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Third Anglo-Afghan War

The Third Anglo-Afghan War began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan invaded British India and ended with an armistice on 8 August 1919. The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 resulted in the Afghans gaining control of foreign affairs from Britain and the British recognizing the Durand Line as the border between Afghanistan and British India.

Background
The root cause of the Third Anglo-Afghan War took hold long before fighting commenced. For the British in India, Afghanistan was seen as a threat. The British worried about Russian intentions, concerned that an invasion of India could be launched by Tsarist forces through Afghanistan. This period became known as the Great Game. In an effort to negate this threat, the British made numerous attempts at imposing their will upon Kabul, and over the course of the 19th century fought two wars: the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842) and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880).

The end of the Second Afghan War in 1880, marked the beginning of almost 40 years of good relations between Britain and Afghanistan, under the leadership of Abdur Rahman Khan and Habibullah Khan, during which time the British attempted to manage Afghan foreign policy through the payment of a large subsidy. While the country ostensibly remained independent, under the Treaty of Gandamak (1879) it accepted that in external matters it would "...have no windows looking on the outside world, except towards India".

In 1901, the death of Emir Abdur Rahman Khan led indirectly to the war that began 18 years later. His successor, Habibullah, was a pragmatic leader who sided with Britain or Russia depending on Afghan interests. Despite considerable resentment over not being consulted on the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 (Convention of St. Petersburg), Afghanistan remained neutral during the First World War (1914–1918), resisting considerable pressure from the Ottoman Empire, which entered the conflict on the side of the Central Powers; the Ottoman Sultan (as titular leader of Islam) called for a holy war against the Allies.

Despite remaining neutral in the conflict, Habibullah did in fact accept a Turkish-German mission in Kabul and military assistance from the Central Powers as he attempted to play both sides of the conflict for the best deal. Through continual prevarication, he resisted numerous requests for assistance from the Central Powers, but failed to keep in check troublesome tribal leaders, intent on undermining British rule in India, as Turkish agents attempted to foment trouble along the frontier. The departure of a large part of the British Indian Army to fight overseas and news of British defeats at the hands of the Turks aided Turkish agents in efforts at sedition, and in 1915 there was unrest amongst the Mohmands and then the Mahsuds. Notwithstanding these outbreaks, the frontier generally remained settled at a time when Britain could ill afford trouble.

A Turko-German mission left Kabul in 1916. By that time, however, it had successfully convinced Habibullah that Afghanistan was an independent nation and that it should be beholden to no one. With the end of the First World War, Habibullah sought to obtain rewards from the British government for his assistance during the war. Looking for British recognition of Afghanistan's independence in foreign affairs, he demanded a seat at the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919. This request was denied by the Viceroy, Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, on the grounds that attendance at the conference was confined to the belligerents. Further negotiations were scheduled, but before they could begin Habibullah was assassinated on 19 February 1919.

This resulted in a power struggle as Habibullah's brother Nasrullah Khan proclaimed himself as Habibullah's successor, while in Kabul, Amanullah, Habibullah's third son (from his second wife) had also proclaimed himself Amir. The Afghan army suspected Amanullah's complicity in the death of his father. Needing a way of cementing his power, upon seizing the throne in April 1919, Amanullah posed as a supporter of democratic ideals, promising governmental reforms. He stated that there should be no forced labour, tyranny, or oppression, and that Afghanistan should be free and independent and no longer bound by the Treaty of Gandamak.

Amanullah had his uncle Nasrullah arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for Habibullah's murder. Nasrullah had been the leader of a more conservative element in Afghanistan, and his treatment rendered Amanullah's position as Amir somewhat tenuous. By April 1919, Amanullah realised that if he could not find a way to placate the conservatives, he would be unlikely to maintain his hold on power. Looking for a diversion from the internal strife in the Afghan court and sensing advantage in the rising civil unrest in India following the Amritsar massacre, Amanullah decided to invade British India.

Opposing forces
In 1919, the Afghan regular army was not a very formidable force, and was only able to muster some 50,000 men. These men were organised into 21 cavalry regiments and 75 infantry battalions, with about 280 modern artillery pieces, organised into 70 batteries, in support. In addition to this, however, in a boost to the army's strength, the Afghan command could call upon the loyalty of up to 80,000 frontier tribesmen and an indeterminate number of deserters from local militia units under British command. In reality, the Afghan regular army was not ready for war. As in past years, the upper levels of the officer corps were riddled with political intrigue. In his book on the campaign, Lieutenant-General George Molesworth gave the following evaluation of the Amir's army:

Afghan regular units...were ill-trained, ill-paid, and probably under strength. The cavalry was little better than indifferent infantry mounted on equally indifferent ponies. Rifles varied between modern German, Turkish and British types, to obsolete Martinis and Snyders. Few infantry units had bayonets. Artillery was ponydrawn, or pack, and included modern 10 cm Krupp howitzers, 75 mm Krupp mountain guns and ancient 7 pounder weapons. There were a few, very old, four-barrel Gardiner machine guns. Ammunition was in short supply and distribution must have been very difficult. For the artillery much black powder was used, both as a propellent and bursting charge for shells. The Kabul arsenal workshops were elementary and mainly staffed by Sikh artificers with much ingenuity but little real skill. There was no organised transport and arrangements for supply were rudimentary.

In support of the regulars, the Afghan command expected to call out the tribes, which could gather up to 20,000 or 30,000 Afridi fighters in the Khyber region alone. In stark contrast to the regulars, the tribal lashkars were probably the best troops that the Afghans had, being of excellent fighting quality, well armed, mainly with weapons that they had made themselves or stolen from the garrisons and with plenty of ammunition.

In meeting this threat, the British could call on a much larger force. In May 1919, the British and British Indian Army, not including frontier militia, totalled eight divisions, as well as five independent brigades of infantry and three of cavalry. However, of this force, the entire North-West Frontier Province had three infantry divisions and two cavalry brigades, although there was also GHQ India's central reserve of one infantry division and one cavalry brigade. From this, they formed a striking force of two infantry divisions and two cavalry brigades for offensive operations on the Kyber front with the possibility of using it also in the Tochi and Kurram areas. One infantry division and a so-called "mounted" brigade were also detailed for operations on the Baluchistan–Zhob front. There were also three frontier brigades as well as a number of frontier militia and irregular corps.

Artillery was also in short supply, and the three frontier divisions each had a British field artillery brigade of the Royal Field Artillery with two batteries of 18-pounders and one battery of 4.5-inch howitzers, and an Indian mountain brigade with two batteries of 2.75-inch mountain guns. There were also two batteries of tractor-drawn 6-inch howitzers and two British mountain batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery, which were reinforced with 3.7-inch mountain howitzers. However, most batteries had only four guns. Finally, there were also 15 pounder guns of the Frontier Garrison Artillery.

Machine guns, at least on the Khyber front, were old .303 Maxims. The British gained a command and control advantage with their use of motor transport and wireless communications, while armored cars and RAF detachments increased their firepower and reach, the latter being demonstrated to the Afghans by a bombing raid on Kabul itself. They could also direct the fire of the 60-pounders. The RAF squadrons involved were No. 31 Squadron and No. 114 Squadron.

The main problem for the British was discontent among their soldiers. The troops in India were no longer as uncritical as they had been when considering what they were being asked to do. Like other units of the British Army, many of the troops considered the war over and looked forward to being demobilised. The Indian Army had been heavily committed to the First World War and had suffered a large number of casualties. Many of its units still had not returned from overseas, and those that had had begun the process of demobilisation. As such, many regiments had lost almost all of their most experienced men. Likewise, the British Army in India had been gutted. Prior to 1914 there had been 61 British regiments serving in India. However, of these, all but ten (two cavalry and eight infantry) had been withdrawn in order to fight in Europe or the Middle East. In their place, units of the Territorial Force (TF), part-time soldiers usually only intended for home defence but who had volunteered for overseas service, had been sent in order to release regular units for the fighting in France. After four years of mundane garrison duty, away from their families and disaffected, most of these men were really only interested in demobilisation and returning to Britain to get on with their lives. They were in no way prepared for a hard-fought campaign on the Indian frontier.

Course of the war
The conflict began on 3 May 1919 when Afghan troops crossed the frontier at the western end of the Khyber Pass and captured the town of Bagh. Bagh was strategically important to the British and Indians as it provided water to Landi Kotal, which was at the time garrisoned by just two companies of troops from the British Indian Army. Although initially considered a minor border infraction, this attack was actually part of the wider invasion plan. For whatever reason the attack had been launched ahead of schedule, however, for Amanullah had intended initially to time it to coincide with an uprising that was being planned in Peshawar for 8 May. This served to alert the British Chief Commissioner of the North West Frontier, Sir George Roos-Keppel, who had become aware of the plan and as a result he was able to successfully convince the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, of the need to respond to the occupation of Bagh before it led to further unrest in Peshawar.

In response to this the British Indian government declared war upon Afghanistan on 6 May and ordered a general mobilisation of the British and Indian forces. It was decided next that the two companies of Sikhs and Gurkhas that had been sent to Landi Kotal needed to be reinforced, however, the mobilisation process had only just begun and at that stage there was only one battalion available for this, so on 7 May the 2nd Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry were brought up clandestinely through the Khyber Pass aboard a convoy of 37 lorries.

Meanwhile, a cordon was thrown around Peshawar and demands were made for the population to hand over the uprising's ringleaders. Amid threats that the city's water supply would be cut, the inhabitants complied and by dawn on 8 May the situation in the city was under control and the threat of an uprising abated.

By this stage more reinforcements were available and the garrison at Landi Kotal grew to brigade-size, with the arrival of the rest of the 1st Infantry Brigade under Brigadier G.D. Crocker. On 9 May the British and Indian troops launched an attack on the Afghans that had seized Bagh the previous week. The attack, however, failed when the brigade commander decided to split his forces and detach almost half his force to protect his flank and as a result was unable to achieve the necessary concentration of force to capture all of his objectives. Coinciding with this, three BE2c aircraft from the Royal Air Force carried out a bombing raid on Dacca in Afghanistan, attacking a group of hostile tribesmen.

