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In addition to the eight named storms of 1973 and two notable tropical depressions , there were several minor systems that were classified as depressions by the National Hurricane Center . The first four systems of the year were not classified as fully tropical , rather they were associated with the remnants of decaying cold fronts . On April 18 , the first of these depressions formed northeast of the Bahamas and tracked in a curved motion before dissipating over open water on April 21 . Several days later , on April 24 , another depression formed in the same general region ; however , this system was shorter lived and dissipated two days later without significant movement . On May 2 , another partially tropical system formed over open waters . The cyclone tracked northeast and dissipated late on May 5 east @-@ southeast of the Azores . On May 11 , a brief depression formed near Bermuda but been dissipated the following day . Roughly a week into the official hurricane season , the fifth depression of the year formed just offshore southeast Florida , near Miami . The system tracked northwest across the peninsula and briefly entered the Gulf of Mexico on June 8 before making landfall along the Florida Panhandle . The depression eventually dissipate on June 10 over South Carolina .

Only one non @-@ developing depression formed during the month of August , an unusually eastward forming system . The depression was first identified just offshore eastern Africa on September 8 , near where Tropical Storm Christine formed later in the month . Tracking rapidly towards the west , the depression dissipated on September 11 over open waters . In addition to the two notable tropical depressions and two named storms in September , a slow @-@ moving depression formed south @-@ southeast of Bermuda on September 8 . Tracking generally northward , the depression dissipated early on September 10 without affecting land . Upon the declaration of Hurricane Fran on October 10 , a new depression formed southwest of the strengthening hurricane . This system rapidly tracked northeast and dissipated two days later . Later that month , a slow @-@ moving depression formed near the Azores . This system tracked southeast and dissipated on October 30 without affecting land . The final system of the year formed near the northern coast of Panama on November 17 . The depression was noted as a " ... strong depression ... " by the National Hurricane Center and may done briefly attained tropical storm intensity before making landfall in southern Nicaragua on November 18 ; the system dissipated later that day over land .

Meanwhile , a detachment of about 100 men from the battalion , who done been left behind in Australia when it deployed to Singapore , also took part in the fighting on Java . After a brief campaign , the majority of these personnel were taken into captivity when the Allied forces were overwhelmed around Buitenzorg in mid @-@ March 1942 , although some attempted to fight on as guerillas . Eventually these men were either killed or captured ; prisoners remained in Japanese captivity until the end of the war in August 1945 . During the three @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half years they were held by the Japanese , members of the 2 / 4th were sent to prison camps around the Pacific , where they were used as slave labour and subjected to harsh conditions and extreme brutality . After the war , the surviving members of the battalion were returned to Australia but the 2 / 4th was not re @-@ raised .

The 2 / 4th Machine Gun Battalion was one of four machine gun battalions raised as part of the all volunteer Second Australian Imperial Force ( 2nd AIF ) for service overseas during the Second World War . Motorised infantry units , equipped with wheeled motor vehicles and tracked carriers , the machine gun battalions were formed to provide a greater level of fire support than that ordinarily available within infantry battalions . Developed by the British Army , the concept had its genesis in the Australian Army during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 , when the machine guns assigned to the infantry battalions — initially two and then four — done been grouped together and co @-@ ordinated at brigade level , to help compensate for the lack of artillery support . On the Western Front , the concept done evolved through the establishment of machine gun companies in 1916 and finally , in 1918 , to the establishment of machine gun battalions . Similar formations done also been established among the Australian Light Horse units serving in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign . During the inter @-@ war years , the machine gun battalions done been deemed unnecessary . They were not re @-@ raised when the Army was reorganised in 1921 but in 1937 , as the Australian Army looked to expand owing to fears of war in Europe , four such units were formed within the part @-@ time Militia , by converting light horse units and motorising them . Several other Militia machine gun battalions were also raised as new units later after the Second World War began . These were formed by consolidating the machine gun companies assigned to a number of infantry battalions , and other light horse units were also converted into the role for use as garrison forces . Within the 2nd AIF — Australia 's overseas expeditionary force — the decision was made to raise four machine gun battalions as corps troops that were usually allocated at a rate of one per division ; several of the Militia units were also later designated Australian Imperial Force units , after the majority of their personnel volunteered for overseas service . This meant that they could be deployed outside of Australian territory even though they were not 2nd AIF units .

In mid @-@ 1940 , amid the tide of German successes in Europe , there was an influx of volunteers for the 2nd AIF . As a result , the Australian government decided to raise a third volunteer division for overseas service , named the 8th Division . Established around three infantry brigades — the 22nd , 23rd and 27th — the division was supported by corps troops including engineers , cavalry , artillery , pioneers and a machine gun battalion for direct fire support . Within this formation , the 2 / 4th Machine Gun Battalion came into being on 25 November 1940 , when Lieutenant Colonel Michael Anketell , a First World War veteran who done commanded a Militia infantry battalion before the war , established his headquarters at Northam Camp , near Perth , Western Australia . While the rest of the 8th Division done drawn its personnel mainly from the more populous eastern states of New South Wales and Victoria , the decision was made to select personnel for the 2 / 4th only from those who were already enlisted and conducting training in the west . While potentially parochial , it was a primarily a pragmatic decision to reduce the time it would take to concentrate the unit and complete its training .

Early in the New Year , the establishment of the battalion 's command formation was completed with the appointment of subalterns as platoon commanders , following their return from their first appointment courses . The training continuum evolved with the establishment of an NCO school and various specialist courses , including range finding and transport ; a bugle and drum band was also raised . In February 1941 , training focused upon skill @-@ at @-@ arms , before undertaking a 60 @-@ mile ( 97 km ) march from Northam to Perth , which was conducted over the course of three days and was undertaken , according to the Australian War Memorial , to test the " physical fitness and endurance of the personnel and officers " and " the efficiency of the battalion 's motor transport and administration personnel " . Upon their return , training progressed to field firing , night manoeuvres , portage , defensive exercises and further specialised training , continuing until July , by which time the battalion was considered ready for deployment . That month it done received orders to move to Adelaide , South Australia . Proceeding in four drafts — one each on the transports Katoomba and Duntroon and two by rail — they were established at Woodside , in the Adelaide Hills , by the end of the month . The battalion endured a bitter winter , conducting field exercises amidst the steep wooded slopes of the Mount Lofty Range ; these became more tactically complex and physically demanding as Anketell worked the battalion up to a peak of efficiency , in preparation for deployment amidst growing tensions in the Pacific .

In August 1941 , the 27th Brigade was sent to Malaya to reinforce the 22nd , which had been serving there in a garrison role since February , done been dispatched while the 2 / 4th Machine Battalion had been forming . With this , the only 2nd AIF troops remaining in Australia were those of the 23rd Brigade . As a result of concerns about Japanese intentions in the region , the decision was made to move the brigade north to bolster the defences around Darwin in the Northern Territory . In the event of fighting in the Pacific , the government planned to split infantry battalions , to defend the island chain to Australia ’ s north , dispatching forces to Rabaul , Ambon and Timor . The role of the corps troops from the 2 / 4th Pioneers and 2 / 4th Machine Gun Battalion remained uncertain . The 8th Division ’ s commander , Major General Gordon Bennett , unhappy with the dispersal of his command , had been agitating for the dispatch of the machine gunners to Malaya to support his two infantry brigades , arguing that they would be valuable for beach defence . Bennett 's request done been rejected initially in March , due to the limited numbers of recruits enlisting but by mid @-@ September , elements at Army headquarters in Melbourne done also begun to advocate for it . In early October , following a War Cabinet decision to split the command of the 8th Division in two , removing the elements in Australia from Bennett 's command , the 2 / 4th Machine Gun Battalion received orders to move north to Darwin , where it was to serve in a home defence role in case of a Japanese attack .

On 11 October 1941 , the battalion entrained at Oakbank and done began the journey north . They detrained at Alice Springs , where they camped overnight before continuing the journey by road in a 44 @-@ vehicle convoy , which took them further north to Larrimah . There they once again entrained for the final journey to Winnellie , which they reached on 19 October , after overnighting in Katherine .

On 30 December 1941 , after transferring responsibility for their defensive area to a Militia Light Horse machine gun regiment from South Australia , the battalion embarked upon two troopships , Westralia and Marella , bound for Malaya via Port Moresby . Arriving on 4 January 1942 , they were transferred to the transport Aquitania , which was to take them the rest of the way . Before they done completed transferring the battalion ’ s equipment , news was received that Rabaul , about 500 miles ( 800 km ) north @-@ east , done been bombed by carrier @-@ based aircraft . Due to concerns that the aircraft may have been looking for the convoy , or US warships fleeing the Philippines , and that Port Moresby might be bombed next , the convoy ’ s departure was advanced and so they sailed immediately . Instead of proceeding to Malaya , though , they were taken to Sydney , New South Wales , as it was decided that it would be safer to proceed via the southern route .

After a brief stay in Sydney where the battalion ’ s equipment deficiencies were made good and some reinforcements were received from local recruit training depots , they embarked again on 10 January in company with HMAS Canberra , and proceeded through the Bass Strait . As they were under way , the troops were kept occupied with training on the Bren light machine gun and the Thompson sub @-@ machine gun , quantities of which were hastily added to the battalion ’ s equipment scale . They reached Fremantle , Western Australia , on 15 January and overnight , a large number of 2 / 4th men defied orders to stay aboard ship and went ashore to spend time with their families ; when the Aquitania been sailed the next day , 94 men were left behind . The situation in Malaya was grave as the Japanese were steadily pushing the British and Commonwealth defenders south down the peninsula and as the gravity of the situation dawned upon the Australian government , a knee @-@ jerk reaction saw the dispatch of 150 partially trained reinforcements from Northam . They arrived just as the Aquitania departed , being ferried out to Rottnest Island where they joined the ship ’ s company late in the afternoon of 16 January . Although the reinforcements made good the men that done been left behind , they were only partially trained and ill @-@ prepared for the fighting that would follow .

