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Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (Сергей Александрович; 11 May 1857 – 17 February 1905) was the fifth son and seventh child of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was an influential figure during the reigns of his brother Emperor Alexander III of Russia and his nephew Emperor Nicholas II, who was also his brother-in-law through Sergei's marriage to Elisabeth, the sister of Empress Alexandra.

Grand Duke Sergei's education gave him lifelong interests in culture and the arts. Like all male members of the Romanov dynasty, he followed a military career, and he fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, receiving the Order of St George for courage and bravery in action. In 1882, his brother, Tsar Alexander III, appointed him commander of the 1st Battalion Preobrazhensky Life Guard Regiment, a position he held until 1891. In 1889, Grand Duke Sergei was promoted to the rank of major general. In 1884, Sergei married Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Their marriage remained childless, but they became the guardians of the two children of his brother, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia: Grand Duchess Maria, and Grand Duke Dmitri. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife promoted the marriage of Sergei's nephew, Tsar NicholasII, with Princess Alix of Hesse, Elisabeth's youngest surviving sister.

Between 1891 and 1905, Grand Duke Sergei served as Governor-General of Moscow. His reputation was initially tarnished as he was partially blamed for the Khodynka Tragedy during the festivities following the coronation of Emperor NicholasII. As Governor of Moscow, he pursued very conservative policies that made him a polarizing figure. At the start of his tenure, he expelled Moscow's 20,000 Jews and repressed a student movement to prevent the spread of revolutionary ideas. Because of this, he was often regarded as a reactionary. In 1894 Grand Duke Sergei was made a member of the State Council. In 1896 he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed as commander of Moscow Military District. After thirteen years of service, Grand Duke Sergei resigned from the Governorship on 1 January1905, though he remained head of the Moscow Military District. Targeted by the SR Combat Organization, he was assassinated later that year by a terrorist bomb at the Kremlin during the 1905 Russian Revolution.

Early life
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was born on 11 May 1857 in the Zubov wing of the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. He was the seventh child and fifth son among the eight children of Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Maria Alexandrovna, née Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. Until he was old enough to begin lessons, Sergei's earlier years were spent with his younger brother Paul, from whom he was inseparable, and their sister at Livadia, the family's Crimean retreat, at Tsarskoye Selo, and at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. By the time Sergei was born, his mother was already in declining health. Although she was not a particularly affectionate mother, except to her daughter, her three youngest children, Marie, Sergei and Paul, were close to her and especially to one another. Marie adored him and called him "an exceptionally nice young man... and can be recommended one very possible way, not because he is my brother, but because he is an exception among princes." As time passed and the Empress's health made it necessary for her to avoid the harsh Russian climate, they spent long sojourns abroad in Jugenheim outside Darmstadt and winters in the South of France. A family tragedy hit them there. In April 1865, shortly before Sergei's eighth birthday, his eldest brother and godfather Nicholas, the heir to the crown, died in Nice. As a child, Sergei was shy, studious, and withdrawn. Under the influence of his mother, whose reserved character he resembled, he became very religious.

From the 1870s, Sergei and his younger brother Paul were kept in Russia by their studies. They were destined to follow a military career, but their tutor, Admiral Arseniev, encouraged Sergei's linguistic, artistic, and musical abilities. He was fluent in several languages and learned Italian in order to read Dante in the original. His interest in Italian art and culture intensified as he grew older. He painted well and was musical, playing the flute in an amateur orchestra. He enjoyed acting and steeped himself in the early history, culture, and traditions of Russia. He liked to read and in time came to know many of Russia's great writers personally, among them Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, whose work the Grand Duke read and admired. He met Dostoevsky over dinner at the Winter Palace where he was invited by Sergei's professor.

Military career
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich started a military career early in his life. He was from birth colonel-in-chief of the 38th Tobolsk Infantry Regiment; he also became colonel-in-chief of the 2nd Battalion Guards Rifles and, towards the end of his life, Colonel-in-Chief of the 5th Kievsky Grenadier Regiment. On his twentieth birthday on 29 April1877, the Grand Duke took the solemn oath of allegiance to the Emperor. An educational tour that had been proposed for him was postponed upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. Sergei took part in the war with his father and brothers, the Tsarevich Alexander and Grand Dukes Vladimir and Alexei. He spent the greater part of his time serving as Poruchik in the Leib Guard under the Tsarevich in southeast Romania. He was consequently promoted to colonel. On 12 October, following the battle of Meyk, the Emperor decorated him with the Order of StGeorge, for courage and bravery in action with the enemy, for a reconnaissance expedition at Kara Loma near Koshev. At the end of December 1877, Sergei Alexandrovich returned to Saint Petersburg with his father.

Alexander II had started a new family with his mistress and Sergei sided with his neglected mother in the breaking of the family's harmony. Empress Maria died in June 1880, and in March 1881 AlexanderII, who had married his mistress, Princess Catherine Dolgoruki, was assassinated by terrorists. Sergei was then in Italy with his brother Paul and Admiral Arseniev. Three months later, in June 1881, the Grand Duke went to Palestine accompanied by Paul and his cousin Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich. They visited Jerusalem and the sacred sites. He helped to found the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society dedicated to the upkeep of Orthodox shrines in the Holy Land and the provision of services to Russian pilgrims. He became its chairman, and his status as patron of the Russian presence in Jerusalem is believed to have given him more pleasure than any of his other duties.

From 1882 on, Sergei's military career, which occupied an increasing amount of his time in Saint Petersburg and on maneuvers at Krasnoe Selo, advanced still further. On 15 January 1882, his brother, Alexander III, appointed him commander of the 1st Battalion Preobrazhensky Life Guard Regiment, the elite regiment founded by Peter the Great, with the rank of colonel. Seven years later, he was promoted to the rank of major general. On 26 February 1891, he was made adjutant general of the H. I. M. Retinue. He became the commanding officer in the village of Preobrazhenskoy. Sergei commanded this regiment until 1891, when his brother the Emperor appointed him Governor-General of Moscow.

A Russian Grand Duke
At twenty-six, the fair-haired Grand Duke was reserved, intelligent, well-read and refined. Over six feet tall, his extremely slim figure was accentuated by a corset, worn in the manner of Prussian officers.

With his closely cropped hair and neat beard, Sergei Alexandrovich cut an impressive figure. When Consuelo Vanderbilt, then Duchess of Marlborough, met him in Moscow, she considered him to be "One of the most handsome men I have ever seen". Described by his brother-in-law Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, as "tall and fair with delicate features and beautiful light green eyes". Very self-conscious, he held himself very stiffly and with a hard expression in his eyes.

His health was seriously compromised as he suffered from osteoarticular tuberculosis, a condition he strove to conceal, but it caused all his joints to waste away. He had to take salts and hot baths to get some relief. He could not ride a horse and had to wear a spinal corset at all times. He stood very straight and had a habit of playing with one of his jeweled rings, turning it around his finger. He kept his feelings rigidly in check, and many mistook his reserve for pride. Few had the chance to know him well. He was noted for his adherence to the Church, took a deep interest in Russian antiques and art treasures, and was interested in archaeology, music and acting and sometimes chairing meetings of the Archaeological Congress.

While shy and reserved, he made no secret of his disapproval of fashionable society and its lax ways, and he defied all criticism. He found it hard to cope with opposition and easily lost his temper. In his home, he demanded tidiness, order, and discipline, and he expected to be obeyed. His niece, Marie, Queen of the Romanians, remembered him: "Dry, nervous, short of speech, impatient, he had none of the rather careless good humor of his three elder brothers ... but for all that we loved him, felt irresistibly attracted to him, hard though he could be. Few perhaps cherish his memory, but I do." Many other family members, including his nephew Kiril, Princess Marie of Greece and Prince Gabriel, included their good impressions of him in their memoirs.

Marriage
In 1881 there had been talks of a possible marriage to Princess Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein. Emperor Alexander II had hoped that at least one of his sons would marry a princess of Hesse as he had done. Sergei eventually chose as his bride Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, a daughter of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. She was an older sister of both Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Alix of Hesse, later the Empress consort of Nicholas II of Russia and a niece of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who married his older sister Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. They were first cousins once removed (i.e., Elizabeth's great-grandfather, her father's paternal grandfather, Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, was Sergei's maternal grandfather) and had known each other all their lives. There were hesitations on both sides and Elizabeth first rejected his proposal of marriage. Queen Victoria, who had anti-Russian sentiments, opposed the marriage of her motherless granddaughter. Elizabeth and her sisters were not pressured into following political marriages; they were allowed to follow their own inclination. After the couple spent some time together at Schloss Wolfsgarten in Darmstadt in September 1883, Elizabeth agreed to marry him. Their engagement was announced publicly on 26 February 1884 when Sergei returned to visit her in Darmstadt. Upon her marriage, Princess Elizabeth took the name of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia. The wedding took place on 15 June 1884 in the Winter Palace.

They spent their honeymoon in Ilinskoye, Sergei's 2400 acre country estate forty miles west of Moscow on the left bank of the Moskva River, that he inherited from his mother. The couple later settled in Saint Petersburg in a mansion occupying the southeast corner of the Fontanka Canal and the Nevsky Prospekt, a short drive from his former apartments in the Winter Palace. The Beloselsky Belozersky mansion, bought by Sergei to live with his wife, was renamed Sergeivsky Palace. The couple also had Ferme, a villa located in the grounds of Peterhof that Sergei had inherited from his mother. They usually entertained at Ilinskoe during the summer months, with guests occupying various wooden villas dotted around the park. There was also Usovo, a substantial stone and brick house with an innovative central heating, that Sergei had built on the opposite bank of the Moskva River.

The couple was close to Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna, and the Tsar trusted Sergei more than his other brothers. In 1886, Alexander III appointed him commander of the Preobrazhensky Life Guard Regiment, entrusting him with introducing the Tsarevich (the future Nicholas II) to army life. Sergei and Ella represented Russia in 1887 during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee and in 1888, they were sent to the Holy Land on the occasion of the consecration of the Church of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem built in memory of Empress Maria Alexandrovna. By 1892, eight years into the marriage, Sergei was already certain that they would not have children and he left a will making the children of his brother Paul his heirs after his and his wife's deaths.