Following this the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Brigades of the 1st Infantry Division were dispatched from Nowshera and Abbottabad, concentrating at Jamrud and Kacha Garhi. At the same time, the 6th Brigade from the 2nd Infantry Division moved up to Peshawar from Rawalpindi to help quell the unrest there. Two days later, on 11 May, a second attack was made on Bagh by the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigades, under Major General Fowler, and this time it proved successful. Supported with 22 machine guns and 18 artillery pieces, the attack was preceded by a thirty-minute preparation bombardment before being carried by the 2nd Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment and two battalions from the 11th Gurkhas, who charged into the Afghan positions with bayonets fixed and drove them into the Lower Khyber, where they were subjected to further indirect fire from mountain guns that had been set up in ambush. As the Afghans were forced back over the border, the RAF followed them across and carried out a number of bombing runs. The rout was total and tribesman that might have otherwise have been expected to counterattack in support of the Afghans decided against doing so, instead turning their efforts to looting the battlefield and gathering the arms and ammunition that the retreating Afghans had left behind. Casualties during the battle, later known as the Second Battle of Bagh, amounted to 100 Afghans killed and 300 wounded, while the British and Indian forces lost eight killed and 31 wounded.

Although Amanullah continued to profess that he had no untoward intentions, Roos-Keppel decided that it was prudent to continue the advance and ordered the army to pursue the Afghans across the border. On 13 May British and Indian troops seized control of the western Khyber without opposition and occupied Dacca, however, the British camp was poorly sited for defence and as a consequence they came under an intense long-range artillery barrage from Afghan artillery before Amanullah launched an infantry assault on them. This assault was defeated and the British launched a counter-attack the following day, however, they were unable to consolidate their position, and as a result it was not until 17 May that the area was secured and the Afghans withdrew.

Meanwhile, the previous day, British and Indian forces had launched an attack on 'Stonehenge Ridge', where an Afghan force of about 3,000 men had established themselves with a number of artillery pieces and machine guns. Under cover of a preliminary bombardment to soften up the Afghan defences, men from the 11th Sikh Regiment had launched the initial assault, however, they were forced to stop their attack when they ran out of ammunition at 08.00 hours, and although a resupply was effected at 10.30 hours, it was not until 14.00 hours that the attack was able to be recommenced. By this time the troops were exposed to the heat of the day; nevertheless, after another barrage was called down, the Sikhs attacked the Afghan line despite the heat and the attack was carried to the top of the ridge. Upon reaching the escarpment they found that the Afghans had left the battlefield, leaving most of their equipment, artillery and a number of standards. During the assault the British and Indian forces lost 22 killed and 157 wounded, while Afghan losses were estimated at around 200 killed and 400 wounded.

At this time, however, trouble struck in the British rear along their line of communications through the Khyber where the Khyber Rifles began to become disaffected by the situation and began to desert en masse. As a result, it was decided to disarm and disband the regiment in an effort to stop the spread of similar sentiment to other regiments. Following this Lord Chelmsford decided that the situation could be resolved by continuing the advance further into Afghanistan and gave the order for the brigade in Dacca to march towards Jalalabad, but this order was unable to be carried out as fighting broke out further to the south and in the eastern Khyber.

As part of the attack on the Khyber, secondary attacks had been planned on Quetta and Kurram, in the north in Chitral state and in the south in Baluchistan and the Zhob Valley. On 23 May the British posts around the Kurram Valley had to be abandoned. The following day Handley Page bombers attacked Kabul; however, it did little to stem the tide, and the supply situation in Landi Kotal grew worse.

On 27 May the British commander in Quetta decided to attack the Afghan fortress at Spin Baldak, capturing it (the last time the British Army used an escalade) and, in the process, seized the initiative in the south; however, the situation in the centre of the war zone, around Kurram, remained desperate for the British. The Afghan forces in this area were under the command of General Nadir Khan and he possessed a force of some 14 battalions. Against this, the British at Thal, under Brigadier General Alexander Eustace, possessed only four battalions. To make matters worse, the only troops protecting the upper Tochi Valley were the disaffected North Waziristan Militia. Concerned that they would rise up against him if left to their own devices, Eustace gave the order to abandon the militia outposts, but in doing so, precipitated the desertion of many of the militiamen. This disaffection spread and the South Waziristan Militia in Wana turned on their officers and any men who had remained loyal and attacked them. The survivors, under Major Russell, the commandant, were forced to fight their way out to a column of the North Zhob Militia which had been sent out to relieve them.

Seeing that the situation was deteriorating for the British and seeing an opportunity, Nadir Khan decided to attack Thal. As the Frontier Constabulary had abandoned their posts, on the night of 28/29 May the Afghans were able to occupy a tower 500 yd from the fort and from there they were able to set fire to a number of food dumps. This made the situation in the fort dire, as the supply situation had already been low. Other factors also stacked up against the British. Eustace's force was outnumbered and outgunned. He possessed no regular British infantry and his four battalions were inexperienced Indian units, consisting mainly of young recruits. After repelling an infantry assault on 29 May, the following day the garrison was subjected to a heavy bombardment from Afghan guns. As a result of this, the British decided to bring the 16th Infantry Division, consisting of the 45th and 46th Infantry Brigades, up to Peshawar from Lahore, for the purpose of advancing on Jalalabad and have it move up to Kurram. While part of the division was detached to defend Kohat, the 45th Infantry Brigade under Brigadier General Reginald Dyer—who had been at the centre of the Amritsar massacre—set out to relieve Eustace's force at Thal. Dyer's force consisted of only one British battalion, the 1st/25th London Regiment, as well as Dogras, Punjabis and Gurkhas, and short of rations and possessing no transport, they were forced to march through intense heat to effect the relief.

Despite the conditions, however, the British and Indian troops under Dyer's command rose to the occasion and covered the last 18 mi in under 12 hours and on 1 June they ran into a blocking force of tribesman that barred both the northern and southern approaches to Thal. Dyer attacked both ends with his artillery, while sending his infantry against the southern approach. Unable to withstand the attack, the tribesmen withdrew and as a result the way through to Eustace's garrison was cleared. During the siege, the British suffered 94 casualties, of which eight were killed, four died of wounds and 82 were wounded.

The next day, 2 June, at dawn Dyer's brigade launched an attack on the Afghan regulars that were positioned away to the west of Thal and as this attack went in Nadir Khan sent out an envoy to deliver a message to the brigade commander. The message told Dyer that Amir Amanullah had ordered Nadir Khan to cease hostilities and Nadir Khan asked Dyer to acknowledge that he would honour the request for an armistice that Amanullah had sent to the British Indian government on 31 May. Unaware that this request had been made, and uncertain as to whether the message and request for a cease fire was a ruse on Nadir Khan's part, Dyer decided that he would not take any chances and sent the reply: "My guns will give an immediate reply, but your letter will be forwarded to the Divisional Commander".

After this Dyer continued his attack and as Nadir Khan's force withdrew from the area, Dyer followed them up with cavalry and armoured cars from the 37th Lancers, while the RAF, using machine guns and iron bombs, attacked and dispersed about 400 tribesmen that were in the area and which posed a threat of counterattack.

On 3 June, the Afghan camp at Yusef Khel was seized by two platoons from the 1st/25th London and two troops from the 37th Lancers supported by a section of guns from the 89th Battery, and shortly afterwards the armistice was signed. With this a cease fire came into effect, however, some fighting continued, particularly in Chitral and in North Baluchistan, and it was not until 8 August 1919 that the settlement was finally concluded when the Treaty of Rawalpindi was signed.

Importance of British airpower
Although limited in numbers and quality, airpower proved to be one of the greatest assets that the British possessed during this conflict. Not only did it allow them to extend their reach beyond the border and bomb Kabul, but it also enabled them to harass the retreating enemy and to break up tribesmen as they attempted to form larger groups prior to launching an attack. The ability of the British to project airpower, even small scale raids, had considerable psychological effects. For example, the single-plane raid on the palace which took place on 24 May 1919, although effecting little actual damage, nevertheless greatly impacted the morale of Afghan citizens and contributed to bringing King Amanullah to request an armistice.

Indeed, as a result of the war and the lessons that were learned about the potential of airpower in the region, following the war, the Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard, proposed controlling the frontier by air power alone. This plan had proved highly successful in Mesopotamia, Aden and the Transjordan, however, due to the uniqueness of the North-West Frontier and also due to inter-service politics the plan was not accepted until later. In 1937, it was eventually decided that should another war break out with Afghanistan, or in the event of a major tribal uprising, the RAF would take the offensive, while the ground forces would act defensively. During the course of the conflict, British aircraft losses included at least one plane crashed and two shot down.

King Amanullah objected to the British about the air raids on Kabul, citing British condemnation of the German Zeppelin attacks on London. In his letter to the British government he said, "It is a matter of great regret that the throwing of bombs by Zeppelins on London was denounced as a most savage act and the bombardment of places of worship and sacred spots was considered a most abominable operation, while now we see with our own eyes that such operations were a habit which is prevalent amongst all civilized people of the West."

Outcome
Casualties during the conflict amounted to approximately 1,000 Afghans killed in action, while the British and Indian forces faced around 1,751 dead or wounded, with hundreds of others dying to disease. The treaty of Rawalpindi was concluded on 8 August 1919, which saw the Afghans gain most of what they wanted from the war, removing British paramountcy over their foreign affairs. This had not been effectively managed by the British, such as during the reigns of Abdur Rahman Khan. Alongside this, the Durand Line was re-affirmed as the border between the two countries.

The British believed in the negotiations that by letting Afghanistan become independent, it would still be reliant on British military and economic aid, and thus accepted the treaty and the recognition of Afghanistan as an independent state. Despite this, British and Afghan diplomats often snubbed each other as a result of the war, which the British did not forget. In one occasion, as the Afghans attempted to open diplomatic ties to Italy, the British informed the Italians that they had to recognize the British influence in the country. Afghan diplomats in Kabul in retaliation attempted to humiliate British diplomats there who were negotiating a treaty, which resulted in Afghan delegations to London being refused. British diplomatic mail and letters were rejected, and the British government refused to refer to Amanullah Khan as "Your Majesty", and letters to George V were intentionally left unanswered.

