text:
Surplus store

A surplus store or disposals store is a business that sells items and goods that are used, purchased but unused, or past their use by date, and are no longer needed due to excess supply, decommissioning, or obsolescence. The surplus sold is often military, government, or industrial goods; in the case of the former two, the business is usually called a military surplus store, government surplus store, war surplus store, or army-navy store.

Military surplus
Military surplus stores sell equipment that was intended for the military but is unable to be used, no longer in service, or originally purchased in excess by the military. These stores often sell camping equipment or military clothing. Large amounts of former military clothing and equipment were sold in these stores after World War I and World War II.

Canada
Known as army surplus stores, these typically also carry sporting goods related to hunting, fishing, and camping.

China
Army surplus stores in China are common. They mostly specialize in clothing, footwear, tarpaulins, and blankets, but also often sell occupational safety equipment.

Germany
In Allied-occupied Germany, the Allies initially confiscated the stock and materials of the Wehrmacht, including 500,000 tonnes of stock and over 150,000 tonnes of scrap. In 1948 a government agency, the Staatliche Erfassungsgesellschaft für öffentliches Gut ("State Collecting Company for Public Good", StEG), was formed to manage the sale of these items. In reference to the name of this agency, the army surplus was called Stegware, and their stores were nicknamed "Steg shops". Goods sold by these stores included new and used clothing, camping equipment, and tools; early on, vehicles and heavier equipment were also sold. In the early 1950s the U.S. military began to add their own surplus from the war. The joint surplus was sold across Germany until the 1980s.

United States
Known as military surplus stores or army navy stores, surplus stores in the U.S. typically carry military or military-spec equipment. After the World Wars and Vietnam War, large amounts of military surplus was left over from the large amounts of equipment made for drafted troops, making their stock and sale common. However, with the advent of the military being volunteer and the fighting force being smaller, most modern military stores have had to switch to selling "military-spec" items, which are civilian remakes of military items.

title: Surplus store


text:
User:Delacour~enwiki

My name is Jonathon Delacour.

I live in Sydney, Australia and have a strong interest in Japanese film and literature.

My weblog address is The Heart of Things.

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

title: User:Delacour~enwiki


text:
Omaha race riot of 1919

The Omaha Race Riot occurred in Omaha, Nebraska, September 28–29, 1919. The race riot resulted in the lynching of Will Brown, a black civilian; the death of two white rioters; the injuries of many Omaha Police Department officers and civilians, including the attempted hanging of Mayor Edward Parsons Smith; and a public rampage by thousands of white rioters who set fire to the Douglas County Courthouse in downtown Omaha. It followed more than 20 race riots that occurred in major industrial cities and certain rural areas of the United States during the Red Summer of 1919.

Background
Three weeks before the riot, federal investigators had noted that "a clash was imminent owing to ill-feeling between white and black workers in the stockyards." The number of African-Americans in Omaha doubled during the decade 1910–1920, as they were recruited to work in the meatpacking industry. In 1910, Omaha had the third largest black population among the new western cities that had become destinations following Reconstruction and during the Great Migration that started in the 1910s. By 1920, the black population more than doubled to over 10,000, second only to Los Angeles with nearly 16,000. It was ahead of San Francisco, Oakland, Topeka, and Denver.

The major meatpacking plants hired blacks as strikebreakers in 1917. South Omaha's working-class whites showed great hostility toward black strikebreakers. By this time, the ethnic Irish—the largest and earliest group of immigrants—had established their power base in the city. Several years earlier, following the death of an Irish policeman, ethnic Irish had led a mob in an attack on Greektown, driving the Greek community from Omaha.

The city's criminal establishment, led by Tom Dennison and teamed with the Omaha Business Men's Association, created a formidable challenge for the moralistic administration of first-term reform mayor Edward Parsons Smith. With little support from the Omaha City Council or the city's labor unions, Smith wearily worked through his reform agenda. Following several strikes throughout the previous year, two detectives with Omaha Police Department's "morals squad" shot and killed an African American bellhop on September 11.

Sensationalized local media reports of the alleged rape of 19-year-old Agnes Loebeck on September 25, 1919 triggered the violence associated with Will Brown's lynching. The following day, police arrested 41-year-old Will Brown as a suspect. Loebeck identified Brown as her rapist; however, during questioning, Brown stated that Loebeck did not make positive identification, which Loebeck later refuted. There was an unsuccessful attempt to lynch Brown on the day of his arrest.

The Omaha Bee, which published a series of sensational articles about many incidents of black crimes, publicized the incident as one of a series of attacks on white women by black men. A political machine opposed to the newly elected reform administration of Mayor Smith controlled the Omaha Bee. It highlighted alleged incidents of "black criminality" to embarrass the new administration.

Beginning

At about 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 28, 1919, a large group of white youths gathered near the Bancroft School in South Omaha and began a march to the Douglas County Courthouse, where Brown was being held. The march was intercepted by John T. Dunn, chief of the Omaha Detective Bureau, and his subordinates. Dunn attempted to disperse the crowd, but they ignored his warning and marched on. Thirty police officers were guarding the courthouse when the marchers arrived. By 4 p.m., the crowd had grown much larger. Members of the crowd bantered with the officers until the police were convinced that the crowd posed no serious threat. A report to that effect was made to the central police station, and the captain in charge sent fifty reserve officers home for the day.

Riot
By 5 p.m., a mob of between 5,000 and 15,000 people had crowded into the street on the south side of the Douglas County Courthouse. They began to assault the police officers, pushing one through a pane of glass in a door and attacking two others who had wielded clubs at the mob. At 5:15 p.m., officers deployed fire hoses to dispel the crowd, but they responded with a shower of bricks and sticks. Nearly every window on the south side of the courthouse was broken. The crowd stormed the lower doors of the courthouse, and the police inside discharged their weapons down an elevator shaft in an attempt to frighten them, but this further incited the mob. They again rushed the police who were standing guard outside the building, broke through their lines, and entered the courthouse through a broken basement door.

It was at this moment that Marshal Eberstein, chief of police, arrived. He asked leaders of the mob to give him a chance to talk to the crowd. He mounted to one of the window sills. Beside him was a recognized chief of the mob. At the request of its leader, the crowd stilled its clamor for a few minutes. Chief Eberstein tried to tell the mob that its mission would best be served by letting justice take its course. The crowd refused to listen. Its members howled so that the chief's voice did not carry more than a few feet. Eberstein ceased his attempt to talk and entered the besieged building.

By 6 p.m., throngs swarmed about the courthouse on all sides. The crowd wrestled revolvers, badges, and caps from policemen. They chased and beat every African American who ventured into the vicinity. White civilians who attempted to rescue black civilians were subjected to physical abuse. The police had lost control of the crowd.

By 7 p.m., most of the policemen had withdrawn to the interior of the courthouse. There, they joined forces with Michael Clark, sheriff of Douglas County, who had summoned his deputies to the building with the hope of preventing the capture of Brown. The policemen and sheriffs formed their line of last resistance on the fourth floor of the courthouse.

The police were not successful in their efforts. Before 8 p.m., they discovered that the crowd had set the courthouse building on fire. Its leaders had tapped a nearby gasoline filling station and saturated the lower floors with the flammable liquid.

Escalation
Shots were fired as the mob pillaged hardware stores in the business district and entered pawnshops, seeking firearms. Police records showed that more than 1,000 revolvers and shotguns were stolen that night. The mob shot at any policeman; seven officers received gunshot wounds, although none of the wounds were serious.

Louis Young, 16 years old, was fatally shot in the stomach while leading a gang up to the fourth floor of the building. Witnesses said the youth was the most intrepid of the mob's leaders. Pandemonium reigned outside the building. At Seventeenth and Douglas Streets, one block from the courthouse, James Hiykel, a 34-year-old businessman, was shot and killed.

The mob continued to strike the courthouse with bullets and rocks, and many civilians were caught in the midst of the mayhem. Spectators were shot while women were thrown to the ground and trampled. Blacks were dragged from streetcars and beaten. Many members of the mob even inflicted minor wounds upon themselves.

First hanging
About 11 o'clock, when the frenzy was at its height, Mayor Edward Smith came out of the east door of the courthouse into Seventeenth Street. He had been in the burning building for hours. As he emerged from the doorway, a shot rang out.

"He shot me. Mayor Smith shot me," a young man in the uniform of a United States soldier yelled. The crowd surged toward the mayor. He fought them. One man hit the mayor on the head with a baseball bat. Another slipped the noose of a rope around his neck. The crowd started to drag him away.

"If you must hang somebody, then let it be me," the mayor said.

The mob dragged the mayor into Harney Street. A woman reached out and tore the noose from his neck. Men in the mob replaced it. Civilians wrestled the mayor from his captors and placed him in a police automobile. The throng overturned the car and grabbed him again. Once more, the rope encircled the mayor's neck. He was carried to Sixteenth and Harney Streets. There he was hanged from the metal arm of a traffic signal tower.

Smith was suspended in the air when State Agent Ben Danbaum drove a high-powered automobile into the throng right to the base of the signal tower. In the car with Danbaum were City Detectives Al Anderson, Charles Van Deusen and Lloyd Toland. They grasped the mayor and Russell Norgard untied the noose. The detectives brought the mayor to Ford Hospital. There he lingered between life and death for several days, finally recovering. "They shall not get him. Mob rule will not prevail in Omaha," the mayor kept muttering during his delirium.

