As the Germans started to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto the Jews decided to resist. They fought off he Germans for several days using small arms and petrol bombs. They hid and fought from fortified bunkers and not only cost German casualties but also show that Jewish "untermenschen" were more than equal to the "master race" that sought to subdue them. By this stage the Jews knew what awaited them at the "resettlement" camps.

Many people forget that not all the Jews went to the gas chambers like lambs to the slaughter. There were also uprisings at Treblinka and Auschwitz and a mass escape from Sobibor.

It is also the 65th anniversary of the Dambusters Raid. This was a great feat of airmanship to destroy the Ruhr dams and strike a blow at German armament production.

What people forget is the bravery of those involved. Bomber Command was the only offensive weapon that could strike at Germany for the entire war. The bomb sights used lacked accuracy for bombing such precision targets - hence the carpet bombing used for the majority of the war.

It was a feat of engineering genius to design a bomb that would bounce and destroy the dam walls. It was a feat of aeronautical genius to be able to fly at a set speed at 60 feet, while under constant anti-aircraft fire to drop the bomb in the correct place on a body of water.

In this day of "smart bombs", that can be launched miles from the target, we forget what bravery was required by these aircrews. They knew that a high percentage of them would not return from the missions that they flew day after day but they did it anyway.

After this raid 617 squadron became the elite bombing squadron for thec RAF. They went on to sink the Tirpitz and dropped some of the biggst bombs ever developed for specific single target missions. Their accuracy meant that targets could be struck with precision but also minimise casualties.

Also in History Today :

1152 : Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry Anjou. This gives the future king of England most of France. By the time her son John dies much of this will be gone.

Amongst all the usual mumbo-jumbo and political b******t we had a piece of Orwellian doublespeak. The Supreme Leader announced that the £2.7bn tax refund passed out yesterday was actually a way of stimulating the economy to ward off a "downturn" - do you remember when those were called ressessions? He had not gaved in to backbench pressure or elctoral annihalation at all.

He kept saying how the US has injected $150bn into their economy and Spain had injected Euro 10bn into their's to stimulate things. No matter how often Humphries pointed out the difference between an injection of capital and a tax refund, the Surpeme Leader would not accept any difference.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with the economy that the Supreme Leader cannot fix. We are in a great position to weather any storms but we need the help of the international community to combat rising oil and food prices. He kept on saying how he had cut our debt from £44bn in 1997 to £38bn today. Humphries pointed out that he had done this during a period of rising tax revenue and every other economy had done the same but had reduced theirs' far more.

Then it was pointed out that we were close to the Supreme Leader's self imposed limit of borrowing on 40% of GDP. In fact, following yesterday's announcement to borrow the £2.7bn, he only had £100m left. This does not include the funds that have been given for PFI (Private Finance Initiative) projects or the Northern Rock bail out - this would takle borrowing to closer to 45% if it was actually declared on the public finances.

How is it that politicians are able to whitewash everything and only accept that good things happen?

History Today :

1252 : Innocent IV authorises the use of torture against heretics in the Inquisition, via his bull "Ad existirpanda". Why he wants bulls to torture pandas I have no idea - maybe Ian or Rosamundi could enlighten me.....

1649 : Oliver Cromwell's "Rump Parliament" declares England a 'commonwealth' or free state. Millions rejoice until they realise that it does nothing to improve their lives and they still have to pay for things.

1957 : Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb over Christmas Island, following the US and USSR. Why did we and the French test these things in the Pacific - could it be that it wouldn't be very good for us if they tried these nearer to home?

Many of these sightings can be explained as being aircraft, meteors, bright stars, planets and satellites. The MOD weren't concerned as they only evaluated the sightings as to whether or not they were threats to our national defence. Some of the sightings also tie in with flights by experimental British and American aircraft - especially fast jets.

The great bonanza in Sci-fi in the 50's led to a large increase in sightings of UFOs. Hollywood were happy to jump on the bandwagon by using UFOs as an analogy for the threat posed by communist infiltration - about as great a threat in numbers as there were confirmed UFO sightings. Just look at films like Invasion of the Bodysnatchers.

A 1999 survey found that 49% of Brits believe in life on other planets and that 29% believe that aliens have already visited Earth in flying saucers. Then you get the conspiracy theorists who are convinced that there are aircraft hangars containing flying saucers used for experimental by the US and UK government. How do you keep such a conspiracy secret for so long?

During the 1970's there was also a widespread belief that UFOs were actually angels come to visit Earth to teach us. Why that would involve the use of anal probes no one was able to say..... If they were real then why did they only visit rural America or unconvincing UK residents?

Personally I believe that intelligent life is as likely to be found elsewhere as Cardiff City getting to another FA Cup Final or Birmingham City being relegated from the Premiership.......

History Today:

1796 : Dr Edward Jenner adminsters the first smallpox vaccination, using pus from cowpox. Mmmmm!!!

1948 : The imperialist, colonial aggressors (UK) mandate for palestine ends and the state of Israel is proclaimed by Jewish groups. We'd found that Israel was not the "paradise" that we though it was. We learnt that you can't appease Arabs and Jews at the same time.