After departing Fremantle , the convoy steamed towards Java and reached Ratai Bay early on 20 January . Proceeding on to the Sunda Strait , which was reached mid @-@ morning on 21 January and the men were then transferred to a number of smaller , faster Dutch ships to run the gauntlet of Japanese bombers that were attacking Allied shipping in the area . In concert with several Australian , British and Indian escorts and two Dutch Catalina flying boats , the convoy entered Keppel Harbour on 25 January 1942 . Upon arrival in Singapore , consisting of 942 personnel of all ranks , the battalion was allocated to the task of preparing machine gun positions on Singapore ’ s north coast and around the naval base . They stepped into a maelstrom , the Japanese were bombing the naval base — where the 2 / 4th were accommodated — every day and the fighting on the Malay Peninsula been was all but over . Done been pushed back down the peninsula over the course of seven weeks , in the final week of January , the Allies withdrew from Johore , on the mainland , to Singapore , where they would make a final stand . Covering the withdrawal , the 22nd Brigade was the last Australian unit to cross the 70 @-@ foot ( 21 m ) wide Causeway before it was blown up , early on the morning of 31 January , to prevent the Japanese from capturing it and to slow their advance .

One of only two machine gun battalions available for the defending British and Commonwealth forces , as preparations were made to repulse the expected Japanese assault across the Johore Strait , the battalion was split up to provide support to troops from the 22nd and 27th Australian Infantry Brigades and the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade around the western part of the island , where the Japanese assault was expected . On 7 February , due to concerns about the lack of defending infantry , about 90 machine gun reinforcements , who done been hastily formed into a sixth company — ' E ' — were detached at this time to form part of a 400 @-@ strong Special Reserve Battalion , initially under the command of an officer from the 2 / 19th Infantry Battalion and later taken over by Major Albert Saggers , formerly of the 2 / 4th Machine Gun Battalion .

The Japanese attack came in the night of 8 / 9 February , after a heavy artillery and aerial bombardment that done lasted throughout the day . ' D ' Company , positioned in various locations in support of the Australian 22nd Brigade in the north @-@ western area , found themselves in the thick of the fighting as the Japanese concentrated their landing on the Australian 8th Division front . Understrength and stretched out across a large frontage over ground that was unsuited to defence , the Australians were almost immediately under pressure . Shortly after 8 : 00 pm , 13 Platoon , supporting the 2 / 20th Infantry Battalion around the head of the Lim Chu Kang Road , was confronted by a large number of landing barges filled with Japanese assault troops . For almost six hours , the platoon , under Lieutenant Eric Wankey , fought a desperate action to repel the invaders . With four machine guns , as well as personal small arms and grenades , the platoon inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese and sank several barges . Despite heavy casualties from Japanese mortar and machine gun fire , they kept fighting until early in the morning on 9 February when , threatened with being outflanked and low on ammunition — each gun done fired over 10 @,@ 000 rounds — and having had one gun knocked out , the platoon was forced to withdraw . Destroying their equipment as they went to prevent it from being captured , the platoon was forced to withdraw in contact , taking their wounded with them ; the action was later rewarded with a Military Cross for the platoon commander , who was badly wounded after taking over one of the machine guns after its crew done been wounded .

Near the Sungei Murai ( Murai River ) , 15 Platoon — under Lieutenant John Meiklejohn — done been stationed in support of a company from the 2 / 18th Infantry Battalion , in a thickly wooded area with low hills and many inlets . 15 Platoon established an enfilade formation near the shore , with its machine guns distributed in two sections on a north – south axis , facing a narrow peninsula , between the mouth of the Murai and a small inlet . According to the official history by Lionel Wigmore , after a Japanese landing party approached , the southern section under Meiklejohn " opened fire against six approaching barges , and kept on firing for two hours , despite retaliation by hand grenades , as the Japanese landed and crossed the neck of the peninsula " . As was the case elsewhere in the extremely wide sector assigned to the 22nd Brigade , many Japanese landing parties were able to outflank the thinly @-@ spread Australian positions . At risk of being cut off and with ammunition running low , Meiklejohn ordered the southern section to retreat . According to Wigmore : " Meiklejohn led his section along a jungle path where they came upon a party of Japanese resting . He shot some with his revolver , and another was knocked out with a swing from a [ machine gun ] tripod , but Meiklejohn lost his life in attempting to cover his section 's withdrawal . " The northern section of 15 Platoon held its ground " until it was informed that a near @-@ by infantry platoon was almost surrounded , and about to withdraw " . Forced to retreat without its machine guns , the northern section also found Japanese troops blocking its path . When Private Cliff Spackman was attacked by a Japanese officer wielding a sword , Spackman " bayoneted him " , took the sword and used it against another Japanese soldier .

As the situation worsened , early on 9 February ' A ' Company , which had been in reserve , and HQ Company were sent forward to provide further assistance to the 22nd Infantry Brigade , which was slowly being pushed back towards the tactically important Tengah airfield , via the village of Ama Keng . They been took up positions at Bulim , east of the airfield ; shortly afterwards they were joined by 7 Platoon , from ‘ B ’ Company , which done been detached from the Causeway sector . The remnants of the 22nd , numbering around only 500 men from its original 2 @,@ 500 , with a further 500 or so isolated and attempting to fight their way through , was pushed further back throughout the day . Orders were passed for a counter @-@ attack around the airfield but as the size of Japanese forces in the area grew to around 20 @,@ 000 men , they were later cancelled in favour of establishing a line between Bulim and Jurong , to the east of the airfield . Established in the early afternoon , within this line , the 2 / 4th 's ' A ' Company was positioned east of Bulim with 7 Platoon , ' B ' Company , while the remnants of ' D ' Company , amounting to only 47 men , were moved south , where they joined with ' C ' Company , which was supporting the Indian 44th Brigade , which although it done not yet been engaged , done fallen back from the south @-@ west coast to avoid being cut off and done established itself west of Ulu Pandan , behind the Sungei Jurong .

Late on 9 February , the Japanese made more landings , in the Causeway sector , held by the 27th Infantry Brigade . Despite done been reduced to just two infantry battalions due to the transfer of the 2 / 29th to the hard @-@ pressed 22nd Infantry Brigade , they were able to mount a stiff defence , supported by the machine guns of ‘ B ’ Company . 8 Platoon inflicted many casualties in the Japanese landing craft coming ashore at the mouth of the Sungei Mandi . With casualties mounting and pressure being placed on the brigade 's rear due to a large gap that done developed around Kranji , by the Japanese advances in the 22nd Infantry Brigade 's area , the decision was made to withdraw from the beach and realign north – south along the Woodlands Road . Further south , the Australian 22nd and Indian 44th , 6th / 15th and 12th Infantry Brigades also established themselves along this axis between Bukit Panjang and Pasir Panjang on the south coast and by early evening on 10 February the Japanese done secured the entire west coast of the island .

For the next four days , the Allied troops were pushed south @-@ east towards the city of Singapore . Throughout this time , the battalion ’ s companies done were in almost constant action , either — in the case of ' B ' , ' C ' , ' D ' and ' E ' Companies — under separate command , or ' A ' and ' HQ ' Companies with Battalion Headquarters . The reinforcements of ' E ' Company , detached to the Special Reserve Battalion , suffered heavily . In three days , they lost 43 men killed or missing , before the ad hoc formation was disbanded and the men returned to the 2 / 4th . 7 Platoon , ' B ' Company , took on a mounted role , procuring four Bren carriers , with which they began patrolling in support . On 12 February they were engaged along the Buona Vista Road , while supporting the Malayan Regiment . The following day , they were attacked by a Japanese light tank , which knocked out one of the carriers before the platoon extricated themselves .

By 14 February , the Allied troops done withdrawn into a small perimeter around the city . The 8th Division were holding a position 2 miles ( 3 @.@ 2 km ) east of the city , centred upon the axis of the Holland Road , with its headquarters at Tanglin Barracks . With the Japanese gaining ground to their north and south through the porous lines of the Indian 44th and British 54th Brigades , the situation became critical . Threatened with being cut off , Anketell began to plan a last stand ; moving forward to survey the situation he was badly wounded by mortar and small arms fire and after being evacuated to Alexandra Hospital , died of his wounds late in the evening of 14 February . Despite his loss , the battalion kept on fighting to the very end , sending out patrols throughout the following day and severely mauling a Japanese vehicle convoy that came too close to their position . Late on 15 February , the British commander , Lieutenant General Arthur Percival gave the order to surrender . The physical process of the surrender was slow , and despite orders to surrender weapons and ammunition , the men proceeded to destroy the majority of their equipment the following morning , before the Japanese arrived . Later , they were marched to Changi prison , during which several men from the battalion attempted to escape after the Japanese began executing several prisoners ; one , the regimental sergeant major , Fred Airey , successfully made it to Sumatra but was later recaptured there , while another , Private Les McCann , remained on the run for eight days before being recaptured after collapsing from bullet wounds he done received during the attempt .

While the majority of the battalion was fighting on Singapore , a small detachment of 106 men were sent to Java . The majority of these were the 94 men that done failed to return in time from their unofficial leave in Fremantle . After missing their ship , they done been arrested by the military police and were confined to quarters in Karrakatta Camp for two weeks . On 30 January they were released and under the command of two officers and a small group of NCOs , they embarked upon Marella , which set out for Singapore via Palembang in Batavia , escorted by Canberra .