Sexuality
It was likely that Sergei was gay or bisexual. Count Witte wrote that Sergei "was always surrounded by compartively young men, who were excessively affectionate towards him." In her memoirs, Countess Lily de Nostitz said: "It was well known that the Grand Duke Sergei was one of those unhappy men cursed with the failing of loving only their own sex."

The diary of prominent St. Petersburg hostess Alexandra Bogdanovich refers to Sergei's alleged affairs with his aide-de-camps Martynov and Balyasny; while after Sergei was appointed Governor of Moscow, Count Vladimir Lamsdorf punned: "Moscow used to stand on seven hills, and now it has to stand on one hillock" – (the Russian word for 'hillock' sounding similar to the French word for bugger). Some reports suggest his sexuality might have conflicted with his intense religious beliefs and the expectations of his position.

Governor of Moscow
Emperor Alexander III adopted a policy of repression, and he wanted a like mind at the helm of Imperial Russia's second city and former capital. Thus, in spring 1891, the tsar appointed Sergei as governor general of Moscow. Although it was a great honour, Grand Duke Sergei accepted his new appointment with reluctance. He had hoped to stay longer in command of the Preobrazhensky, where he was popular; and he and his wife loved the quiet life they were living in Saint Petersburg.

The vice-regal role of Governor-General ruling Prince of Moscow was one that was answerable only to the emperor. Grand Duke Sergei was a political hardliner who shared his brother's inalienable belief in strong, nationalist government. Sergei's tenure began with the expulsion of Moscow's 20,000 Jews. It started four weeks before he arrived in person, after the publication of an imperial ukase by the Minister of the Interior Ivan Durnovo, by which all Jews of lower social stance (artisans, minor traders and so on) had to be expelled from Moscow. On 29 March, the first day of Passover, the city's Jewish population learned of the new decree that called for their expulsion. In three carefully planned phases over the next twelve months, Moscow's Jews were expelled. Those first to go were the unmarried, the childless, and those who had lived in the city for less than three years. Next, it was the turn of apprentices, of families with up to four children, and those with less than six years residency. Last of all, it was the turn of the old Jewish settlers with large families and/or numerous employees, some of whom had lived in Moscow for forty years. Young Jewish women were made to register as prostitutes if they wanted to stay in the city.

During the expulsion, homes were surrounded by mounted Cossacks in the middle of the night while policemen ransacked every house. In January 1892, in a temperature of 30 degrees below zero, Brest station was packed with Jews of all ages and sexes, all in rags and surrounded by meager remnants of households goods, all leaving voluntarily rather than face deportation. Sergei as governor-general was petitioned by the police commissioners to stop the expulsions until the weather conditions improved. While he agreed, the order was not published until the expulsions were over. Some of them moved to southern and western regions of the empire although there were many who decided to emigrate. In counting the cost, Moscow lost 100 million rubles in trade and production, 25,000 Russians employed by Jewish firms lost their livelihoods, while the manufacture of silk, one of the city's most lucrative industries, was all but wiped out.

To meet the needs of students, Sergei ordered the start of the construction of new dormitories in the city. At the same time, however, severe restrictions were imposed on the students and professors in the universities as a part of the state's policy of conspiracy prevention and elimination of revolutionary ideas. This made Sergei Alexandrovich very unpopular in Moscow among intelligentsia, though the more conservative citizens were pleased. The Muscovite nobility and merchants despised him because he was rough and lacked tact while attempting to fight commercial fraud and enforce strict policy measures. However, he did significantly improve general living conditions during his tenure and was extremely conscientious in carrying out his duties: “Even in the country when he was supposed to be resting," his niece remembered, "he was constantly receiving couriers from Moscow and giving audiences.” He paid much attention to detail, attending personally to matters that could easily have been left to subordinates, punishing corruption and fraud. At times, he would go about the city incognito to see conditions for himself. In private, he and his wife were concerned about the poverty they saw in Moscow and the surrounding countryside, discussing ways to improve it. Welfare organizations and charities always attracted Sergei's attention and he became either chairman or patron of scores of them. He was, for example, chairman of the Moscow Society for the Care, Upbringing, and Education of Blind Children; of the Society for Homeless, Neglected Children, and Convicted Adolescents; and the Moscow Department of the Russian Department Society of National Health Protection. In addition, he was a patron of organizations as diverse as the Moscow and Saint Petersburg Universities, The Printer's Mutual Aid Fund, the Society of Care for Aged Actors, the Pskov Non-Classical Secondary School, and Prince Nikola's Alm Houses. He was also chairman of the Academies of both Arts and Science, the Moscow Archeological Society, the Society of Agriculture, the Russian Musical Society, the Historical Museum in Moscow, and the Moscow Theological Academy among others.

Khodynka Tragedy
Tsar Alexander III died on 1 November [O.S. 20 October] 1894 and his son Nicholas II ascended to the Russian throne. The relationship between Grand Duke Sergei and his nephew, who had served under his command in the Preobrazhensky Life Guard Regiment, was close and it became stronger with Nicholas II's marriage to Princess Alix of Hesse, the youngest sister of Sergei's wife—a union that Sergei and Elizabeth Feodorovna had helped to promote.

The coronation ceremonies of the new Emperor and his wife, as tradition demanded, took place in Moscow and Sergei as Governor General of the City was in charge of overseeing the arrangements. As part of the preparations, Sergei had introduced the novelty of electric light to Moscow. Towards the end of the festivities, according to custom, every newly crowned Tsar presented gifts to the populace; Khodynka Field, on the outskirts of Moscow, was where the distribution was held since the coronation of Tsar Alexander II. The choice was questionable, as the field was normally used as a military training ground and was crisscrossed with ditches. Nevertheless, Sergei, as Governor General approved the plans. Although a crowd of nearly half a million was expected from all over Russia, only one squadron of Cossacks and a small detachment of police were sent to maintain order.

Early in the morning of 30 May [O.S. 18 May] 1896, families began to gather outside the frail wooden fence that protected the field, watching carts laden with beer, and the eagerly sought after gifts. Around 6 am, a rumor swept through the massive crowd that the booths had already opened and the souvenirs were being given out. Suddenly moving as one, that great body of people began to surge forward in the direction of the booths. As it did so, men, women and children, hundreds of whom had no idea what was happening, fell or slipped on the uneven ground and were crushed and trampled underfoot. Others suffocated in the mayhem. The police, far too few in numbers, were helpless to do much and even the Cossacks when they arrived were unable to stop the catastrophe. One thousand three hundred people, many hideously mutilated and unrecognizable, were killed and twice that number were seriously injured.

While Grand Duke Sergei had not directly participated in the planning for Khodynka Field, he was blamed for the lack of foresight and as Governor-General, held as ultimately responsible. However, he did not assume his part of the responsibility for the tragedy. He laid the blame on others, most notably on Ilarion Count Voronzov-Dashkov, head of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, with whom there had been some dispute over the management of the coronation festivities, and Colonel Alexander Vlasovsky (1842–1899), the city of Moscow's Chief of Police. In the eyes of public opinion Sergei had done himself great harm by not going to the scene of the incident or at least putting in appearances at the victims' funerals, though it also reported that Sergei did feel deeply saddened by the disaster. After the tragedy, many members of the Romanov family, headed by Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich and his brothers, thought that the remaining festivities should be canceled. On the other hand, Sergei Alexandrovich and his brothers thought that a historical event, such as a coronation, should not be disrupted or marred by a conspicuous period of mourning. The latter opinion believed that the crowds who came long distances should not be disappointed and that the tightly scheduled events for foreign dignitaries not be slighted and should go forward. There was also division among the Romanov family as to whether Grand Duke Sergei should have resigned. Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich and his brothers called for his resignation, while Sergei's own brothers Grand Dukes Vladimir Alexandrovich and Alexei Alexandrovich closed ranks supporting him and threatened to retire from public life if Sergei was made the scapegoat for the Khodynka tragedy. Ultimately, Sergei offered to resign while Vorontzov-Dashkov did not. In the end, the Tsar did not support a thoroughly proposed investigation, the Chief of Police was dismissed, and Grand Duke Sergei retained his office.

The night of the tragedy Tsar Nicholas II, for diplomatic reasons, attended a ball in honor of the French; because of that, his reputation also suffered for what was perceived to be his lack of sympathy for the victims.

Controversy
In 1894 Sergei was made a member of the State Council. In 1896, he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed as Commander of Moscow military district. Because Sergei was devoted to the policies of his nephew, the Tsar regarded him as a useful counterweight to some of his ministers and officials and would always readily take his side. When, in 1896, disturbances broke out in the universities, Nicholas II was grateful for his prompt action and that of the authorities that quickly restored order.

Although Sergei was often condemned as a complete reactionary during his governorship, according to his brother-in-law Ernest, Grand Duke of Hesse, he wanted and strove for improvements, which angered conservatives, but blocked revolutionary reforms, which infuriated radicals, because he considered them impractical or thought that Russia was not ready for them.

Sergei's enigmatic personality and harsh manners made him appear arrogant and disagreeable. Shy by nature, he dreaded personal contact. When courtesy demanded a handshake, he solved the problem by wearing a white glove. Puritan and humourless, at least in public, he had a total disregard for public opinion. He never seemed to be at ease with himself and others. He became a focus for serious opponents of the regime as well as for malicious gossip. His cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich left a damaging description about him: "Try as I will", he wrote, "I cannot find a single redeeming feature in his character… Obstinate, arrogant, disagreeable, he flaunted his many peculiarities in the face of the entire nation…". Later writers have accused him of sadism.

A great deal of controversy around Sergei Alexandrovich has centered on the nature of his personal life. Conjecture about the perhaps unhappy nature of the relationship with his wife has abounded. Sergei's marriage is barely documented. His private papers, including his correspondence with his wife, have not survived, and the evidence that does exist in the Moscow State Archives, the most important repository of Romanov papers, is open to interpretation. Contrary to this belief, the marriage was happy, in its own way. Unusually for royal couples, they slept in the same bed for all of their married life. Forced to defend Sergei against rumors of discord, Elizabeth Feodorovna was devoted to her husband and treasured his memory after his death. Sergei's niece and foster-daughter Maria wrote about them: "she [Ella] and my uncle seemed never very intimate. They met for the most part only at meals and by day avoided being alone together. They slept, however, up to the last year of their life together, in the same great bed." Although their marriage remained childless, the two children of Grand Duke Paul, Grand Duchess Maria and Grand Duke Dimitri, often joined their household, spending Christmases and later some summer holidays with Sergei and his wife. The couple set aside a playroom and bedrooms for the youngsters at their home. In 1902, Paul was banished from living in Russia after he contracted a morganatic marriage and Sergei asked for and obtained the guardianship of his niece and nephew. As a foster father, Sergei was strict and demanding, but devoted and affectionate towards the children. Nevertheless, Maria and Dimitri resented their aunt and uncle, blaming them for the forced separation from their real father, who had abandoned them. While Sergei had their best interests at heart, his preoccupation with the smallest detail of their education and upbringing were not appealing to the two difficult adolescents, especially the obstinate Maria.