The circumstances behind the war were complicated as was the final settlement. In going to war in 1919 against British India, Amir Amanullah's war aims were complicated. Even up against a depleted British Indian Army, a tactical victory was unlikely; however, the war served the dual purpose of deflecting domestic criticism and also offering the opportunity for strategic political gains. As a result of the peace treaty that was negotiated, the British ceased payment of the Afghan subsidy, and thus ended their claim to direct Afghan foreign policy, which had been the quid pro quo of the Emir accepting the subsidy. Amanullah also received little but a letter recognizing Afghanistan's independence. The British had traditionally wanted Afghanistan as a buffer state between India and the Russian Empire. In 1919, the Russian Civil War was raging and any threat from Russia to India at the time was potential rather than real. Moreover, the British were by far the largest supporters of the White movement in the Russian Civil War with the British contributing more arms to the Whites than all other nations combined. It was assumed in London that if the Whites won the Civil War, a new era in Anglo-Russian relations might possibly open as the victorious Whites might be grateful for British support, rendering the need for a buffer state in Central Asia irrelevant. The British also stopped arms sales from India to Afghanistan. But, as British influence declined, the Afghans were able to gain control of their own foreign affairs and in the aftermath emerged as a fully independent state. The British also made some political gains, most notably the reaffirmation of the Durand Line – which had long been a contentious issue between the two nations – as a border separating Afghanistan from the North-West Frontier, and the undertaking that the Afghans made to stop interference on the British side of the line. The agreement saw Afghanistan's ruler, Amanullah Khan, soar in popularity throughout the Islamic world despite the diplomatic incidents and the stipulations of the treaty being vague, leading to some even calling for him to become the new Caliph.

Although the fighting concluded in August 1919, its effects continued to be felt in the region for some time afterwards. The nationalism and disruption that it had sparked stirred up more unrest in the years to come, particularly in Waziristan. The tribesmen, always ready to exploit governmental weakness, whether real or perceived, banded together in the common cause of disorder and unrest. They had become well-armed as a result of the conflict, whence they benefitted greatly from the weapons and ammunition that the Afghans had left behind and from an influx of manpower in large numbers of deserters from the militia that had joined their ranks. With these additions they launched a campaign of resistance against British authority on the North-West Frontier that was to last until the end of the Raj.

Decorated Afghan soldiers
Soldiers decorated by the authority of Ghazi Amanullah Khan:
 * Ghazi Mir Zaman Khan, a National Hero of Afghanistan who was decorated with 4 medals, being the Lōy Khan (Grand Khan), Wafa, (Loyalty), Sedāqat (Honesty), and Khedmat (Service)
 * Nisar Muhammad Yousafzai, a War Hero decorated with the Order of Gallantry of the Emirate of Afghanistan for wartime bravery

Battle honours, British Indian army
British and Indian infantry units that participated in the conflict received the battle honour "Afghanistan 1919". No other battle honours for individual engagements were issued. Additionally, unlike the first two Anglo-Afghan wars where individual campaign ribbons were issued for separate engagements, no campaign medal was struck for this conflict. Instead, participation in this conflict was recognised by a clasp to the India General Service Medal (1908–1935).

The award of the battle honour was made in four separate Army and Governor General's orders. The earliest, Army Order 97/24, granted the honour to 14 British units. Governor General's Order 193/26 made awards to Indian Army Corps. Governor General's Order 1409/26 made awards to Indian States Forces and finally a further Governor General's Order in 1927 made awards to a further three Gurkha regiments.

The Army Order was unusual in that a mistake was made in awarding the Afghanistan 1919 battle honour to The Hampshire Regiment and the 21st Lancers. This was subsequently rectified and the award to these two units was withdrawn.

Pursuant to Army Order 97/24:

 * 1st King's Dragoon Guards
 * 1/4th Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
 * 2nd Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment)
 * 2nd Battalion, Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry)
 * 1st Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment)
 * 1st Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)
 * 2/4th Battalion, Border Regiment
 * 1st Battalion and 2/6th (Cyclist) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
 * 1st Battalion, Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment)
 * 1/4th Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
 * 2nd Battalion, Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment)
 * 1st Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
 * 1/25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion, London Regiment
 * 1/1st Kent Cyclist Battalion

Pursuant to Governor General's Order 193/26:

 * 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse
 * 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)
 * 6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers (Watson's Horse)
 * 7th Light Cavalry
 * 8th King George's Own Light Cavalry
 * 11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force)
 * 12th Cavalry (Frontier Force)
 * 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers
 * 15th Lancers
 * 16th Light Cavalry
 * 17th Queen Victoria's Own Poona Horse
 * 103rd (Peshawar) Pack Battery (Frontier Force) (Howitzer)
 * 107th (Bengal) Pack Battery (Howitzer)
 * 108th (Lahore) Pack Battery
 * 115th (Jhelum) Pack Battery
 * Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners
 * King George's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners
 * Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners
 * Burma Sappers and Miners
 * 1st Madras Pioneers
 * 2nd Bombay Pioneers
 * 3rd Sikh Pioneers
 * 1st Punjab Regiment
 * 2nd Punjab Regiment
 * 4th Bombay Grenadiers
 * 5th Maratha Light Infantry
 * 6th Rajputana Rifles
 * 7th Rajput Regiment
 * 8th Punjab Regiment
 * 9th Jat Regiment
 * 10th Baluch Regiment
 * 11th Sikh Regiment
 * 12th Frontier Force Regiment
 * 13th Frontier Force Rifles
 * 14th Punjab Regiment
 * 16th Punjab Regiment
 * 17th Dogra Regiment
 * 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles
 * 19th Hyderabad Regiment
 * 1st King George V's Own Gurkha Rifles
 * 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)
 * 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles
 * 7th Gurkha Rifles
 * 8th Gurkha Rifles
 * 9th Gurkha Rifles
 * 10th Gurkha Rifles

Pursuant to Governor General's Order 1409/26:

 * Patiala (Rajindra) Lancers
 * Alwar Lancers
 * Bhopal (Victoria) Lancers
 * No 1 Kashmir Mountain Battery
 * No 2 Kashmir Mountain Battery
 * Faridkot Sappers
 * Sirmoor Sappers
 * Tehri Garhwal Sappers
 * Malerkotla Sappers
 * Jind Infantry
 * Nabha Infantry
 * 1st Patiala Infantry
 * 1st Kashmir Infantry
 * 3rd Gwalior Infantry
 * Kapurthala Infantry (Jagatjit Regiment)
 * Bharatpur Transport Corps
 * Gwalior Transport Corps
 * Holkar's Transport Corps (Indore)

Pursuant to Governor General's Order 1927:
 * 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles
 * 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force)
 * 6th Gurkha Rifles

Many of these units did not exist at the time of the war but were formed as part of the reorganisation of the Indian Army in 1922; however, the decision was made to award the battle honour to the successor units of those involved in the war. The honour was not awarded to regiments that had been disbanded, e.g. 11th Gurkha Rifles, and not all units that took part in the war were awarded the battle honour, e.g. 1/5th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment.

title: Third Anglo-Afghan War


text:
Second Anglo-Afghan War

The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. The war was part of the Great Game between the British and Russian empires.

The war was split into two campaigns – the first began in November 1878 with the British invasion of Afghanistan from India. The British were quickly victorious and forced the Amir – Sher Ali Khan to flee. Ali's successor Mohammad Yaqub Khan immediately sued for peace and the Treaty of Gandamak was then signed on 26 May 1879. The British sent an envoy and mission led by Sir Louis Cavagnari to Kabul, but on 3 September this mission was massacred and the conflict was reignited by Ayub Khan which led to the abdication of his brother Yaqub.

During this period, Abdur Rahman Khan, an opponent of the British, began distinguishing himself as a possible successor candidate to become the Amir of Afghanistan through his exploits in northern Afghanistan. Eventually after moving on Kabul, he was crowned and then later recognized by the British as the ruler of Afghanistan.

The second campaign began when Ayub Khan, the governor of Herat, rebelled in July 1880 and marched on Kandahar, defeating the British at the battle of Maiwand. The campaign ended in September 1880 when the British decisively defeated Ayub Khan outside Kandahar. Abdur Rahman Khan, now the sole ruler, created the buffer the British wanted between the Raj and the Russian Empire, British and Indian soldiers then withdrew from Afghanistan.

Background
A significant political group in Afghanistan at the time were the Afzalids. The Afzalids were originally supporters of Mohammad Afzal Khan to the throne of Afghanistan during the civil war on Dost Mohammad's succession. The Afzalids were eventually defeated by Sher Ali Khan but many fled in exile to Samarkand in the Russian Empire under the authority of Abdur Rahman Khan, who was actively given asylum by the Russian government and brought worries to the British about a future pro-Russian claimant to the throne of Afghanistan.

On one such occasion, the Bukharans aided Muhammad Ishaq Khan, a son of Mohammad Azam Khan. He occupied Aqcha, but was later defeated. Following his defeat, the Afghan governor of Balkh, Muhammad Khan, purged much of the province of Afzalid supporters, seizing lands and exacting imprisonment and execution on those thought to be sympathizers. Districts that had aided the rebellion faced hefty fines, and the rulers of the Chahar Wilayat were mandatorily forced to re-affirm their allegiance to Sher Ali Khan by traveling to Kabul every year. In 1875, Husain Khan, the ruler of Maimana, refused to honour his oath and executed several government officials, declaring allegiance under the ruler of Bukhara. The rebellion was quelled, however when the leaders of the insurrection were brought before Sher Ali, he refused to execute them in honour of their former oaths, and instead had Muhammad Khan killed. These circumstances of events brought further support to the Afzalids in Samarkand, with many Amirs of the Chahar Wilayat beginning to correspond with Abdur Rahman Khan and the Afzalid faction.

After tension between Russia and Britain in Europe ended with the June 1878 Congress of Berlin, Russia turned its attention to Central Asia. That same summer, Russia sent an uninvited diplomatic mission to Kabul. Sher Ali Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan, tried unsuccessfully to keep them out. Russian envoys arrived in Kabul on 22 July 1878, and on 14 August, the British demanded that Sher Ali accept a British mission too. The British informed Sher Ali that a British mission would arrive in Kabul as well with or without his consent. However, as news of this arrived, Sher Ali's son and heir, Abdullah Jan had died. With mourning and the funeral taking place, nobody wished to show Sher Ali the British message. Eventually the message was revealed by his chamberlain. In a condolence message to Sher Ali, the British informed Sher Ali that the mission would leave Peshawar for Kabul in September.

Lord Lytton, the viceroy of India, ordered a diplomatic mission to set out for Kabul in September 1878 but the mission was turned back as it approached the eastern entrance of the Khyber Pass. A deadline was established for 20 November, where if a response was not given by the Afghan government, war would be declared. A day before the deadline, Sher Ali sent a messenger to Peshawar but failed to arrive on time, and turned away after news of the British invasion began.

First phase
The first campaign began in November 1878 when a British force of about 50,000 fighting men, mostly Indians, was distributed into three military columns which penetrated Afghanistan at three different points. The British victories at the battles of Ali Masjid and Peiwar Kotal meant that the approach to Kabul was left virtually undefended by Afghan troops.

