7 DECEMBER

DAY AND NIGHT CURFEW IMPOSED IN NICOSIA [ 13 June 1958 ] On 13 June 1958, during an insurgency against British rule in Cyprus which had also exacerbated tensions between the Greek and Turkish communities, Major General Douglas Kendrew decided to order a day and night curfew on the entire population of Nicosia ‘until further…

RAF BOMBING RAIDS AGAINST FLOCKS OF GRAZING SHEEP [ 8 January 1925 ] On 8 January 1925, RAF headquarters in Baghdad, ordered No 30 Squadron RAF to bomb and machine gun the grazing sheep flocks of the nomadic Jaff who inhabited the Kurdish areas of Iraq and Iran. Please feel welcome to post comments below. …

BRITISH REIGN OF TERROR AT BENARES 4 June 1857 – Colonel James Neill, imposes a reign of terror at Benares after crushing the mutinous Indian soldiers of the 37th Native infantry. He armed civilians so that they could form “volunteer hanging parties”, and so pacify the city with summary and indiscriminate hangings, who’s victims even…

THATCHER ADMONISHED FOR COLLUDING WITH APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA [ 16 August 1985 ] On this day in 1985, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston reprimanded British prime minister Margaret Thatcher for propping up apartheid in South Africa. “If you persist in blocking sanctions in the EEC, the Commonwealth and the UN,” he wrote, “Britain will assume the role…

BRITISH TROOPS MASSACRE HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS IN MULTAN [ 2 January 1849 ] Today in 1849, British soldiers, under the command of Brigadier-General the Honourable Henry Dundas, raped, pillaged and murdered hundreds of civilians, after fighting their way into the city of Multan, located in what is today the province of Punjab of Pakistan. MONTY…

BRITISH SLAVE SHIP THROWS ITS CARGO OVERBOARD AND CLAIMS ON ITS INSURERS [ 29 November 1781 ] On this day in 1781, Captain Luke Collingwood, commanding the British slave ship Zong headed for Jamaica, ordered his crew to murder one third of his cargo of African slaves by throwing them overboard. He had earlier gambled…