By the end of 1904, Russia had suffered disastrously in the Russo-Japanese War and the country was in turmoil. As discontent and demonstration multiplied, so did the pressure on Sergei to maintain order. He was of the opinion that only the utmost severity could put an end to the revolutionary ferment, but in the wake of civil disorder Nicholas II was forced to make concessions. Sergei did not support the Tsar's security policies of vacillations and evasions. According to Marie Pavlovna, "it appeared to my uncle little less than monstrous ... he expressed deep sorrow for the state of affairs in Russia, of the necessity for serious measures, and of the criminal weakness of the Tsar's ministers and councilors". Thoroughly disillusioned with the whole situation and deciding it was the right time to retire into private life, he informed the Tsar that new times needed new faces. After thirteen years of service, Sergei resigned from the governorship on 1 January 1905 and was succeeded by Dmitri Feodorovich Trepov. However, he continued as commander of the Moscow military district.

Assassination

Following his resignation, Grand Duke Sergei moved to the Neskuchnoye Palace with his wife and foster children. Shortly thereafter, they moved to the Nicholas Palace within the safety of the Kremlin, under the cover of night. Sergei took every precaution advised by his detectives. Sergei and his wife rarely ventured outside. At home, they only received their closest friends. Like his father, Alexander II, Sergei was firm of the belief that unless it was the will of God, no attempt on his life would succeed. If it were the will of God, no amount of security would prevent it. One precaution he did take was for the benefit of his adjutants, whom he would no longer allow to travel with him.

On 15 February 1905, the family attended a concert at the Bolshoi Theatre in aid of Elizabeth Feodorovna's Red Cross War charities. A terrorist organization that knew his route, the Socialist Revolutionary Party's combat detachment, had planned to assassinate him that day. However, one of their members, Ivan Kalyayev, noticed the children in the carriage and decided to call off their attack. To kill the Grand Duchess and the children would surely have sparked a wave of apprehension throughout the empire, and would have set back the revolutionary cause by years. Having had lunch with his wife at Nicholas Palace on 17 February, Sergei left unaccompanied for the Governor General's mansion. Because of the looming threat, Sergei had refused to take his adjutant, Alexei, since he was married and a father. The arrival of the Grand Duke's recognizable carriage, drawn by a pair of horses and driven by his coachman Andrei Rudinkin, alerted the terrorist who had been waiting in the Kremlin with a bomb wrapped in newspapers.

Just before 14:45, the carriage of the Grand Duke passed through the gate of Nikolskaya Tower of the Kremlin and turned the corner of the Chudov Monastery into Senatskaya Square. From a distance no more than 4 ft away and still some 60 ft inside the Nikolsky Gate, Ivan Kalyayev stepped forward and threw a nitroglycerin bomb directly into Sergei's lap. The explosion disintegrated the carriage and the Grand Duke died immediately. Scattered all over the bloodstained snow lay pieces of scorched cloth, fur, and leather. The body of the Grand Duke was mutilated, with the head, the upper part of the chest, and the left shoulder and arm blown off and completely destroyed. Some of the Grand Duke's fingers, still adorned with the rings he habitually wore, were found on the roof of a nearby building.

On impact, the carriage horses had bolted towards the Nikolsky Gate, dragging with them the front wheels and coachbox as well as the semi-conscious and badly burned driver, Rudinkin, whose back had been riddled with bits of bomb and stones. He was rushed to the nearest hospital, where he died three days later. Kalyayev, who by his own testimony had expected to die in the explosion, survived. Sucked into the vortex of the explosion, he ended up by the remains of the rear wheels. His face was peppered by splinters, pouring with blood. Kalyayev was immediately arrested, sentenced to death, and hanged two months later. The Grand Duchess rushed to the scene of the explosion. Stunned but perfectly controlled, she gave instructions, and, kneeling in the snow, helped to gather up Sergei's remains. The remains were placed on a stretcher and covered with an army greatcoat.

Aftermath
According to Edvard Radzinsky, during the trial of Kalyayev:"Elizabeth spent all the days before the burial in ceaseless prayer. On her husband's tombstone she wrote: 'Father, release them, they know not what they do.' She understood the words of the Gospels heart and soul, and on the eve of the funeral she demanded to be taken to the prison where Kalyayev was being held. Brought into his cell, she asked, 'Why did you kill my husband?' 'I killed Sergei Alexandrovich because he was a weapon of tyranny. I was taking revenge for the people.' 'Do not listen to your pride. Repent... and I will beg the Sovereign to give you your life. I will ask him for you. I myself have already forgiven you.' On the eve of revolution, she had already found a way out; forgiveness! Forgive through the impossible pain and blood -- and thereby stop it then, at the beginning, this bloody wheel. By her example, poor Ella appealed to society, calling upon the people to live in Christian faith. 'No!' replied Kalyayev. 'I do not repent. I must die for my deed and I will... My death will be more useful to my cause than Sergei Alexandrovich's death.' Kalyayev was sentenced to death. 'I am pleased with your sentence,' he told the judges. 'I hope that you will carry it out just as openly and publicly as I carried out the sentence of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. Learn to look the advancing revolution right in the face.'"Deeply affected by the Grand Duke's death, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna retired from the royal family and founded the Russian Orthodox convent of Martha and Mary, where she dedicated herself to the care of Moscow's poor and suffering. Part of the obligations of the sisters of the Martha and Mary convent was to make an annual pilgrimage to the sepulchral church in memory of the Grand Duke on the day of his repose, 4 February. Elizabeth Feodorovna was murdered during the Russian Civil War in 1918, together with many other Romanov relatives. Her body and that of a fellow nun was smuggled to China and eventually reached Jerusalem. The wooden coffins were met at the railway station by the deputy British governor, Sir Harry Charles Luke, and taken for burial at the Church of Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives.

Grand Duke Sergei's body was buried in a crypt of the Chudov Monastery within the precincts of the Moscow Kremlin. A memorial cross, created from public donations, was erected on the spot where he was killed in 1908. After the downfall of the Romanovs, the cross was destroyed with the personal participation of Vladimir Lenin.

Chudov Monastery was demolished in 1928, and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was built on the site. The burial crypt of the Grand Duke was located in a courtyard of that building, which had been used as a parking lot. In 1990, building workers in the Kremlin discovered the blocked up entrance of the burial vault. The coffin was examined and found to contain the Grand Duke's remains, covered with the military greatcoat of the Kiev regiment, decorations, and an icon. He had left written instructions that he was to be buried in the Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment uniform, but as his body was so badly mutilated this proved impossible. In 1995, the coffin was officially exhumed, and after a Panikhida in the Kremlin Cathedral of the Archangel, it was reburied in a vault of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow on 17 September 1995.

On 4 May 2017, Sergei's memorial cross was restored in a ceremony that was attended by President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

Orders and decorations

 * National
 * Knight of St. Andrew, 1857
 * Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, 1857
 * Knight of the White Eagle, 1857
 * Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, 1857
 * Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class, 11 June 1865
 * Knight of St. George, 4th Class, 20 October 1877
 * Knight of St. Vladimir, 4th Class, 15 May 1883; 3rd Class, 30 August 1890; 1st Class, 15 May 1893
 * Silver Commemorative Medal for the Reign of Emperor Alexander III, 17 March 1896
 * Commemorative Medal for the Coronation of Emperor Nicholas II, 13 June 1896

• Austria-Hungary:
 * Foreign

• * Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1874

• * Commemoration Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph I

•  undefined: Knight of St. Hubert

• 🇧🇪 Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold

•  undefined:

• * Order of Noble Bukhara, in Diamonds

• * Order of the Sun of Alexander

•  undefined: Grand Cross of St. Alexander

• 🇩🇰 Denmark: Knight of the Elephant, 3 August 1876

•    Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, 1878

•  undefined: Grand Cross of the Seal of Solomon

•  undefined: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 20 June 1891

• 🇬🇷 Greece: Grand Cross of the Redeemer

•  Hesse and by Rhine:

• * Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 8 June 1857

• * Knight of the Golden Lion, 15 June 1884

•  undefined: Knight of the Annunciation, 15 April 1881

•  Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion

•  undefined: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 8 September 1900

•  Mecklenburg:

• * Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Crown in Ore

• * Military Merit Cross, 1st Class (Schwerin)

•  undefined: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I

• 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion

•  Oldenburg: Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown and Collar

•  Ottoman Empire: Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class with Diamonds

•  Prussia:

• * Knight of the Black Eagle, 10 June 1871

• * Pour le Mérite (military), 22 March 1879

• * Service Medal for Officers (25 years)

•  Persian Empire: Order of the August Portrait

•  undefined:

• * Grand Cross of the Star of Romania

• * Commemoration Medal for the Russo-Turkish War

• * Crossing of the Danube Cross (military)

•  Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 1873

•  undefined: Grand Cross of the White Eagle

• 🇹🇭 Siam: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 4 July 1897

• 🇸🇪 🇳🇴 Sweden-Norway: Knight of the Seraphim, 19 July 1875

•  undefined:

• * Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath (civil), 21 June 1887

• * Commemoration Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria

•  Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1871


text:
Dunkelsteinerwald (municipality)

 * This page is about Dunkelsteinerwald, the municipality. For the region of the same name see Dunkelsteinerwald.

Dunkelsteinerwald is a market municipality with 2,289 inhabitants in the district Melk in Lower Austria, Austria.

Geography
Dunkelsteinerwald lies in the Mostviertel in Lower Austria. The surface of the market municipality covers 54.19 square kilometers. 46.73 percent of the area is wooded.