An alarmed Sher Ali left for Mazar-i-Sharif. This was done in hopes of the British overstretching their armies in Afghanistan, and make it difficult for the British to occupy parts of southern Afghanistan for an indefinite period of time, as well as that the Afghan tribes would eventually rise up. Further drawing off of Dost Mohammad Khan and Wazir Akbar Khan's tactics in the First Anglo-Afghan War. Mazar-i-Sharif was safe as well, with winter already ongoing, the British would be unable to pass the snow littered Hindu Kush. Alongside this, over 15,000 Afghan soldiers were present in Afghan Turkestan, which Sher Ali began preparing to assemble more men across Afghanistan. Sher Ali also attempted to appeal in person to the Russian Tsar for assistance, but he wasn't allowed to enter Russian territory, and their insistence was that he should seek terms of surrender from the British. He returned to Mazar-i-Sharif, where his health began to suffer, leading to his death on 21 February 1879.

Before leaving for Afghan Turkestan, Sher Ali released the surviving governors of the Chahar Wilayat that he had previously imprisoned. Upon Sher Ali's arrival to Mazar-i-Sharif, Sher Ali promised them the return of their states if they had assisted against the British in the war to come. Many of the governors, having been imprisoned for longer then a decade, all due to similar oaths being broken. As a result, seeing an opportunity to declare independence, Muhammad Khan, the former governor of Sar-I-Pul, alongside Husain Khan, the former governor of the Maimana Khanate, all declared independence against Afghan rule, rallying their own armies and expelling Afghan garrisons. A wave of Turkmen raids also began into Afghan Turkestan as a result, seeing some 6,000 women being enslaved, with forces from Sher Ali to repel the raids being defeated.

With Sher Ali's death, a tumultuous period began over his succession. One of his sons, Muhammad Ali Khan, attempted to seize Takhtapul, however the garrison mutinied, forcing him to move south towards Dai Zangi, where he began assembling an army against Yaqub Khan.

Yaqub Khan was declared the new Amir, with many sardars that were thought to have ties with the Afzalid faction were imprisoned. In Mazar-i-Sharif, Yaqub Khan's son, Muhammad Musa, assembled a force and seized Takhtapul, sending the leader of the mutineers to Kabul, where he was executed. Ayub Khan, supporting his brother's succession, did not oppose him. However, much of the military forces and officers in Balkh and Herat instead supported the Afzalids. Ayub Khan began facing anarchy in Herat, with much of the forces from the expelled from Maimana demanding payment. Ayub Khan sent numerous requests to Mazar-i-Sharif, imminently requesting aid in cash. Despite receiving funds, the troops began rioting, and were turned away by Ayub Khan towards Yaqub Khan, stating he would be capable of paying them.

Treaty
With British forces occupying Kabul, Sher Ali's son and successor, Yaqub Khan, signed the Treaty of Gandamak on 26 May 1879. According to this agreement and in return for an annual subsidy and vague assurances of assistance in case of foreign aggression, Yaqub relinquished control of Afghan foreign affairs to Britain. British representatives were installed in Kabul and other locations, and their control was extended to the Khyber and Michni passes, and Afghanistan ceded various North-West Frontier Province areas and Quetta to Britain, including the strategic fort of Jamrud. Yaqub Khan also renounced all rights to interfering in the internal affairs of the Afridi tribe. In return, Yaqub Khan only received an annual subsidy of 600,000 rupees, with the British pledging to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan excluding Kandahar.

However, on 3 September 1879 an uprising in Kabul led to the slaughter of Sir Louis Cavagnari, the British representative, along with his guards, and staff – provoking the next phase of the Second Afghan War.

Second phase

Major General Sir Frederick Roberts led the Kabul Field Force over the Shutargardan Pass into central Afghanistan, defeated the Afghan Army at Charasiab on 6 October 1879, and occupied Kabul two days later. Ghazi Mohammad Jan Khan Wardak, and a force of 10,000 Afghans, staged an uprising and attacked British forces near Kabul in the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment in December 1879. The rebellion collapsed after the failure of a direct attack on Roberts' force on 23 December. Yaqub Khan, suspected of complicity in the massacre of Cavagnari and his staff, was obliged to abdicate. The British considered a number of possible political settlements, including partitioning Afghanistan between multiple rulers or placing Yaqub's brother Ayub Khan on the throne, but also looked to install his cousin Abdur Rahman Khan (half nephew of the former Sher Ali) as Amir instead.

Exploits of Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan meanwhile had been in exile in Turkestan. Upon the death of Sher Ali Khan he requested from the Russians to enter Afghanistan as a claimant of the throne. This request was denied. However, following Yaqub Khan's abdication, as well as the British occupation of Kabul, the Russians allowed Abdur Rahman Khan to re-enter Afghanistan. Abdur Rahman made way for Badakhshan, whose ruler he had marriage ties with. While on route, he did a pilgrimage to the shrine of Khwaja Ahrar, taking his banner after claiming he had a vision that ensured victory. The ruler of Badakhshan did not permit Abdur Rahman to ford the Amu Darya, to which Abdur Rahman did so further downstream. He then crossed a mountain pass while it snowed, arriving at Rostaq, where its garrison defected. With the fall of Rostaq, Abdur Rahman met the Mir of Badakhshan in battle, forcing him to flee to Chitral while Abdur Rahman annexed Badakhshan.

Abdur Rahman requested from Sultan Murad of Kunduz for military access so he could advance on Kabul. This request was denied. However, Ghulam Haidar Khan, Yaqub's governor of Balkh, attacked Kunduz, occupying it, and forcing Sultan Murad to flee to Fayzabad. Sultan Murad then alligned with Abdur Rahman, and encouraged rebellion against Ghulam Haidar, with the commander of Takhtapul declaring for Abdur Rahman. Ghulam Haidar fled across the Amu Darya, leaving the entirety of Afghan Turkestan under Abdur Rahman's control.

The British, eyeing for a suitable candidate to be the ruler of Afghanistan, scouted Abdur Rahman Khan, and began negotiating with him. Abdur Rahman was reluctant to accept such a proposal, as he considered himself an opponent of the British, with his own men wishing for Jihad against them. While negotiations continued, the British considered numerous political solutions, including dividing Afghanistan into numerous kingdoms. The British were seeking to a quick conclusion to the war due to the resignation of Lytton, with his successor, the Marquis of Ripon, wishing to withdraw all British troops from Afghanistan as quickly as possible. With this, the British no longer wished to uphold a British envoy in Afghanistan. However, both sides continued to differ, with the British wishing to keep Kandahar under their control with Sardar Sher Ali as governor, while Abdur Rahman saw it imperative as a part of Afghanistan.

Believing that the British might withdraw, Abdur Rahman Khan arrived in Charikar sometime in July 1880, where religious leaders from regions such as Panjshir, Kohistan, and Tagab welcomed his arrival. On 19 July, the British informed Abdur Rahman that they were prepared to recognize him as the ruler of Afghanistan, inviting him to Kabul for a ceremony. Abdur Rahman called a Jirga, with many tribal leaders declaring for him, while Abdur Rahman was declared the Amir of Kabul.

Ayub Khan's rebellion
Ayub Khan, who had been serving as governor of Herat, rose in revolt, defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Maiwand in July 1880 and besieged Kandahar. Roberts then led the main British force from Kabul and decisively defeated Ayub Khan on 1 September at the Battle of Kandahar, bringing his rebellion to an end.

Aftermath

With Ayub Khan defeated, the war was officially over with Abdur Rahman Khan ruling as Amir, he was seen as the real victor of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Despite attempts for the British to hold on to Kandahar, they decided to return it back to Afghanistan. Rahman confirmed the Treaty of Gandamak, whereby the British took control of the territories ceded by Yaqub Khan. The provocative policy of maintaining a British resident in Kabul was abandoned, but instead British Indian Muslim agents were to be left to smooth liaison between the governments. Britain would also handle Afghanistan's foreign policy in exchange for protection and a subsidy. The Afghan tribes maintained internal rule and local customs, and provided a continuing buffer between the British Raj and the Russian Empire. Ironically many of these polices had been desired by Sher Ali Khan, and war could have been prevented had they been implemented earlier.

The war was expensive for Britain, spending some 17 million pounds during the war, which was three times the estimated cost. The costs rose just before the British left in March 1881, estimating to be around 19.5 million pounds.

Despite attempts from the British to dissuade Afghanistan from Russian influence, Abdur Rahman Khan adopted an autocratic government similar to the Tsars of Russia, inspired by Peter the Great from his time in exile in Turkestan. Alongside this, despite the British attempting to prop up Afghanistan as a key ally, Abdur Rahman Khan often acted against the British, with atrocities horrifying even Queen Victoria, and he became known as the 'Iron Amir'. He also refused to give information regarding his troops, with his own autobiography criticizing British policy, while also violating the Lyall agreement by instead of allowing the British to oversee his diplomatic affairs, held them himself with numerous countries including Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and the German Empire. Abdur Rahman also wrote in pamphlets, encouraging Jihad against the British and the Russians, claiming both wished to end Afghanistan as a state. Senior British officials found it extremely difficult to further cooperate with Abdur Rahman Khan and Afghanistan due to the Turkestan atrocities, as well as his actions against the Hazaras. The British believed they had no other alternative but to support Abdur Rahman Khan, scoring a diplomatic victory for him.

Despite this, no further trouble resulted between Afghanistan and British India during Rahman's period of rule. The Russians kept well out of Afghan internal affairs, with the exception of the Panjdeh incident three years later, resolved by arbitration and negotiation after an initial British ultimatum.

In 1893, Mortimer Durand was dispatched to Kabul by British India to sign an agreement with Rahman for fixing the limits of their respective spheres of influence as well as improving diplomatic relations and trade. On November 12, 1893, the Durand Line Agreement was reached. This led to the creation of a new North-West Frontier Province.

Timeline of battles
There were several decisive actions in the Second Anglo–Afghan War, from 1878 to 1880. Here are the battles and actions in chronological order. An asterisk (*) indicates a clasp was awarded for that particular battle with the Afghanistan Medal.

