Notes from my travels: Arlington National Cemetery

Part of the long drive up to the gates of the Arlington Cemetery with Arlington House, Robert E Lee's residence in the background

I had meant to visit Arlington the last time I had been in Washington, in March, but it proved to be a wet day and so I gave it a miss. Walking around there last week on a a sunny, but autumnal, day I was glad I did, as I think the afternoon light enhanced the place, at least as far as photographs are concerned.

Some of the earliest graves in the cemetery overlook the Pentagon

For people who habitually push miniature soldiers around a table it is a sober reminder of the reality of war. Nearly a third of a million graves scattered throughout beautiful woods on a hill overlooking the city with approximately 20 being added every day. Even during my short visit I heard the sombre crack of the three rifle shots echoing across the site four times. A reminder that the US is at war at present.

It is a large, but not overly so, site. Most visitors seem to avail themselves of the tour buses but, being English, I decided to walk the cemetary. This meant that I saw very few people as I explored the outer reaches of the cemetery. You can't help but be impressed by the ever changing vistas of identical gravestones which cover most of the site.

There are famous graves there, such as John F Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, who I met once in Greece, which added extra poignancy to my visit. Amongst the vast curving lines of graves I picked one at random and researched it afterwards.

James Richmond was born in Maine in 1843 and joined the 8th Ohio Voluntary Militia, while living in Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio. He was slightly wounded at Antietam, where a Confederate bullet nicked his finger.

The 8th Ohio at Gettysburg

At four o’clock in the afternoon of July 2, 1863, the 8th Ohio first went into action at Gettysburg when they descended the slope of Cemetery Ridge to counter a group of Confederate skirmishers. On July 3rd, ensconced behind a rail fence they sortied against the enemy. In action against Pickett's charge and the Virginians of Col Brockenbrough’s Brigade and Brig. Gen. James H. Lane ’s North Carolinians they counter-attacked and Private James Richmond raced ahead of his unit and took an enemy colour from the North Carolinians.

On December 1 1864 James Richmond was awarded the Medal of Honour but, sadly, it was posthumous as he had been mortally wounded at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on May 12, 1864 and died on June 3 at the age of 21.

Very many of the graves have stories like this attached to them but I was surprised to see how many were for the wives of soldiers, sailors and airmen.

During my visit there was a wreath laying by the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates which saw the pageantry of the United States military being displayed.

The ceremonial artillery fired a 21 gun salute while I was there

I also visited the US Marines memorial which adjoins Arlington Cemetery but is not part of it. This is a big and impressive monument with figures over 26 feet tall. I was brought up on a diet of WW2 movies featuring the Marines and my very first wargames featured my Airfix figures fighting it out on our rockery with the Marines having crossed the perilous expanse of our pond. Because of this I have always had an interest in them so was pleased to be able to pay my respects at this monument.

My family lost people in the Second World War; such as my Great Uncle who was killed in his Hawker Hurricane whilst trying to flip a V1 but it is a shame that we don't have a national equivalent of Arlington. Since the first Iraq war the US has gained a different perspective towards its armed forces whereas previously, post Vietnam, they had suffered from low public esteem. It would be nice to see more of this in the UK and a national site akin to Arlington would, no doubt, have helped.

All in all a beautiful, sobering and impressive place.

Notes from my travels: San Francisco Part 2

Moored immediately astern of the USS Pampanito is the Liberty Ship S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien. I first became aware of Liberty Ships through reading the Clive Cussler novel Deep Six and the good, if rather downbeat 80s thriller, The Panjang Incident by Charles Ryan. I never thought I would climb aboard one!

It's a long way up: Liberty Ships are big!

2,710 Liberty Ships were produced in the US to a British design but there are only two left which are operational and, in fact, the Jeremiah O'Brien is due to sail next weekend. the concept was to build merchant ships at a rate faster than the Germans could sink them and millions of Americans, a third of them women, worked at the eighteen shipyards that churned these out on a production line that developed many of today's welding and prefabrication techniques.

Looking aft over one of the giant cargo hatches

The Jeremiah O'Brien was built in just 56 days in Portland, Maine and was launched on June 19th, 1943.