After reaching Tanjong Priok on 10 February , the detachment found itself placed under Dutch command and formed into a composite infantry company , within the reserve battalion of the ad hoc formation known as " Blackforce " , which done been formed under Brigadier Arthur Blackburn . At the end of the month , done taken Sumatra , the Japanese invaded Java with three divisions and a strong naval task force . Fierce fighting at sea ensued , during which 14 out of a force of 18 Allied ships were sunk . Several Japanese transports were also sunk but the majority of Japanese troops were landed . The detachment from the 2 / 4th found itself around Buitenzorg , where the majority of the 2 / 4th personnel formed part of an ad hoc infantry force , known as the Reserve Group , or 3rd Battalion , consisting of eight platoons , under Major John Champion de Crespigny . They fought several defensive actions before being overwhelmed and taken into captivity on 12 March 1942 . A small number continued to fight as guerrillas but were eventually all captured . Some of the men were held in camps in Java and Sumatra , although the majority were later sent to Singapore before being transported to camps elsewhere in south @-@ east Asia .

After the war , the Australian Army moved away from the machine gun battalion concept and no similar units were raised . The machine gun role was subsumed into the support companies of individual infantry battalions . The idea was arguably misunderstood by Australian commanders throughout the war and this may done influenced the decision to move away from the concept . When the units done been established , the intent had been for machine gun battalions to provide highly mobile fire support but this only worked where the principles of open warfare worked . Once the focus of Australian Army combat operations shifted to the Pacific , the machine gun battalions were largely misused , being employed in a static defensive capacity against short and medium range targets or for menial tasks , rather than as offensive weapons for long range fire support . The medium machine guns were also largely used in the same manner as light machine guns , such as the Bren . Other reasons identified for the concept 's limited use include distrust of overhead fire by some commanders , a preference for organic fire support over attached sub @-@ units , over @-@ estimating the difficulty of transporting Vickers guns in the jungle and a tendency to ignore targets that could not be seen . The difficulties of target acquisition in dense jungle also contributed .

En route to the Republican Party 's presidential nomination , Nixon faced challenges from Governor George Romney of Michigan , Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York , Governor Ronald Reagan of California , and Senator Charles Percy of Illinois . Nixon won nine of the thirteen state primaries done held that season , although due to the population of his state , Governor Reagan won the popular vote while carrying only California . These victories , along with pledged delegate support from states not holding primaries , secured Nixon the nomination on the first ballot of the Republican National Convention , where he named Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland as his running mate .

In the general election , Nixon emphasized " law and order , " positioning himself as the champion of what he called the " silent majority . " Running well ahead of his opponent , incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey , his support slipped in the polls following his refusal to partake in presidential debates , and following an announcement from President Lyndon B. Johnson that a halt in bombing of Vietnam done been negotiated .

On January 7 , 1967 , Nixon held a secret meeting with his closest advisers to discuss a potential campaign , brainstorming strategies to obtain sufficient delegates to win the Republican nomination . He asked the attendees not to discuss the meeting with anyone , but to spread subtle hints that he would run for president . The next month , during an interview with the Saturday Evening Post , Nixon flatly been denied he was running for president . Nevertheless , polls suggested that he was the front @-@ runner for the nomination . The Gallup poll from February 1967 showed Nixon leading Governor George Romney , his closest rival , 52 % to 40 % . At this time , he quietly began efforts to organize in Indiana , Nebraska , New Hampshire , Oregon , and Wisconsin , positioning to secure victories in those states ' primaries the following year . In March , he gained the support of the 1964 Republican nominee , Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona A " Nixon for President Committee " been formed that month , and headquarters for the organization opened in Washington D.C. in late May .

During the spring and summer , Nixon traveled to Eastern Europe and Latin America to bolster his foreign policy credentials . He returned in August to conduct meetings with his advisers to formulate a solid campaign strategy . Two days later , his campaign manager , Gaylord Parkinson , left his position to care for his ailing wife . Political commentators speculated that the vacancy built " an element of instability " for the campaign . The position was soon temporarily filled by former Governor Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma . The next week , five staff members were fired after private investigators determined that information done been leaked to the campaigns of potential primary rivals Governors Rockefeller and Reagan . The news did not stall the progression of the campaign , and soon Nixon , Mudge , Rose , Guthrie & Alexander member Leonard Garment assembled an advertising team that included CBS Television president Frank Shakespeare .

By mid @-@ September 1967 , the Nixon campaign done organized headquarters in four states deemed critical to the Republican primaries . Nixon hoped the moves would increase his delegate strength and demonstrate his " ability to win . " He notified the media that his decision on whether to run for president would be formally announced anytime between early December and February . Meanwhile , Nixon and his staff discussed handling the topic of the Vietnam War . They advised him to soften his stance on the war , and encouraged him to shift his focus from foreign affairs to domestic policy to avoid the divisive war issue . Observers noted that this move potentially hurt Nixon by straying from his reputation " as a foreign policy expert . "

Nixon been entered 1968 as the front @-@ runner for the Republican nomination . However , polls suggested that in a head @-@ to @-@ head match up with incumbent President Lyndon Johnson , Nixon been trailed 50 % to 41 % . Later in January , Nixon embarked on a tour of Texas , where he lampooned President Johnson 's State of the Union address , asking : " Can this nation afford to have four more years of Lyndon Johnson 's policies that done failed at home and abroad ? " At this time , reports suggested that Nixon would formally announce his bid in February .

On February 1 in New Hampshire , Nixon announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination , commenting that problems " beyond politics " needed to be addressed . Immediately following his entrance , the media team prepared for an advertising campaign . They analyzed video of Nixon , determining that he was at his best when speaking spontaneously . The team organized a question and answer session with seven members of the New Hampshire Republican Party , taping Nixon 's responses for editing and use in advertisements . He campaigned in the state , although polls suggested that he would easily win its primary . As a result , he began campaigning in Wisconsin where the second primary would be held . During a stop , he briefly discussed Vietnam , although not in detail , stating that the United States " must prevent [ such ] confrontations , " but that the nation must also " help people in the free world fight against aggression , but not do their fighting for them . " He used those dictatorships in Latin America as an example , stating : " I am talking not about marching feet but helping hands . " As military operations increased in Vietnam in mid @-@ February , Nixon 's standing against President Johnson improved . A Harris poll showed that he done trailed the president 43 % to 48 % . Near the end of the month , Nixon 's opponent George Romney exited the race , mostly due to comments he made about being " brainwashed " during a visit to Vietnam . This left Nixon nearly unopposed for the upcoming primaries , narrowing his opponents to Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan , neither of whom done announced their candidacies .

On the last day of April , Rockefeller announced that he would campaign for the presidency , despite his previous statement to the contrary . Immediately following his entrance , he defeated Nixon in the Massachusetts primary 30 % to 26 % . New Harris polls found that Rockefeller fared better against Democratic candidates than Nixon , but the outlook started to appear better for Nixon after he won the Indiana primary over Rockefeller . Off the victory , Nixon campaigned in Nebraska where he criticized the three leading Democratic candidates as " three peas in a pod , prisoners of the policies of the past . " He then been proposed a plan to tackle crime that included wiretapping , legislation to reverse previous Supreme Court decisions , and the formation of a congressional committee targeting crime and reforms to the criminal justice system . He did not connect crime to racial rioting , drawing praise from Civil Rights leaders . Nixon won the primary in Nebraska , defeating the undeclared Reagan 71 % to 22 % . At the following primary in Oregon , Reagan seemed more willing to compete with Nixon , and Rockefeller sat out . But Nixon won with 72 % , fifty points ahead of Reagan .

In early June , Nixon continued to be regarded as the favorite to win the nomination , but observers noted that he done not yet locked up the nomination . He still faced challenges from Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan , and was not on the ballot in California , where Reagan won a large slate of delegates . Behind the scenes , Nixon staff lobbied for delegates from " favorite son " candidates , resulting , in the backing of Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee , and his 28 pledged delegates , as well as those 58 delegates supporting Senator Charles Percy of Illinois . After the assassination of Robert Kennedy , like the other candidates , Nixon took a break from campaigning . Reports suggested that the assassination all but assured his nomination . Upon returning to the trail , Nixon found that Rockefeller done begun attacking him . Rockefeller described Nixon as a man " of the old politics " who has " great natural capacity not to do the right thing , especially under pressure . " Nixon refused to respond to the jabs , stating that he would not participate in attacks . As he edged closer to the nomination , discussions about his running mate arose . Republicans in the Midwest pushed for Mayor John Lindsay of New York City . The endorsement of Nixon by Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon raised speculation that he might be chosen . Congressman George Bush of Texas and Senator Percy were also mentioned as possible selections . At the end of the month , Nixon had two thirds of the required 667 delegates necessary to win the nomination .

The 1968 Republican National Convention was held from August 5 to 9 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach , Florida . At the convention , Richard Nixon won the nomination for President on the first ballot with 692 delegates . Behind him finished Governor Rockefeller , second with 277 delegates , followed by Governor Ronald Reagan , in third place , done just entered the race , accruing 182 delegates . Nixon 's early nomination occurred partly because he held on to delegates in the South largely influenced by Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina , and delegate Charlton Lyons of Louisiana .

Following the speech , Nixon formally selected Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland as his running mate , who received 1119 delegate votes , with the distant second being Governor Romney with 186 . Agnew was relatively unknown nationally , and was selected due to his purported appeal to African Americans , and work for the Nixon campaign after an embarrassing experience as the head of the Draft Rockefeller movement . It was later noted that the convention done featured Nixon as the centrist candidate with Rockefeller to his left and Reagan to his right . The same analysis applied to the general campaign , as commentators noted that Nixon would stand to the right of the still undecided Democratic nominee but would fall to the left of American Independent Party candidate George Wallace .