1878

 * 1) Battle of Ali Masjid* (British victory)
 * 2) Battle of Peiwar Kotal* (British victory)

1879

 * 1) Action at Takht-i-Pul (British victory)
 * 2) Action at Matun (British victory)
 * 3) Battle of Khushk-i-Nakud (British victory)
 * 4) Battle of Fatehabad (Afghan victory)
 * 5) Siege of the British Residency in Kabul (Afghan victory)
 * 6) Battle of Kam Dakka (British victory)
 * 7) Battle of Charasiab* (British victory)
 * 8) Battle of Shajui
 * 9) Battle of Karez Mir
 * 10) Battle of Takht-i-Shah
 * 11) Battle of Asmai Heights* (Afghan victory)
 * 12) Siege of Sherpur (Kabul)* (British victory)

1880

 * 1) Battle of Ahmed Khel* (British victory)
 * 1) Battle of Arzu
 * 2) Second Battle of Charasiab (British victory)
 * 3) Battle of Maiwand (Afghan victory)
 * 4) Battle of Deh Koja (Afghan Victory)
 * 5) Battle of Kandahar* (British victory)

1881

 * 1) Evacuation of Kandahar (and Afghanistan) by British-led forces

Order of battle
In November 1878, at the start of the war, the British established three Field Forces – designated Peshawar Valley, Kurram Valley and Kandahar respectively – each of which invaded Afghanistan by a different route. At the end of the first phase of the war in May 1879, the Peshawar Force was withdrawn, while the Kandahar Force was reduced in size. In September 1879, at the beginning of the second phase, additional British and Indian Army units were despatched to Afghanistan, while the Kurram Valley Force was reinforced, and redesignated the Kabul Field Force.
 * Peshawar Valley Field Force. Lieutenant General Sir Samuel Browne
 * Cavalry Brigade. Brigadier General C. J. S. Gough
 * 10th Hussars (2 squadrons)
 * 11th Probyn's Lancers
 * Guides Cavalry
 * Royal Artillery
 * First Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General H. T. Macpherson
 * 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade
 * 20th Brownlow's Punjabis
 * 4th Gurkha Rifles
 * Second Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General J. A. Tytler
 * 1st Battalion, 17th Leicestershire Regiment
 * Queen's Own Corps of Guides (infantry component)
 * 51st Sikhs
 * Third Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General F. Appleyard
 * 81st North Lancashire Regiment
 * 14th Sikhs
 * 27th Punjabis
 * Fourth Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General W. Browne
 * 51st King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
 * 6th Jat Light Infantry
 * 45th Sikhs
 * Kurram Valley Field Force. Major General Roberts
 * Cavalry Brigade. Brigadier General Hugh Gough
 * 10th Hussars (1 squadron)
 * 12th Cavalry
 * 25th Cavalry
 * Royal Artillery. Colonel A. H. Lindsay
 * First Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General A. H. Cobbe
 * 2nd Battalion, 8th Foot
 * 23rd Pioneers
 * 29th Punjabis
 * 58th Vaughan's Rifles
 * Second Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General J. B. Thelwell
 * 72nd Seaforth Highlanders
 * 21st Punjabis
 * 56th Rifles
 * 5th Gurkha Rifles
 * Kandahar Field Force. Lieutenant General Donald Stewart
 * First Division
 * Cavalry Brigade. Brigadier General Walter Fane
 * 15th Hussars
 * 8th Bengal Cavalry
 * 19th Fane's Lancers
 * Royal Artillery. Brigadier General C. G. Arbuthnot
 * First Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General R. Barter
 * 2nd Battalion King's Royal Rifles
 * 15th Sikhs
 * 25th Punjabis
 * Second Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General W. Hughes
 * 59th East Lancashire Regiment
 * 12th Kelat-i-Ghilzai Regiment
 * 1st Gurkha Rifles
 * 3rd Gurkha Rifles
 * 2nd Division. Major General M A Biddulph
 * Cavalry Brigade. Brigadier General C. H. Palliser
 * 21st Daly's Horse
 * 22nd Sam Browne's Horse
 * 35th Scinde Horse
 * Artillery Colonel Le Mesurier
 * First Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General R. Lacy
 * 70th East Surrey Regiment
 * 19th Punjabis
 * 127th Baluchis
 * Second Infantry Brigade. Brigadier General Nuttall
 * 26th Punjabis
 * 32nd Pioneers
 * 55th Coke's Rifles
 * 129th Baluchis

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Second Anglo-Afghan War


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Cursus

Cursuses are monumental Neolithic structures resembling ditches or trenches in the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Relics found within them indicate that they were built between 3400 and 3000 BC, making them among the oldest monumental structures on the islands. The name 'cursus' was suggested in 1723 by William Stukeley, the antiquarian, who compared the Stonehenge cursus to a Roman chariot-racing track, or circus.

Cursuses range in length from 50 yd to almost 6 mi. The distance between the parallel earthworks can be up to 100 yd. Banks at the terminal ends enclose the cursus. Over fifty have been identified via aerial photography while many others have doubtless been obliterated by farming and other activities.

The Stonehenge Cursus is a notable example within sight of the more famous Stonehenge stone circle. Other examples are the four cursuses at Rudston in Yorkshire, that at Fornham All Saints in Suffolk, the Cleaven Dyke in Perthshire and the Dorset cursus. The Bures cursus and the Metlands cursus are in Bures St Mary, Suffolk, and were detected from cropmarks. They are situated just above the floodplain of the north bank of the River Stour, Suffolk. On 21 December each year the sun rises over Lodge Hills, Wormingford, and shines down the length of the Metlands cursus.

In the summer of 2023 excavation began at a cursus discovered near Drumadoon in the Isle of Arran in 2019. It is believed to be the only complete example in Britain. Archaeologists from Glasgow University co-led by Dr Kenneth Brophy and local volunteers began excavating at the site in August. Brophy judged the Arran cursus the most significant he had seen in his career.

Function
It has been conjectured that they were used in rituals connected with ancestor veneration, that they follow astronomical alignments or that they served as buffer zones between ceremonial and occupation landscapes. More recent studies have reassessed the original interpretation and argued that they were used for ceremonial competitions. Finds of arrowheads at the terminal ends suggest archery and hunting were important to the builders and that the length of the cursus may have reflected its use as a proving ground for young men involving a journey to adulthood. Anthropological parallels exist for this interpretation.

Contemporary internal features are rare and it has been traditionally thought that the cursūs were used as processional routes. They are often aligned on and respect the position of pre-existing long barrows and bank barrows and appear to ignore difficulties in terrain. The Dorset Cursus, the longest known example, crosses a river and three valleys along its course across Cranborne Chase and is close to the henge monuments at Knowlton.

The present-day Tynwald day ceremony on the Isle of Man involves the procession of parliament along a cursus-like structure, which is sometimes suggested as a related or continual folk tradition with the Neolithic cursus. Larger scale modern ceremonial analogs might include the National Mall in Washington, and The Mall, London.

Identification by aerial photography
Numerous examples of cursus are known and the discipline of aerial archaeology is the most effective method of identifying such large features following thousands of years of weathering and plough damage. Some cursus have only been identified through a first sighting of cropmarks visible from aerial reconnaissance; for example, the cropmarks at Fetteresso were the first indication of a cursus at that location in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Etymology
'Cursus' (plural 'cursūs' or 'cursuses') was a name given by early British archaeologists such as William Stukeley to the large parallel lengths of banks with external ditches which they thought were early Roman athletic courses, after the Latin word cursus, meaning "course".

title: Cursus


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Seth Lover

Seth E. Lover (January 1, 1910, in Kalamazoo, Michigan – January 31, 1997, in Garden Grove, California) was a designer of amplifiers and musical instrument electronics and effects. He is most famous for developing the Gibson humbucker or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup, most often used on the electric guitar.

Life and career
Seth Lover began working with electronics as a child, and continued working with them during and after his first service with the US Army in the 1930s. He then worked in an electronics shop in Kalamazoo, repairing radios and building amplifiers. In the 1940s he worked for Gibson Guitars before joining the service a second time during World War II. During the rest of the 1940s and 1950s, his career fluctuated between working for Gibson and the US Navy. He developed the humbucking pickup for Gibson in 1955, and designed the first fuzztone distortion device, called the Maestro, in 1961. He stayed with Gibson until 1967 when he took a designing job with Fender Musical Instruments. He retired to the Southern California town of Garden Grove.

Lover died on January 31, 1997, at the age of 87 after a brief illness. He was survived by his wife, his two sons, and his three grandchildren.

With Gibson

Lover's most famous humbucker design was the P.A.F. (Patent Applied For) designed while working for Gibson in 1955. This pickup was utilized in a range of Gibson guitars, most notably the Les Paul model.

Before Lover, electric guitarists were forced to cope with the 60-cycle hum received by single coil pickups. It was in the mid-'50s, while working as an amplifier designer at Gibson Guitars, that Lover figured out how to wire two coils electrically out of phase and with reversed magnetic polarities. The effect was to cancel the hum before it reached the amp and the result was the birth of the humbucking pickup.

Lover applied for the patent on the humbucking pickup in 1955 and it was finally granted in 1959. During this five-year period, Gibson adhered a "Patent Applied For" sticker to the underside of their humbucker pickups. These "P.A.F." pickups are among the most collectable and desirable pickups today, fetching upwards of $1,000 each among vintage guitar collectors.

While working under Ted McCarty at Gibson, Lover was also involved in guitar design. He liked to tell how he helped contribute to the design of the famous "Flying V." Lover said that he thought up the design as a way to lean the guitar against a wall without it tipping over.

Lover worked for Gibson from 1952 to 1967 as a design engineer.

With Fender

From 1967 to 1975 Lover worked for Fender Musical Instruments as a project engineer. He authored three patents during that time: two for loudspeaker cabinets and one for an electric piano pickup.

Lover designed the Fender Wide Range humbucking pickup (WRHP), which was used in the three Telecaster models (Deluxe, Custom, and Thinline) produced by Fender in the 1960–1970s. The Wide Range pickup was also used in the Fender Starcaster.

With Seymour Duncan
Seymour W. Duncan, a guitar pickup designer and manufacturer, considered Lover his "humbucker mentor". The two were associated for nearly 20 years. In 1994, Duncan and Lover jointly produced the Seth Lover Model pickup, a re-creation of the "Patent Applied For" humbucker. After numerous full-page ads, NAMM Show appearances, and magazine interviews, Lover became a minor celebrity at age 84. During his final years, Lover was a regular member of the Seymour Duncan NAMM-team.

title: Seth Lover


text:
Talk on Corners

Talk on Corners is the second studio album by Irish family pop rock band The Corrs. It was released on 17 October 1997 by 143, Lava and Atlantic Records. Preceded by lead single "Only When I Sleep", which became a top ten hit internationally, the album was an immediate commercial success in several territories, including Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Its commercial performance elsewhere was initially modest, however.

The Corrs' entire concert from the Royal Albert Hall was broadcast live the following year on BBC One on Saint Patrick's Day, where they were joined during their performance of "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood. This event did much to raise the band's international profile. A remixed version of "Dreams" went on to become their first top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart. The record was reissued the following month to include the song as a bonus track. This would be the first of several different editions of Talk on Corners to be released over the album's two-year-long promotional cycle.