Siege of the courthouse
Meanwhile, the plight of the police in the courthouse had become desperate. The fire had spread to the third floor, and officers faced the prospect of burning to death. Appeals for help to the crowd below brought only bullets and curses. The mob frustrated all attempts to raise ladders to the imprisoned police. "Bring Brown with you and you can come down," somebody in the crowd shouted.

On the second floor of the building, three policemen and a newspaper reporter were imprisoned in a safety vault, whose thick metal door the mob had shut. The four men hacked their way out through the courthouse wall. The mob shot at them as they squirmed out of the stifling vault.

The gases of formaldehyde added to the terrors of the men imprisoned within the flaming building. Several jars of the chemical had burst on the stairway, and its deadly fumes mounted to the upper floors. Two policemen were overcome.

Sheriff Clark led the 121 prisoners to the roof. Will Brown, for whom the mob was howling, became hysterical. Fellow prisoners allegedly tried to throw him off the roof, but Deputy Sheriffs Hoye and McDonald foiled the attempt.

Sheriff Clark ordered that female prisoners be taken from the building due to their distress. They ran down the burning staircases clad only in prison pajamas. Some of them fainted on the way. Members of the mob escorted them through the smoke and flames. Black women as well as white women were helped to safety.

The mob poured more gasoline into the building. They cut every line of hose that firemen laid from nearby hydrants. The flames were spreading rapidly upward, and death seemed certain for the prisoners and their protectors.

Lynching

Three slips of paper were thrown from the fourth floor on the west side of the building. On one piece was scrawled: "The judge says he will give up Negro Brown. He is in dungeon. There are 100 white prisoners on the roof. Save them."

Another note read: "Come to the fourth floor of the building and we will hand the negro over to you."

The mob in the street cheered at the last message. Boys and young men placed firemen's ladders against the building. They mounted to the second story. One man had a heavy coil of rope on his back, and another carried a shotgun.

Two or three minutes after the unidentified men had climbed to the fourth floor, a mighty shout and a fusillade of shots were heard from the south side of the building.

Will Brown had been captured. A few minutes later, his lifeless body was hanging from a telephone post at Eighteenth and Harney Streets. Hundreds of revolvers and shotguns were fired at the corpse as it dangled in mid-air. Then, the rope was cut. Brown's body was tied to the rear end of an automobile. It was dragged through the streets to Seventeenth and Dodge Streets, four blocks away. The oil from red lanterns used as danger signals for street repairs was poured on the corpse. It was burned. Members of the mob hauled the charred remains through the business district for several hours.

Sheriff Clark said that black prisoners hurled Brown into the hands of the mob as its leaders approached the stairway leading to the county jail. Clark also reported that Brown moaned "I am innocent, I never did it; my God, I am innocent," as he was surrendered to the mob. Newspapers have quoted alleged leaders of the mob as saying that Brown was shoved at them through a blinding smoke by persons whom they could not see.

Aftermath
The lawlessness continued for several hours after Brown had been lynched. Both the police patrol and emergency automobile were burned. Three times, the mob went to the city jail. The third time its leaders announced that they were going to burn it (but never did). Meanwhile, Omaha officials requested assistance from the United States Army, which had been going on long before Brown was killed.

The riot lasted until 3 a.m., on the morning of September 29. At that hour, federal troops, under command of Colonel John E. Morris of the 20th Infantry, arrived from Fort Omaha and Fort Crook. Troops manning machine guns were placed in the heart of Omaha's business district; in North Omaha, the center of the black community, to protect civilians there; and in South Omaha, to prevent more mobs from forming. Major General Leonard Wood, commander of the Central Department, came the next day to Omaha by order of Secretary of War Newton D. Baker. Peace was enforced by 1,600 soldiers.

Martial law was not formally proclaimed in Omaha, but it was effectively enacted throughout the city. By the request of City Commissioner W.G. Ure, who was acting mayor, Wood also took control over the police department.

On October 1, 1919, Brown was laid to rest in Omaha's Potters Field. The interment log listed only one word next to his name: "Lynched".

Causes and consequences
The Omaha Riot was denounced throughout the country. The arrest and prosecution of mob leaders was widely demanded. Police and military authorities apprehended 100 of the participants on charges ranging from murder to arson and held them for trial. The Army presence in Omaha was the largest in response to any of the race riots, with 70 officers and 1,222 enlisted men. By early October, the emergency had passed and the Army contingent declined to two regiments by the middle of the month.

Omaha police would identify another 300 people wanted for questioning, including Loebeck's brother who had disappeared.

The district court ordered a grand jury to convene and investigate the riots, and a grand jury was impaneled on October 8. After a six-week session, the grand jury issued a report that criticized the Smith administration for ineffective leadership and police incompetence. Army witnesses testified to their belief that more prompt police action could have controlled the riot. One hundred and twenty indictments were handed down for involvement in the riots.

Of the 120 persons indicted for involvement in the riot, most were never successfully prosecuted, and all were eventually released after serving no term of imprisonment.

IWW accusations
General Wood initially blamed the disturbance on the Industrial Workers of the World, as part of the Red Scare then prevalent in the U.S. This interpretation was not supported by the evidence, however.

Newspapers
Reverend Charles E. Cobbey, the pastor of the First Christian Church, blamed the Omaha Bee for inflaming the situation. He was reported to have said, "It is the belief of many that the entire responsibility for the outrage can be placed at the feet of a few men and one Omaha paper." The inflammatory yellow journalism of the Bee is credited by several historians for stoking emotions for the riot.

The U.S. Army was critical of the Omaha police for their failure to disperse the crowd before it grew too large. Other critics believe the Army was slow to respond to the crisis; this was a result of communications problems, including the crisis caused by President Woodrow Wilson's having been incapacitated by a stroke. (Requests by the governor for federal military assistance had to go to the President's office.)

Tom Dennison
Many within Omaha saw the riot within the context of a conspiracy theory, the direct result of alleged conspiracy directed by Omaha political and criminal boss Tom Dennison. At the time, Rev. John Albert Williams, editor of a Black newspaper called The Monitor made the clearest and most direct public allegations against Dennison. A turncoat from Dennison's machine said he had heard Boss Dennison boasting that some of the assailants were white Dennison operatives disguised in blackface.

In more recent times, according to local historian Orville D. Menard in 1989, Dennison fomented the riot in the Gibson neighborhood near South Omaha. Dennison's scheme was corroborated by police reports that one white attacker was still wearing the make-up when apprehended. As in many other Dennison-related cases, no one was ever found guilty for their participation in the riot. A later grand jury trial corroborated this claim, stating "Several reported assaults on white women had actually been perpetrated by whites in blackface." They went on to report that the riot was planned and begun by "the vice element of the city." The riot "was not a casual affair; it was premeditated and planned by those secret and invisible forces that today are fighting you and the men who represent good government."

Racial tension
The event was part of an ongoing racial tension in Omaha in the early 20th century. There were attacks on Greek immigrants in 1909. The migration of many blacks into the city pursuing economic opportunities sparked racial tension in the state. After the Omaha riot, the Ku Klux Klan became established in 1921. Another racial riot took place in North Platte, Nebraska in 1929. There were also violent strikes in the Omaha meat packing industry in 1917 and 1921 and concerns about immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.

After the riot, the city of Omaha, previously a city in which ethnicities and races were mixed in many neighborhoods, became more segregated. Redlining and restrictive covenants began to be used in new neighborhoods, with African Americans restricted to owning property where they already lived in greatest number, in North Omaha. Although segregation has not been legally enforced for generations, a majority of Omaha's black population still lives in North Omaha.

Legacy
In the fall of 1920, Dr. George E. Haynes, an educator employed as Director of Negro Economics at the U.S. Department of Labor, produced a report on that year's racial violence designed to serve as the basis for an investigation by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. It cataloged 26 separate riots on the part of whites attacking blacks in widely scattered communities.

Together with other riots in 1919, the Omaha riot prompted the United States Senate Committee on Judiciary in October 1919 to call for an investigation of urban, industrial and racial problems. The committee members recognized lynchings as a justified cause of bitterness in the black community, and enumerated the riots of 1919 and lynchings as among the factors for its investigation. They called for leaders of the white and black communities to work toward reconciliation. In July 1918, President Woodrow Wilson had made a speech against lynching and mob violence. Congress had considered anti-lynching legislation since George Henry White introduced H.R. 6963 on January 20, 1900. President Joe Biden signed America's first anti-lynching law in March 2022.

James Joyce, in a 1919 draft of his novel Ulysses, mentions the murder. He based his mention on an article in the London Times of September 30, 1919, which mistakenly put Omaha in Georgia.

In 1998, playwright Max Sparber had his play about the riot produced by the Blue Barn Theatre in the rotunda of the Douglas County Courthouse. The play, titled Minstrel Show; Or, The Lynching of William Brown, caused a minor controversy. State Senator Ernie Chambers condemned the play for using the device of fictional African-American blackface performers as the story's narrators. He called for a black boycott of the play. Nonetheless, the play performed to sold-out houses and later enjoyed productions in other cities.