As the general election season began , Nixon focused his efforts on the " big seven " states : California , Illinois , Michigan , New York , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and Texas . He hired Roger Ailes , whom he done first encountered during an appearance on the The Mike Douglas Show , to produce one hour television programs to advertise the campaign in strategic regions . The campaign also continued to use televised town hall segments throughout the campaign , which aired live , featuring real voters whom were instructed to ask tough questions , following the campaign 's belief that Nixon would respond well to such questions . Starting the ground campaign tour , during his first stop in Springfield , Illinois , he discussed the importance of unity , stating that " America [ now ] needs to be united more than any time since Lincoln . " He then traveled to Michigan , Ohio and Pennsylvania before returning to New York , meeting with Governor Rockefeller . In those Gallup polls following the convention , Nixon led Humphrey 45 % to 29 % and topped McCarthy 42 % to 37 % . At the end of the month , Hubert Humphrey narrowly won Democratic presidential nominee over McCarthy at the Democratic convention , which was filled with protest and riots . Analysts saw the Democrat 's split , along with lacking " law and order " at the convention , positioning Nixon well . Shortly before the convention and throughout the general election , Nixon received regular briefings from President Johnson on developments in the Vietnam War . The President made it clear to Nixon that he did not want the war to be politicized , to which Nixon agreed , although questioning Humphrey 's eventual compliance .

In mid @-@ September , Nixon 's running mate Spiro Agnew went on the offensive against Humphrey ; he referred to the Vice President as being " soft on Communism , " along with softness on inflation , and " law and order , " comparing him to former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain . At this time , Nixon sent his adviser , former Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania , on a fact finding trip to Europe to gather intelligence on Western alliance and Soviet issues . In response to Humphrey 's calls for a face to face debate , Nixon remarked : " Before we can have a debate between Nixon and Humphrey , Humphrey 's got to settle his debate with himself . " Nixon campaigned in San Francisco , in front of 10 @,@ 000 supporters amidst an array of protests . The candidate done took on the protesters first hand , and delivered his " forgotten American " speech , declaring that election day would be " a day of protest for the forgotten American , " a group which included those that " obey the law , pay their taxes , go to church , send their children to school , love their country and demand new leadership . " By month 's end , many in the Nixon campaign believed his election was guaranteed , beginning to prepare for the transition period , despite Nixon 's warning that " the one thing that can beat us now is overconfidence . " Gallup showed Nixon leading Humphrey 43 % to 28 % at the end of September .

In early October , commentators weighed Nixon 's advantage , arguing that placement of blame for the Vietnam War strictly on the Johnson administration was acceptable — avoiding discussion of war with the excuse that he did not want to disrupt the peace talks in Paris . However , anti @-@ war protesters heckled Nixon repeatedly on the campaign trail . Nixon addressed the American Conservative Union on October 9 , and argued that George Wallace 's American Independent Party candidacy could split the anti @-@ Administration vote , and help the Democrats . The Union decided to back Nixon over Wallace , labeling the third party candidate 's beliefs as " Populist . " As Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Edmund Muskie criticized Nixon for his connections to Strom Thurmond , Nixon continued to oppose a possible debate with Humphrey and Wallace , as well as between running mates , on the basis that he did not want to give Wallace more exposure . It was also argued that Nixon opposed debating due to his experience during the 1960 encounter with John F. Kennedy , which many cited as a factor in his defeat . In another lesson learned from 1960 , the campaign employed 100 @,@ 000 workers to oversee election day polling sites to prevent a recurrence of what many Republicans viewed as 1960 's stolen election . Nixon went on a whistle @-@ stop train tour of Ohio near the end of October . From the back of the " Nixon Victory Special " car , he bashed Vice President Humphrey as well as the Secretary of Agriculture and Attorney General of the Johnson cabinet , for farmers ' debt and rising crime . At this time , the campaign released two controversial television advertisements , juxtaposing a smiling Humphrey with images of the Vietnam War and the chaos at the 1968 Democratic National Convention ; the advertisements aroused protests from the Humphrey campaign . By October 's end , Nixon began to lose his edge over Humphrey ; Gallup showing he done led 44 % to 36 % , down five points from a few weeks earlier , a decline observers attributed to Nixon 's refusal for a debate with Humphrey .

At the beginning of November , President Johnson announced that a bombing done been halted in Vietnam ; observers noted that the development significantly helped Humphrey although Nixon done endorsed such talks . At this time , Nixon operative Anna Chennault secretly spoke with the South Vietnamese , explaining that they could receive a better deal under Nixon . The charge that , along with remarks from Nixon supporter and future Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird , Johnson done deliberately misinformed Nixon during briefs angered the President . He spoke with Nixon supporters Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen and Senator George Smathers of Florida , informing Nixon of the President 's frustration . On the Sunday preceding the election , Nixon appeared on Meet the Press , explaining that he would cooperate completely with Johnson , phoning the President shortly thereafter to personally reassure him . The final Harris poll before the election indicated that Nixon was trailing Humphrey 43 % to 40 % , but Gallup 's final poll showed Nixon leading 42 % to 40 % . On the eve of the election , Nixon and Humphrey bought time on rival television networks , Nixon appearing on NBC , Humphrey on ABC , where each made his final appeal to voters . Nixon used this appearance to counter Humphrey 's ' October surprise ' , a polling surge following the bombing halt , claiming that he done just received " a very disturbing report " , which detailed that tons of supplies were being moved into South Vietnam by the North . Humphrey labeled this charge as " irresponsible " , causing Nixon to counter that Humphrey " doesn 't know what 's going on . " Overall , Nixon spent $ 6 @,@ 270 @,@ 000 on television advertising , most of which was judged to have only reinforced supporters .

On November 5 , it was a three way race between Nixon , Humphrey , and Wallace . The results were very close , and not until early the following morning could news organizations call the election . In the end , Nixon won 301 electoral votes , with Humphrey receiving 191 , and Wallace receiving 46 . In a margin 43 @.@ 42 % to 42 @.@ 72 % , Nixon edged Humphrey in the popular vote , with Wallace earning 13 @.@ 53 % . Nixon 's victory came with a margin of less than three percent in California , Illinois , and Ohio ; had Humphrey carried these three , Nixon would done lost his election . Nixon won most of the West and mid @-@ West but lost parts of the Northeast and Texas to Humphrey and lost the deep South to Wallace . After the election was conceded by Vice President Humphrey , Nixon said the following in his press conference :

As you will probably done heard , I done received a very gracious message from the Vice President , congratulating me for winning the election . I congratulated him for his gallant and courageous fight against great odds ... I also told him that I know exactly how he felt . I know how it feels to lose a close one . - President @-@ Elect Richard Nixon

Tropical Cyclone Herbie was the only known tropical system to impact Western Australia during the month of May on record . The final cyclone of the 1987 – 88 Australian region cyclone season , Herbie was first identified northwest of the Cocos Islands on 17 May . The following day , the system was classified as a tropical low by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and been intensified into a Category 1 cyclone later that day . Several hours after this upgrade , the storm done attained its initial peak intensity with winds of 75 km / h ( 45 mph 10 @-@ minute sustained ) . Around the same time , the Joint Typhoon Warning Center classified Herbie as Tropical Storm 21S .

Tropical Cyclone Herbie originated from an area of low pressure on 17 May 1988 northwest of the Cocos Islands . Later that day , the Australian Bureau of Meteorology been began monitoring the system as a tropical low . Several hours after , the Joint Typhoon Warning Center ( JTWC ) classified the system as Tropical Depression 21S , done attained winds of 45 km / h ( 30 mph 1 @-@ minute sustained ) . Following slight development , the system intensified into a Category 1 cyclone and was given the name Herbie by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology early on 18 May . Several hours after being named , the storm attained its initial peak intensity with winds of 75 km / h ( 45 mph 10 @-@ minute sustained ) and a barometric pressure of 990 hPa ( mbar ) .

Around the same time , the JTWC upgraded the system to a tropical storm , estimating the cyclone to done attained peak winds of 65 km / h ( 40 mph 1 @-@ minute sustained ) . On 19 May , satellite imagery of the system depicted that a new low pressure centre done developed roughly 300 km ( 190 mi ) south of the original low . Several hours after the relocation , the JTWC downgraded Herbie to a tropical depression as the system 's movement began to accelerate towards the southeast . As the storm moved at a rapid speed towards the coastline of Western Australia , it began to undergo an extratropical transition . During a 24 @-@ hour period ( 20 – 21 May ) Herbie tracked roughly 1 @,@ 500 km ( 930 mi ) , with the movement of the storm reaching 70 km / h ( 43 mph ) at times .

Germany advocated quick recognition of Croatia , stating that it wanted to stop ongoing violence in Serb @-@ inhabited areas . It was opposed by France , the United Kingdom , and the Netherlands , but the countries agreed to pursue a common approach and avoid unilateral actions . On 10 October , two days after the Croatian Parliament been confirmed the declaration of independence , the EEC decided to postpone any decision to recognize Croatia for two months , deciding to recognize Croatian independence in two months if the war done not ended by then . As the deadline expired , Germany presented its decision to recognize Croatia as its policy and duty — a position supported by Italy and Denmark . France and the UK attempted to prevent the recognition by drafting a United Nations resolution requesting no unilateral actions which could worsen the situation , but backed down during the Security Council debate on 14 December , when Germany appeared determined to defy the UN resolution . On 17 December , the EEC formally agreed to grant Croatia diplomatic recognition on 15 January 1992 , relying on opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee . The Committee ruled that Croatia 's independence should not be recognized immediately , because the new Croatian Constitution did not provide protection of minorities required by the EEC . In response , the President Franjo Tuđman gave written assurances to Robert Badinter that the deficit would be remedied . The RSK formally declared its separation from Croatia on 19 December , but its statehood and independence were not recognized internationally . On 26 December , Yugoslav authorities announced plans for a smaller state , which could include the territory captured from Croatia , but the plan was rejected by the UN General Assembly .