1955 : The Eastern European states, under the fraternal protection of the Soviet Union, sign the Warsaw Pact military alliance in response to the US/British imperialist, colonial agressors and their lackies in NATO. No Hungarian or Czech citizens were killed as a consequence of this, until later.

The 2 cousins had set up a Jedi faith church, with around 30 members, and were being filmed having a light sabre fight. Mr Hughes, wearing a black bin liner, jumped over a wall and shouted Darth Vader several times before hitting Mr B. Jones on the back of the head and Mr M. Jones o his leg. He then ran off.

Mr Hughes was later arrested by police and told them that he was "extremely drunk" at the time and has no recollection of the incident. He had a "serious drinking" problem but has now stopped drinking and is hoping to go into a rehab programme.

There is a Jedi Church website but I can't access it from work. It's at www.jedi-church.co.uk, if you'd like to look.

History today :

1787 : The "First Fleet" sets sail to Australia. It contains the first convicts and establishes the first penal colony there. Nothing much has changed in the last 220 years - so they tell me :-)

1830 : Simon Bolivar, the "Liberator", who won independence for much of South America from Spain, dies. He has a country and a fine Cuban cigar named after him.

1943 : The Allies clear out North Africa as 250,000 German and Italian troops surrender.

I, on the other hand, spent much of the weekending watching sport. I forgot that there would be rugby and football on Sky for most of the weekend. Commiserations to my brother-in-law - you knew iot was coming though.

Today I ventured to work on the train. FW needed her car so I caught the train in. However it works about to be almost three times as expensive as the car, when you enter in the taxis from Bridgend to/from the office. It is alittle too far to walk from the station to the office. In addition the train only stops at the nearest station once every hour, this would save money if I could get there.

I would love to commute by train but today has shown that it is not very practical.

History Today:

1655 : English troops capture Jamaica from the Spanish and turn it into a hub for rum production, the slave trade and reggae music.

1926 : The General Strike, the only one in UK history, ended today. That is except for the miners - my grandad included, who decided to stay down.

1949 : Soviet forces lift the blockade of Berlin. In this time the Berlin Airlift had made 278,228 supply flights. This helped launch the career of Roy Marsden in the 70's.

Last week our wondferful ruling party took a right hammeriong in the local elections. So much so that they now control only 2 of the 22 councils in Wales - their "heartland". They'll pick up a few more as independents and the Lib-Dems combine with them to keep out the Torys.

It always used to be said that you could put up a donkey for election as the Labour party candidate and he'd be elected - a great insult to donkies everywhere I think. Now they've been proved wrong.

In response we're told that the Labour Party will now "listen" to the voters. What the **** makes them think that they can? They haven't done so for the best part of 10 years - see Iraq, 10p tax cut, detention without charge etc. This government has made Maggie Thatcher look like an amateur at upsetting swaithes of the electorate - the difference being that people voted for her.

However we should be grateful. We could live in Burma - Myanmar or whatever they're calling it these days. They have a humanitarian crisis and would rather see people die than let help come in.

Now I know that the US are not the most likely country to not interfere in a country's internal politics - see Vietnam, Grenada, Iraq etc - but not even they are that bad. As arrogant as the US can be they do have a very caring side to them as well. They'll help anyone, enemies included, who suffer from a disaster.

So the Myanmarian dictators have decided that they want the aid but no physical help from outsiders. They've even told their own people this as well. Many they're scared that everyone from an aid organisation is really a renegade ex cop, who's also a renegade ex Navy SEAL, who's also a chef!!!!! I think they need to watch less Steven Segal movies and definitely avoid Rambo 4.

Maybe they just don't understand that life is more important at this moment than their dictatorship - we can see them off later.

History Today :

1386 : England \& Portugal sign the Treaty of Windsor, the oldest alliance in Europe still in force. It helped us to fight the Napoleonic War after we were thrown out of the rest of Europe. That'll teach the French with their Entente Cordiale.

1671 : Colonel Blood, sounds like an Errol Flynn character, steals the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. Later he lost his own "jewels".

1936 : Italy annexes Ethiopia after a short, victorious campaign that involved the use of mustard gas, several hundred bowls of penne pasta, frozen pizza and Dolmio pasta sauce (a product of the Netherlands).

It seems that every time there is some sort of disagreement between him and other colleagues he always seems to take time off with stress. This seems to anger them because they have faced the same problems but just get on with it.

I've suffered from stress and can understand what he is going through. He has many problems at home, with close friends and medically. He is someone who takes everything very personally and broods on them constantly, yet he won't confront things head on. He lets things build and build until he breaks.

His doctor wants him to retire on medical grounds but he refuses to do this. I can understand this as he has no real way of filling his time outside work. His son is moving away this week and his daughter lives close but has her own family to look after, yet makes time for him when she can; he sings in a choir and is a lay preacher.

His big idea is that he will be able to do more services during his retirement and hopes to conduct more funerals. Unfortunately local churches are not booking him as often as they used to because he also has another medical condition, as yet undiagnosed, that may, or may not, be Parkinson's Disease - at present they think not.