Over this period, the band released a string of increasingly successful hit singles, culminating with a Tin Tin Out remix of "Runaway" peaking at number two in the UK. The Corrs also toured extensively to promote the record: the Talk on Corners World Tour saw them perform almost 160 concerts across twelve separate legs. The album spent ten weeks at number one in the UK. It ended its run as the highest-selling album of the year, and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time there, as well as the highest-selling album ever by an Irish act.

Background and recording
The Corrs began work on new material in California in July 1996, initially under the supervision of producer David Foster. Lead vocalist Andrea Corr has described the making of Talk on Corners as being "a struggle", with the band put under pressure by Atlantic Records to deliver a successful follow-up to their 1995 debut album Forgiven, Not Forgotten. Their manager John Hughes cited second album syndrome as a common source of pressure for all recording artists, but said further demands came from the label, who were concerned that none of the songs they were being presented with seemed like potential hit singles. The label disliked "What Can I Do" and "So Young", particularly the latter, and the band had to fight hard for their inclusion on the album.

Additional co-writers and producers were brought in to help improve the album's hit potential, including Carole Bayer Sager, Glen Ballard, Oliver Leiber, Rick Nowels and Billy Steinberg. The use of different producers on different tracks introduced further difficulties: the band found it hard to achieve consistency throughout the entire album, although this would be remedied by the Corrs using over forty hours of studio time to record overdubs. In May 1997, the finalised album was delivered to Atlantic, who were unimpressed by the material and ordered the band to continue recording new tracks. When they refused, the label threatened to sue the band for breach of contract. This dispute was only resolved when John Hughes signed a contract guaranteeing future album sales, with the manager being held personally liable if Talk on Corners failed to yield a profit for Atlantic.

Composition and style
Talk on Corners is predominantly a pop rock album, although it also incorporates elements of Celtic and traditional Irish music. Andrea Corr was the album's primary lyricist, co-writing numerous songs with established composers and producers: she co-wrote "Queen of Hollywood" with Glen Ballard, best known for co-writing Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" (1987) as well as for co-writing and producing the Alanis Morissette album Jagged Little Pill (1995). "Intimacy" was co-written by Pat Benatar guitarist Neil Giraldo, and Billy Steinberg—the writer of hit singles including Madonna's "Like a Virgin" (1984) and "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles (1989). Several songs on the record were co-written and produced by Oliver Leiber, the son of composer Jerry Leiber, who, alongside Mike Stoller, co-wrote some of the biggest hits of the fifties and sixties, including Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" (1953) and "Jailhouse Rock" (1957) as well as Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" (1961). Their cover of the Jimi Hendrix song "Little Wing" features Irish folk collective The Chieftains. The album's title is derived from a lyric in the song "Queen of Hollywood".

Critical reception
The record received generally positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic writer Becky Byrkit rated it four stars out of five and praised the band for their vocal harmonies, as well as the album's consistency, writing that "each and every cut sounds wired for radio play". She highlighted their cover of "Little Wing" as being the album's "best and most spirited Celtic cut". Stephen Segerman of South African music magazine Rock rated the album eight out of ten, and complimented it for incorporating a "fuller and rockier atmosphere [than Forgiven, Not Forgotten]". He also praised the record for containing "generous sprinklings of traditional Irish sounds and touches", which he said helped enhance the material.

The special edition of the album received mixed reviews from the American music press. James Hunter of Rolling Stone criticised Ballard's production on "Queen of Hollywood" for "forcing an Alanis-like edge where it's unneeded", and called the David Foster-produced tracks "goofy", but said that "Otherwise, this is a high-flying reintroduction to some blue chip popsters." A writer for People was critical of the re-release, as well as the remixed tracks, calling it "A collection of pretty, pop-lite tunes that could use more Celtic flavoring and less studio gloss, the album is best when harking back to the sounds of the Old Sod: reeling fiddles, soaring harmonies and the haunting tin whistle played by sister Andrea. Her lead vocals are as pretty to listen to as she and her sisters are to look at, but the string-sweetened arrangements are as bland and flat as a Dublin car park."

British rock magazine NME have retrospectively been highly critical of the album, placing it at number three in their 2014 list of "25 unfathomably popular albums of the 90's". The album also appeared in a 2016 article titled "8 of the all-time best-selling albums in the UK [which] have no redeeming features whatsoever".

Release and commercial performance
The original edition of the album was released internationally on 17 October 1997, and was an immediate commercial success in several territories. Within five months of release, Talk on Corners had sold over a million copies worldwide, and was certified sextuple platinum in their home country, as well as double platinum in Australia and Spain, platinum in Denmark and New Zealand, and gold in both Japan and Sweden. Its commercial success elsewhere was initially modest, however, with the album debuting at number 23 in France and at number 56 in Germany. In the UK, it debuted at number 7, but would fall out of the top forty there within a month of release. "Only When I Sleep" and "I Never Loved You Anyway" were released as the album's first two singles, with the former becoming a top ten hit in Ireland, while both songs peaked within the top forty of the Australian Singles Chart. "What Can I Do" was released as the album's third single, and also went on to be a top forty hit in Ireland. All three singles failed to reach the top forty of the UK Singles Chart.

Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood joined the band at their concert in the Royal Albert Hall on 17 March 1998 during their performance of "Dreams", which the band had recently contributed to the album Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. The entire concert was broadcast live on BBC One as part of that organisation's coverage of Saint Patrick's Day, and the event did much to raise the band's profile. The cover would become the Corrs' first top forty hit in the UK, after it peaked at number six. The following month, Talk on Corners was reissued in numerous territories with "Dreams" included as a bonus track, and the album finally peaked at number one in the UK on 21 June 1998, its 35th week on the chart. This edition of the album was the first to be released in the United States. It was released on 5 May, and peaked at number 17 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers Albums. The Corrs: Live at the Royal Albert Hall was released in August.

Talk on Corners: Special Edition
A special edition of the record was released internationally on 9 November 1998. This revised edition contained five remixed tracks, several of which were then released or re-released as singles. The previously released remix of "Dreams" by Todd Terry was included, along with a previously unreleased K-Klass remix of "So Young", as well as an alternate mix of "I Never Loved You Anyway". English electronic music duo Tin Tin Out remixed a further two tracks: "What Can I Do" (which has been released as a single) and "Runaway"—a song from their debut album. Tin Tin Out enlisted European string ensemble the Duke Quartet to provide orchestration for both tracks. The former would go on to become the Corrs' first top three hit in the UK when it was released as a single, while the remix of "Runaway" became their highest-peaking single yet, after it peaked at number two behind Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time". "Dreams" and "So Young" have been certified silver by the BPI for sales in excess of 200,000 copies each, while "What Can I Do" and "Runaway" were certified gold for sales of over 400,000 copies each. As of 2017, "What Can I Do" had sold 351,000 copies in the UK.

Following the success of the album in Europe and Australasia, an abridged version of the special edition was released in the US on 16 February 1999, and peaked at number 72 on the Billboard 200. To promote this edition, the band performed as the opening act on several dates of The Rolling Stones' No Security Tour, as well as their own national concert tour and appearances on numerous talk shows: including Saturday Night Live, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman. The Corrs: Live at the Royal Albert Hall was repeatedly aired on PBS.

This edition was the highest-selling incarnation of the album in several territories. Talk on Corners would go on to spend a total of ten weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart. On its final week atop the chart there, on the chart dated 4 April 1999, Forgiven, Not Forgotten reached a new peak of number two. It ended 1998 as the UK's highest-selling album, and was also the eighth highest-selling album of 1999. As of 2022, Talk on Corners has sold over 2.97 million copies in the UK, and remains the highest-selling album of all time by an Irish act there, as well as one of the best-selling albums of all time in the country.

Similarly, it was certified 20× platinum in Ireland, indicating shipments in excess of 300,000 units, and remains the highest-certified album of all time there, as well as the twelfth best-selling album ever. In 2001, the record was certified sextuple platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for shipments in excess of 6 million units throughout Europe.

Track listing
Notes
 * undefined signifies a co-producer.
 * undefined signifies an additional producer.
 * undefined signifies a remixer.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Talk of Corners.

 * Recorded at Peak Studios, Westland Studios and Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland; Ollywood Studios in Hollywood; Chartmaker, Inc. Studio in Malibu; A&M Studios, Aerowave Studio, Mulhulland Studio, Rafelson Recording Studio and the Record Plant in Los Angeles between July 1996 and May 1997.
 * All songs mixed by Bob Clearmountain, except: "Dreams" mixed by Rob Chiarelli and "Don't Say You Love Me" mixed by Mick Guzauski.
 * Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios.

The Corrs
 * Andrea Corr – lead vocals, tin whistle, arrangements
 * Sharon Corr – violin, backing vocals, arrangements
 * Caroline Corr – drums, bodhrán, backing vocals, arrangements
 * Jim Corr – guitars, keyboards, accordion, piano, backing vocals, arrangements, programming, production

Musicians

 * Matt Chamberlain – drums (track 12)
 * Luis Conte – percussion (track 11)
 * Dane Deviller – guitars, programming, engineering, co-production (track 12)
 * Anthony Drennan – guitars (tracks 4, 6, 14)
 * Keith Duffy – bass guitar (track 14)
 * David Foster – synthesizer bass (track 11) ; keyboards, arrangements, production
 * John Gilutin – keyboards (track 8)
 * Sean Hosein – synthesizer, programming, engineering, co-production (track 12)
 * Jeff Hull – keyboards, string arrangement and conduction (track 11)
 * Suzy Katayama – cello (track 11)
 * Matt Laug – drums (tracks 1, 8, 9)
 * Oliver Leiber – guitars, programming, engineering, production
 * Lance Morrison – bass guitar (track 8, 12)
 * Rick Nowels – guitars, production (track 11)
 * Dean Parks – guitars (tracks 8, 12)
 * Paul Peterson – bass guitar and keyboards (tracks 1, 9)
 * Tim Pierce – guitars (track 5, 13) ; mandolin (track 13)
 * John Robinson – drums (tracks 5, 7, 13)
 * John Shanks – guitars (tracks 1, 8, 9) ; electric mandolin (track 9)
 * Michael Thompson – guitars (tracks 2, 7) ; organ (track 12)
 * Lisa Wagner – cello (track 11)
 * Gota Yashiki – drums (track 6)

 * The Chieftains (on track 14) :

