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Post by shred on Nov 5, 2013 5:08:40 GMT -5
It was a time when Catholics were oppressed and often killed by the British Government, some years before the plot, Margaret Clitherow who lived just up the road from where Guido was born, was pressed to death for helping Catholics. A door was placed upon her, and heavy stones placed upon it until she died. Guido grew up hating what was being done to Catholics, and with like minded Catholics, the plot to blow up Parliament was forged. They broke into the cellars under the Palace of Westminster and planted 36 barrels of gunpowder to destroy the house of Lords on the state opening of Parliament 5th Nov 1605, Guido Fawkes was caught during a search and the barrels discovered. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_PlotThe plotters were sentenced to be hung drawn and quartered, their remains burned with bonfires. Here's my gliding club's bonfire:
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Post by shred on Nov 5, 2013 11:00:14 GMT -5
Thinking about it, the gunpowder plotters couldn't even get away with putting 36 barrels of gunpowder in the cellar of the Palace of Westminster without getting caught, and that's before the days of CCTV.
No way could anyone rig thousands of explosives into the twin towers without the office workers noticing.
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Post by peteetongman on Nov 5, 2013 11:22:14 GMT -5
36 barrels holy hell the rubble would STILL be falling today LOL
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Post by shred on Nov 5, 2013 14:13:23 GMT -5
If you think 36 barrels of gunpowder is powerful, I once visited the Lochnagar crater at La Boiselle in France, it's the site of the largest non nuclear explosion ever used in warfare.
24 tonnes of Ammonal high explosive was placed under the German lines by British mining engineers. The detonation velocity of ammonal is approximately 4,400 metres per second or 9,842 miles per hour, it blew the German defences 4000ft into the air.
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Post by peteetongman on Nov 5, 2013 14:24:37 GMT -5
If you think 36 barrels of gunpowder is powerful, I once visited the Lochnagar crater at La Boiselle in France, it's the site of the largest non nuclear explosion ever used in warfare. 24 tonnes of Ammonal high explosive was placed under the German lines by British mining engineers. The detonation velocity of ammonal is approximately 4,400 metres per second or 9,842 miles per hour, it blew the German defences 4000ft into the air. I've read a couple stories about this but I'm not completely clear on why the blast was set off. were there Germans actually on the ground above the explosive charge(s)?
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Post by shred on Nov 6, 2013 8:56:37 GMT -5
The British Army had a crack regiment of former coal miners who dug a tunnel directly under the German lines, their trenches directly above, the tunnel was packed it full of explosives, behind the explosives the tunnel was blocked off to direct the blast upwards. At least with poison gas there's a chance of survival by using a gas mask. There was no hope for those above the Lochnagar mine. Some British mining crews were foiled by German tunnelers, who would dig along side British tunnels and bomb them. It was a dangerous and horrible war, the landscape of northern France and Belgium is still marked by shell craters, and even now farmers still dig up WW1 landmines, grenades and shells. Another use of the tunnels was to bring up a Livens Flame Projector, which was used to spray burning diesel oil into the German trenches. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livens_Large_Gallery_Flame_Projector
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Post by shred on Nov 7, 2013 5:20:46 GMT -5
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