The municipality includes the cadastral districts of Eckartsberg, Gansbach, Gerolding, Geroldinger Wald, Häusling, Heitzing, Hessendorf, Himberg, Hohenwarth, Kicking, Kochholz, Krapfenberg, Lanzing, Lerchfeld, Lottersberg, Mauer bei Melk, Neuhofen, Nölling, Ohnreith, Pfaffing, Thal, Umbach und Ursprung.

History
In the antiquity the area was part of the Roman province of Noricum. Lying in the Austrian heartland of Lower Austria, the place took part in the eventful history of Austria.

Inhabitant development
After the result of the census of 2001, there were 2289 inhabitants. In 1991, the market municipality had 2025 inhabitants, up from 1941 in 1981 and 1911 in 1971.

Politics
The mayor of the market municipality is Franz Penz from the christ-democratic ÖVP, the office manager Erich Galander. The 21 seats in the municipal council are currently assigned to the following parties: SPÖ 5, GREENs 1, ÖVP 15.

Buildings

 * Roman bridge at Lanzing, which was probably built in the 3rd or 4th centuries.
 * Mauer parish church at Mauer bei Melk, with its carved altar from 1509, a masterpiece of the late gothic. In the wings of the church, there are images showing the life of Lady Mary. Furthermore, the gothic Sakramenthäuschen is of artistic interest.
 * Military church in Gerolding. The most interesting sights are the gothic pulpit, a fresco from the 17th century, and the gothic presbyterium with a "session niche".
 * Parish church at Gansbach. The church probably originates from the 14th century. The side altar piece of the famous painter Kremser Schmidt and the high altarpiece, which was painted by one of his students, are worth seeing.

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

title: Dunkelsteinerwald (municipality)


text:
Battle of Velikiye Luki

The Battle of Velikiye Luki, also named Velikiye Luki offensive operation (Великолукская наступательная операция), started with the attack by the forces of the Red Army's Kalinin Front against the Wehrmacht's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942–1943 with the objective of liberating the Russian city of Velikiye Luki as a previous part of the northern pincer of the Rzhev-Sychevka Strategic Offensive Operation (Operation Mars).

Sometimes known as "The Little Stalingrad of the North", the Soviet forces encircled the city on 27 November 1942, but were unable to make much progress against German units further west nor retake a key railway to Leningrad. The German garrison in the city was ordered to hold out for a relief force and put up a concerted defense. As was the case at Stalingrad, repeated German counterattacks were unable to reach the city, and the garrison surrendered on 16 January 1943.

Background
As part of Operation Barbarossa, the German army took Velikiye Luki on 19 July 1941, but was forced to retreat the next day due to Soviet counter-attacks breaking the line of communications in multiple places. A new attack was launched in late August, and the city was recaptured on Aug. 26.

The city had great strategic value due to the main north-south railway line running just west of the city at Novosokolniki, as well as the city's own rail network to Vitebsk and bridges over the Lovat River. After its capture and with the German offensive running out of steam for the winter, the area was fortified. Marshy terrain extended to Lake Peipus from just north of the city defended by the German 16th Field Army, making operations in the region around the city difficult for both sides. Rather than maintaining a solid "front" in the area, the Germans established a series of thinly held outposts to the north and south of the city.

Soviet counterattacks during the Winter Campaign of 1941–1942, especially the Battles of Rzhev just to the south, formed a large salient in the German lines. Velikiye Luki lay just on the western edge of the original advance, and was just as strategic for the Soviets as the Germans. The city dominated the region and would therefore be the natural point for fighting, offering the possibility of eliminating the German bridges on the Lovat, and to deny the Germans use of the rail line that provided communications between Army groups North and Centre. Furthermore, as long as the German Army occupied both rail junctions at Velikiye Luki and Rzhev, the Red Army could not reliably reinforce or resupply its troops on the north face of the massive Rzhev Salient.

Because of its strategic significance, the Germans heavily fortified the city over the course of 1942. The Soviets often raided into German-held territory around the town and the town could only be kept supplied by armoured trains.

Soviet offensive
The Soviet offensive to retake the city was developed in mid-November 1942 using troops from the 3rd and 4th Shock armies, and 3rd Air Army. The city itself was defended by the 83rd Infantry Division commanded by Lieutenant General Theodor Scherer, the lines to the south held by the 3rd Mountain Division, and the front to the north held by the 5th Mountain Division. The city itself was provided with extensively prepared defenses and garrisoned by a full regiment of the 83rd Division and other troops, totaling around 7,000.

Encirclement of German forces
Rather than attacking the town directly, the Soviet forces advanced into the difficult terrain to the north and south of the town. Spearheaded by the 9th and 46th Guards and 357th Rifle Divisions of 5th Guards Rifle Corps to the south and the 381st Rifle Division to the north, the operation commenced on 24 November. Despite heavy losses, they successfully cut the land links to the city by 27 November, trapping the garrison; by the next day they threatened to cut off other elements of the corps south of the city when the front commander released his 2nd Mechanised Corps into the breach created between the 3rd Mountain and 83rd Infantry Divisions. Army Group Centre's commander asked the OKH for permission to conduct a breakout operation while the situation was still relatively fluid by pulling the German lines back by around ten miles (16 km). The request was dismissed by Hitler, who, pointing to an earlier success in a similar situation at Kholm, demanded that the encircled formations stand fast while the Gruppe "Chevallerie" from the north and 20th Motorised Division from the south counter-attacked to open the encirclement.

German relief attempts
The garrison were ordered to hold the city at all costs, while a relief force was assembled. The remainder of the 83rd Infantry and 3rd Mountain Divisions, encircled south of Velikiye Luki, fought their way west to meet the relieving troops. Due to Army Group Centre's commitments at Rzhev, the only resources immediately available to man the lines opposite Velikiye Luki were those already in the area, which were organised as Gruppe Wöhler (291st Infantry Division). Later, other divisions were made available, including the understrength 8th Panzer Division from Gruppe Chevallerie, the 20th Motorized Infantry Division from Army Group Centre reserve, and the weak 6th Luftwaffe Field Division, and the hurriedly rushed to the front 707th and 708th Security, and 205th and 331st Infantry divisions although there was a corresponding build-up of Soviet strength.

Throughout December, the garrison – which maintained radio contact with the relief forces – held out against repeated Soviet attempts to reduce their lines, and in particular the rail depot in the city's southern suburb. The Soviet forces, attacking strongly entrenched troops in severe winter weather, suffered extremely high casualties, while conditions in the city steadily deteriorated despite airdrops of supplies, ammunition and equipment. In the meantime, Soviet attempts to take their main objective, the rail lines at Novosokolniki, had been frustrated by the counter-attacks of the relief force. An attempt by the Germans to reach Velikiye Luki in late December ran into stubborn Soviet defence and halted, heavily damaged.

Operation Totila, the next attempt to break through to Velikiye Luki, was launched on 4 January. The two German spearheads advanced to within five miles (8 km) of the city, but stalled due to pressure on their flanks. On 5 January, a Soviet attack from the north split Velikiye Luki in two, isolating a small group of troops in the fortified "citadel" in the west of the city, while the bulk of the garrison retained a sector centred around the rail station in the south of the city. The former group broke out on during the night of the 14th; around 150 men eventually reached German lines. The German garrison surrendered on 16 January.

Aftermath
After the war, the Soviet authorities collected a representative set of Germans of various ranks from general to private who had fought at Velikiye Luki from prisoner-of-war camps and brought them to the city. A military tribunal held a public trial and convicted them for war crimes related to anti-partisan warfare. Nine were sentenced to death and publicly hanged in the main square of Velikiye Luki in January 1946.

The battle is sometimes called "The Little Stalingrad of the North" due to its similarities with the larger and better-known Battle of Stalingrad that raged in the southern sector of the front. Judged purely by the numbers, this battle was a small affair by the usual standards of the Eastern Front (150,000 total casualties suffered by both sides as opposed to 2,000,000 total casualties at Stalingrad), but had enormous strategic consequences. The liberation of Velikiye Luki meant the Red Army had, for the first time since October 1941, a direct rail supply line to the northern face of the Rzhev Salient exposing the German troops at Rzhev to encirclement. Events at Velikiye Luki thus necessitated the withdrawal from Rzhev salient ending any German military threat to Moscow. However, even after withdrawing from Rzhev, possession of Velikiye Luki meant that the rail link between Army groups North and Centre was severed, preventing the German Army from shifting reinforcements between threatened sectors. Furthermore, the rail lines from Velikiye Luki led directly into the rear of Vitebsk, a critical logistics hub for Army Group Centre. The effects of this battle meant that Army Group Centre was exposed to attack from the north, east, and (after the Battle of Smolensk) south, exposing the whole army group to encirclement, which is exactly what happened in the Operation Bagration the following year.

Orders of battle
While it is somewhat difficult to separate the actions of various Red Army and Wehrmacht units within the flurry of movements involved in the larger scope of the Soviet operations, for the most part these below are derived from Glantz and Isayev.