 * Derek Bell – harp
 * Kevin Conneff – bodhrán
 * Martin Fay – fiddle
 * Seán Keane – fiddle
 * Matt Molloy – flute
 * Paddy Moloney – Celtic arrangement, uilleann pipes and tin whistle

Technical

 * Glen Ballard – production (track 12)
 * Philip Begley – engineering (track 3)
 * George Black – programming (track 11)
 * Blinkk – photography
 * Bryan Carrigan – engineering (track 12)
 * Felipe Elgueta – engineering, synth programming (tracks 2, 5, 7, 13)
 * Chris Fogel – engineering (track 12)
 * Stuart Grusin – Pro Tools (track 3)
 * John Hughes – production (track 14)
 * Yazuru Koyanazi – recording assistant (track 11)
 * Al Lay – recording assistant (track 11)
 * Tim Martin – engineering (track 14)
 * Brian Masterson – engineering (track 14)
 * Leo Pearson – co-production, engineering (track 10) ; programming (tracks 2, 4–6, 10)
 * Peter Rafelson – co-production, programming (track 3)
 * David Reitzaz – engineering (tracks 5, 7, 13)
 * Colleen Reynolds – production coordinator (track 11)
 * Larry Robinson – additional production (track 10)
 * Brenda Rotheiser – art direction and design
 * Barry Rudolph – engineering (tracks 1, 3, 6, 8, 9)
 * Matt Silva – mix engineering (track 3)
 * Billy Steinberg – production (track 11)
 * Randall Wine – engineering (track 11)

title: Talk on Corners


text:
Toby Spence

Toby Spence (born 22 May 1969, London) is a British tenor active internationally on the concert platform, in the opera house and in recordings across a wide range of classical music.

Early life and studies
Spence was born into a musical family that had once owned the London piano manufacturer Squire Pianos. His father was a doctor, and his mother a pianist who worked as an archivist at the Royal College of Music. She had also been personal assistant to Walter Legge and Yehudi Menuhin, and artists and musicians were regular lunch guests at the family home. He was educated at Uppingham School and gained an honours degree in music at New College, Oxford, where he was a choral scholar and his teachers included Edward Higginbottom. He continued his vocal studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied with David Pollard with whom he has continued vocal studies. While still a student at Guildhall Spence appeared as Normanno in the Dorset Opera Lucia di Lammermoor in Sherborne in 1993.

Career
Spence's professional debut was in 1995 as Idamante in Welsh National Opera's production of Idomeneo, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras; he repeated the role later the same year in Munich after only one day of rehearsal. Other early engagements included La Calisto with René Jacobs in Brussels, Mitridate in Mitridate Rè di Ponto under Roger Norrington at the Mozart week in Salzburg, and subsequently at the Salzburg Summer Festival, Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the English National Opera, and David in Die Meistersinger under Antonio Pappano at La Monnaie in Brussels. At the same time he was performing on the concert platform in repertoire ranging from Beethoven's Missa Solemnis to Saint François d'Assise by Messiaen.

Toby Spence has on-going connections with English National Opera (ENO), and is a strong believer of the policy of singing in English. He appeared in successive seasons at the Opéra National de Paris and also at the Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper). He was the first Ferdinand in Thomas Adès' opera The Tempest at Covent Garden, and reprised the role in the work's American premiere production at Santa Fe Opera. He has since performed the role of Antonio in the same opera. Following The Tempest he has been invited back regularly to Covent Garden in operas by Rossini, Janáček and Wagner.

He made his Proms debut in 1997, in a performance of the Schubert Mass No. 5 in A flat, following this with Nielsen's Springtime on Funen in 1999, the Bach St John Passion and Parsifal in 2000, Handel's Acis and Galatea in 2001, Les Troyens à Carthage in 2003, Les noces in 2004, the Missa solemnis in 2005, Delius A Song of the High Hills in 2009, Beethoven's Choral Symphony in 2011, Ivor Novello songs and the Berlioz Requiem in 2012, Britten War Requiem in 2014, and Elgar The Dream of Gerontius in 2015.

During 2005 and 2006 his stage roles ranged from Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Teatro Real in Madrid and at ENO, to the Madwoman in Britten's Curlew River at the Edinburgh Festival, Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at Covent Garden and Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. The latter role was one Spence was keen to play from the start of his career, and he has sung it in several productions around the world.

Although he sang in some recitals at the beginning of his professional career, he was dissatisfied with the result and set song to one side for several years. When he resumed recitals his repertoire included Poulenc, Brahms and Britten, as well as the original version of Les nuits d'été with piano.

In an interview for the Paris Opera in 2008, Spence named Arsène Wenger as his non-musical hero. A man of keen and wide interests, he regularly visits galleries and is a keen concert and cinema goer. He enjoys travelling and in 2003 spent four weeks backpacking around Iran, visiting several cities. His marriage ended in divorce in 2001. In December 2011, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and underwent surgery in February 2012 to remove his glands and lymph nodes. In May 2012, he received the award for Singer of the Year from the Royal Philharmonic Society, and that August sang in public at the Edinburgh Festival for the first time since his operation.

He made his debut as Aschenbach in Britten's Death in Venice in 2021 (filmed) for the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, described by one critic as "...powerfully voiced Aschenbach... disintegrate impressively, each utterance of "I, Aschenbach" refrain increasingly more wretched."

In 2012, Toby and his brother, Magnus Spence, founded a festival of song at Wardsbrook, a farm in East Sussex where Magnus lives with his family. Since its inauguration they have presented recitals by Stéphane Degout, Sarah Connolly, Sir Thomas Allen, Christiane Karg, Felicity Lott, Ian Bostridge and Gyula Orendt. The aim of Wardsbrook is to promote the art of song and raise much needed funds for St Michael's Hospice in St Leonard's, Hastings, which provides palliative care for the community. In the first two years they raised nearly £60,000 for the establishment and running costs of a service that providing home-care for the elderly.

Recordings
Toby Spence has participated in many varied recordings, including songs by Liza Lehmann, Robert Schumann and Arthur Bliss, the Duo de l'ouvreuse de l'Opéra-Comique et de l'employé du Bon Marché by Chabrier, and in Volumes 32 & 35 of the Hyperion Schubert edition.

Other recordings included Parry's Job, Haydn's The Creation, Paroles tissées by Lutosławski, Offenbach's Vert-Vert, Berlioz's Grande Messe des Morts, Op. 5 and Les Troyens,Handel's La Resurrezione, HWV47, Finzi's Dies natalis, Op. 8, La Rondine, Così fan tutte, Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31, Bantock's Omar Khayyám, the title role in Sullivan's Ivanhoe and Philip, Lord of Mirlemont in Sullivan's The Beauty Stone.

title: Toby Spence


text: File:Talk on Corners.jpg

title: File:Talk on Corners.jpg


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Anthony, Duke of Brabant

Anthony, Duke of Brabant, also known as Antoine de Brabant, Antoine de Bourgogne and Anthony of Burgundy (August 1384 – 25 October 1415), was Count of Rethel (1402–1406), Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg (1406–1415), and Co-Duke of Luxemburg (1411-1415). He was killed at the battle of Agincourt.

Biography
Anthony was the son of Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, and Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, and brother of John the Fearless. When his great-aunt Joanna died childless in 1406, Anthony inherited the Duchy of Brabant, Lothier, and Limburg.

The Duke of Brabant arrived late to the Battle of Agincourt, and in his eagerness to reach the field, he dressed in improvised armour and wore a surcoat made from a trumpeter's flag. He fought valiantly but was captured by some English archers. He was executed along with the rest of the prisoners ordered by Henry V of England, the English being unaware of his high status and ransom value.

The execution was carried out as the much smaller English force found itself stretched to its limits, guarding prisoners with the battle still not won. A counterattack on the King's baggage train (guarded only by women and children) is thought to have driven King Henry to the decision, thinking he was being attacked from the rear and some chroniclers have given Brabant's belated charge as this very cause, adding to the Duke's chivalric but tragic final story. Subsequently the executions stopped immediately when the attack was seen to falter.

Marriages and family
Anthony married at Arras on 21 February 1402 Jeanne of Saint-Pol (d. 1407), daughter of Waleran III of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny and Saint-Pol. They had:
 * John IV, Duke of Brabant (1403–1427)
 * Philip of St. Pol (1404–1430), Duke of Brabant

Anthony married again at Brussels, on 16 July 1409, Elisabeth of Görlitz, duchess of Luxembourg (November 1390 – 8 August 1451), daughter of John, Duke of Görlitz. They had no children.

title: Anthony, Duke of Brabant


text: File:The Opera Band album cover.jpg

title: File:The Opera Band album cover.jpg


text:
Charlie O'Brien

Charles Hugh O'Brien (born May 1, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics (1985), Milwaukee Brewers (1987–90), New York Mets (1990–93), Atlanta Braves (1994–95), Toronto Blue Jays (1996–97), Chicago White Sox (1998), Anaheim Angels (1998–99) and Montreal Expos (2000).

O'Brien was a solid defensive catcher and a modest right-handed batter. He is best remembered for pioneering the hockey-style catcher's mask, which he created while with the Blue Jays. During his tenure with the Braves, O'Brien was notable for being the personal catcher for Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux.

Amateur career
O'Brien grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, beginning to play baseball as a catcher at the age of 5. While growing up in Tulsa, O'Brien attended and graduated from Bishop Kelley High School. The Texas Rangers drafted O'Brien in the 14th round of the 1978 MLB draft, but did not sign him. O'Brien attended Wichita State University, where he played college baseball for the Wichita State Shockers baseball team. The Seattle Mariners drafted O'Brien in the 21st round of the 1981 MLB draft, but O'Brien did not sign, returning to college for his senior year.

In his senior year, O'Brien set school records, hitting 25 home runs and driving in 116 runs as the Shockers reached the finals of the 1982 College World Series. The Oakland Athletics drafted O'Brien in the fifth round of the 1982 MLB draft, and signed him. O'Brien made his MLB debut with the Athletics on June 2, 1985.

Professional career
The Athletics traded O'Brien with Steve Kiefer and minor leaguers Mike Fulmer and Pete Kendrick to the Milwaukee Brewers for Moose Haas. He batted .324 with 15 home runs and 74 RBI with the El Paso Diablos of the Class AA Texas League in 1986.

The Brewers traded O'Brien and a player to be named later (minor leaguer Kevin Carmody) to the New York Mets with players to be named later (Julio Machado and Kevin Brown) in August 1990. He began the 1991 season as the starting catcher, ahead of Mackey Sasser and served as a backup to Todd Hundley when the latter was promoted.