In 2007 the New Jersey Repertory Company presented Sparber's Minstrel Show or the Lynching of William Brown in Long Branch. The cast included Kelcey Watson from Omaha and Spencer Scott Barros from New York City. Both actors had performed in previous productions of the play. It was directed by Rob Urbinati. In 2009, California engineer Chris Hebert learned about the Omaha riot and the lynching of Will Brown after viewing a TV documentary on Henry Fonda, which mentioned the actor's having been profoundly affected by the riot as a young Omaha native. Describing himself as having "tears in my eyes" after reading more on the riot and Brown's death, Hebert further discovered that Brown still lay in the unmarked grave he was buried in at Potter's Field. After consultation with staff at Omaha's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, who located the grave after a lengthy search on June 11, Hebert donated money for the placement of a permanent memorial for Brown, giving his name, date and cause of death and the motto 'Lest we forget.' In an open letter to the people of Omaha, Hebert described his feelings behind his effort:

"It is a shame that it took these deaths and others to raise public consciousness and effect the changes that we enjoy today. When I discovered that William Brown was buried in a pauper's grave, I did not want William Brown to be forgotten. I wanted him to have a headstone to let people know that it was because of people like him that we enjoy our freedoms today. The lesson learned from his death should be taught to all. That is, we cannot have the protections guaranteed by the Constitution without law. There is no place for vigilantism in our society."

title: Omaha race riot of 1919


text:
Big Mouth Billy Bass

Big Mouth Billy Bass is an animatronic singing prop, representing a largemouth bass, invented by Gemmy Industries on December 16, 1998; sold beginning January 1, 1999; and popular in the early 2000s.

Gemmy Industries
Gemmy is an American novelty manufacturing company, best known for its animatronic and inflatable characters. It is currently headquartered in Coppell, Texas. Founded in 1984, the company originally began producing ballpoint pens. Gemmy eventually ventured into novelty manufacturing, and in 2000, it achieved marketing success with the Big Mouth Billy Bass. Following that success, the company began predominantly making animatronic figures focused on the Christmas and Halloween seasons. The company distributes product internationally, especially to the United Kingdom and Japan.

Design and features
The fish is made of latex rubber with an internal plastic mechanical skeleton. At first glance, the product appears to be a mounted game fish. The item was conceived by a Gemmy Industries product development vice president following his visit to a Bass Pro Shop. The mounted fish turns its head, wiggles its tail on the trophy plaque, and sings cover songs, such as "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (1988) by Bobby McFerrin; and "Take Me to the River" (1974) by Al Green. Green claims he received more royalties from Big Mouth Billy Bass than from any other recordings of the song.

The singing mechanism was originally activated by a motion sensor and was designed to startle a passerby. Eventually, a button was added to activate it. There have been many variants of Big Mouth Billy Bass produced by Gemmy. These use different types of game fish and aquatic animals. Variants include Big Mouth Billy Bones (a skeleton fish that sings "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers), Travis the Singing Trout (a rainbow trout that sings "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich; and "Rock the Boat" by The Hues Corporation), Cool Catfish (a catfish that sings "Bad to the Bone"), Rocky the Singing Lobster (a lobster that sings "Sea Cruise" by Frankie Ford and "Rock the Boat"), Lucky the Lobster (a lobster that sings "Doh Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Rock the Boat"), and Frankie the Fish (a blue cod fish from a McDonald's Filet-O-Fish commercial that sings an original song called "Give Me Back That Filet-O-Fish" plus a remix).

Spin-offs and other versions
The concept was later adapted into a large mounted deer head, known as Buck – the Animated Trophy (voiced by Clint Ford) as well as a medium-sized mounted bear head.

On December 7, 1999, a special holiday version of the Big Mouth Billy Bass was released. The fish had a Santa hat on his head and a ribbon with a sleigh bell on his tail. An anniversary edition followed in 2014.

A version from 2000 features a great white shark which plays John Williams's theme from Jaws and a cover of Bobby Darin's version of "Mack the Knife".

In 2018, Gemmy Industries partnered with Amazon to create an Amazon Alexa-enabled version of the animatronic. This variant pairs with any Amazon Echo device through Bluetooth, and it will move its mouth when responding to Alexa commands. It also shakes its tail when playing music through Amazon Music but does not lip sync to songs. When not connected to an Alexa device, the fish sings an original song titled "Fishin' Time" when its red button is pushed.

In late-2021, TikTok user Kevin Heckart hacked a Big Mouth Billy Bass to not only lip-sync to any voice track or song, but to also dance via head and tail movements to whatever song is played through any smart speaker connections. Heckart later made a similar hack to the Cool Catfish and Frankie the Fish by the same company along with Loftus International’s Tommy Trout as well as an orange Chinese Big Mouth Billy Bass 15th Anniversary Edition knockoff in mid-2022, all of them synced to an Amazon Alexa playing Nathan Evans's cover of The Wellerman.

A remake of the original Big Mouth Billy Bass was released in 2021. This new version cut "Don't Worry Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin for Luke Bryan's 2015 "Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day" in addition to Talking Heads' 1978 iteration of "Take Me to the River".

In popular culture
It was reported that Elizabeth II had a Big Mouth Billy Bass displayed on the grand piano of Balmoral Castle. The Netflix drama The Crown incorrectly depicts Prince Andrew giving it to her as a birthday present in 1997.

The success of the Big Mouth Billy Bass has led to several pop culture appearances, including product placements. Some of the device's notable appearances include The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Sopranos, King of the Hill, WALL-E, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, The Office, Peppa Pig, What We Do in the Shadows, The Act of Killing, We Bare Bears, Solar Opposites, Big City Greens, King Tweety, Arthur, and Barbie.

title: Big Mouth Billy Bass


text:
SMH

SMH may refer to:

Education

 * Saint Mary's Hall (San Antonio), a school in Texas, US
 * Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall, a school in Lancashire, England

Hospitals

 * Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Florida, US
 * Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New York, US
 * Surrey Memorial Hospital, British Columbia, Canada

Media

 * The Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian newspaper

Other

 * Samei language of Yunnan, China, ISO 639 code
 * "Smacking my head" or "Shaking my head" in SMS language
 * Stamford Hill railway station in London, England, National Rail station code

title: SMH


text:
Spar (sailing)

A spar is a pole of wood, metal or lightweight materials such as carbon fibre used in the rigging of a sailing vessel to carry or support its sail. These include yards, booms, and masts, which serve both to deploy sail and resist compressive and bending forces, as well as the bowsprit and spinnaker pole.

In larger vessels during the age of sail, spare spars could be roped together to provide a temporary surface known as a "spar deck". These served as jury-rigged repairs for permanent decks, or as an additional platform under which to shelter goods or crew. The term was also informally applied to areas of the forecastle or quarterdeck where spare spars were stored by laying them flat against the existing decking. In the modern era the term has been used to describe the uppermost deck on flush decked vessels.

title: Spar (sailing)


text:
Olu Dara

Olu Dara Jones (born Charles Jones III; January 12, 1941) is an American cornetist, guitarist, and singer. He is the father of rapper Nas.

Early life
Olu Dara was born Charles Jones III on January 12, 1941, in Natchez, Mississippi. His mother, Ella Mae Jones, was born in Canton, Mississippi. His father, Charlie R Jones, born in Natchez, was a traveling musician, and sang with The Melodiers, a vocal quartet with a guitarist.

As a child, Dara took piano and clarinet lessons. He studied at Tennessee State University, initially a pre-med major, switching to music theory and composition.

Career
From 1959 to 1964 he was a musician in the Navy, which he described as a priceless educational experience.

In 1964, he moved to New York City and changed his name to Olu Dara, which means "The Lord is good" in the Yoruba language. In the 1970s and '80s he played alongside David Murray, Henry Threadgill, Hamiet Bluiett, Don Pullen, Charles Brackeen, James Blood Ulmer, and Cassandra Wilson. He formed two bands, the Okra Orchestra and the Natchezsippi Dance Band.

His first album, In the World: From Natchez to New York (1998), revealed another aspect of his musical personality: the leader and singer of a band immersed in African-American tradition, playing an eclectic mix of blues, jazz, and storytelling, with tinges of funk, African popular music, and reggae. His second album Neighborhoods, with guest appearances by Dr. John and Cassandra Wilson, followed in a similar vein.

Dara played on the album Illmatic (1994) by his son, rapper Nas, and on the song "Dance" (2002), also by Nas, and he sang on Nas's song "Bridging the Gap" (2004).