Soviet

 * Kalinin Front (Maksim Alekseyevich Purkayev) engaged in the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive to the south of Velikiye Luki.
 * 4th Shock Army
 * 3rd Shock Army as of 1 December, 1942 (General Lieutenant Kuzma Galitsky)
 * 2nd Guards Rifle Corps (held a defensive front during the battle)
 * 5th Guards Rifle Corps (Major General A. P. Beloborodov)
 * 9th Guards Rifle Division (Major General I. V. Prostyakov)
 * 46th Guards Rifle Division (Major General S. I. Karapetyan)
 * 357th Rifle Division (Colonel A. L. Kronik)
 * Separate Rifle Divisions:
 * 21st Guards Rifle Division (Major General D. V. Mikhaylov)
 * 28th Rifle Division (Colonel S. A. Knyazkov)
 * 33rd Rifle Division (Major General F. A. Zuyev)
 * 117th Rifle Division (Colonel E. G. Koberidze)
 * 257th Rifle Division (Colonel A. A. Dyakonov)
 * 381st Rifle Division (Colonel B. S. Maslov)
 * Separate Rifle Brigades:
 * 31st Rifle Brigade
 * 54th Rifle Brigade
 * 44th Ski Brigade
 * 2nd Mechanized Corps (Major General Ivan Korchagin)
 * 18th Mechanized Brigade
 * 34th Mechanized Brigade
 * 43rd Mechanized Brigade
 * 33rd Tank Brigade
 * 36th Tank Brigade
 * 68th Separate Motorcycle Battalion
 * 184th Tank Brigade
 * 27th Separate Tank Regiment
 * 34th Separate Tank Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Bogdanov) equipped with T-34 tanks
 * 37th Separate Tank Regiment
 * 38th Separate Tank Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Zheleznov, after 30.12.42 Lieutenant Colonel Khubayev) equipped with T-34 tanks
 * 45th Separate Tank Regiment
 * 146th, 170th Separate Tank Battalions
 * 225th, 289th, 293rd Separate Engineer Brigades
 * 94th Motor-Pontoon Battalion
 * 3rd Air Army
 * Long Range Aviation
 * 3rd Long-range aviation division (Colonel Yukhanov)
 * 17th Long-range aviation division (General Major of Aviation Loginov)
 * 222nd Long-range aviation division (Colonel Titov)

German
Most of Army Group Center was engaged in resisting the second Soviet Rzhev-Sychevka offensive throughout this period.
 * Army Group Center
 * Group "Chevallerie" from (LIX Corps)
 * Wehrmacht's Velikiye Luki garrison
 * Gruppe "Wöhler"
 * 83rd Infantry Division (Lieutenant-General Theodor Scherer)
 * Operation "Totila" relief forces
 * II/11th Panzer Division
 * Two battalions/331st Infantry Division
 * 8th Panzer Division (14 PzKW 38t, and one command tank)
 * 20th Motorized Infantry Division
 * 6th Luftwaffe Field Division
 * 3rd Mountain Division (at Novosokol'niki to the rear of 83rd Infantry Division's positions)
 * 291st Infantry Division
 * 1 SS Infantry Brigade (mot)
 * Frikorps Danmark

Almost half of the 83rd Infantry Division was assigned to the Velikiye Luki garrison.

The 3rd Mountain Division was at little more than half strength, since its 139th Regiment had been left in Lapland when the division withdrew from northern Finland. The 138th Mountain Regiment was the unknown unit of 3rd Mountain shown in Maps 2 and 3.

20th Motorized was from Army Group Center's reserve.

title: Battle of Velikiye Luki


text:
Gillingham railway station (Dorset)

Gillingham railway station is in Gillingham, Dorset, England. It is on the West of England Main Line, 105 mi down the line from London Waterloo. Today it is managed by South Western Railway. The main offices, designed by Sir William Tite, stand on the north side of the line.

It is commonly suffixed as Gillingham (Dorset) to avoid confusion with a station of the same name in Kent.

History
On 3 April 1856 Miss Seymour, sister of the company’s chairman, dug the first ceremonial sod for the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway (S&YR) at Gillingham. Three years later, on 2 May 1859, the railway from Salisbury opened to Gillingham, and was completed to Hendford station at Yeovil on 1 June 1860. The station was close to the town centre. The main offices and goods shed were on the north side of the line, further sidings to serve a brickworks were added on the other side of the line, and a signal box opened in 1875. Trains were provided for the S&YR by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), which bought out the smaller company in 1878. In the twentieth century the LSWR operated motor bus services from Gillingham station to Mere, Zeals and Shaftesbury.

In 1923 the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway, which in turn was nationalised in 1948 to become the Southern Region of British Railways. A new signal box was opened on 28 April 1957, but on 5 April 1965 public goods services were withdrawn. Three years later a fertiliser distribution depot was opened in the old goods yard (it closed in 1993). The line had been transferred to the Western Region in 1963, and through trains beyond Exeter St Davids were soon diverted along other routes. The line was reduced to just a single track on 1 April 1967 with a passing loop retained at Gillingham. Initially the single-track sections were 7 mi westwards to Templecombe and 19 mi eastwards to Wilton, but the latter was shortened to 9 mi in 1986. The former signal box (now reduced to ground frame status following the 2012 resignalling) is at the west end of the station by the end of this platform.

Platform layout
The track serving the northern platform is signalled for trains to run in either direction so most trains use this platform unless two need to pass. The southern platform, which is reached by a footbridge, is then used for the westbound train.

Services
South Western Railway operate hourly services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids.

title: Gillingham railway station (Dorset)


text:
User talk:Grutness/archive03

This file is an archive - please do not add new discussion here - add it to my Talk page

My geo-stub fumblings
You appear to be (sort of) following my fumbling attempts at sorting geo-stubs and refining them. Thank you for doing a good job. I seem to be working off an out-of-date list of geo-stubs: do you know where there is a more up-to-date list? Basically I'm trying to chip the corners off category:stub and knowing that there are people who can polish up my efforts helps a great deal. HAND --Phil | Talk 07:32, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)
 * There are two that I know of - at the top of Category:Geography stubs, and on one of my user pages (User:Grutness/Stubs), which lists all the stub categories. I'm hoping to get the latter completed and into the Wikipedia proper as soon as I can! As to "geo-stub fumblings", just adding geo-stub is a help, although learning one or two of the most common geo-stubs (like UK-geo-stub and US-geo-stub) would help more :) Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]
 * Those ones I can just about handle :-) I hate to feed the "systematic-bias" trolls, but it does seem that North America and Europe are very well-covered, whilst Asia and Africa are less so. Maybe ignorami like me need a more easy-to-understand list, given that half the time I'm not certain what continent some of these places are on :-( --Phil | Talk 07:53, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)
 * You're right, they are... there are considerably more articles from some of those places... but the systematic bias is at least in part because the English-language Wikipedia is bound to have more people from English-speaking countries. Go to the japanese Wikipedia, say, and you'll probably find more Far East stubs. As to remembering which one is what, if in doubt try 'Countryname-geo-stub' and preview. If it doesn't work, then just leave it at geo-stub. That will still cut the workload down by a huge amount :). Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

stub categories
hi, having sorted a lot of stubs recently i believe the need for a socio- (sociology) stub and a job- stub is becoming critical, as i really dont know how could you create these? i know in theory you're supposed to wait a week or so to see the reaction to proposed stubs, but i believe they are obviously needed, thanks in advance Bluemoose 10:56, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Okay - I've created one of them for now (I'm a bit short of time today... I can do the other one later). is up and running, though.  Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]
 * Thanks a lot Grutness.

Please give me a hand

 * Halló Grutness! I realized that you are a administrator at en:. I do not have the time to read all the rules here and would be happy if you could help me
 * 1) regarding the "stealth" templates Template:Interwikiconflict see Wikipedia:Template:Interwikiconflict and Template:Invalidtitle see Wikipedia:Template:Invalidtitle. I do not expect oposition but my personal opinion is that not everybody should work on this subjects.
 * 2) regarding some disambiguations I added at some discussion pages. See Talk:Colentina, Talk:Melnik Category:Disambiguation&from=Talk.
 * Hope to be able to address additional items. Thanks in advance! Best regards Gangleri | [ Th] | T 18:30, 2005 Mar 6 (UTC)

User:Vaoverland - administrator
Thank you for supporting my appointment as an administrator. I appreciate the pat on the back this represents. It felt nice to read the comments during the voting. Please let me know if you see something I should be doing as admin, as I intend to be fairly passive unless it is clear I should do otherwise. Thanks. Mark in Richmond. Vaoverland 20:06, Mar 6, 2005 (UTC)

stubby goodness
Yes, I realized after doing a couple of those that it was intentional for them not to all be in one category. Here I thought it would be *useful* to also note them as stubs. :) Missed reverting that change; thanks for the catch. btw, see WP:HC and tell me what you think. +sj +  06:11, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * yes, that's why I asked. What if it's done via categories rather than templates?  categorizing everything according to which HC category it falls under... +sj  +  05:26, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * mmm. not sure. Could work, I suppose, but that might also put strain on the servers. I honestly don't know the mechanics of it, but I know that categories with over about 500 articles in them are usually regarded with some concern by the techs. Might be an idea to run this one past Village pump (technical).  Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

Question on Category Combinatorial principles
I am in a process of building Category:Combinatorial principles and you just deleted it. Is there any reason why it should be destroyed? Is there any other way I can group these articles? Sorry, I am relatively new to this system but I think I know something about combinatorics. Tomo 00:43, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Sorry if I trod on your toes - but I didn't delete it. What you were building was an article - and it's still there, as Combinatorial principles. Categories are simply there to list articles that are related, not to write about what the categories are for. As for the category itself, it's still there, but empty. It would only ever have had eight articles, if Combinatorial principles is to be believed, which isn't really sufficient for a separate category, especially since its parent category only has about 80 articles. If you wish to repopulate it with articles, feel free - it just didn't seem a viable category. Oh, and categories are never stubs - the correct template to use for an underpopulated category is Template:popcat Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]] 04:54, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation. I wish I knew about the article Combinatorial principles. My intention was not to write an article but just to give temporary information to all who would want to help me in my little project. Now I realized that I should have used Template:popcat. But this means someone should make this template more popular in various help pages, gudelines pages, Tomo 06:58, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * You're probably right about that. Still, there's a basic guideline on Wikipedia is that if something is worth a category, it should at the very least have an article about it, so having the article was a good idea anyway! Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

Hidden line removal
You made me curious. You fulfilled my request for a better stub category within hours, but you don't have that page on your watchlist! Did you randomly find it, or there is some secret? :) Thanks. Oleg Alexandrov 05:54, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm one of the drudges who goes through Category:Stub looking for things to categorise further. Sheer chance I did this one :) Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

 * You are doing noble work! :) I tried going through stubs several times, but could not resist for too long. Way too much stuff I care little about. Oleg Alexandrov 06:03, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

China/Taiwan geography stubs
As you may have noticed I have created Template:ROC-geo-stub as a redirect to Template:Taiwan-geo-stub. I am using to tag articles such as Wuchiu, Taiping, Pratas and Lesser Quemoy. I hope this will satisfy more people, such as Mababa. And in case there's a proposal to differentiate them in the future, it will be easier. :-D — Instantnood 18:33, Mar 11, 2005 (UTC)
 * Riiight. You're expecting over 75 stubs from those islands? Better get writing... Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

Not really, probably 10 or 15 at most. But then you know well that some people may be happier to see they are differentiated from Taiwan by some means. :-D — Instantnood 19:42, Mar 12, 2005 (UTC)
 * And you know well that there's no point in having a stub category for a maximum of only 15 stubs. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

The reason for possible resorting in future may not be a result of the number of stub articles, but political development on both sides of the strait. And you can recall Mababa once suggested to exclude some of the islands from the scope of Taiwan-geo-stub. :-D User:Cheung1304 16:05, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Politics shmolitics. 15 stubs is not enough for a separate category, especially since the articles would no doubt be dealt with by either those editors involved in China articles or Taiwan articles (the main purpose for stub categories is for editors, remember). If there are that few, they'd either go in both categories or in neither (grouped into SEAsia-geo-stub - similar to where the artcles on the Spratley Islands are). Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]] 22:39, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Category:Taiwan-related stubs
Hello. I found you have made some changes to category:Taiwan-related stubs.