O'Brien agreed to a $370,000 contract for the 1992 season. He was granted free agency for the 1993 season, and he signed with the Atlanta Braves on a two-year contract worth $1.1 million. He was a member of the 1995 World Series champions, and hit a key home run for the Braves during the 1995 National League Championship Series.

After the 1995 season, O'Brien became a free agent and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on a two-year contract. He signed with the Chicago White Sox for the 1998 season in order to share the catching position with Chad Kreuter, but was traded to the Anaheim Angels for minor leaguers Brian Tokarse and Jason Stockstill in July 1998. The Angels released O'Brien on August 6, 1999, replacing him with Benjie Molina. Now 40, O'Brien signed with the Montreal Expos for the 2000 season, but his success at preventing stolen bases had diminished. The Expos released O'Brien on June 22, 2000.

Over the course of his career, O'Brien caught eleven different Cy Young Award winners: Frank Viola, Dwight Gooden, Bret Saberhagen, David Cone, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Pat Hentgen, Roger Clemens, Chris Carpenter and Jack McDowell. However, he only caught three of these pitchers during Cy Young seasons—Clemens, Hentgen & Maddux. During Maddux's 1994 and 1995 seasons when he posted ERA's of 1.56 and 1.63 respectively, O'Brien generally served as Maddux's personal catcher. O'Brien later testified at Clemens' perjury trial. He is one of the few players to play both major league Canadian teams, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Montreal Expos.

After getting hit in his mask by two consecutive foul-tip balls in a game, O'Brien had the idea for a new catcher's mask while watching a hockey game. He then worked with Van Velden Mask Inc., of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, to develop his idea. The new design, called the "All-Star MVP", was approved in 1996 by Major League Baseball.

In his 15-year career, O'Brien batted .221 with 56 home runs and 261 runs batted in.

Personal life
O'Brien is an avid deer hunter.

title: Charlie O'Brien


text:
Buffalo Gap

Buffalo Gap is the name of several places in North America:

 * Buffalo Gap, South Dakota
 * Buffalo Gap, Texas
 * Buffalo Gap, a mountain pass in Augusta County, Virginia
 * Buffalo Gap, Saskatchewan
 * Buffalo Gap High School, a public high school in Swoope, Virginia named for the nearby gap
 * Buffalo Gap National Grassland, a national grassland in South Dakota

title: Buffalo Gap


text: File:In Blue (The Corrs album - cover art).jpg


text:
In Blue

In Blue is the third studio album by Irish pop rock band the Corrs, released in 2000 which saw the band become known in the United States. The title of the album comes from a lyric in the song "Give Me a Reason". As well as the UK number one single "Breathless", the album also contains new versions of "Radio" and "At Your Side", which had appeared on their previous album The Corrs Unplugged. Mutt Lange co-wrote and produced three songs from the album.

Several of the tracks were used in various television programmes and films: "Rebel Heart" as the theme for the TV miniseries of the same name; "One Night" in Mad About Mambo; "At Your Side" in Say It Isn't So and the trailer for the film The Holiday; and "All the Love in the World" in the film America's Sweethearts. At the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, "Breathless" was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, while "Rebel Heart" was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

The band

 * Andrea Corr – lead vocals, tin whistle
 * Caroline Corr – drums, bodhran, piano, vocals
 * Jim Corr – guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals
 * Sharon Corr – violin, vocals

Featuring

 * Anthony Drennan – guitars, lead guitar
 * Keith Duffy – bass guitar

Guest musicians

 * Ronan Dooney – trumpet
 * Paul Duffy – saxophone
 * Mitchell Froom – keyboards
 * Billy Farrell – keyboards
 * Fiachra Trench – string arrangement

Production

 * Producers: The Corrs, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, DFHM (Mitchell Froom, Billy Farrell, Tim Martin, John Hughes)
 * Engineer: Tim Martin
 * Assistant engineer: Frances Murphy
 * Mixing: Adam Olmsted, Mike Shipley
 * Pre-programming: Richard Meyer (aka Swayd)
 * Programming: Richard Meyer (aka Swayd), Cory Churko, Oisin Murry
 * String arrangements: Fiachra Trench
 * Production consultant: Mitchell Froom
 * Art direction: Elizabeth Barrett
 * Design: Andrea Brooks
 * Photography: Rankin, Norman Jean Roy

title: In Blue


text:
Buffalo Lake

Buffalo Lake may refer to:

Settlements

 * Buffalo Lake, Minnesota, U.S.

Canada

 * Buffalo Lake (Alberta)
 * Buffalo Lake (Northwest Territories)

United States

 * Buffalo Lake (Murray County, Minnesota)
 * Buffalo Lake (Waseca County, Minnesota)
 * Buffalo Lake (Wright County, Minnesota)
 * Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge (North Dakota)
 * Buffalo Lake (Minnehaha County, South Dakota)
 * Buffalo Lakes, a lake chain in South Dakota
 * Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Randall County, Texas
 * Lake Buffalo, in South Dakota

Other uses

 * Buffalo Lake (HBC vessel), a Hudson's Bay Company vessel

title: Buffalo Lake


text: User:Walter Holden-Belmont

title: User:Walter Holden-Belmont


text:
Buffington

Buffington may refer to:

Places in the United States

 * Communities
 * Buffington, Georgia
 * Buffington, Missouri
 * Buffington Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania

 * Landmarks
 * Buffington Harbor, Gary, Indiana
 * Buffington Hotel, a historic building in Westville, Oklahoma
 * Buffington Island, in the Ohio River, between West Virginia and Ohio
 * Battle of Buffington Island, a battle of the American Civil War

People

 * Buffington (surname)

title: Buffington


text:
Souterrain

Souterrain (from French sous terrain, meaning "under ground") is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age.

These structures appear to have been brought northwards from Gaul during the late Iron Age. Regional names include earth houses, fogous and Pictish houses. The term souterrain has been used as a distinct term from fogou meaning 'cave'. In Cornwall the regional name of fogou (Cornish for 'cave') is applied to souterrain structures. The design of underground structures has been shown to differ among regions; for example, in western Cornwall the design and function of the fogou appears to correlate with a larder use.

Etymology
The name souterrain comes from the French language (sous-terrain or souterrain), in which it means "underground passageway" or refers to subterranea in general. In languages other than English, it is sometimes used to mean "basement", especially in warehouses, or semi-basement.

Construction and suggested purpose
Souterrains are underground galleries and, in their early stages, were always associated with a settlement. The galleries were dug out and then lined with stone slabs or wood before being reburied. In cases where they were cut into rock this was not always necessary. They do not appear to have been used for burial or ritual purposes and it has been suggested that they were food stores or hiding places during times of strife, although some of them would have had very obvious entrances.

Brechin
An example of a wood-lined Iron Age souterrain with a possible water tank was excavated in 2016 at Brechin Farm, Angus by Headland Archaeology. It was 15 m in total length and was constructed in a 'C' shape with two distinct chambers. A linear ditch was located immediately adjacent to the souterrain and was connected to the southwest chamber by a tunnel. This tunnel sloped gently downwards towards the chamber and its edges were iron-panned, indicating that water had run through it for a significant amount of time. This indicates the southwest chamber was used as some kind of water collection and storage system. The soil into which the souterrain was dug was soft sand that would have been impossible to maintain without a lining; the presence of stake holes along the edge of the northeast chamber and the lack of stones means that the walls would have been wood-lined. Radiocarbon dating suggests occupation between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.

Rosal
An example of an excavated souterrain is the site at Rosal, Strathnaver, Sutherland. In this excavation, no artefacts or other finds were made inside the structure and the roof may have been only partially covered with stones, a timber roof being present on part of it. It was suggested that the souterrain could have been used as a byre or barn and it was associated with an abandoned settlement.

Castle Bloody
An example of a partially explored souterrain in northern Scotland, on Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands is Castle Bloody, situated near the seacoast. Another example has been excavated in Perthshire near Alyth.

In Scotland some souterrains may be connected with the same people who built brochs.

Newtownbalregan
A well-illustrated account of a souterrain excavated at Newtownbalregan, County Louth, one of the many souterrains discovered during a road-building project in Ireland, may be found in Archaeology Ireland Winter 2003 issue.

Farrandreg
A full report on the excavation of a three-level souterrain at Farrandreg, County Louth, in 1998 gives references for the 14 souterrains previously excavated in this souterrain-rich county. Finds included a rotary quern-stone (a grinding stone), a bone comb, a copper-alloy stick pin, three bone needles and the greater part of a tub-shaped pottery vessel in ‘Souterrain ware.’ Based on the finds, the excavator concluded the souterrain had been closed up in the 12th century.

Other Irish souterrains
Souterrains often are referred to in Ireland simply as ‘caves.’ A. T. Lucas, a folklorist and director of the National Museum of Ireland in the 1960s, published a series of articles on the references to souterrains in the early Irish annals. Donaghmore Souterrain, discovered in County Louth in 1960, and Drumlohan Souterrain in County Waterford are the only souterrains to be an Irish National Monument.

In Ireland, souterrains often are found inside or in close proximity to a ringfort and as such are thought to be mainly contemporary with them, making them somewhat later in date than in other countries. This date is reinforced by many examples where ogham stones dating to around the 6th century have been reused as roofing lintels or door posts, most notably at the widened natural limestone fissure at the ‘Cave of the Cats’ in Rathcrogan. The distribution of souterrains is very uneven in Ireland, with the greatest concentrations occurring in north Louth, north Antrim, south Galway, and west Cork and Kerry. Lesser numbers are found in counties Meath, Westmeath, Mayo, north Donegal, and Waterford. Other counties, such as Limerick, Carlow, and Wexford, are almost completely lacking in examples.

An article by Warner on the archaeology of souterrains, although published years ago, still is possibly the best general overview of the subject.

The most comprehensive study of Irish souterrains is M. Clinton's 2001 work, containing chapters on distribution, associated settlements, function, finds, chronology and 13 appendices on various structural aspects of souterrains.

A short summary account of souterrains in Ireland appeared in the quarterly magazine Archaeology Ireland in 2004.

title: Souterrain


text:
Buh

Buh may refer to
 * Novyi Buh, a city in Ukraine
 * Southern Bug, a river in Ukraine
 * Buh Cossacks
 * Buh Township, Morrison County, Minnesota, United States
 * Buh, Kapurthala, a village in India
 * Buh Gujran, a village in India
 * El Buh, a town in Somalia
 * El Buh District in Somalia
 * Saad Buh, a Sufi from Mauritania

title: Buh