Boy, 14, records heartbreaking goodbye message before jumping to his death

unhappy with the colour of her hair’ Bankers in shock as man plunges to death from JP Morgan skyscraper Tweet Share this Print Email 0Comments Add Your Comment Your Name: Comment: 1000 characters remaining Post Comment Most Read Stories Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho thrilled to see Arsene Wenger remain at Arsenal 1

View the Original article

Britain was ready for war a week before Germany invaded Poland

A staged photograph of George VI, whose real name was Albert, announcing the declaration of war to the nation in September 1939 Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS By Hayley Dixon

7:18AM GMT 25 Nov 2013

Follow

An early draft of the King's Speech reveals Britain was ready to declare war on Germany a week before Hitler invaded Poland.

The draft of the King George VI first wartime radio broadcast, which has come to light for the first time 74 years after it was written, is dated August 25, 1939 – seven days before Germany crossed the border into Poland

The speech – depicted in the 2010 movie The King's Speech starring Colin Firth as the stammering monarch – opened with the line “In this grave hour, perhaps the gravest in our history ...”

The three page document, entitled 'Draft King's Speech', accused Germany of being a bully that wanted to dominate the world by brute force, stressing that “we are fighting for the principles of freedom and justice.”

The typed document is an edited version of the first draft which had been written by civil servant Harold Vale Rhodes.

Related Articles

The King's Speech: the real story

05 Jan 2011

George and Lionel's private thoughts

08 Jan 2011

King's Speech and elocution lessons

19 Jan 2012

He kept held of the copy of his amended speech and in a pencilled note in the left hand margin criticised the length of some of the sentences, hinting that his copy should be used.

It would appear his advice was followed as the final speech read out live to the nation and the Commonwealth by the King on September 3 contained short, concise sentences.

Although the tone remained the same, some of the content was significantly different as the draft did not mention Germany or Hitler by name but merely “our enemies.”

The intermediate, rejected draft was acquired by the unnamed owner in a load of paperwork from Mr Rhodes' estate following his death in 1970.

It has now been put up for sale at auction with a pre-sale estimate of £4,000.

Hindsight tells us that Britain had been expecting war with Germany since Hitler broke various conditions of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, such as the rebuilding the armed forces in 1935.

In 1938 he annexed Austria into Nazi Germany and invaded Czechoslovakia.

But it was after Hitler invaded Poland that Britain officially declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939.

In the Oscar winning film, Colin Firth's royal character was given little time to prepare for his defining address to the nation but in reality it appears the speech was being readied over a week beforehand.

Dr Gabriel Heaton, of auctioneers Sotheby's which is selling the speech, said: "This is a fascinating document for a number of reasons.

"It brings to life not just the speech but a pivotal moment in British history.

"It was written before Poland had been invaded but at a time when it was clear we were moving towards war with Germany.

"It shows that something was being prepared days in advance of the declaration of war so that the monarch had a speech ready in order to speak to the nation and the Commonwealth.

"You get a sense of the preparations for the speech and the struggle to find the right words to prepare the nation for the terrible fight that lay ahead.

"There would have been a group of people writing this speech and Rhodes was one of them.

"He had provided a first draft and was sent this revised version. His note in the margin is saying that his original is better than this one and that the wording should be shorter.

"The final version was a lot clearer. The sentences were shorter and the structure was simpler and that is what you want for public speaking, especially when the speaker has a speech impediment."

Nigel Steel, a historian at the Imperial War Museum, said: "When it happened, war wasn't out of the blue.

"There had been a number of political crises involving Germany going on for over a year before.

"The idea that this speech was prepared in advance of war is not a huge surprise, especially as the King had difficulties in delivering speeches."

The auction takes place at Sotheby's in London on December 10.

 Britain at WarNews »The Royal Family »UK News »World War Two »Hayley Dixon »

In Britain at War

View the Original article

Anxiang Du trial: Businessman says "darkness" came over him before 'stabbing to death family of four', court hears

Murdered: Jifeng Ding with his wife Helen and daughters Xing and AlicePA

A man accused of murdering a family of four told a psychiatrist that "darkness" came over him as he carried out the brutal stabbings, a court has heard.

Anxiang Du, 54, is accused of knifing Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer Jifeng "Jeff" Ding, his wife Ge "Helen" Chui, and their two daughters, Xing "Nancy", 18, and Alice, 12, on April 29, 2011.

During his trial at Northampton Crown Court, which began last week, a jury of eight women and four men has heard that he allegedly carried out the stabbings following a long-running legal dispute after a business relationship turned sour.

After the killings at the family's home in Wootton, Northamptonshire, Du, who denies four counts of murder, fled to Morocco where he was eventually arrested and extradited back to the UK, the court has heard.

Today Professor Nigel Eastman, a forensic psychiatrist, told jurors he interviewed Du in prison in August last year after he was brought back to the UK to face four charges of murder.

View the Original article

Solicitor found dead while out jogging 'could have stabbed himself then disposed of weapon before dying'

Mystery: Peter Maine who died from three stab wounds while out joggingNewcastle Chronicle

A solicitor found stabbed to death could have killed himself but disposed of the weapon before he died, police said today.

56-year-old Peter Maine was discovered on a path close to Maiden Castle Sports Centre, near Durham by a passing cyclist in September.

And today detectives probing his death said they were looking at the possibility he could have killed himself.

Police said they haven’t ruled out any line of inquiry and an investigation is still on going to determine whether Mr Maine was a victim of

View the Original article

Female serial killer admits murdering three men before dumping their bodies in ditches

By Alice Philipson

9:00PM GMT 18 Nov 2013

Follow

A female serial killer has pleaded guilty to murdering three men before dumping their bodies in ditches.

Joanna Dennehy stabbed her landlord Kevin Lee, 48, and housemates Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, and John Chapman, 56, within days of each other.

The body of Mr Lee, who was a married father, was found stabbed to death in a roadside ditch in March. Four days later, a farmer found the corpses of the two other men in a remote dyke five miles away.

A post mortem found Mr Slaboszewski, who was unemployed, had been stabbed in the heart.

Dennehy, 30, from Peterborough, appeared in the dock in a white shirt with a star tattooed under her right eye. She stood alongside her boyfriend Gary Richards, who is 7ft 3in tall, and also known as Gary Stretch.

Related Articles

Are you more shocked by female killers? Don't be such a hypocrite

19 Nov 2013

Multimillionaire couple told to pay

View the Original article