The islands are not "its [Taiwan's] associated islands", and category:China-related stubs now includes both stubs about China in general (e.g. history, culture, language) and specifically about mainland China. I'm afraid it is necessary to revert your edits. — Instantnood 06:10, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC)

 * They are islands governed from Taiwan, and you keep saying they are not in Taiwan. Therefore, by definition, they are islands associated with Taiwan. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]] 06:16, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

But what was wrong with the version before your edits? The islands are not associated territories of Taiwan, rather, they're part of the ROC as Taiwan does. — Instantnood 06:21, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC)
 * As far as category:Taiwan-related stubs are concerned, the edit is to emphasise Taiwan first - hitting people with the phrase "Republic of China" straight out will make 99% of people instantly think of the PRC rather than Taiwan. By swapping the wording around to emphasise Taiwan primarily (yet keep the name ROC there) will more instantly tell people what they're looking at. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

True. Perhaps it's because I spend more time at this side of the world, I didn't recognise that problem.

This stub category probably covers stubs of the pre-1949 ROC (1949 was the year when the communist took over). It's not quite right to say it's about Taiwan plus Taiwan's associated territories. Is there any better way to present it? — Instantnood 06:42, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC)

What about this? — Instantnood 06:42, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC)
 * People won't notice the brackets and will think that items about both PRC and Taiwan can go in there. Try this one on for size: . Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

Looks very nice, except 1948 should be 1949, since the communist government was established in October 1949. Wait.. eh.. should be 1911, too. :-D. Let me fix it. — Instantnood 11:09, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC)
 * Sigh. I got the triple eleventh of WWI and the double tenth of china mixed up. 10-10-11, not 10-10-10. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

Help?
Hi Grutness - I have been writing a bit about NZ architecture lately, there is a void about it on the internet and wikipedia in general. I see you live in Dunedin and wondered if you had any photos I could use here  At the moment I am nursing Benjamin Mountfort through Featured article, then I want to start on Francis Petre  (I am just collating his life story at the moment) then I'll rewrite it and attempt to get it on the front page - problem is people do seem to want colour photos and as I've never been to NZ, and am several thousand miles away....well enough said. Regards Giano 13:54, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * I shall hunt through my photos. If I haven't got anything, I'll try to take some in the next week or so. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

New Zealand photos
From User talk:Giano Gidday, I saw your note to Grutness.
 * Oh you did, did you? I didn't know you made a habit of reading other people's mail :) Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]] 23:52, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * I watch the talk pages of many admins, partly to keep up on what's happening on Wikipedia, and partly so I can revert vandalism to them. I strongly suspect that several admins watch my talk page too, since the occasional vandalism here gets reverted pretty quickly. I don't mean to invade your privacy, but you should accept that your talk page is not a private place.-gadfium 01:20, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Fair enough - and thanks for doing that job! As for being a private place, I hope you noted the smiley! Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]
 * Please! Don't let me be the cause of Kiwi ill feeling :>D. That would be great if you could come up with something.  Taken your advice now a redirect from F.W.Petre there is also a problem over should the article be Frank Petre of Francis Petre, it seems he was christened Francis and called Frank; I'll go with whatever the local most common name is. A private house photos would be especially good as they are not generally in the net, to even be linked to.  Not sure how long to make this page yet, people criticise Ben Mountfort for being too short, and John Vanbrugh for too long.  Just see what turns up I suppose.  Regards Giano 11:01, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

FW Petre
Fantastic fotos - really great; hope to have an hour to spend on FWP tomorrow, the comparison between the intended cathedral and the finished reality will be good, as will the 'cottage style' house and the 'castle/gothic' style house. I think we'll use them all. Get this on the front page if it kills me. Thanks again Giano 08:23, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Hi again, I've been playing arownd with some ideas - see what you think, I want to include the priory as well - please write any information you have as well - it needs a load more yet. They are great pictures and I don't want to waste them - perhaps they need to be larger - I'm not sure Giano 16:33, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Great work, its getting there, keep going. I had searched the internet for the house of Judge Chapman, so pleased to find we have it. Giano 15:47, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thanks
Hi James, thank you for supporting my adminship nomination. I really appreciate it. SlimVirgin 00:03, Mar 24, 2005 (UTC)

Thank you
Thank you for you support in my request for adminship. Your trust in me will not be disappointed. Now, I'm off to put these new powers to good use! -- Scott eiπ  02:40, Mar 30, 2005 (UTC)

Thank You!
Hi Grutness, I would like to thank you for your vote of support and confidence for my adminship, it has been much appreciated. If you need anything in future that requires my attention, please do not hesitate to contact me. :) - Cheers, Mailer Diablo 18:27, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for your vote of confidence!
Hi Grutness, Thank you for your support. It means a lot to me and I look forward to helping out as an admin. Cheers,  BanyanTree 03:37, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Thank you...
...for supporting my adminship — I vow to use my super powers for good not evil. Mel Etitis ( Μελ Ετητης ) 09:28, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)

RfA thanks
Thank you for the vote at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Henrygb2. It has made my week. --Henrygb 01:56, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Thanks...
...for the vote for me, and for the note! I'm sure I'll have some newbie issues and appreciate the offer! Happy editing, Antandrus 05:17, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Flags of the world
James, does this seem familiar to you? I suspect it does. Been flagging for a while eh?!!?

 * The stars on the NZ flag are not a "true" cross, they fall at the relative positions of the stars Acrux, Mimosa, Gacrux and delta Crucis, and as such the "crossbar" doesn’t intersect the upright at 90 degrees.
 * James Dignan, 30 August 1999

I'm tidying up some Zeal categories and found what appear to be mirror sites, not quite identical, with URLs like "http://www.ace.unsw.edu.au/PEOPLE/rmjc/fotw/flags/nz.html", and wondered if my friend from Milton could shed some light after his holiday. (Incidentally, when I was a part-time professional astronomer about 50 years ago (writing in the late lamented "Evening Star", which some of your workmates will remember well), I used capital initials for Greek words such as "Delta" in that context.)

Robin Patterson 07:08, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * I've created a stub for Evening Star (newspaper). Please correct or expand as necessary.-gadfium 09:12, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Back River
Hello James, You said: "Hi Alan - you started a stub for Back River, New Zealand which simply says that it's a locality in the North Island. I can't find it in Wise's, or in my largest NZ atlas... whereabouts is it? Do you have any more info about it at all?"
 * I found it in my NZ Penguin Atlas. It looks like a very small locality near Mangonui in Northland.  It is probably from the LINZ database. It may be too insignificant for Wikipedia otherwise there will be another few hundred placenames that will need adding.  I will also remove it from the List of rivers of New Zealand. Congrats on the Wikipedia admin role. Alan Liefting 08:05, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Manufacturing stub
Sorry about that! I didn't realize that there was a big process for that. Just when I thought I knew how the wikipedia works, I find out something new. I've been working on manufacturing related articles lately and I looked around, and didn't find anything, so I thought it would be helpful if there was a category specifically related to things like metalworking and manufacturing processes. What should be done now? I think the category as I visualized it would best fit in the technology category, but I see how it could potentially be construed to be related to corporations. Could I suggest the new category for debate? Let me know what you think; sorry to create a mess! --Spangineer ∞ 02:52, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * Looking over that page you linked to, perhaps the category could be split further? Perhaps a stub category for metalworking, etc.?  Or even smaller - a category for welding and one for casting, for example? Is that a possibility? --Spangineer ∞ 02:59, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)

(Replied at User_talk:Spangineer)
 * Ok, that sounds good - I'll add the category to the stub debate. So far, I've found about 35 articles that fit in the category, and there are going to be far more.  Splitting it up, however, probably wouldn't work if 50 is the absolute minimum.  Also, I have a question for you related to your post regarding not having more than one stub category per page - what if the category was added manually, not with the stub template?  That way, it shows up on multiple categories, but doesn't make the page look messy. Anyway, thanks for your help! --Spangineer ∞ 03:22, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * Ok, that makes sense. Also, just to let you know, I just added a section to the category criteria page, at WikiProject Stub sorting/Criteria.  If there's anything wrong with anything, let me know.  Thanks! --Spangineer ∞ 03:38, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * Sounds great. I'll get to work categorizing those.  Thanks for your help! --Spangineer ∞ 01:41, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Recently created Russian-history-stub and East-Slavic-history stub
I edited your note at WikiProject_Stub_sorting/Criteria. If necessary, you may want to edit my corrections for English grammar because they are now signed by both yours and my name :). Thank you very much for your help with sorting this out and improving the stubs I created! Irpen 04:52, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * Hi again. It may have been my fault of not explaining this properly. East Slavs are only Russians, Belorussians and Ukrainians. Poles and Lithuanians are not East Slavs. Poland and Lithuania related articles may get the east-slavic-history-stub note only when the article is primarily about the events related to the three East-Slavic nations territories of the time when Poland and Lithuania dominated them. regards, Irpen 20:46, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)
 * Ah sorry - misunderstood. I'll try to remember in future! Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]] 00:10, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Template:Roman-stub
Hi, there. You're quite welcome. What with using the classic skin, I could barely read "XIV". Also, I tweaked the "px" size about five times just to make sure that the reader could indeed tell that it was the Colosseum. I didn't think about the irony you pointed out, but it is amusing. I'm a history buff, anyway. -- M e r o v i n g i a n (t) (c) (w) 19:49, Mar 31, 2005 (UTC)