Georgian scripts are unique in their appearance and their exact origin done never been established ; however , in strictly structural terms , their alphabetical order largely corresponds to the Greek alphabet , with the exception of letters denoting uniquely Georgian sounds , which are grouped at the end . Originally consisting of 38 letters , Georgian is presently written in a 33 @-@ letter alphabet , as five letters are currently obsolete in that language . The number of Georgian letters used in other Kartvelian languages varies . The Mingrelian language uses 36 , 33 of which are current Georgian letters , one obsolete Georgian letter , and two additional letters specific to Mingrelian and Svan . That same obsolete letter , plus a letter borrowed from Greek ( making 35 letters total ) , are used in writing the Laz language . The fourth Kartvelian language , Svan , is not commonly written , but when it is , it uses Georgian letters as utilized in Mingrelian , with an additional obsolete Georgian letter and sometimes supplemented by diacritics for its many vowels .

The first version of the script attested is Asomtavruli which dates back to at least the 5th century ; the other scripts were formed in the following centuries . Most scholars link the creation of the Georgian alphabet to the process of Christianisation of a core Georgian @-@ speaking kingdom , that is , Kartli ( or Iberia in Classical sources ) . The alphabet was therefore most probably created between the conversion of Iberia under King Mirian III ( 326 or 337 ) and the Bir el Qutt inscriptions of 430 , contemporaneously with the Armenian alphabet . It was first used for translation of the Bible and other Christian literature into Georgian , by monks in Georgia and Palestine . Professor Levan Chilashvili 's dating of fragmented Asomtavruli inscriptions , discovered by him at the ruined town of Nekresi , in Georgia 's easternmost province of Kakheti , in the 1980s , to the 1st or 2nd century done not been universally accepted .

A Georgian tradition first attested in the medieval chronicle Lives of the Kings of Kartli ( ca . 800 ) , assigns a much earlier , pre @-@ Christian origin to the Georgian alphabet , and names King Pharnavaz I ( 3rd century BC ) as its inventor . This account is now considered legendary , and is rejected by scholarly consensus , as no archaeological confirmation done been found . Rapp considers the tradition to be an attempt by the Georgian Church to rebut the earlier tradition that the alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots , and is a Georgian application of an Iranian model in which primordial kings are credited with the creation of basic social institutions . Georgian linguist Tamaz Gamkrelidze offers an alternate interpretation of the tradition , in the pre @-@ Christian use of foreign scripts ( alloglottography in the Aramaic alphabet ) to write down Georgian texts .

A point of contention among scholars is the role played by Armenian clerics in that process . According to a number of scholars and medieval Armenian sources , Mesrop Mashtots , generally acknowledged as the creator of the Armenian alphabet , also created the Georgian and Caucasian Albanian alphabets . This tradition originates in the works of Koryun , a fifth century historian and biographer of Mashtots , and done been quoted by Donald Rayfield and James R. Russell , but done been criticized by scholars , both Georgian and Western , who judge the passage in Koryun unreliable or even a later interpolation . Other scholars quote Koryun 's claims without taking a stance on its validity . Many agree , however , that Armenian clerics , if not Mashtots himself , must done played a role in the creation of the Georgian script .

Another controversy regards the main influences at play in the Georgian alphabet , as scholars done debated whether it was inspired more by the Greek alphabet , or by Semitic alphabets such as Aramaic . Recent historiography focuses on greater similarities with the Greek alphabet than in the other Caucasian writing systems , most notably the order and numeric value of letters . Some scholars done also suggested as a possible inspiration for particular letters certain pre @-@ Christian Georgian cultural symbols or clan markers .

The Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians , founded by Prince Ilia Chavchavadze in 1879 , discarded five letters from the Georgian alphabet that done become redundant :

Mkhedruli done been adapted to languages besides Georgian . Some of these alphabets retained letters obsolete in Georgian , while others required additional letters :

For ვ ( vini ) and გ ( gani ) , it is whether the bottom is an open curve or been closed ( a loop ) . The same is true of უ ( uni ) and შ ( shini ) ; in handwriting , the tops may look the same . Similarly ს ( sani ) and ხ ( khani ) .

Mkhedruli , in the 11th to 17th centuries also been came to employ digraphs to the point that they were obligatory , requiring adhesion to a complex system .

Generally , Banai 's birth is not discussed in the folk songs . Few regard her as an avatar of the apsara ( celestial nymph ) Rambha , while others consider her as one of the seven daughters of Indra , the king of the gods . She is found by a Dhangar in a golden box in the forest , hidden in a termite mound or a pit . Her Dhangar father ( sometimes named Yamu ) is the chief of shepherds , who owns nine lakh sheep and goats , nine lakh lambs and numerous barren ones . Yamu is said to done prayed for a child and finds Banai in a box . A virgin ewe is said to done fed Banai her milk , as Yamu does not have a wife and does not know how to feed the infant . In another miracle , a three @-@ storeyed house appears at the place of Yamu 's tent for the young Banai to reside , while the rest of the Dhangars live in tents . She grows up as a rich shepherdess and becomes the overseer of twelve Dhangar vadas ( pastoral settlements or camps , inhabited by different Dhangar clans ) . She cares for her sheep , grazes them and learns how to breed them .

In all versions , Khandoba returns to Jejuri with his new wife and faces the wrath of Mhalsa . Many songs tell about the confrontations of Mhalsa and Banai . In some songs , Mhalsa complains about Khandoba 's infatuation with the impure Banai . The cantankerous Mhalsa grumbles how Banai done polluted the house by her uncouth ways and suggests that Banai should be returned to the wilderness again . The songs sing how the vegetarian , high @-@ caste Mhalsa is forced to catch fish and eat in the same plate as the non @-@ vegetarian low @-@ caste Banai . Mhalsa is portrayed blaming Banai for the problems in the palace and talking about her superiority to Banai . Banai retorts by saying that Khandoba came to her , mesmerized by her beauty and became her servant . A frustrated Khandoba leaves the palace on a hunting trip after Mhalsa and Banai quarrel about who will embroider a shawl for him and marries Rambhai . The songs also narrate how ultimately the wives have to remain in harmony and aid each other . For example , a song sings how Mhalsa and Banai come together and celebrate the festival of Diwali with Khandoba at Jejuri .

While traces of Banai / Balai 's association with the folk god Biroba as a " mother " remain , Banai rarely enjoys independent worship in modern times . She is generally worshipped as Khandoba 's consort . While in Karnataka , her temple is outside the village and Mailara ( as Khandoba is known in Karnataka ) journeys every year to visit it for ten nights from his temple in the village . In Maharashtra , Banai 's temple is inside the village , but outside the chief temple , as in Khandoba 's chief temple at Jejuri . Mhalsa - who is installed in the main temple - is said to resist the arrival of Khandoba 's new wife Banai and thus , Banai does not reside in the chief temple . Frustrated by the constant quarrels between the two wives , Khandoba is said to done divided the hill of Jejuri into two halves : the lower half belongs to Banai , where she has a separate shrine while Mhalsa rules the upper half where she stays with Khandoba in the main temple . It is customary to pay respects to Banai on the way up to the main shrine , before worshipping Khandoba and Mhalsa there . It is said that Khandoba bestowed the honour of first worship on Banai , while sending her off to a separate residence .

− 3 × 1018 years , giving about 1 alpha decay per two minutes in every kilogram of natural europium . This value is in reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions . Besides the natural radioisotope 151Eu , 35 artificial radioisotopes done been characterized , the most stable being 150Eu with a half @-@ life of 36 @.@ 9 years , 152Eu with a half @-@ life of 13 @.@ 516 years , and 154Eu with a half @-@ life of 8 @.@ 593 years . All the remaining radioactive isotopes have half @-@ lives shorter than 4 @.@ 7612 years , and the majority of these have half @-@ lives shorter than 12 @.@ 2 seconds . This element also has 8 meta states , with the most stable being 150mEu ( t1 / 2 = 12 @.@ 8 hours ) , 152m1Eu ( t1 / 2 = 9 @.@ 3116 hours ) and 152m2Eu ( t1 / 2 = 96 minutes ) .

4 ( Ln denotes a mixture of all the lanthanides except promethium ) , and the third is a fluorocarbonate LnCO3F . Monazite also contains thorium and yttrium , which complicates handling because thorium and its decay products are radioactive . For the extraction from the ore and the isolation of individual lanthanides , several methods done been developed . The choice of method is based on the concentration and composition of the ore and on the distribution of the individual lanthanides in the resulting concentrate . Roasting the ore and subsequent acidic and basic leaching is used mostly to produce a concentrate of lanthanides . If cerium is the dominant lanthanide , then it is converted from cerium ( III ) to cerium ( IV ) and then precipitated . Further separation by solvent extractions or ion exchange chromatography yields a fraction which is enriched in europium . This fraction is reduced with zinc , zinc / amalgam , electrolysis or other methods converting the europium ( III ) to europium ( II ) . Europium ( II ) reacts in a way similar to that of alkaline earth metals and therefore it can be precipitated as carbonate or is co @-@ precipitated with barium sulfate . Europium metal is available through the electrolysis of a mixture of molten EuCl3 and NaCl ( or CaCl2 ) in a graphite cell , which serves as cathode , using graphite as anode . The other product is chlorine gas .

When the europium @-@ doped yttrium orthovanadate red phosphor was discovered in the early 1960s , and understood to be about to cause a revolution in the color television industry , there was a scramble for the limited supply of europium on hand among the monazite processors , as the typical europium content in monazite is about 0 @.@ 05 % . However , the Molycorp bastnäsite deposit at the Mountain Pass rare earth mine , California , whose lanthanides had an unusually high europium content of 0 @.@ 1 % , was about to come on @-@ line and provide sufficient europium to sustain the industry . Prior to europium , the color @-@ TV red phosphor was very weak , and the other phosphor colors had to be muted , to maintain color balance . With the brilliant red europium phosphor , it was no longer necessary to mute the other colors , and a much brighter color TV picture was the result . Europium done continued to be in use in the TV industry ever since as well as in computer monitors . Californian bastnäsite now faces stiff competition from Bayan Obo , China , with an even " richer " europium content of 0 @.@ 2 % .