She made four transatlantic crossings in convoy. Her fourth voyage to the UK saw her diverted to shuttle duty between Britain and Normandy where she made 11 trips supplying the Normandy beach head. She came under air attack and was targeted by both bombs and torpedoes.

The engine room. Most of the engine room scenes in the film Titanic were filmed here. When they run the ship today they only have three people in the engine room.

After this she made some further voyages to the Pacific before sailing into San Francisco in January 1946 where she was mothballed with hundreds of her sisters. Many of these ships were sold into commercial ownership (Aristotle Onassis,Stavros Niarchos and Stavros George Livanos all bought dozens of Liberty ships), scrapped or sunk as artificial reefs.

Looking forward from the stern

In 1978 it was decided to preserve a Liberty Ship in unaltered, original condition and the Jeremiah O'Brien was chosen, partly because of her excellent condition. The ship still sails several times a year and in 1994 sailed to Normandy to take part in the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day celebrations; the only vessel to have been at Normandy in 1944 and for the celebrations fifty years later.

The four inch gun at the stern

A Liberty ship would have had a civilian crew of 43 plus US Navy personnel to man the defensive armament. Today they can sail her with a crew of just 12.

The Navy gunners' quarters

Most of the Liberty ships were named after prominent Americans. Captain Jeremiah O’Brien (1744–1818), from Maine, was in command of the privateer Unity when she captured HMS Margaretta during the American War of Independence; the first time a British ship struck its colours to an American one.

Also on board is a rather good diorama presented to the ship by the French.  It is of a Liberty ship supplying a Normandy beachhead. My little boy would have wanted to take the case off and start playing!

All in all an excellent attraction and a demonstration of how the Americans are much better at preserving their maritime history than we are.

Fresh fruit tomorrow, I think

Well, tomorrow is my last day in San Francisco as I fly to Phoenix, Arizona tomorrow. I had a huge breakfast at the Fairmont today so didn't need lunch. Today's beer was the very fruity Sierra Nevada Pale Ale which I have had bottled in the UK but this was on tap and much better. Probably the best beer I have had so far.

I have also been working my way through a bottle of Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2007 as I worked today (yes, I actually had to do some work!). A very cherry almost Beaujolais appearance and I suspect it could do with another couple of years in bottle. A blend rather than a single estate wine. Lots of cherry and raspberry in the taste too. Very nice!

Notes from my Travels: San Francisco Part 1

San Francisco from the Coit Tower

So far, all the cities I have stayed in on this trip I know very well but last night I arrived in San Francisco, a city I had never visited before. I arrived from Vancouver quite late last night so after I had checked into my flea pit hotel I went straight to bed.

A nice understated little lobby

In fact my hotel, The Fairmont, used to stand in for the fictional St Gregory hotel in one of my favourite eighties trash TV series, Arthur Hailey's Hotel. This hasn't been on DVD until now but I noticed from an advertisement in the bar menu that it has now, at last, come out on DVD. You can buy it from room service! Excellent!

Cue brilliant Henry Mancini theme music! I have it on my iPod!

They have also devised a cocktail to celebrate the release of the series but I haven't tried it yet! In fact so far I have confined myself to the local Anchor Steam Beer; a very fine fruity but hoppy ale which is a very superior product indeed.

Healthy, healthy!

I had breakfast down the road at the Omni hotel where my friend was staying as she couldn't get a room at the Fairmont as it was fully booked. I had a very good breakfast there including the best sausages and the best tea I have had so far in North America. Have to see what the Fairmont can come up with tomorrow.

The Coit Tower. Getting up the tower is easy in the lift. Getting up the hill to the tower is something else!

Anyway, we set off for what turned out to be an epic walk down to Fisherman's Wharf and back. Took a boat trip and climbed up the Coit Tower for some great views of the city. Of course I knew, intellectually, that San Francisco is a hilly city; I've seen Bullitt. I hadn't quite appreciated how steep some of the gradients were! No wonder they use cable cars!

USS Pampanito

They have a number of historic ships on display down at Fisherman's Wharf but I was delighted to find two WW2 relics there.

Firstly, the submarine USS Pampanito (it's a sort of fish) which was launched in July 1943 and undertook six combat cruises before the war ended. She is displaying the broom on her conning tower that indicates a "clean sweep": a completely successful mission of sweeping the enemy from the seas.

