the Sea of Okhotsk off Russia's east coast - It allowed the US to uncover a goldmine of intelligence from the Soviet Union - The wiretapping idea is believed to have shifted the Cold War in favor of the US - America was able to receive Soviet intelligence for a decade until a former NSA employee leaked details of the operation for $35,000 in 1980 - A former US Navy diver said he believes the old-fashioned surveillance methods could still be happening today It was the daring wiretapping operation conducted 400 feet underwater that helped the US uncover a goldmine of intelligence from the Soviet Union. More than 40 years on, details of the surveillance mission Operation Ivy Bells, which launched back in 1972, still remains classified. But one thing that is clear is that the information the US uncovered proved to be invaluable and helped lead to the end of the Cold War, according to investigative journalist Sherry Sontag who spent years interviewing the men responsible for the wiretapping for her book Blind Man's Bluff. The US had spent a decade riskily wiretapping the Soviet communication line at the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk, just off Russia's eastern coast. Operation Ivy Bells was the daring wiretapping operation conducted 400 feet underwater that helped the US uncover a goldmine of intelligence from the Soviet Union during the Cold War 10 'We didn't know... how much we were frightening (the Soviets)... until we listened to these tapes,' Sontag said, according to Popular Mechanics. 'Very quickly, we pulled back from the brink. And this had a lot to do with it.... I think finding this information turned out to be the thing that let the Cold War end.' The wiretapping idea is believed to have shifted the Cold War in favor of the US. Former US Navy diver W. Craig Reed, who carried out secret Cold War missions, said the old-fashioned surveillance method may still be happening today. 'Submarines absolutely still have the capability to do these kind of missions and there are personnel that are still trained on how to do these missions,' he said. 'Whether or not those missions are still underway, that would be considered classified.' Captain James Bradley devised the mission that tapped the un-encrypted telephone line connecting Petropavlovsk's submarine base to mainland Russia. The US had spent a decade riskily wiretapping the Soviet communication line at the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk by sending in nuclear submarine Halibut in 1972 11 He sent the US nuclear submarine Halibut just miles from the Russian coast in 1972 where navy divers were able to walk along the ocean floor and wiretap the communications line.