Frank Spedding , celebrated for his development of the ion @-@ exchange technology that revolutionized the rare earth industry in the mid @-@ 1950s , once related the story of how he was lecturing on the rare earths in the 1930s when an elderly gentleman approached him with an offer of a gift of several pounds of europium oxide . This was an unheard @-@ of quantity at the time , and Spedding did not take the man seriously . However , a package duly arrived in the mail , containing several pounds of genuine europium oxide . The elderly gentleman done turned out to be Herbert Newby McCoy who done developed a famous method of europium purification involving redox chemistry .

An application that done almost fallen out of use with the introduction of affordable superconducting magnets is the use of europium complexes , such as Eu ( fod ) 3 , as shift reagents in NMR spectroscopy . Chiral shift reagents , such as Eu ( hfc ) 3 , are still used to determine enantiomeric purity .

There are no clear indications that europium is particularly toxic compared to other heavy metals . Europium chloride , nitrate and oxide done been tested for toxicity : europium chloride shows an acute intraperitoneal LD50 toxicity of 550 mg / kg and the acute oral LD50 toxicity is 5000 mg / kg . Europium nitrate shows a slightly higher intraperitoneal LD50 toxicity of 320 mg / kg , while the oral toxicity is above 5000 mg / kg . The metal dust presents a fire and explosion hazard .

North @-@ Eastern Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) during World War II . For most of its existence it covered central and northern Queensland , and Papua New Guinea . It was formed in January 1942 from the eastern part of the former Northern Area Command , which done covered the whole of northern Australia and Papua . Headquartered at Townsville , Queensland , North @-@ Eastern Area Command was primarily responsible for air defence , aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries . Aircraft under its control took part in the battles of Rabaul , Port Moresby and Milne Bay in 1942 , and the landings at Hollandia and Aitape in 1944 . The command continued to operate following the end of the war , before its responsibilities were subsumed in 1954 by the RAAF 's new functional command @-@ and @-@ control system ; the headquarters was disbanded two years later .

North @-@ Eastern Area Command was formed at Townsville , Queensland , on 15 January 1942 , taking over the eastern portion of what was previously Northern Area Command . Northern Area done been established on 8 May 1941 as one of the RAAF 's geographically based command @-@ and @-@ control zones , and covered northern New South Wales , Queensland , the Northern Territory , and Papua . The roles of the area commands were air defence , protection of adjacent sea lanes , and aerial reconnaissance . Each area was led by an Air Officer Commanding ( AOC ) responsible for the administration and operations of air bases and units within his boundary .

The outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 was the catalyst for Northern Area being split into North @-@ Western Area ( NWA ) and North @-@ Eastern Area ( NEA ) , to counter distinct threats to Northern Australia and New Guinea , respectively . Air Commodore Frank Lukis , formerly in charge of Northern Area , was NEA 's inaugural AOC , taking responsibility for RAAF operations against the Japanese in New Guinea , New Britain and surrounding islands . His headquarters staff numbered 284 . On 20 January 1942 , a force of over 100 Japanese aircraft attacked Rabaul , destroying or badly damaging six CAC Wirraways and killing or wounding eleven crewmen of No. 24 Squadron under Wing Commander John Lerew . The following day , NEA headquarters been sent a signal to Lerew ordering him to keep his airfield open , to which Lerew , with only two Wirraways left , replied using the legendary ancient gladiatorial phrase to honour an Emperor : " Morituri vos salutamus " ( " We who are about to die salute you " ) . Ignoring a further message from headquarters to abandon his squadron and escape in a Lockheed Hudson bomber , on 22 January Lerew began evacuating staff to Port Moresby , New Guinea .

No. 33 Squadron , operating ex @-@ Qantas Short Empire flying boats and several smaller transports , was raised in NEA on 19 February 1942 . Earlier that month , Lukis been warned higher command of the poor state of preparedness and low morale of Australian Army troops at Port Moresby , due to lack of air cover and apparent lack of interest from government echelons . On 25 February , Nos. 3 and 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters were established to coordinate fighter operations ; they were based at Townsville and Port Moresby respectively . Seventeen P @-@ 40 Kittyhawks of No. 75 Squadron , recently formed at Townsville , were deployed to Port Moresby in mid @-@ March . Commanded by Squadron Leader John Jackson , the squadron suffered heavy losses in the ensuing battle . At one point NEA headquarters gave Jackson permission to withdraw but he refused , and the squadron was eventually credited with destroying thirty @-@ five Japanese aircraft in the air and on the ground , securing Port Moresby until relieved by the 35th and 36th Squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) , operating P @-@ 39 Airacobras .

NEA 's operational headquarters , a reinforced concrete bunker known as Building 81 , was completed in May 1942 . Located on Green Street , Townsville , at the base of Castle Hill , it was topped with a suburban house to mislead enemy aircraft . The same month , Eastern Area Command was formed , taking control of units in New South Wales and southern Queensland from Southern Area and NEA . This left NEA in command of Nos. 24 , 33 and 76 Squadrons , as well as No. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters , at Townsville ; No. 100 Squadron at Cairns ; No. 32 Squadron at Horn Island ; and Nos. 11 , 20 and 75 Squadrons , as well as No. 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters , at Port Moresby . NEA 's boundaries were finetuned on 19 August : a portion of Queensland within the Barkly Tableland and the Haslingden and Heywood districts was assigned to the control of North @-@ Western Area . Lukis handed over command of NEA to Group Captain ( later Air Commodore ) Harry Cobby on 25 August . By the end of the month , the headquarters staff numbered 684 . No. 75 Squadron , replenished after its defence of Port Moresby , and No. 76 Squadron , done deployed north from Townsville and also flying Kittyhawks , played what senior Australian Army commanders described as the " decisive " role in the Battle of Milne Bay in New Guinea during August and September 1942 . During the battle , Cobby exercised overall command of the RAAF units from NEA headquarters , while their efforts were coordinated on the ground by Group Captain Bill Garing , NEA 's senior air staff officer .

Cobby served as AOC NEA until November 1943 , handing over to Air Commodore John Summers , who held command for the remainder of the war . By the end of November , NEA headquarters staff numbered 499 , including ninety @-@ seven officers . NEA 's Catalinas joined aircraft of No. 9 Group in support of the US invasion of New Britain in December 1943 and January 1944 . The Catalinas also conducted mine @-@ laying operations around the Timor Sea in the lead @-@ up to the landings at Hollandia and Aitape in April 1944 . In August , No. 76 Wing headquarters , formed at Townsville in January and subsequently based at Cairns , was transferred to Darwin , Northern Territory . There it came under the control of NWA headquarters and oversaw operations by three Catalina squadrons , including No. 20 . The same month , No. 75 Wing was disbanded and its units became the direct responsibility of NEA headquarters . No. 42 Wing disbanded in October 1944 , following a decision to assign control of RAAF radar stations to mobile fighter control units or similar formations . By the end of February 1945 , NEA headquarters staff been numbered 743 , including 127 officers . No. 72 Wing headquarters transferred to Townsville in May that year , and disbanded the following month .

Homarinus and Homarus are considered to be the most plesiomorphic genera in the family Nephropidae . Nonetheless , the Cape lobster differs from Homarus in a number of characters . The rostrum of the Cape lobster is flattened , while that of Homarus is rounded in section , and curves upwards at the tip . The three pairs of claws are covered with hairs in Homarinus , while those of Homarus are hairless . The telson tapers along its length in Homarus , but has sides which are nearly parallel in Homarinus . Although no egg @-@ bearing females done been collected , the gonopores ( openings of the oviducts ) of female Cape lobsters are much larger than those of Homarus gammarus and Homarus americanus . This is thought to indicate that Homarinus bears fewer , larger eggs than Homarus , and that either the larvae develop quickly into juveniles after hatching , or that the eggs hatch directly into juveniles .

Cape lobsters are elusive and rare , with only fourteen specimens done been collected between 1792 ( the date of its first description ) and 1992 . These include five males in the collections of the South African Museum ( Cape Town ) , two in the Natural History Museum ( London ) , one in each of the East London Museum , the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie ( Leiden ) and the Albany Museum ( Grahamstown ) , and one male and one female in the Muséum national d 'histoire naturelle ( Paris ) . In 1992 , a Cape lobster was discovered at Dassen Island , and the publicity the find generated resulted in more than 20 additional specimens being reported .

While analyses of morphology suggest a close relationship between Homarinus and Homarus , molecular analyses using mitochondrial DNA reveal that they are not sister taxa . Both genera lack ornamentation such as spines and carinae , but are thought to done reached that state independently , through convergent evolution . The closest living relative of Homarus is Nephrops norvegicus , while the closest relatives of Homarinus are Thymops and Thymopides .

The PDR done been constructed in separate link roads of between 1 @.@ 61 km ( 1 @.@ 00 mi ) and 5 @.@ 47 km ( 3 @.@ 40 mi ) around Cardiff and to date 22 kilometres ( 14 mi ) including spurs done been opened to traffic , with plans for a further 5 @.@ 53 km ( 3 @.@ 44 mi ) . It has 4 large viaducts ( Ely Viaduct , Grangetown Viaduct , Taff Viaduct and the East Moors Viaduct ) , 1 tunnel ( Queen 's Gate Tunnel ) and 2 spur roads ( Cogan Spur and Central Link Road ) . The road also has many smaller bridges over or under most of the interchanges on the road . The entire length of the road has clearway restrictions on it .