The forward torpedo room. The tubes are 21" in diameter which gives you an idea of how cramped the space is

I have been on submarines before but only modern ones. This one felt tiny. The beam is 26 feet but that includes the saddle tanks. I would guess the internal width was no more than 10 or 12 feet.

Some of the bunks. Two on one side of the corridor one on the other side. Cozy!

There were only about eight of us on board but I was starting to feel claustrophobic after five minutes. During the war this sub had a complement of 10 officers and 70 men. It doesn't bear thinking about. Interestingly, there were a couple of current US Navy submarine trainee officers on board and whilst they said that the modern boats were much bigger they reckoned that the Pamponito had far more headroom. Gulp! They were both pretty short; about 5'8" I'd guess.

311 feet long

My friend gives some idea of how narrow the boat is

The hatch openings are about three feet high

Of all the things you can do in the armed services the most terryifying has got to be submarine crew member. All credit to those who served (and serve) in these dreadful machines!

Notes from my Travels: Sleeman Honey Brown lager

A Sleeman and a light snack to keep me going! Chateau Laurier Hotel, Ottawa

I was chatting away to a chap at a reception in Toronto this week and he turned out to be John Sleeman, founder (sort of ) of Sleeman's brewery, now the third biggest in Canada. In fact, Sleeman was founded by John H Sleeman in 1836 but in the 1930s his son George Sleeman was caught smuggling beer into prohibition America and lost his business as he had to sell up to pay the American taxes. In 1955 the company became inactive. Then, in 1984, John Sleeman, who had lived in England and enjoyed the pub culture, learnt from his aunt that the family had been brewers in the past, something he was previously unaware of. His aunt presented him with the original book of Sleeman brewing recipes, they decided to revive the family business and in 1988 his new brewery was up and running. Over the next two decades Sleeman acquired some other breweries until, last year, he sold the businees to Japan's Sapporo for $440 million.

Sleeman Cream Ale was one of the original beers formulated in 1898 and sold in a clear glass bottle. Using his aunt's recipe book John Sleeman recreated Cream Ale in 1988, also in a clear bottle. Most of the current Sleeman beers are sold in clear bottles to this day. I tend to drink two whilst in Canada: Honey Brown Lager and Cream Ale itself. Honey brown is darkish with a good two finger head. Mostly malty in taste with a bit of hops and a sweet caramel taste it's certainly not a sophisticated beer but much better than having to drink Labatts or Molson! There is a feeling that the clear bottle makes it fragile and prone to bad bottle syndrome. Many of the Sleeman beers have a sort of metallic taste to them but I don't think this is as pronounced with the Honey Brown. A good stomach liner before a proper drink.

So, the beer is a sort of 6/10 but John Sleeman himself is a 9/10 chap!

Notes from my travels: Boréale Rousse

The choice for beer in Montreal is always between la blonde and la rousse. Personally, I have always enjoyed the Canadian Red beers: Rickards being a favourite. The Inter-Continental in Montreal stocked Boréale Rousse.

Boréale Rousse is one of six beers produced by a Quebec company, Les Brasseurs du Nord, which was set up in 1987 by three students who paid their way through university by selling beer. The company has expended hugely since then and now employs over 100 people; to the extent that you can’t really consider them a micro-brewery any more. They only sell their beer in the Province of Quebec.

Boréale Rousse is a coppery looking beer with a medium head. It tastes of caramel, nuts and malt but doesn’t really have a strong flavour of hops. It’s quite light for a Canadian red beer. Some people have commented that the more they sell the less distinctive it has become. Nevertheless we enjoyed a good few glasses before moving on to Absinthe!

On the road again..

Danger! Danger!

Having got back from Warsaw on Thursday I set off for Montreal on Friday. This is the start of an eight city North American tour. This has really put paid to my painting, which is a shame as I was just getting back into it after a few fallow weeks. Don't think there is much to see on the military front for the first week as I will be too busy, but you never know what will turn up.

One good thing; the hotel I am staying with has an Absinthe bar and I have just met up with an old girlfriend...and everyone knows that Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder...

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