I'm hoping that he'll follow doctor's and actually take the next 2 weeks off. They've said that they'll reassess things in 2 weeks time but that he should take yesterday as a warning. Let's hope he listens this time.

History Today:

1660 : Charles II is declared king of England by parliament, restoring the monarchy after more than a decade. Nell Gwynn was most happy with the news.

1945 : Winston Churchill announces the end of the war in Europe. All we need to do now is defeat Japan.

1948 : The state of Israel comes into being - officially it was declared on 14th May but, under the Lunar calendar, it is celebrated today. However the Arab population were not happy and started leaving in droves - others were forced out by the Israelis.

No Arabs or Jews were displaced during the writing of this entry.

He went on to say that it wasn't him I should apologise to but the woman I'd upset in the office. At this point he told me that I'd better make my own way to work and then, after I got out of the car, drove off.

On arrival at work I was amazed to find that he wasn't there, especially as he had a 10 minute head start and I had to stop for petrol. I approached the woman that I'd upset, only to be told that I'd done no such thing - she hadn't even complained.

It all comes back to the fact that I'm there to take over from him when he retires, or leaves due to illness. Normally we'd get on well but we are very alike, FW calls me Mini Him. However where we differ is that I tend to explode and then forget what had happened. My colleague is more likely to steam and resent you for a few days/weeks.

Later this morning we discovered that he'd gone to hospital because of chest pains. We've now discovered that he's ok and that it was caused by stress. He's having family problems, medical problems and is also supporting another family who have been in the news but are besieged by the press who write incorrect reports. His doctor has already told him that he should retire on medical grounds.

Like me, he is someone who doesn't like to be ill and can get agressive under stress. Like me, he won't want to stay at home and follow the doctor's advice.

History Today:

1915 : A "perfidious Hun" U Boat sinks the SS Lusitania, killing 1198 people and inflaming anti-German feeling in the US.

1945 : Nazi Germany finally surrenders unconditionally to the Allies at Rheims. Thousands of SS men and prty functionaries begin to leave for long term holidays in Argentina.

1954 : The North Vietnamese forces, the Viet Minh, defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu, effectively ending French involvement in Indochina. Next they face the American backed puppet regieme in South Vietnam - they'd have another 20 years of fighting before the war of independence ends.

On Friday we collected the nephews from school and took them out for an ice cream. The ice cream was a "prize" for Shouty Boy, who'd won a class weekly award for finishing all his work.

On Saturday we watched the last match of Pooler's season and was an occasion to celebrate our promotion to the Welsh Premiership. Unfortunately it was somewhat ruined when our winger dislocated his knee in the last minute of the match.

Sunday was very quiet as we chose to do nothing.

Monday saw us venture to the Model \& Toy Fair in Abergavenny. I bought a Western diesel and we had lunch in a nice little Italian cafe that had their "famous" iced slice. I must say that this was the best ice slice that I've tasted in years. The portion was enough for me to share with FW.

After this we visited Big Pit - The National Mining Museum ogf Wales - for the first. We were sorry that we'd left it so late in the day as there was a lot more to see than we had time for. We were also on the last trip down of the day and didn't have the complete tour - an incentive for us to go again.

I don't know what I'll do for the next 3-3.5 months as there is no rugby and the football season ends in 2 weeks. There are the 2008 European Championships, which will be extra special as England won't be there.

C'MON YOU CROATS!!!!!!!!

Today in History:

1937 : The Hindenburg explodes on arrival at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 people. Not a major disaster as things go but memorable for the photo of the airship on fire and the radio commentary.

1954 : Roger Bannister becomes the first man to run a mile in under 4 minutes. I don't think I'll ever achieve that....

1992 : The Channel Tunnel opens, linking London and Paris by rail. The French have the fast link rightto the tunnel. We finally get ours in 2007.

I love to vote. I usually rush down to the polling station to be the first person to vote - I like it that much. This year I'm waiting for FW to come home so that we can vote together - it's what married couples do - so I'm told.

This year it the local council election. I shall be voting for anyone but Labour - my assessment will be made on who is standing against them. Like many elections locally we've only heard from the Labour candidtates - standing councillors hacving sat for 20 \& 25 years each - and Peoples Voice. I think that it's time for a change.
However we have heard nothing from the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats. So, even if they are standing, I won't vote for either of them.

I think that I'll have to vote Peoples Voice. This is not good for me as they are really Labour party activists/supporters who have left the party because they didn't want a candidate imposed on them by Central Office - which is fair enough.

However they have presented no actual policies and not even knocked on the door. Maybe that's because of my webfriendship with Rosamundi - see her post from yesterday.

History Today:

1707 : The Act of Union takes effect and England and Scotland become Great Britain - the Welsh get no say - with a new Union Flag. The Scots have been bitching ever since.

2003 : President Bush announces the end of combat operations in Iraq, after 43 days. I don't know what's been happening there since.

2004 : Ten new country's join the EU, making it the world's biggest trade bloc with 455 million people. Many of these seem to have arrived in Britain since then - according to the Daily Mail.