As leader

 * In the World: From Natchez to New York (Atlantic, 1998)
 * Neighborhoods (Atlantic, 2001)

With Material
 * Memory Serves (1981)
 * The Third Power (1991)

As sideman
With Charles Brackeen
 * 1987 Attainment (Silkheart)
 * 1987 Worshippers Come Nigh (Silkheart)

With Rhys Chatham
 * 1984 Factor X
 * 1987 Die Donnergötter (The Thundergods)

With Carlos Garnett
 * 1975 Let This Melody Ring On (Muse)
 * 1977 Fire

With Corey Harris
 * 2002 Downhome Sophisticate
 * 2005 Daily Bread

With Craig Harris
 * 1985 Tributes (OTC)
 * 1999 Cold Sweat Plays J. B. (JMT)

With David Murray
 * Flowers for Albert: The Complete Concert (India Navigation, 1976)
 * Ming (Black Saint, 1980)
 * Home (Black Saint, 1981)
 * Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1 (Black Saint, 1984)
 * Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2 (Black Saint, 1984)
 * The Tip (DIW, 1995)
 * Jug-A-Lug (DIW, 1995)

With Nas
 * 1994 Illmatic
 * 2002 God's Son
 * 2004 Bridging the Gap
 * 2004 Street's Disciple

With Jamaaladeen Tacuma
 * 1983 Show Stopper
 * 1984 Renaissance Man

With Henry Threadgill
 * 1982 When Was That?
 * 1983 Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket

With James Blood Ulmer
 * Are You Glad to Be in America? (1980)
 * Free Lancing (1981)
 * No Escape from the Blues: The Electric Lady Sessions (2003)

With Cassandra Wilson
 * 1987 Days Aweigh (JMT)
 * 1993 Blue Light 'Til Dawn
 * 1999 Traveling Miles
 * 2002 Belly of the Sun

With others
 * 1970 Journey to Air, Terumasa Hino
 * 1970 Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring?, Jack McDuff
 * 1973 Ethnic Expressions, Roy Brooks
 * 1973 Revelation, Doug Carn
 * 1975 Heavy Spirits, Oliver Lake
 * 1977 Endangered Species, Hamiet Bluiett
 * 1978 Live at Moers Festival, Phillip Wilson
 * 1980 Flat-Out Jump Suite, Julius Hemphill
 * 1982 Flying Out, Cecil McBee
 * 1982 Nots, Elliott Sharp
 * 1983 Nona, Nona Hendryx
 * 1984 "Conjure - Music For The Texts Of Ishmael Reed", Conjure
 * 1985 The African Flower, James Newton
 * 1985 The Sixth Sense, Don Pullen
 * 1993 Deconstruction: The Celluloid Recordings, Bill Laswell
 * 1997 KC After Dark, Kansas City Band
 * 1998 Empire Box, Tim Berne
 * 1998 You Don't Know My Mind, Guy Davis
 * 2002 Medicated Magic, Dirty Dozen Brass Band
 * 2002 Trance Atlantic (Boom Bop II), Jean-Paul Bourelly
 * 2003 Chinatown, The Be Good Tanyas
 * 2007 The Harlem Experiment, The Harlem Experiment
 * 2007 This Is Where You Wanna Be, The Brawner Brothers
 * 2021 The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony, Julius Hemphill

title: Olu Dara


text:
User:Idono

Hi There.

title: User:Idono


text:
William D. Bloxham

William Dunnington Bloxham (July 9, 1835 – March 15, 1911) was the 13th and 17th Governor of Florida in two non-consecutive terms. Prior to his first term as governor, he served in the Florida House of Representatives.

In between his terms as governor, he served as state Comptroller when Francis P. Fleming was Governor. Bloxham was only the second governor of Florida to be born in the state.

Early life and career
Bloxham was born on a plantation in Leon County, Florida, the son of William and Martha (Williams) Bloxham. His great-grandfather had migrated from England to manage George Washington's plantation and his grandfather endured adversity due to the War of 1812. His father was from Alexandria, Virginia, and moved to Leon County to run a plantation in 1825, becoming one of few white settlers in a Native American-dominated area. The elder William served in the Seminole Wars. Martha Bloxham was born in Twiggs County, Georgia, and moved to Florida as a child.

The younger Bloxham went to county school in Florida before being sent to preparatory school in Virginia at age 13. For the next seven years, he attended Virginian schools, including Rappahannock Academy where his teachers included eventual U.S. Senator William Mahone. Bloxham graduated from The College of William & Mary in 1855 and acquired a law degree from the college. He was admitted to the Florida Bar but, when his health declined, he travelled to Europe and chose the more active life of a planter when he returned. In November 1856, he and Mary C. Davis travelled to her home city of Lynchburg, Virginia, to be married.

Bloxham became interested in politics and actively campaigned for James Buchanan in the 1856 presidential election. In 1861, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives without opposition. With the Civil War raging in 1862, Bloxham organized a company of infantry from Leon County which he commanded for the duration of the war. After the war, he staunchly opposed Reconstruction and, using his popularity as a speaker, was a leading voice among Florida Democrats. He served as a Presidential Elector for the Horatio Seymour/Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Democratic ticket in the 1868 election.

1870 election controversy
In 1870, Bloxham was at the center of a political firestorm during one of Florida's most violent periods. The Republican carpetbaggers were being resisted in Florida, often violently, by groups like the Ku Klux Klan. On Election Day of 1870, the most violent counties were inundated with federal troops at the request of Governor Harrison Reed. The chaos of that day included constitutional convention member, William Capers Bird, pointing a handgun at African American state senator Robert Meacham on the courthouse steps in Monticello, reportedly warning, "no damned nigger shall vote here."

When the voting finally ended, it appeared that Bloxham had won the Lieutenant Governor race. Republicans used the chaos of the day as an excuse for rejecting the votes of nine largely Democratic counties, but Bloxham sought an injunction from the Florida Circuit Courts to prevent tainted results from being announced. A circuit judge granted the injunction but a federal grand jury indicted the judge. With the circuit judge in jail, the Republican-led board of canvassers rejected enough ballots to overturn Bloxham's victory in favor of Republican Samuel T. Day.

Bloxham pushed the election dispute to the Florida Supreme Court, filing for a writ of mandamus on January 10, 1871, to force a recount. While the Florida Attorney General disagreed that a recount could be ordered, the Supreme Court Chief Justice sided with Bloxham. Republican legislators countered by repealing the law which created the board of canvassers in the first place and the Supreme Court was unable to compel the board to recount when the board effectively ceased to exist. Bloxham applied to the supreme court for a writ of quo warranto on February 20, 1871, to challenge Day's victory, but the case did not begin until November 15. On June 1, 1872, the court finally ruled that Bloxham had won the 1870 election, by which time he had missed every state senate session in the term, meaning the term was effectively concluded. Although he took the oath of office on June 3, he could not perform the lieutenant governor's only duty, which was to preside over the Senate. Thus, he is not named in lists of Florida's lieutenant governors. Regardless, the ruling marked the first win for the Florida Democratic Party since the war.

Governorship and the Disston Land Purchase
In the summer of 1872, Bloxham was unanimously nominated at the Jacksonville Democratic Convention to run for Governor with Confederate General Robert Bullock as his running mate. In November, a severe Election Day storm reduced the vote count and Bloxham was defeated by Republican Ossian B. Hart by 1,200 votes. Hart, who had tried to claim Abijah Gilbert's U.S. Senate seat two years earlier, died barely a year into his term. Bloxham served on the State Democratic Executive Committee and actively participated in the successful gubernatorial campaign of George Franklin Drew, promising protection to African Americans who voted for him. Bloxham was named Secretary of State.

In June 1880, Bloxham was nominated again to run for governor and so resigned as Secretary of State. In his second attempt, he won the election by over 5,000 votes and was inaugurated on January 4, 1881. Bloxham inherited a state debt of $1 million and a lawsuit that placed a lien on millions of acres of Florida land. Before his first month as governor was complete, Bloxham and Florida signed an agreement with Philadelphia saw manufacturing heir, Hamilton Disston, whereby Disston would attempt to drain the Everglades and would receive half of the land he reclaimed. With Disston actively planning his drainage efforts, Bloxham personally travelled to Philadelphia to make an even larger deal with him. On June 14, 1881, Disston signed a contract to purchase four million acres (16,000 km2) of Florida land, larger than the state of Connecticut, for $1 million, a purchase which made international news. When Disston and a second buyer, Sir Edward James Reed, paid in full, the state was out of debt and the first land boom soon followed.

Towards the end of Bloxham's first stint as governor, in 1884, call for revision to the Florida Constitution increased, fueled by division among the state's Democrats. Supporters of Bloxham's predecessor, George Franklin Drew, criticized Bloxham for the Disston Land Purchase as well as his apparent commitment to Florida Panhandle development at the expense of the rest of the state. They rallied around Confederate General Edward A. Perry and a call for a Constitutional Convention. In 1884, Bloxham lost the Democratic nomination to Perry; in 1885, voters approved the convention which led to the 1885 Florida Constitution.

Second term
On April 18, 1885, Bloxham was appointed Minister Resident and Consul General to Bolivia by President Grover Cleveland. Bloxham took the oath of office but declined to report for the post. Instead, he accepted a November 1885 appointment to become the U.S. Surveyor General for Florida which he held until December 1889. When the state comptroller position became vacant on May 1, 1890, Governor Francis P. Fleming appointed Bloxham to fill it. Bloxham was unanimously nominated for the position in August 1890 and easily won the election, and was easily re-elected in 1892.

Comptroller Bloxham ran for governor and was victorious in 1896, 12 years after leaving the office. Despite his conservative reputation, Bloxham left his mark in his second term by reinstating and expanding the powers of a railroad commission, restricting monopolies and creating a statewide auditor to eliminate government fraud and waste. Fire insurance company regulation was initiated and women served as public notaries for the first time during Bloxham's second stint as governor.