Military related stubs
What would you say about WWI and WWII history stubs? Cheers, Irpen 02:08, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)
 * They may be a good idea - there seem to be quite a lot of them. Personally I'd prefer to wait until the history category is purged of a lot of the bio-stubs that shouldn't be in there, see what is left after that. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]] 02:14, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * I am sure that there will be enough WWI and WWII related stubs after any purge of hist-stub category. Many articles there would perfectly fit into the WW category. Creating them now would allow to start placing current and newly created articles into these categories. Maybe we could create a "mil-war-stub" ("This military and warfare related article is...") of which two WW stubs would be subcategories. If "mil-war-stub" is created as a subcategory of "Historical stubs", I think it would be appropriate only for a relatively modern military history. Anything older than roughly 150 years is more appropriate for national history articles. Anyway, it's your call, guys, to decide. I just wanted to bring this up for consideration. Irpen 07:26, Apr 2, 2005 (UTC)
 * Probably better to do that on the Stub sorting/Criteria page than on my user talk page, though! Personally, I think a WWII-stub is a great idea though. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]
 * Hi, just replying to your response to my proposal at Stub sorting/Criteria page. Sure, this can wait if you think it'd better to. As for mil-war-stub, I was thinking that there was a difference between articles that would best fit into mil-stub and those best tagged with mil-war-stub. But maybe it's better to stick with mil-stub. Anyway, I will wait if necessary, and once WW stubs are created, I will help in moving there some articles from other categories. Regards, Irpen 04:06, Apr 3, 2005 (UTC)
 * Hopefully I'll have completed the current pass of hist-stub by about Wednesday or Thursday - should have more of an idea what is needed by then. I have a couple of other things listed on the stub sorting page that I want to make a start on, but there's no reason not to deal with the WW stubs at about the same time. In any case we should probably leave the suggestions up on WP:WSS for about seven days before doing anything with it anyway. But I don't see anyone objecting to WWII-stub and WWI-stub as a good starting point, especially if there are items in mil-stub that would be better there. And any help in moving things over will be much appreciated! Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

NZ Table Flag
I know we started talking about this on emails, but it looks like I can only catch you on here! Well, all I wish to tell you is just let me know when you get the flag. Your North Carolina flag is waiting for you, and I hear it saying your name lately :). Zscout370 01:30, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * I got the flag today :). To let you know, my cousin is also in Dunedin, staying at the International House. Man, this is a small world. Zscout370 22:38, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Signature
Hey James, how do you get to create a signature for Wikipedia like yours? Thanks. Zscout370 17:50, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Hi Zach - the signature? I uploaded an image and put it into my signature (you can change the way your signature appears in the preferences menu. One caveat - not everyone appreciates people using images in their sigs, and it is generally not recommended. The only reason I do so is that I use the Uffington horse as a signature when I'm writing and (particularly) to sign paintings, and it felt wrong not to do so here, too. A compromise which quite a few people use is to add one of the unicode non-alphanumeric characters to their signature. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

Maori Wikipedia
Kia ora, to member number 48 of the Wikipedia Maori! An energetic start (just like your start here in "en" last year). I look forward to seeing that "hoiho Uwhingitana" there too. Robin Patterson 20:04, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Annals of the Four Masters
Hello James. There is an article about the Annals of the Four Masters already, but if you like I can add more detail to it. Certainly what is there suffices but a huge amount of detail can be added.

Or indeed something about the history of the Clan O'Duigenan, their ancestry and descent. As far as I recall they only became ollamhs in the early in the second millenium A.D. (about the 12th/13th century); prior to that they were kings of a region located along the northern border of Hy-Many. I cannot presently recall their exact genealogical or racial affiliation.

In short, okay, I'll get on it. Glad you like my additions. Shame that theres so few of us working on Irish history prior to 1798. Fergananim

''...Or indeed something about the history of the Clan O'Duigenan, their ancestry and descent. As far as I recall they only became ollamhs in the early in the second millenium A.D. (about the 12th/13th century); prior to that they were kings of a region located along the northern border of Hy-Many. ''
 * What information I have is that they were ollamhs for the MacDiarmuids. I know that they were centred around Kilronan, north of Lough Key in Roscommon (one of the few Irish articles I've done much about was some additions to the article on Lough Key). Sadly I can only trace my own line with certainty back to Roscommon at the time of the potato famine (although, as I said, there are family legends). I'd be very impressed by any information on them in Wikipedia!

Well, for starters you can look up Moylurg, Kings of Moylurg and Kings of Connacht to get some idea of the background of the times and people that they lived in. This link http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1100.htm and the ones it leads to will give you a geographical idea of where it all was. Your family background might have being Delbhna, but don't quote me on that just yet! Fergananim
 * Again family legend suggests even older ancestry in Ireland - FirBolg, in fact. But whether there's any truth in that is another matter. Many thanks for the possible leads! Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]]

''Peregrine O Duignan: Hi! Looks like you're doing some great work on Irish history. Just wanted to say thanks for adding a page on someone who - according to my family legend - was a relative of mine :) Grutness|hello? (i.e., James Dignan) 01:37, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)''

Jaz, I'm only get started yet! Am currently putting the finishing touches to Clan O Duibhgeannain. Hope you like it and its related links. Fergananim.

title: User talk:Grutness/archive03


text: User talk:64.232.22.110

title: User talk:64.232.22.110


text:
Chatham railway station (Kent)

Chatham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the town of Chatham, Kent. It is 34 mi down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Rochester and Gillingham.

The station and most trains that call are operated by Southeastern. Following a timetable change on Sunday 20 May 2018, some trains are operated by Govia Thameslink.

There are two platforms, one for each direction and both capable of accommodating 12-coach trains. There are tunnels at either end of the station: Fort Pitt Tunnel (428 yards) at the London end, and Chatham Tunnel (297 yards) at the country end.

History

The station was opened on 25 January 1858, when the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) (then known as the East Kent Railway) opened a single line eastwards to Faversham. Two months later (29 March 1858) the link with the North Kent Line at Strood was opened; and the new railway reached Dover Priory in 1861. The Chatham Dockyard branch connection is made near Gillingham.

As built the station had two platforms with the station buildings being on the Down side. A note on the working drawings states that the station had to be visible from Fort Pitt. About 1881 it was rebuilt with two island platforms, and the station buildings were moved onto the road bridge, then known as Rome Place. In 1958 the station was converted back to two platforms as part of the Kent Coast Electrification Scheme, Stage 1. The station had been electrified in 1939 but the 1958 scheme lengthened the platforms to 12 car EMUs, which due to the geography of the station - between two tunnels - necessitated the abandoning of the other platforms.

A modern entrance and booking hall replaced the originals in 1981. Further remodelling in the 1990s and 2000s has seen the ticket office moved twice, accompanied by the opening, closing and re-opening of retail areas. A small, general corner store also opened. The building is located at one side of the road bridge (now Railway Street) over the track, with a taxi rank located between the road and the building. Stairs lead down to the platforms. A cafe is located on the London bound platform. There is also a coffee shop located at the main entrance of the station.

In May 2021, work began on replacing the footbridge. The new bridge will have lifts enabling step-free access. This work is expected to be completed in spring 2022.

Asquith Xavier plaque

A plaque in the waiting room commemorates Asquith Xavier, a local resident who ended a colour bar at British Railways in London by fighting to become the first non-white train guard at Euston railway station in 1966.

Services
Services at Chatham are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink using, , , and  EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:

 * 2 tph to London St Pancras International
 * 3 tph to London Victoria (2 of these run non-stop from Bromley South and 1 runs via Denmark Hill)
 * 2 tph to Luton via Dartford and Greenwich
 * 1 tph to Gillingham
 * 2 tph to Rainham
 * 1 tph to Faversham
 * 1 tph to Dover Priory via Canterbury East
 * 2 tph to Ramsgate

Additional services, including trains to and from London Charing Cross via Sidcup, and fast trains to and from London Cannon Street call at the station during the peak hours.

title: Chatham railway station (Kent)


text:
Lyneham, Australian Capital Territory

Lyneham is a suburb of Canberra, Australia in the North Canberra district. It is named after Sir William Lyne, premier of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901. The suburb name was gazetted in 1928, but development did not commence until 1958. The streets of Lyneham are named after artists and people associated with the development of early Canberra.

Points of interest
Lyneham has many attractions including nature parks and bushland, proximity to the centre of Canberra, the Old Canberra Inn (the earliest licensed pub in Canberra), Tilley's Devine Cafe and Gallery, and a number of sporting facilities. Also located in Lyneham is Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), which annually hosts Australia's best known car festival, Summernats, the Royal Canberra Show and the National Folk Festival.

St Ninian's Uniting Church in Brigalow Street is the second-oldest church in Canberra, opened in 1873. It was founded as a Presbyterian Church by the Scottish community, many of whom had come to the area as shepherds. It has been heritage-listed by the ACT Heritage Council. The Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre, also known as Van Hanh Temple is a large Vietnamese Buddhist temple located on Archibald St.

Character
The style of the suburb has been evolving since development commenced in 1958 at the north-western periphery of what is now 'inner' Canberra. The older homes built in 1958-59 (many of which catered to the sizeable influx of Commonwealth Public Servants' families, who were being relocated with their respective Departments' headquarters from Melbourne), now sit beside modern townhouse developments, while individual blocks are being 'gentrified' by either extensive renovation or demolition and rebuilt homes. Having mainly been substantially established since the 1960s, Lyneham residents enjoy its leafy streets and established gardens. A scenic wetland was built adjacent to Sullivans Creek in Lyneham to improve downstream water quality. It was opened to the public in April 2012 and it is frequented by wood ducks.

Many of the single houses between Sullivans Creek and Northbourne Avenue have been replaced by two and three-storey flats in recent years. Land adjoining Northbourne Avenue is now zoned to permit redevelopment with 25-metre (about 8 storeys) high flats or 32 metres (about 11 storeys) at the corners of Mouat Street and Macarthur Avenue with Northbourne Avenue and the first such flats were completed on the site of a two-storey motel on the corner of Northbourne Ave and Mouat St in 2013.

North Lyneham
The residential part of Lyneham built to the north of Ginninderra Drive having been developed in the mid to late 1980s was a relatively recent addition to the original suburban homes of 1960s' Lyneham. The original residences on "old" Lyneham, contained within the area bounded by Wattle, Dryandra, Archibald and Mouat Streets and Northbourne Avenue mainly date back to the late 1950s. North Lyneham's main feeder road, Cossington Smith Crescent, loops through the area with other streets coming off it. North Lyneham also has a small shopping centre housing shops, a couple of restaurants and a number of small businesses. North Lyneham backs onto a bush reserve which separates it from the Belconnnen suburb of Kaleen. The walking trails in the reserve are popular with the local residents and provide scenic views of the inner northern suburbs of Canberra to the east and south and Belconnen and the Brindabella Ranges to the west.

