5 JULY

NEWSPAPER DISMISSES DANGERS OF TREADMILL, BLAMING IDLE, SULKY SLAVES [ 12 October 1823 ] On 12 October 1823, the English newspaper John Bull, disparaged the concern expressed in a letter from the British colony of Trinidad over a slave called Moses who had broken his leg while being punished on a treadmill. MASS EXECUTIONS TO…

BRITISH TROOPS RANSACK THE CRIMEAN PORT OF BALAKLAVA [ 26 September 1854 ] On this day in 1854, the British army ransacked the small Crimean port of Balaclava.  Professor Saul David comments that when they arrived they found “the port was largely deserted.: most of its 1500 inhabitants had already fled… leaving their homes to…

ROUTINE USE OF TORTURE IN ULSTER EXPOSED [ 17 October 1971 ] On this day in 1971, The Sunday Times published a front page article entitled “How Ulster Internees are Made to Talk,” in which former detainee Pat Shivers recounted how, over a period of several days, he was hooded and forced into agonizing stress…

THE ANCIENT CITY OF BENIN LOOTED AND BURNED. [ 18 February 1897 ] On 18 February 1897, a punitive expedition of 1,200 Royal Marines, bluejackets and African troops, under the command of Rear Admiral Harry Rawson seized the ancient city of Benin. INDIAN SAILORS “LOOSE CONTROL OF THEIR SENSES” IN ANTI-BRITISH MUTINY [ 18 February…

MILITARY COURTS ALLOWED TO ORDER THE FLOGGING OF CHILDREN [ 17 February 1939 ] On 17 February 1939, the British run mandate government in Palestine introduced a law allowing military courts to order the whipping of children ‘with a light rod or cane or birch,’ of up to twenty four strokes. CALLAGHAN – ‘I WON’T…

BRITISH TROOPS BURN THE MALAYAN VILLAGE OF KACHAU [ 2 November 1948 ] On 2 November 1948, British troops and colonial police burned down the village of Kachau in the Malayan state of Selangor. The four hundred inhabitants were given two hours to collect their belongings.  UN VOTES 64 TO 5 IN CALL FOR BRITAIN…