William Bloxham died on March 15, 1911, in Tallahassee, Florida. A planned Bloxham County, Florida, centered around Williston, Florida, was rejected by a referendum in 1915.

Plantation
Bloxham was a cotton planter in Leon County, Florida, and from the late 1850s owned the William D. Bloxham Plantation. He had 52 slaves.

title: William D. Bloxham


text:
Talk:Anointing of the sick

Untitled
I've received it several times when my health problems got to the point where I thought it would be good to have it done. It did have a comforting effect as I was going through my illness to have this given to me by my parish priest. I think it did help me to get better.

JesseG 03:45, 17 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Probably due to the Placebo effect. --NoPetrol 22:22, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Or faith depending on your POV. :) --Sketchee 08:47, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Nuns
Can't nun administer this sacrement (& Apolistic Pardon) in an emergency? (Alphaboi867 20:10, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC))
 * There is no such thing in the Roman Catholic church as an extraordinary minister for Anointing of the Sick. Only a priest or a bishop may administer the sacrament. 68.81.94.170 19:36, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Apostolic pardon and annointing are two things that are different. The first, while it can be given during the Annointing of the Sick, is reserved to those near death and is an indulgence for purgatory.  Annointing of the Sick, the Sacrament, is only given by a priest as it involves the care of souls (stict sense) and remits sin.  Both actions are reserved to clergy, the second being reserved to priests.  Therefore, a nun cannot validly administer the sacament under any circumstances.Davescj 21:02, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Holy Viaticum
Reuters reports "Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the 84-year-old Pope had been given the "Holy Viaticum" -- communion reserved for those close to death -- and had decided himself not to go to hospital for treatment.". Can someone explain the Holy Viaticum? Thanks. 63.202.80.51 06:07, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * It's a Holy communion given to those in danger of death, most often along with the anointing of the sick. --Sketchee 08:50, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

 * "Holy Viaticum" = the Eucharist given to the dying. "Viaticum" = traveling money in Latin, from "via" to go + "cum" with. Viaticum in The Catholic Encyclopedia - Nunh-huh 08:55, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Holy Viaticum: perhaps we need an article on that, or at least explanation of it in this one as the phrase currently redirects here. On another matter, I'm a little concerned about this paragraph:

 * While changes were proposed to this sacrament in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, there are actually hundreds of Catholic priests around the world who still offer the traditional form, matter, and intent of the sacrament of Extreme Unction. For a look at what the sacrament is like in its centuries-old form, watch the movie Brideshead Revisited adapted from the novel by Evelyn Waugh.

We need more discussion of how the form these priests offer differs from the new form. The last sentence needs replacing with a description of the centuries-old form. It's no good directing the reader to go and watch a movie to find out what it's like. If anyone knows about all this it would be good if they could add it in. — Trilobite (Talk) 10:01, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I added a link to an article Google turned up on Holy Viaticum. I was curious about the phrase as it was used in an AP article. I'll add a sentence or two to the main article. Brendano 16:50, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Davescj

POV?
It gives spiritual aid and comfort and perfect spiritual health, including the forgiveness of sins to Christians who are seriously ill.

While it certainly would give spiritual aid and comfort, I'm not sure that all Christians (especially Protestants) would agree that the ceremony confers "perfect spiritual health" or the forgiveness of sins, especially to an unrepentant recipient. Brendano 16:59, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * No I think it is fine as is. Basically, that is the Catholic understanding of the sacrament's purpose.~

 * I'm not sure that sola scriptura-abiding Protestants would even have a problem with this - the forgiveness of sins is explicitly stated in a cannonical book of scripture... they might not call this a sacrament, but that is outside the scope of your argument. I think the only people who would dispute the effects of the anointing are non-Christians. Perhaps a better way to phrase this would be: "The intended ends of the Anointing of the Sick are the giving of spiritual aid...". --Mm35173 17:06, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

A couple of things...
First, this incorporates text copied verbatim from the Catholic Encyclopedia. If you do that, you have to put the tag in the article. See: Using Catholic Encyclopedia material.

Second, some of the information presented there on Greek terms is not entirely correct. You have to distinguish between actual Greek ecclesiastical usage and Greek-derived Latinate vocabulary, in which there are often expansions and contractions of meaning. I did a Google search in Greek, and it came up with some Greek documents that use chrisma to refer to chrismation, not the anointing of the sick. I took some of the terms out until I can consult some of my Greek Orthodox literature and be sure they are warranted for inclusion in this article. --Jpbrenna 05:56, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Biblical Reference
The source of the biblical translation needs to be cited. The translation of πρεσβυτέρους to "elders" does not coincide with the tradition of the Church surrounding the minister of the sacrament. Not that the translation of πρεσβυτέρους as elders isn't a valid POV; it just needs to be addressed. Perhaps the Greek text should be included here with a public domain translation (Douay-Rheims, etc.). Latter-day translations could possibly be quoted under fair use. --Mm35173 16:58, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

 * Were you just wanting to mention that the word "presbyters" is understood to mean "priests" in Roman Catholic and Orthodox type churches? Wesley 04:27, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

"minority of Anglicans"
I'd challenge the assertion that a minority of Anglicans regard anointing of the sick as sacramental, while admitting that it's fairly difficult these days to determine what constitutes either a majority or a minority of Anglicans.

Furthermore, Article XXV in the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion of 1562 (one of the first and basic faith statements of Anglicanism) explicitly states that Extreme Unction is considered a sacrament. Jason M. Smith 06:08, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

No "luck" involved
I removed the following sentence: "The 2004 dictionary of the Greek language by George D. Babiniotis (Γεώργιος Δ. Μπαμπινιώτης) states that the sacrament 'is customary in cases of sickness or when someone thinks he is having ill luck.'" With all due respect to Mr. Babinotis, the Orthodox Church does not teach that there is such a thing as "luck". Certainly superstitions abound in Greece, as in many other ancient cultures, but reference to heretical ideas should not be invoked in defining a Sacrament of the Church. MishaPan 22:26, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Name of article
I have felt obliged to undo Sesmith's change of the title, which would give a wrong impression of the contents. The article is about the rite known as Anointing of the Sick, not about just any anointing of the sick carried out perhaps for medicinal purposes. In other words, not every "anointing of the sick" is "the ritual anointing, practised in many Christian Churches, of a sick person." Lima 12:04, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I would like to suggest changing the name of this article to "Unction" since in a number of churches, particularly Eastern churches, the sacrament is not reserved only for those who are physically ill. Since the scope of the article covers both the ministration to the sick as well as those not physically ill, it would seem that "Unction" would be more appropriate. Any input? MishaPan 19:49, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I would agree with such a move for the reason you provide. -SESmith 23:35, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
 * "Unction" or is not specific enough. Even "Unction (religious rite)" would not be specific enough.  Chrismation is also a religious anointing or unction.  Unction with oil is part of several other distinct religious rites that this article is not about.  Even in the Roman rite of the blessing of a church there is anointing.  The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church certainly do not call the rite merely "Unction".  I wonder how many, if any, minor groups do. If this rite has nothing to do with the sick, how justify quoting James 5:14-15, Matthew 10:8, Luke 10:8-9 and Mark 6:13 in its regard?  The Latin Church restricts the sacrament to those who are seriously ill, and in the past it restricted it to those who were not just seriously ill but in actual danger of death.  (Did MishaPan perhaps mean to write "seriously ill", not "physically ill"?)  Other Churches do not restrict use of the rite to serious illness, but that does not mean that they suppose the rite has nothing to do with illness of any kind, since they too quote James 5:14-15 in its regard.  Lima 04:50, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

If that's the case then where is the anointing of the sick article? Answer, it redirects here. Either globalize or fork. In ictu oculi (talk) 02:31, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

Syncing Catholic Section
I did a lot of work on the Catholic main article and will be doing some syncing of the sections. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mkow88 (talk • contribs) 19:45, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

Requested move 13 June 2018

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Move. No objections after 7 days. Cúchullain t/ c 14:15, 20 June 2018 (UTC)

Anointing of the Sick → Anointing of the sick – Per WP:CAPITALIZATION, "sick" should not be capitalized in the title. Rreagan007 (talk) 03:45, 13 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Support. It is an ancient concept descriptively named.  The specific sacraments names by organisations, eg Anointing of the Sick in the Catholic Church, can properly use a capital S, but this page, the parent article, is descriptive.  --SmokeyJoe (talk) 06:35, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Comment. When this was moved the other way in 2007, the edit summary stated, "The article is not about anointings of the sick in general but about the sacrament known as Anointing of the Sick." Dekimasu よ! 21:07, 19 June 2018 (UTC)
 * This seems to be a more general article than something like Anointing of the Sick in the Catholic Church, so I think I can support this request, although if it is simply going to be descriptive, the scope of the article should include anointing of the sick in non-Christian religions. Dekimasu よ! 23:22, 19 June 2018 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

title: Talk:Anointing of the sick


text:
Zweigelt

The Zweigelt, also known as Rotburger, is an Austrian hybrid grape variety created in 1922 by Friedrich Zweigelt (1888–1964), who later became Director of the Federal Institute and Experimental Station of Viticulture, Fruit Production and Horticulture (1938–1945). Zweigelt is a crossing between the St. Laurent and Blaufränkisch grape varieties.