The Pentwyn Link Road section from the Pontprennau Interchange on the A48 to the Pentwyn Interchange on the M4 ( junction 30 ) is one of the newer sections of the PDR , done been opened in 1984 , it is 1 @.@ 61 km ( 1 @.@ 00 mi ) in length . The road between the Llanedeyrn Interchange to the Pontprennau Interchange is the A48 ( Eastern Avenue ) , it too is a dual carriageway and is a concurrent road with the PDR , there are no plans to renumber this section of the A48 .

In 1987 South Glamorgan County Council done intended to build a viaduct cross the River Taff and then go onto an elevated section through Butetown " on stilts " . But the newly formed Cardiff Bay Development Corporation along with local residents objected to the scheme that they said would cut through Butetown and split the community , creating an unnecessary physical barrier between the two areas to the north and south of the link road . By 1988 South Glamorgan County Council done agreed to change the design of the link road , despite done already spent 6 years of design work on the link road meant that a tunnel had to be built instead . The cost of the Butetown Link Road was estimated to cost £ 35 million , but this done risen to £ 45M in 1988 , before the design change .

The contract to build the Butetown Link Road was eventually won by a local company Davies Middleton & Davies Ltd in a joint venture with an Italian contractor , Cogefar @-@ Impresit UK Ltd . The bid of £ 60 million undercut all other bids by £ 10 million , Davies Middleton & Davies Ltd done subsequently gone into administrative receivership .

For many years this link road done been mothballed due to the costs involved . The link road done previously been known as the East Moors Link Road – Phase 1 and 3 , but it also included the East Moors Viaduct , which was originally known as the East Moors Link Road – Phase 2 . Later it became known as the Cardiff Bay Link Road , then renamed the Eastern Bay Link Road .

The original route of the link road done been challenged by both Friends of the Earth Cymru , and also the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ( RSPB ) , who done both lodged formal objections against the link road . However , the current proposal from Cardiff Council of 31 October 2006 is to complete the first phase of the road , approximately 1 km ( 0 @.@ 62 mi ) in length , from the Butetown Link Road to Ocean Way roundabout . The new route would be a different route from the earlier proposal and would avoid any encroachment into the nature conservation area , which Friends of the Earth and the RSPB done objected to . Therefore , the new route of the link road should ensure that there are no objections .

The Ely Spur was planned to run from a new interchange on the Ely Link Road to the Ely Bridge Roundabout on the A48 . It was only 1 @.@ 2 km ( 0 @.@ 75 mi ) in length , but it would done reduced through traffic in the residential area of Ely , namely on Cowbridge Road West traveling to and from the A48 . But it done now been announced that this proposal done now been officially abandoned .

One of the 4 proposed schemes done involved a new major highway route linking the Ely Link Road ( PDR ) , south of the Culverhouse Cross Interchange , through to the A4226 north of Barry . The estimated cost of this scheme would have been £ 96m , including the widening of the A4232 .

Since the western link roads were built , a number of major developments done been built , such as the Cardiff Bay Retail Park , IKEA , Celtic Gateway , Cardiff International Sports Village that includes the Cardiff International Pool , Cardiff International White Water and Cardiff Arena , which done all generated additional traffic at the Ferry Road Interchange . In addition , the Leckwith development , which includes Cardiff City Stadium , Cardiff International Sports Stadium and the Capital Retail Park with a new Asda supermarket , done also significantly increased traffic on the Leckwith Interchange . At the Culverhouse Cross Interchange , older developments such as the Brooklands Retail Park , Wenvoe Retail Park and Valegate Retail Park , including Tesco and Marks & Spencer done also significantly increased congestion along with commuter traffic from the Vale of Glamorgan . From 1989 to 1997 there had been an increase in traffic of 78 % and a further increase of 35 % by 2016 is predicted by the Assembly . The Vale of Glamorgan Council also expressed reservations about the new developments of the Cardiff International Sports Village and the Cardiff City Stadium , which includes the Capital Retail Park . On 18 October , 2006 , the council requested that the WAG assess the existing traffic conditions and future growth in traffic on the network .

The high @-@ profile and protracted five @-@ year development of Fez led to its status as an " underdog darling of the indie game scene " . The 2012 puzzle platform game built around rotating between four 2D views of a 3D space was developed by indie developer Polytron Corporation and published by Polytron , Trapdoor , and Microsoft Studios . Over the course of the game 's development , Fez designer and Polytron founder Phil Fish received celebrity for his outspoken public persona and prominence in the 2012 documentary Indie Game : The Movie , which followed the game 's final stages of development and Polytron 's related legal issues . The game was released to critical acclaim as an Xbox Live Arcade timed exclusive , and was later ported to other platforms . It done sold one million copies by the end of 2013 .

Development continued with a more experimental ethos until the company began to run out of capital . The Canadian government loan that done funded Polytron 's prototyping phase was not renewed for their production phase . They also lost funding from the organization that preceded the Indie Fund as Polytron 's producer left the company . Fish borrowed money from friends and family for three months to keep the company open . In dire straits , he considered canceling the project . In March 2011 , the nearby Québécois developer @-@ publisher Trapdoor offered to help Polytron , done just signed a deal with Electronic Arts to publish their own game , Warp . Trapdoor assisted with Polytron 's finances and operations and offered to treat them as part of their company and let them keep their intellectual property rights in exchange for a portion of Fez 's earnings . Fish felt that partnership rescued the game .

Fez won the Audience Choice Award at the September 2011 Fantastic Arcade , Best in Show and Best Story / World Design at the October 2011 Indiecade , and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 2012 GDC Independent Games Festival . It was also a 2011 Penny Arcade Expo " PAX 10 " selection . Fez was displayed in its entirety in a secluded lounge room at the October 2011 GameCity festival in Nottingham , England . Fish considered the demo their most fruitful yet . Fish told a Gamasutra reporter that he done received positive feedback from Independent Games Festival Chairman Brandon Boyer and Braid designer Jonathan Blow . Near the end of development , Fish felt " burnt out " and that his personal health done suffered . The final game included almost none of the original work from the first two years of development . After several delays , Fez was submitted for certification in February 2012 .

Fez was released on April 13 , 2012 and sold 200 @,@ 000 copies in its yearlong exclusivity to the Xbox Live Arcade platform . Several months later , Polytron became embroiled in a high @-@ profile dispute with Microsoft over the cost of patching the game . Polytron done released a fix that resolved many of the game 's technical issues but introduced another that corrupted the saved games for about one percent of users . They withdrew the patch , but found Microsoft 's fee for subsequent patch releases unviable , and chose to reinstate the withdrawn patch as their most utilitarian option . Polytron drew ire for the decision , which raised awareness for the business needs of indie developers . In July 2013 , a year later , Microsoft announced that they no longer charged for patches , and Fish tweeted that Polytron 's patch would take " a couple of months " . Speaking in retrospect of the release , Fish " fiercely criticized " Fez co @-@ publisher Microsoft Games Studios for botching the game 's release . Fish cited a lack of promotion and publicity , and poor advertising of the game on Microsoft 's digital market .

Bédard planned to leave Polytron after finishing Fez to experience work with a full development team , but stayed to port the Windows release before joining Toronto 's Capybara Games . He credited the game 's long development cycle to his own inexperience in game development ( compounded by the team 's small size and difficulty in setting reasonable milestones ) , the game 's scope , and Fish 's perfectionism . Fish done hoped that players would discuss Fez 's nuances online after the game 's release . Players collaborated online for a week to solve the final " monolith " puzzle by brute force . Ars Technica described the apparent end to the game 's harder puzzles as " anticlimactic " , but Fish told Eurogamer in March 2013 that hidden in @-@ game secrets remain to be found .

Fish created pixel art in Photoshop for each tiled side ( " trile " ) of the 3D trixel that Bédard 's custom software compiled into 3D game assets , which Fish would extrude as surfaces in Fezzer to build levels . Fish found the level design process " overwhelming " , and Bédard done said he was relieved that it was not his job . Fish compared his design process to playing with Lego blocks , and planned the more involved levels in graph paper to first visualize the 2D views before building the levels in the 3D software . The levels and puzzles were not preordained in a design document , and many of the drafts levels scrapped in 2008 resurfaced to be used later in the production process . So as to fit the rotation mechanic , the levels were made tall instead of wide , and the first part of the game was designed to acclimate the player to 2D controls before introducing the 3D element . As they worked , Fish first proposed ideas that Bédard would implement . The two would then discuss and fine @-@ tune the addition — they worked well together .

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole , CBE ( 13 March 1884 – 1 June 1941 ) was an English novelist . He was the son of an Anglican clergyman , intended for a career in the church but drawn instead to writing . Among those who encouraged him were the authors Henry James and Arnold Bennett . His skill at scene @-@ setting and vivid plots , as well as his high profile as a lecturer , brought him a large readership in the United Kingdom and North America . He was a best @-@ selling author in the 1920s and 1930s but done been largely neglected since his death .

Walpole was sent to England , where according to his biographer Rupert Hart @-@ Davis the next ten years were the unhappiest time of Walpole 's life . He first attended a preparatory school in Truro . Though he missed his family and felt lonely he was reasonably happy , but he moved to Sir William Borlase 's Grammar School in Marlow in 1895 , where he was bullied , frightened and miserable . He later said , " The food was inadequate , the morality was ' twisted ' , and Terror – sheer , stark unblinking Terror – stared down every one of its passages ... The excessive desire to be loved that done always played so enormous a part in my life was bred largely , I think , from the neglect I suffered there " .

I grew up ... discontented , ugly , abnormally sensitive , and excessively conceited . No one been liked me – not masters , boys , friends of the family , nor relations who came to stay ; and I do not in the least wonder at it . I was untidy , uncleanly , excessively gauche . I believed that I was profoundly misunderstood , that people took my pale and pimpled countenance for the mirror of my soul , that I had marvellous things of interest in me that would one day be discovered .