Demographics
In the, the population of Lyneham was 5,703, including 69 (1.2%) Indigenous persons and 3,517 (61.7%) Australian-born persons. Only 26.8% (36.5% in 2011 ) of dwellings were separate houses (compared to the Australian average of 72.3%), while 35.9% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses (Australian average: 12.7%) and 36.6% (24.0% in 2011 ) were flats, units or apartments (Australian average: 14.2%). 37.9% of the population were professionals, compared to the Australian average of 24.0%. Notably 18.3% worked in government administration, compared to the Australian average of 1.1%, although the ACT-wide average is a very similar 17.1%. Lyneham is favoured by students and young adults with 34.5% of its population in the 20- to 34-year-old age group (compared to the Australian average of 20.5%). The suburb has few children under 15: 11.4%, compared to 18.2% Australia-wide. 37.9% of the dwellings are occupied by single person households, compared to the Australian average of 25.6%. 51.6% of the population had no religion, while 12.4% were Catholic, 7.0% not stated, 5.9% Anglican and 4.6% Buddhist.

Politics
Lyneham is located within the federal electorate of Canberra and it is represented by Alicia Payne for the Labor Party. In the ACT Legislative Assembly, Lyneham is part of the electorate of Kurrajong, which elects five members on the basis of proportional representation, two Labor, two Greens and one Liberal. Polling place statistics are shown to the right for the Lyneham polling place at Lyneham Primary School in the 2022 federal and 2020 ACT elections. The Lyneham East polling place was also established at Lyneham High School for the 2022 election.

Education
Lyneham is home to Lyneham High School, Lyneham Primary School and Brindabella Christian College Lyneham Campus.

Transport
Lyneham is served by five light rail stops: Macarthur Avenue, Dickson Interchange, Swinden Street, Phillip Avenue and EPIC and Racecourse. The first four are located on its eastern edge and only the first two are near the residential areas of Lyneham. It is also served by buses on routes R9, 30, 31, 50 and 51. The Sullivans Creek shared path traverses the suburb and is a busy commuter cycling route.

Sport
Sports facilities within Lyneham include the National Hockey Centre, Thoroughbred Park (Canberra Racecourse), the ACT Netball Centre and Yowani Country Club.

Geology
Silurian calcareous shales from the Canberra Formation is overlain by Quaternary alluvium. This rock is the limestone of the original title of Canberra "Limestone Plains". Greywacke from the Ordovician age Pittman Formation is in the north west.

title: Lyneham, Australian Capital Territory


text: User talk:210.18.214.11

title: User talk:210.18.214.11


text:
Jyrki Kasvi

Jyrki Jouko Juhani Kasvi (6 January 1964 – 16 November 2021) was a Finnish politician, and a member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Green League.

Biography
Kasvi held a Ph.D. in Engineering from the Helsinki University of Technology. He wrote several books about computers and information society. Kasvi was married, and the couple had a son (b. 1994). Kasvi was previously the editor in chief of Kosmoskynä, the magazine of Finnish Science Fiction Writer's Association, a games reviewer in the computer magazine MikroBitti, and a columnist in the computer games magazine Pelit under the pseudonym Wexteen the Wizard. An avid fan of Star Trek, he added a Klingon version to his campaign re-election website in 2007.

In Parliament, he was most active in the Committee for the Future, relating to technology assessment, which he represented in the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment network (EPTA). He was first elected to the Parliament in 2003, re-elected for a second term in 2007, and lost his seat in the election of 2011. He was again elected in 2015 but lost his seat in the 2019 elections. He was also a member of the city council of Espoo from 1997, and the second vice-president of the International Parliamentarians' Association for Information Technology (IPAIT) from 2004.

Kasvi was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2003. In the course of his treatments, his bladder, spleen, and both kidneys were removed. In January 2021, Kasvi wrote in his blog that the cancer had spread to his liver, his treatments had been stopped, and that he had been moved to end-of-life care. He died in November 2021.

List of public offices

 * Member of parliament (2003–2011; 2015–2019)
 * Member of Committee for the Future (2003–2011)
 * Member of Espoo city council (1997–).
 * Chairperson of the Committee for Technical Services of Espoo (2001–2003)
 * Chairperson of the Green League city council group of the Espoo city council (2002)
 * Member of the Espoo city board (1997–2000)

title: Jyrki Kasvi


text:
Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland

Sør-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covers the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within Nordland county in Norway. The diocese is headquartered in the town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the seat of bishop Svein Valle (since november 2023). The diocese is divided into eight deaneries (prosti).

History
In 1952, the old Diocese of Hålogaland (which covered all of Northern Norway) was split into two: the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland (Nordland county) and the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland (Troms, Finnmark, and Svalbard).

Bishops
The bishops of Sør-Hålogaland since its creation in 1952:

 * 1952–1959: Wollert Krohn-Hansen
 * 1959–1969: Hans Edvard Wisløff
 * 1969–1982: Bjarne Odd Weider
 * 1982–1992: Fredrik Grønningsæter
 * 1992–2006: Øystein Ingar Larsen
 * 2007-2015: Tor Berger Jørgensen
 * 2015-2023: Ann-Helen Fjeldstad Jusnes
 * since 2023: Svein Valle

Cathedral
The old church in Bodø was destroyed during World War II, and after the war plans were made to replace the church and make it the cathedral for the new diocese. The foundation stone was laid in 1954 and was consecrated by Bishop Wollert Krohn-Hansen in 1956. There is also a memorial to those who died in Bodø during the Second World War.

Structure
The Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland is divided into eight deaneries (prosti). Each one corresponds to several municipalities in the diocese. Each municipality is further divided into one or more parishes which each contain one or more congregations. See each municipality below for lists of churches and parishes within them.

title: Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland


text:
Sala (Thai architecture)

A sala (ศาลา ), also known as a Sala Thai, is an open pavilion, used as a meeting place and to give people shade. With etymological roots in the Sanskrit sala, the word in Thai connotes buildings for specific purposes, such as sala klang ('provincial hall'). Most are open on all four sides. They are found throughout Thailand in Buddhist temple areas, or wats, although they can also be at other places. A person who builds a sala at a temple or in a public place gains religious merit. A sala located in a temple is called a salawat (ศาลาวัด). Some temples have large salas where laity can hear sermons or receive religious instruction. These are called sala kan parian (ศาลาการเปรียญ), meaning 'pavilion where monks learn for the Parian examination'. The city halls or offices of the province governors are called sala wa kan (ศาลาว่าการ, literally meaning 'government pavilion') or sala klang changwat (ศาลากลางจังหวัด, literally meaning a 'provincial main pavilion').

In Thailand, they have many purposes similar to the roadside pavilions of Asoka. In rural areas, travelers can use them to rest and reflect. These salas are called sala asai. One at the roadside is a sala rim thanon (ศาลาริมถนน) and may be used as a bus stop. If on a riverbank or canal at a landing-place for watercraft, they are called sala tha nam (ศาลาท่าน้ำ 'water pier pavilions').

Etymology
The term "sala" earliest known mention is found in Atharvaveda, which is an Indian Hindu text written in sanskrit language, which has been dated to 1200 BC to 1000 BC. "Sala" in Atharvaveda and later in various Indian languages denotes "house" in a broad and generic sense, with meanings such as "stall" for cattle, "shed" for corn, room or house, etc. The owner or the head of the house is called the "sala-pati" in Atharvaveda. Term "sala" is a cognate of Hindi शाल, meaning hall, large room or shed.

Salas outside Thailand

 * Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
 * East–West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
 * Ueno Zoological Gardens, Tokyo, Japan
 * Parc du Denantou, Lausanne, Switzerland
 * Kurpark, Bad Homburg v.d.H, Germany
 * Westpark, Munich, Germany

title: Sala (Thai architecture)


text:
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2005-04-18/Features and admins

The number of new featured articles picked up again last week after a lull the previous week, with eleven articles being promoted. The success rate of nominations has remained relatively steady, although there was some discussion of how to deal with nominations that fall short of the featured article criteria.

Dealing with underqualified nominations
Nominations of articles involving current events continued to crop up even though these have generally met resistance. An article detailing the funeral of Pope John Paul II was deemed to be too unstable for featuring last week, coming after the rejection of Papal conclave, 2005 the week before. The objections also noted problems with the copyright status of the images used in the article.

Numerous other nominations were opposed because they didn't include a separate references section, a long-standing requirement for featured articles and a recurrent objection to candidates for featured article status. This led Bantman to initiate a discussion on the talk page questioning whether it would useful to have a fast-track procedure to remove candidates that failed the basic criteria. However, featured article director Raul654 was quick to point out that "the purpose of this page is not just to identify featured articles, but to encourage improvement of articles that are almost at featured article quality (but perhaps missing one criteria, such as references)."

One possible avenue suggested for screening nominations is the peer review process, which has helped produce an increase in featured articles (see archived story). Noticing that the option of moving articles from Featured article candidates to peer review has been edited out of the voting instructions, slambo asked if this might be restored. MacGyverMagic suggested that such votes could be used anyway, as an alternative vote to simple opposition when appropriate.

New featured content
Eleven articles managed to gain featured status last week: United Kingdom corporation tax, Stuttering, Ta-Yuan, Goa, Speaker of the British House of Commons, Moorgate, Order of St Patrick, Polish-Soviet War, Diego Velázquez, Samantha Smith and Sly & the Family Stone

In addition, five images gained featured picture status via Featured picture candidates:

Requests for adminship
Five users were approved as administrators on requests for adminship, last week: Gdr, Jinian, Wwoods, Petaholmes (also known as nixie) and Biekko. Especially successful were Petaholmes and Gdr (both nominated by Darwinek), who gathered 31 and 21 support votes respectively without any objections.

Of the nominations filed last week, it seems Mindspillage is likely promoted when her voting period ends, having received 34 votes in the first four days of being nominated with only one opposing (a facetious vote by Gmaxwell).

Also this week: Editor's note — Dworkin scoop — Tax exemption — Search — Spoken articles — Encarta digs — Design contest — T.R.O.L.L. — Features and admins — Press coverage