Wine regions
Widely planted in Austria, Zweigelt vines have made inroads in the Canadian wine regions of Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and of British Columbia, with limited plantings in Hungary, Australia and New Zealand. In the Czech Republic it is known as Zweigeltrebe and is the third-most widely planted red-grape variety, comprising approximately 4.7% of total vineyards. It grows in most of the wine regions in Slovakia. , newly established Belgian and Polish vineyards have also started to plant Zweigelt. , Washington state has several small plantings (only a few acres) of Zweigelt, including Wilridge Winery and Perennial Vintners.

Naming and synonyms
Zweigelt is also known as Rotburger (not to be confused with Rotberger), Zweigeltrebe, and Blauer Zweigelt.

The Austrian viticulturist, Dr. Laurenz (Lenz) Moser (1905-1978), recognized the suitability of the "St. Laurent x Blaufränkisch" variety for high-trained vines as early as the 1950s. Moser considered the designation "St. Laurent x Blaufränkisch" to be too long, and from this point onwards argued that the crossing should be named after its original grower, Friedrich Zweigelt. By 1958, the naming process had reached a stage at which it could no longer be stopped.

The official designation "Zweigeltrebe Blau" appeared for the first time in 1972, when the new Grape Variety Index for Qualitätsweine (Quality Wines) was launched. The name of the variety was altered to "Blauer Zweigelt" in 1978, and the synonym "Rotburger" was created at the same time. The aim here was to make it clear that the new cultivations of Blauburger, Goldburger and Rotburger/Blauer Zweigelt all shared a common origin. No evidence can be found to support the widespread assertion that Zweigelt himself had applied the designation "Rotburger" to his new variety.

"Rotburger" remains a valid synonym and continues to be used as a label designation by Austrian vintners, although most producers prefer the name Zweigelt. The problem of naming the variety after a committed Nazi was first addressed publicly in December 2018.

Viticultural characteristics
In the Puget Sound AVA it tends to ripen 1–2 weeks earlier than Pinot Noir, and has very large heavy clusters of dark blue-almost-black grapes. The wine tends to be darker in color than Pinot Noir grown in the same area, and produces a larger crop than Pinot Noir.

title: Zweigelt


text:
9th Division (Australia)

The 9th Division was a division of the Australian Army that served during World War II. It was the fourth division raised for the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). The distinctions of the division include it being:
 * in front line combat longer, cumulatively, than any other Australian division;
 * one of the Australian military's most decorated formations;
 * the only 2nd AIF division formed in the United Kingdom, from infantry brigades and support units formed in Australia;
 * praised by both Allied and Axis generals, including Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel, as well as non-Australian military historians, and;
 * like the 6th and 7th Divisions, being one of only a few Allied army units to serve in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theatres.

During 1940, the component units of the 9th Division were sent to the UK to defend it against a possible German invasion. After serving during 1941–1942 in the North African campaign, at the Siege of Tobruk and both the First and Second Battles of El Alamein, the 9th Division returned to Australia. In 1943–1944, it served in the New Guinea campaign and, during 1945, in the Borneo campaign. It was disbanded, following the end of the war, in early 1946.

Formation
The 9th Division was the fourth AIF division raised, being formed in the United Kingdom in late 1940. Initially it consisted of only two infantry brigades which had been formed in Australia and dispatched to Britain in order to defend against a possible invasion following the Fall of France—the 18th and 25th Brigades—under the command of Major General Henry Wynter. Later, the 24th Brigade was also assigned to the division.

In January 1941 Wynter became ill and was replaced as divisional commander by Leslie Morshead. By February 1941, 9th Division headquarters had been relocated to the Middle East. Around this time the divisions of the AIF underwent a reorganisation as the decision was made to send the more established brigades to Greece; as a result both the 18th and 25th Brigades were transferred from the 9th to the 7th Division. They were replaced by the 20th and 26th Brigades, both of which were considered to be less experienced and therefore less ready for action.

Cyrenaica
After completing its initial training in Australia, Great Britain and Palestine, the units of the 9th Division were sent to Cyrenaica in Libya in early March 1941 to complete their training and equipping as part of the garrison of this region. Short of equipment such as machine guns, mortars, anti-tank guns and carriers, most of the division's artillery and cavalry units did not accompany the infantry brigades to Cyrenaica at this time. The 20th Brigade was the first unit from the division to move, departing on 27 February. It was joined shortly by the other two brigades. It was during this time that the division suffered its first casualties when German bombers attacked the transport column in which the 2/13th Battalion was travelling, killing two Australians and wounding one other. By 9 March the 20th Brigade relieved the 17th Brigade from the 6th Division, along the Cyrenaican frontier.

By late March, it became clear that German-led Axis forces planned to launch an offensive in Cyrenaica. As a result, the 9th Division commander, Leslie Morshead, ordered the 20th Brigade to withdraw from the frontier, moving 160 mi back towards Benghazi. The offensive began on 24 March, quickly forcing the British units along the frontier back as it drove towards Benghazi. Two days later the 26th Brigade took up positions in the west near the coast to support the 20th Brigade which was holding the pass at Er Regima. At this stage, the division's anti-tank troops were issued with captured Italian guns in order to make up the shortfall in British weapons.

As the Axis advance continued with German victories at Marsa Brega and Agedabia which threatened to outflank the units cut off in Benghazi, the 9th Division were ordered to fall back from their positions along the coast to the east to Derna. Lacking their own transport, they had to rely on that provided by other units and thus the withdrawal had to be undertaken in stages. In order to achieve this, the 2/13th Battalion was used as a rear guard and late in the afternoon of 4 April it undertook the division's first action of the war when the Germans attacked their positions in the Er Regima Pass. Supported by British artillery, the battalion, spread out across an 11 km front, managed to delay a German force of about 3,000 personnel mounted in lorries and accompanied by armoured cars and tanks. Only lightly armed, however, they were unable to prevent the Germans from outflanking them, and gradually they were forced to pull back before. At 2200 hours, their transport arrived, and they were able to withdraw just as they were faced with encirclement. In this action, the 2/13th Battalion suffered five killed and 93 wounded or captured.

Two days after the action at Er Regima Pass, the 9th Division was ordered to fall back along the coast road towards Tobruk in what was later called the "Benghazi Handicap". Due to the speed of the Axis advance and the division's lack of transport, confusion reigned and part of the 2/15th Battalion, including most of its headquarters and its commanding officer, were captured.

Siege of Tobruk

Covered by rear guard actions at Er Regima and Mechili, the 9th Division reached Tobruk on 9 April 1941. The 7th Division's 18th Brigade had arrived two days earlier and together with a number of British artillery and armoured regiments and an Indian cavalry regiment, the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry (now 18 Cavalry), they were placed under the command of Major General John Lavarack and ordered to hold the port for at least two months while a relieving force from Egypt was organised.

The first engagement came on 10 April when an Axis force approached the port from the west but was repelled. The following day, Tobruk was effectively placed under siege when German forces cut the supply road to its east, encircling the Allied garrison. On 13 April the first major attack came when the German commander, Erwin Rommel, launched an attack against the 20th Brigade west of the El Adem road. This attack was beaten off, although that night a force of Germans with mortars and machine guns managed to break into the defences only to be counterattacked by a small group of Australians, including John Edmondson, armed with bayonets and grenades. For his part in the attack Edmondson was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the first of seven which were bestowed upon members of the 9th Division during the war.

Over the course of the next six months the 9th Division and the rest of the garrison repelled repeated attempts by Rommel's forces to capture the port. The Australian defence of Tobruk was anchored on three factors: the use of the pre-existing Italian fortifications around the port, aggressive patrolling and raiding of Axis positions and the firepower of the garrison's artillery. Fighting from fixed positions, the Australian infantry successfully contained and defeated repeated German armoured and infantry attacks on the fortress. After the failure of the British attempts to relieve the fortress in May and June 1941 the 9th Division was successful in gradually improving Tobruk's defences through aggressively raiding Axis positions.

Upon the request of the Australian War Cabinet, the bulk of the 9th Division was withdrawn from Tobruk in September and October 1941, and handed over to the British 70th Division with only the 2/13th Battalion remaining in the fortress at the time the garrison was finally relieved in December. The defence of Tobruk cost the 9th Division 3,164 casualties including 650 killed, 1,597 wounded and 917 captured.

El Alamein
After its withdrawal from Tobruk the 9th Division enjoyed only a brief period of rest in Palestine before being redeployed to northern Syria where, as part of the British Ninth Army, it was responsible for guarding the Turkish–Syrian frontier. Here they were rejoined by the 9th Division Cavalry Regiment, which had been detached in June 1941 to take part in the Syria–Lebanon campaign. This deployment was the first time all the elements of the division had been concentrated in one area, albeit an area that stretched 1200 sqmi. In addition to its garrison duties, the 9th Division also conducted some much needed training in mobile warfare during its stay in Syria.
 * Syrian interlude

In early 1942 Australian I Corps, including the 6th and 7th Divisions, was withdrawn to Australia in response to Japan's entry into the war. The Australian government, however, agreed to British requests to retain the 9th Division in the Middle East in exchange for an additional American division being sent to Australia.