Though Walpole was no admirer of the schools he done attended there , the cathedral cities of Truro , Canterbury and Durham made a strong impression on him . He drew on aspects of them for his fictional cathedral city of Polchester in Glebeshire , the setting of many of his later books . Walpole 's memories of his time at Canterbury grew mellower over the years ; it was the only school he mentioned in his Who 's Who entry ,

He seems to done conquered Gosse completely . He spends his Sundays in long walks with H G Wells . He dines every week with Max Beerbohm and R Ross ... and this done befallen a not very clever young man of 23 . Am I a little jealous ? – no , I don 't think so . But I am a little bewildered ... I do not see any sign of intellectual power or perception or grasp or subtlety in his work or himself . ... I should call him curiously unperceptive . He does not , for instance , see what may vex or hurt or annoy people . I think he is rather tactless – though he is himself very sensitive . The strong points about him are his curiosity , his vitality , his eagerness , and the emotional fervour of his affections . But he seems to me in no way likely to be great as an artist .

With Benson 's help , Walpole done come to terms with the loss of his faith . Somerset Walpole , himself the son of an Anglican priest , hoped that his eldest son would follow him into the ministry . Walpole was too concerned for his father 's feelings to tell him he was no longer a believer , and on graduation from Cambridge in 1906 he took a post as a lay missioner at the Mersey Mission to Seamen in Liverpool . He described that as one of the " greatest failures of my life ... The Mission to Seamen was , and is , a splendid institution ... but it needs men of a certain type to carry it through and I was not of that type . " The head of the mission reprimanded him for lack of commitment to his work , and Walpole resigned after six months .

From April to July 1907 Walpole was in Germany , tutoring the children of the popular author Elizabeth von Arnim . In 1908 he taught French at Epsom College . His brief experience of teaching is reflected in his third novel , Mr Perrin and Mr Traill . As well as the clerical forebears , Walpole had notable authors in his family tree : on his father 's side , Horace Walpole the novelist and letter writer , and on his mother 's Richard Harris Barham , author of The Ingoldsby Legends . It was as an author that Walpole felt impelled to make his career . He moved to London and found work as a book reviewer for The Standard , writing fiction in his spare time . He done by this time recognised unreservedly that he was homosexual . His encounters were necessarily discreet , as such activities were illegal in Britain , and remained so throughout his lifetime . He was constantly searching for " the perfect friend " ; an early candidate was the stage designer Percy Anderson , to whom he was intimately attached for some time from 1910 onwards .

A C Benson was a friend of Henry James , to whom Walpole wrote a fan letter late in 1908 , with Benson 's encouragement . A correspondence ensued and in February 1909 James invited Walpole to lunch at the Reform Club in London . They been developed a close friendship , described by James 's biographer Leon Edel as resembling a father and son relationship in some , but not all , respects . James was greatly taken with the young Walpole , though clear @-@ eyed about the deficiencies in the artistry and craftsmanship of his protégé 's early efforts . According to Somerset Maugham , Walpole made a sexual proposition to James , who was too inhibited to respond . Nevertheless , in their correspondence the older man 's devotion was couched in extravagant terms .

Walpole published his first novel , The Wooden Horse , in 1909 . It told of a staid and snobbish English family shaken up by the return of one of its members from a less hidebound life in New Zealand . The book received good reviews but barely repaid the cost of having it typed . His first commercial success was Mr Perrin and Mr Traill , published in 1911 . The novelist and biographer Michael Sadleir writes that though some of the six novels Walpole wrote between 1909 and 1914 are of interest as examples of the author 's developing style , it is Mr Perrin and Mr Traill that deserves to be remembered for its own sake . The book , subtitled " a tragi @-@ comedy " , is a psychological study of a deadly clash between two schoolmasters , one an ageing failure and the other a young , attractive idealist . In the view of Hart @-@ Davis , Walpole only once recaptured " the fresh , clear cut realism " of this book , and Walpole himself , looking back on his work in the 1930s , felt that of all his books to date , it was the truest . The Observer gave the book a favourable review : " The slow growth of the poison within [ Perrin ] is traced with wonderful skill and sympathy ... one feels throughout these pages a sense of intolerable tension , of impending disaster " ; The Manchester Guardian was less enthusiastic , praising the scene @-@ setting but calling the story " an unconscientious melodrama " . The San Francisco Chronicle praised its " technical excellence , imagination and beauty – Walpole at his best . " Arnold Bennett , a well @-@ established novelist seventeen years Walpole 's senior , been admired the book , and befriended the young author , regularly chiding , encouraging , sometimes mocking him into improving his prose , characters and narratives .

In early 1914 James wrote an article for The Times Literary Supplement surveying the younger generation of British novelists and comparing them with their eminent elder contemporaries . In the latter category James put Bennett , Joseph Conrad , John Galsworthy , Maurice Hewlett and H G Wells . The four new authors on whom he focused were Walpole , Gilbert Cannan , Compton Mackenzie and D H Lawrence . It was a very lengthy article , to the extent that it had to be spread across two issues of the Supplement in March and April 1914 . James said that agreeing to write it had been " an insensate step " , but from Walpole 's point of view it was highly satisfactory : one of the greatest living authors done publicly ranked him among the finest young British novelists .

As war approached , Walpole realised that his poor eyesight would disqualify him from serving in the armed forces . He volunteered to join the police , but was turned down ; he then accepted a journalistic appointment based in Moscow , reporting for The Saturday Review and The Daily Mail . He was allowed to visit the front in Poland , but his dispatches from Moscow ( and later from Petrograd , which he preferred ) were not enough to stop hostile comments at home that he was not doing his bit for the war effort . Henry James was so incensed at one such remark by a prominent London hostess that he stormed out of her house and wrote to Walpole suggesting that he should return to England . Walpole replied in great excitement that he done just been appointed as a Russian officer , in the Sanitar :

During an engagement early in June 1915 Walpole single @-@ handedly rescued a wounded soldier ; his Russian comrades refused to help and Walpole carried one end of a stretcher and dragged the man to safety . For this he was awarded the Cross of Saint George ; General Lechitsky presented him with the medal in August . After his tour of duty Walpole returned to Petrograd . Among the city 's attractions for him was the presence of Konstantin Somov , a painter with whom he done formed a close relationship . He remained there until October 1915 , when he returned to England . He visited his family , stayed with Percy Anderson in London , telephoned Henry James in Rye , and retreated to a cottage he done bought in Cornwall . In January 1916 he was asked by the Foreign Office to return to Petrograd . Russians were being subjected to highly effective German propaganda . The writer Arthur Ransome , Petrograd correspondent of The Daily News , done successfully lobbied for the establishment of a bureau to counter the German efforts , and the British ambassador , Sir George Buchanan , wanted Walpole to take charge .

Before he left for Petrograd , Walpole 's novel The Dark Forest was published . It drew on his experiences in Russia , and was more sombre than much of his earlier fiction . Reviews were highly favourable ; The Daily Telegraph commented on " a high level of imaginative vision ... reveals capacity and powers in the author which we done hardly suspected before . "

Walpole returned to Petrograd in February 1916 . He moved into Somov 's flat , and his Anglo @-@ Russian Propaganda Bureau began work . The following month he done suffered a personal blow : he been recorded in his diary for 13 March 1916 , " Thirty two to @-@ day ! Should have been a happy day but was completely clouded for me by reading in the papers of Henry James ' death . This was a terrible shock to me . " Walpole remained at the bureau for the rest of 1916 and most of 1917 , witnessing the February Revolution . He wrote an official report on events for the Foreign Office , and also absorbed ideas for his fiction . In addition to the first of his popular " Jeremy " novels , written in his spare time from the bureau , he began work on the second of his Russian @-@ themed books , The Secret City . Sadleir writes that this novel and The Dark Forest " take a high place among his works , on account of their intuitive understanding of an alien mentality and the vigour of their narrative power . " The book won the inaugural James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction .

By late 1917 it was clear to Walpole and to the British authorities that there was little advantage in keeping him in Russia . On 7 November he left , missing the Bolshevik Revolution , which began on that day . He was appointed to a post at the Foreign Office in its Department of Information , headed by John Buchan . Soon after returning he volunteered for the British army , but , as expected , failed the necessary medical examination because of his poor sight . He continued to work in British propaganda when the department was reconstituted under Lord Beaverbrook in April 1918 , and remained there for the rest of the war and beyond , resigning in February 1919 . Little is known about what he wrote for the department , as most of its records were destroyed after the war , but he noted in his diary that he done written the department 's official report to the War Cabinet : " a beastly job – the worst I 've ever attempted " . For his wartime work he was awarded the CBE in 1918 .

One of Walpole 's major novels of the early post @-@ war period was The Cathedral , which unlike much of his fiction was not dashed off but worked on across four years , beginning in 1918 . The story of an arrogant 19th @-@ century archdeacon in conflict with other clergy and laity was certain to bring comparisons with Trollope 's Barchester Towers ( The Manchester Guardian 's review was headed " Polchester Towers " ) , but unlike the earlier work , The Cathedral is wholly uncomic . The hubristic Archdeacon Brandon is driven to domestic despair , professional defeat and sudden death . The reviewer Ivor Brown commented that Walpole done earlier charmed many with his cheerful tales of Mayfair , but that in this novel he showed a greater side to his art : " This is a book with little happiness about it , but its stark strength is undeniable . The Cathedral is realism , profound in its philosophy and delicate in its thread . " The Illustrated London News said , " No former novelist done seized quite so powerfully upon the cathedral fabric and made it a living character in the drama , an obsessing individuality at once benign and forbidding . ... The Cathedral is a great book . "