History Of Yesterday: June 17
LUFTWAFFE SINK BRITISH SHIP RMS LANCASTRIA
June 17, 1940
On this day in 1940, just two weeks after the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk, what has considered the worst maritime tragedy in the history of the United Kingdom occurred. Departure from the port of St. Nazaire, France, Luftwaffe planes bombed a 176-meter British troopship RMS Lancastria, carrying an estimated more than 8,000-9,000 British refugees fleeing France and Belgium to escape Nazi occupation of such countries. One of the bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe entered the ship’s smokestack and exploded in the ship’s engine room, causing it to sink rapidly within 20 minutes. At the speed of events, many of the civilian passengers and some British soldiers who were otherwise trapped inside the ship were unable to board the lifeboats. The ship capsized quickly, while those left swimming in the sea died in the cold of the sea or were poisoned by the oil spill.
As many as 2,227 people from the ship were left alive when rescued by responding ships, but it is believed that as many as 6,000 people died in the sinking of Lancastria.
Despite the sheer number of casualties, the German attack on Lancastria was kept from the public, so as not to affect the morale of the British who faced the threat of Nazi occupation in what he considered the “darkest period”. This is why it was hardly mentioned throughout the war, let alone the forced silencing of the British who survived the sinking of Lancastria.
The wreckage of Lancastria, found in the ocean covered by northern France, is considered a war grave.
Reference:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lancastria
THE LAST PUBLIC REST IN FRANCE USING THE GUILLOTINE
June 17, 1939
Nearly three months before World War II broke out, France witnessed what is considered the final execution of a convicted criminal in public using a guillotine. The last victim - Eugen Weidmann of Germany. On this day in 1939, in front of a crowd outside the Saint-Pierre jail just parallel to Rue de Clemenceau in Versailles, 31-year-old Weidmann was quickly beheaded by guillotine lasting just 15 seconds. Prior to the beheading, police banned spectators from photographing or videoing the execution. But what they didn't know, a video footage of Weidmann's beheading was secretly taken by a spectator from the high window of an apartment just behind the place where Weidmann was beheaded. Weidmann was buried in an unspecified grave.
President Albert Lebrun has since ordered the execution of executions in France by guillotine privately, and in September 1977 when the latest beheading was carried out in France, Tunisian Hamida Djandoubi was sentenced to death.
A native of Frankfurt, Germany, Eugen Weidmann was previously imprisoned on theft charges. From Germany, he emigrated to France to kidnap prominent people there to extort money. But he was charged in France with killing a woman and three men and robbing them of their money.
He resisted when authorities arrested him, so he sustained a wound to his head. The media and press focused on the trial of Weidmann in Versailles, who was charged with murder and theft. He was convicted and sentenced to death by guillotine.
Reference:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Weidmann
RAFAEL DEL PAN WAS BORN
June 17, 1863
If you are from Manila, you may wonder who the Del Pan Bridge in Tondo, Manila has named after. Today is the 158th birthday of the man named on that bridge, Rafael del Pan, a lawyer and supporter of the Filipino reformist. He was born on this day in 1863 in Intramuros, Manila. He is a mestizo Spanish son of Don Jose Felipe del Pan who is a Spaniard and Amalia Garcia Fontela who is a Filipina.
Del Pan was sent to Spain to study, but also returned to the Philippines to continue his studies at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, then attended the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and then took a law course at the University of Santo Tomas. . However, he stopped at the university to continue his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid and graduated there in 1886.
Del Pan returned to Manila and served as a judge and prosecutor, became the solicitor general of our country, and became deputy of the Junta del Gobierno. He succeeded his father as Editor -in -Chief of the newspaper La Oceana Española, and it was here that his sympathy for the Filipinos' struggle for reform in the colonial government grew. He supported the demand for representation in the Cortes of Spain, and he condemned the deportation of Jose Rizal to Dapitan. Del Pan fled to Europe when he was suspected of supporting the revolutionaries. There he was elected President of the revolutionary junta of Filipino students in 1898 and was among those who campaigned to liberate the Philippines from Spanish occupation, and by the United States.
He also translated works by Florante and Laura, and an English version of Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios, which won the sympathy of American Congressman Henry Cooper who authored the Cooper Bill. Del Pan obtained his law license and joined the petitions against the annexation of the Philippines to the United States.
After obtaining his law license, he joined the petitions against the annexation of the Philippines to the United States. He also served as President of the Colegio de Abugados de Filipinas, and served as a legal consultant in the government's purchase of lands formerly owned by the friars, even though his health was deteriorating.
Del Pan died at the age of 51 on May 12, 1915, and was buried in Manila North Cemetery.
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GENERAL MANUEL TINIO WAS BORN
June 17, 1877
Today is the 144th birthday of Manuel Tinio y Bundoc, considered the youngest Filipino general of the Filipino revolution and the Filipino-American War. He was born on this day in 1877 in the town of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, and the eldest of three children of Mariano Tinio and Silveria Bundoc.
Manuel was orphaned early at the age of 12, however, he continued his education when he moved to Manila. He entered San Juan de Letran as a high school student. Manuel is a known critic but potential and charismatic student, and once had a fight with a Guardia Civil in Intramuros. April 1896 when he joined the Katipunan and led the Katipunero children in Nueva Ecija.
He was among those who led the First Cry in Nueva Ecija on September 2, 1896. From Nueva Ecija, he led successful uprisings against the Spaniards using guerrilla tactics, until he was enlisted in General Emilio's army. Aguinaldo. At the age of 20, he rose to the rank of brigadier general in November 1897, the youngest to become a general of the revolutionary army. He joined the successful surrender of the Spaniards in Dagupan, Pangasinan, and Vigan, Ilocos Sur in July and August 1898. He also fought against the American occupation, but later surrendered to them on May 9, 1901, after two years of fighting using guerrilla tactics.
After living privately after the war, Tinio was elected Governor of Nueva Ecija from 1907 to 1909 and served as Director of the Bureau of Lands from 1913 to 1914.
Manuel Tinio died at the age of 46 on February 24, 1924.
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