 * First Battle of El Alamein

During early 1942 the Axis forces advanced steadily through north west Egypt. It was decided that the British Eighth Army should make a stand just over 100 km west of Alexandria, at the railway siding of El Alamein, where the coastal plain narrowed between the Mediterranean Sea and the inhospitable Qattara Depression. On 26 June 1942 the 9th Division was ordered to begin moving from northern Syria to El Alamein. On 1 July, Rommel's forces made a major attack, hoping to dislodge the Allies from the area, take Alexandria, and open the way to Cairo and the Suez Canal. However, the Eighth Army had regrouped sufficiently to repel the Axis forces and launch counterattacks. On 6 July, the lead elements of the 9th Division arrived at Tel el Shammama 22 mi from the front, from where they would be committed to the fighting in the northern sector.

Before dawn on 10 July, as Rommel focused his efforts on the southern flank of the battlefield, the 9th Division attacked the north flank of the enemy positions and captured the strategic high ground around Tel el Eisa. In the days following, Rommel redirected his forces against them, in a series of intense counterattacks, but was unable to dislodge the Australians. On 22 July, the 24th and 26th Brigades attacked German positions on the ridges south of Tel el Esia, suffering heavy casualties taking positions on Tel el Eisa Ridge and Makh Khad Ridge.

The final phase of the First Battle of El Alamein was a disaster for the Allies and the 2/28th Battalion in particular: an attempt to capture Sanyet el Miteiriya, known as "Ruin Ridge", on 27 July. The operation was part of a complex series of night attacks. The 2/28th suffered significant casualties and vehicle losses in its advance, but achieved its objective. However, the battalion was soon surrounded by German infantry. A planned advance by British tanks failed and German tanks arrived. The 2/28th's positions came under a prolonged and methodical attack by the Axis forces. By the time they surrendered, 65 Australians had been killed. Although the vast majority of the 2/28th had become prisoners of war, 93 members of the battalion remained behind Allied lines and it was subsequently rebuilt.

 * Second Battle of El Alamein

Following the fighting in July, the 9th Division remained in front-line positions around El Alamein, but were engaged in mainly static defensive duties for the next three months. Nevertheless, patrols were maintained and some raiding was undertaken, including a raid on 1 September undertaken by the 2/15th Battalion to seize a point 3 km south-west of Tel el Eisa in which 150 Germans were killed and another 140 taken prisoner, against which the Australians lost 39 killed, 109 wounded and another 25 missing.

By late October 1942, the Eighth Army, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, decided to launch its own offensive in the Western Desert, amassing a force of some 220,000 personnel supported by 1,100 tanks and 900 artillery pieces. The 9th Division was positioned in the northern sector of the Eighth Army's front at El Alamein, nearest the coast, as part of British XXX Corps. This sector was to effect the main thrust of the Allied attack. While XIII and most of XXX Corps failed to meet their objectives on 25 October, the 9th Division gained considerable momentum, attacking both frontally and executing a wide "left hook" from their original positions, in their sector, with one Axis outpost after another falling to them. Together with the 51st (Highland) Division, and the 2nd New Zealand Division, they had mauled the Italian Trento Division and the German 164th Division. By the following day the 9th Division had managed to further slice through the German 164th Division and trap the greater part of it against the sea. This caused the Axis to rush reinforcements to their sector.

As events unfolded, it was on the 9th that Montgomery, the Eighth Army commander, pinned his hopes on a breakthrough. Before this breakthrough was attempted, however, the 9th Division was subjected to numerous counter-attacks by German forces and many of the division's units suffered so many casualties that they were described as "mere skeletons". By the night of 31 October/1 November Morshead decided to relieve his forward brigade, the 26th Brigade, with the relatively fresh 24th Brigade, however, the following day two German divisions attacked the brigade.

On 2 November, Operation Supercharge—as the breakout was named—began and the final phase of the battle began. The British armoured formations suffered heavily in the initial stages, before on the second day the 51st Division managed to force a gap through the Axis lines, creating a gap of over 6 mi through which the armour was redirected. The result of this was that the pressure was taken off the 9th Division as the focus of the fighting shifted to the south of Tel el Eisa. After this the 9th Division ceased offensive action, although they continued patrolling operations until 4 November when Rommel ordered a general withdrawal. The four months that the 9th Division had been involved in the fighting around El Alamein cost them 1,225 killed, 3,638 wounded and 946 captured, for a total of 5,809 casualties.

South West Pacific
In October 1942 the Australian government requested that the 9th Division be released from service in the Middle East and returned to Australia to be utilised against the Japanese in the Pacific. Although both the British prime minister, Winston Churchill and the American president Franklin Roosevelt advised against this, the Australian prime minister John Curtin insisted and by mid December the decision to bring the division back to Australia was confirmed. In late December the division concentrated around Gaza, where a divisional parade was held before preparations for embarkation began.

The 9th Division began embarking for its return to Australia on 24 January 1943. Transported on four troopships—the Queen Mary, Ile de France, Nieuw Amsterdam and Aquitania—as part of Operation Pamphlet the division arrived at Fremantle in Western Australia on 18 February whereupon all members of the division were granted three weeks leave. Welcome-home parades were held in every Australian capital city, after which the 9th Division began reforming in April 1943 in the semi-tropical Atherton Tablelands region of Far North Queensland where it began re-organising and re-training for jungle warfare. As part of the conversion to a Jungle Division many of the division's units were either separated from the division, reorganised into new roles or disbanded. Of note, the division's cavalry unit, the 9th Division Cavalry Regiment, gave up its vehicles and was converted to the commando role, becoming the 2/9th Cavalry Commando Regiment. After completing amphibious training near Cairns the 9th Division, now under Major General George Wootten who had taken command of the division in March, departed for Milne Bay in New Guinea in late July and early August 1943.

New Guinea

 * Lae

The 9th Division's first task in New Guinea was to liberate the town of Lae in a joint operation with the 7th Division. The 9th Division would carry out an amphibious landing to the east of the town at Malahang—the first large scale seaborne landing by an Australian formation since the Gallipoli campaign in 1915—while the 7th Division would be flown into the recently secured Nadzab airfield, to the west of Lae. The 20th Brigade, now under Brigadier Victor Windeyer, was chosen as the lead assault unit and on 1 September it began embarking at Milne Bay. Departing the following day, they were transported to the Buna–Morobe area where it linked up with the 57 landing craft that had been assigned to the operation. On the night of 3/4 September they began the 80 mi run to the landing beaches, arriving just before dawn.

At 0630 hours on 4 September the 20th Brigade launched the initial assault under the cover of naval bombardment. Two battalions were landed on the main beach, codenamed Red Beach, while one more was landed 3 mi west at Yellow Beach. Experiencing no opposition on the beaches, patrols were sent out to effect a link up along the beachhead. 35 minutes later as the 26th Brigade came ashore, they were attacked by nine Japanese aircraft which inflicted a number of casualties on the Australians in the LCIs, with eight personnel being killed, including the commanding officer of the 2/23rd Battalion, while another 20 were wounded. The following day, the 26th Brigade passed through the perimeter that had been set up by the 20th Brigade and began to advance along the coast towards Lae, crossing the Buso river before nightfall on 5 September. That night, the 24th Brigade, which had been held back as the divisional reserve, landed at the beachhead.

After establishing their supply bases the two Australian divisions raced each other to Lae. The 7th Division entered the town several hours ahead of the 9th Division on 16 September. The 9th Division's advance had been held up by Japanese resistance and difficulties with crossing the rivers between the landing beaches and Lae.

 * Huon Peninsula campaign

The capture of Lae ahead of schedule meant that the focus of Allied operations could then be shifted upon an advance up the Huon Peninsula, which was strategically important to the Allies as it would allow them to establish air and naval bases for future operations. On 22 September 1943, only six days after the fall of Lae, the 20th Brigade made an amphibious landing at Scarlet Beach, 10 km north of Finschhafen. Because of the haste with which the operation had been put together, there had been no time for rehearsals and this, coupled with faulty maps and the fact that the landing took place in darkness, resulted in the majority of the brigade being landed on the wrong beach. Allied intelligence estimates of Japanese strength around Finschhafen were also faulty, with an expected force of between 500 and 2,100, although the Japanese really had around 5,000 personnel in the area.

Nevertheless, after a week of heavy fighting against well-entrenched Japanese troops, the Australians captured the town and airfield of Finschhafen, declaring it liberated on 2 October.

However, most of the Japanese that had been around Finschhafen managed to retreat to a 1000 m mountain around Sattelberg. On 16 October they launched a counterattack from there. In response to this, the 26th Brigade was brought up to relieve the 20th, and by 25 October the Japanese counterattack was beaten off. The 9th Division then went on the offensive against Sattelberg on 7 November. With intermittent and sometimes heavy air support, the Australian troops worked to uproot the Japanese from the strategically important peak. It fell to the 9th Division on 25 November 1943, after the 2/48th Battalion reached the summit. It was during this final assault that Sergeant Tom Derrick carried out the actions that led to him receiving the Victoria Cross.

Borneo

In January 1944 the 9th Division was relieved by the 5th Division around Sio and progressively over the following two months they were brought back to Australia. After a period of leave the division once again re-formed on the Atherton Tablelands. Due to high personnel turnover in this period as personnel were discharged or transferred to other units, many of the division's units had to be virtually rebuilt from scratch. Indeed, in order to bring the division's infantry units up to strength an entire Militia battalion, consisting of nearly 400 personnel from the 62nd Battalion, was broken up to provide reinforcements.

Due to rapid developments in the war and strategic uncertainty over the role of Australian forces in the Pacific, the 9th Division remained in Australia for over a year before seeing action once more. While the Australian I Corps (of which the 9th Division was part) had originally been intended to participate in the liberation of the Philippines, these plans were dropped, and the Corps was instead tasked with the liberation of Borneo. This would be the division's final involvement in the war and its participation in the campaign was broken up into two primary operations: a landing on Tarakan and another on Brunei and Labuan.

 * Tarakan

The 26th Brigade group was assigned the task of capturing Tarakan Island and destroying the Japanese garrison. Japanese forces on the island were estimated at around 2,000 personnel along with around 250 civilians working in the oil plants. On 30 April 1945 a small force of commandos from the 2/4th Commando Squadron, along with a battery of 25-pounder field guns from the 2/7th Field Regiment, were landed on Sadau Island off the coast of Tarakan, from where they would provide indirect fire support during the landing. The following day, 1 May, at 0640 the battery on Sadau opened the preliminary bombardment along with two cruisers and six destroyers stationed offshore. At 0656 hours the main assault began as the LCIs carrying the two battalions that would lead the attack—the 2/23rd and 2/48th—crossed the line of departure and headed towards the landing beach at Lingkas.

Although initially Japanese opposition to the landing was light, as the Australians advanced inland from the landing beach, the resistance grew in its intensity and it was mid June by the time that the main Japanese force was broken up and mopping up operations began. These operations continued throughout July until starvation forced the majority of those remaining to surrender. The Australians lost 250 killed and 670 wounded in this operation, while the Japanese lost around 1,500 personnel killed and another 250 captured trying to defend the island.

 * Brunei and Labuan

The remainder of the 9th Division landed in the Labuan and Brunei area on 10 June 1945. Tasked with securing Brunei Bay in order to establish a naval base and secure vital oil and rubber production facilities, 14,079 personnel from the division took part, just under half of a total of 30,000 that were assigned to the operation. Following a preliminary naval and aerial bombardment, the 24th Brigade landed at the southern end of Labuan island, which situated as it was at the entrance of Brunei Bay, commanded the approach to northern Borneo. At the same time, the 20th Brigade landed near Brooketon, on a small peninsula in the southern end of the bay. A third, albeit smaller, landing was made by one of the 20th Brigade's battalions—the 2/15th—on the small island of Muara. The island had not been garrisoned by the Japanese and all the Australian landings went in unopposed.

The 20th Brigade rapidly secured Brunei town against relatively light opposition, suffering only 40 casualties in this campaign. The 24th Brigade, however, encountered greater opposition in taking the island of Labuan, where the defenders withdrew to an inland stronghold where they held out along dense jungle covered ridges and muddy swamps. In order to subdue the Japanese resistance an intense naval and artillery bombardment was laid down over the course of a week before an assault was put in by two companies of infantry supported by tanks and flamethrowers.

After securing Labuan, the 24th Brigade was landed on the northern shore of Brunei Bay on 16 June, while the 20th Brigade continued to consolidate the southern lodgement by advanced south-west along the coast towards Kuching and securing the hinterland as well. The 2/32nd Battalion landed at Padas Bay and seized the town of Weston, before sending out patrols towards Beaufort, 23 km inland. Held by 800–1,000 Japanese, on 27 June an attack was carried out there by the 2/43rd Battalion. Amid a torrential downpour and encountering difficult terrain, the 2/32nd Battalion secured the south bank of the Padas River, while one company from the 2/43rd was sent to take the town and another marched to the flanks, to take up ambush positions along the route that the Japanese were expected to withdraw along. The 2/28th Battalion secured the lines of communication north of the river. On the night of 27/28 June the Japanese launched six counterattacks which devolved into hand-to-hand combat. Amid appalling conditions, one company became isolated and the next morning another was sent to its aid to attack the Japanese from the rear. Fighting its way through numerous Japanese positions, the company killed at least 100 Japanese and one of its members, Private Tom Starcevich, was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his efforts.

Following this, the Japanese began to withdraw from Beaufort and the Australians began a slow, cautious advance using indirect fire to limit casualties. By 12 July they occupied Papar, and from there sent out patrols to the north and along the river until the cessation of hostilities. By August the fighting came to an end. The division's total casualties in this operation were 114 killed and 221 wounded, while the Japanese lost at least 1,234 personnel.

Disbandment
Following the end of the war the 9th Division remained in Borneo and performed emergency relief and occupation duties until the arrival of Indian troops in January 1946. The 9th Division began gradually demobilising on 1 October 1945 with soldiers with dependants or long service being the first to be discharged. The division's headquarters was disbanded on 10 February 1946 and the last unit of the division was disbanded in May 1946. While the majority of the division's personnel returned civilian life after the war, some continued to serve with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, joining the 66th Infantry Battalion.

Casualties

The 9th Division suffered a total of 2,732 killed in action, 7,501 wounded and 1,863 captured. These 12,096 casualties represent approximately one quarter of the personnel who served with the division.

Decorations
The 9th Division was the most highly decorated of the four AIF divisions raised during the war. Seven of its members received the Victoria Cross, the nation's highest award for gallantry, these were (in alphabetical order by surname):

 * Tom Derrick;
 * John Hurst Edmondson (posthumous);
 * Percival Eric Gratwick (posthumous);
 * Arthur Stanley Gurney (posthumous);
 * William Henry Kibby (posthumous);
 * John Bernard Mackey (posthumous); and
 * Leslie Thomas Starcevich.

Military decorations awarded to members of the 9th Division include:
 * 7 Victoria Crosses (VC);
 * 41 Companion of the Distinguished Service Orders (DSO);
 * Order of the British Empire: 9 Officers of the Order (OBE) and 29 Members of the Order (MBE);
 * 119 Military Crosses (MC);
 * 57 Distinguished Conduct Medals (DCM);
 * 212 Military Medals (MM);
 * 9 British Empire Medals (BEM);
 * 611 Mentioned in Despatches (MID – not a post-nominal).

Structure
The 9th Division's structure was as follows:

 * Infantry units
 * 18th Brigade – to 7th Division, 1941
 * 20th Brigade – from 7th Division, 1941.
 * 2/13th Australian Infantry Battalion, New South Wales (NSW)
 * 2/15th Australian Infantry Battalion, Queensland (Qld)
 * 2/17th Australian Infantry Battalion, NSW
 * 24th Brigade – from 8th Division, 1940
 * 2/25th Australian Infantry Battalion, Qld (to 25th Infantry Brigade, 1940)
 * 2/28th Australian Infantry Battalion, Western Australia (WA)
 * 2/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, Victoria (Vic.)
 * 2/43rd Australian Infantry Battalion, South Australia (SA)
 * 25th Brigade – to 7th Division, 1941
 * 26th Brigade
 * 2/23rd Australian Infantry Battalion, Vic.
 * 2/24th Australian Infantry Battalion, Vic.
 * 2/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, Vic. (to 24th Brigade, 1940)
 * 2/48th Australian Infantry Battalion, SA
 * 2/4th Commando Squadron (from Aug 1943)
 * Artillery regiments
 * 2/7th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery
 * 2/8th Field Regiment, RAA
 * 2/12th Field Regiment, RAA (ex 2/2nd Medium Reg., Corps Artillery)
 * 2/3rd Anti-Tank Regiment, RAA (from 8th Div., 194?)
 * Engineer companies
 * 2/3rd Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers, Tasmania/WA/SA (from 6th Div., 194?)
 * 2/13th Field Company, RAE, Qld (ex 2/1st Field Park Company)
 * 2/15th Field Company, RAE. Attached to 9th Division in 1945 for the landings at Labuan during Operation Oboe. (See Beach groups for more information)
 * 2/16th Field Company
 * 2/7th Field Company, RAE, Qld (ex Corps Troops)
 * 2/4th Field Park Company, RAE, WA (ex 8th Division)
 * Other units
 * 2/2nd Australian Machine-Gun Battalion (from 7th Division, 1942)
 * 2/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion (from 7th Division, 1942)
 * 2/4th Australian Pioneer Battalion
 * 9th Australian Divisional Cavalry (from 8th Division, 1941)

Commanders

 * Major General Henry Wynter (October 1940 – February 1941)
 * Major General Sir Leslie Morshead (February 1941 – March 1943)
 * Major General George Wootten (March 1943 – October 1945).

Quotes

 * [A] batch of some 50 or 60 Australian prisoners were marched off close behind us—immensely big and powerful men, who without question represented an elite formation of the British Empire, a fact that was also evident in battle. —Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel, Commander, German Afrika Korps, Battle of Tobruk, 1941.
 * We could not have won the battle [i.e. the Second Battle of El Alamein, 1942 ] in twelve days without the magnificent 9th Australian Division. —General Bernard Montgomery, writing about the Allied breakthrough in North Africa.
 * My God, I wish we had [the] 9th Australian Division with us this morning [ D-Day ] . —Major General Freddie de Guingand, Chief of Staff, Allied Land-force Headquarters Europe, 1944.

title: 9th Division (Australia)