Category: CMcCain

If a Hacker Steals Your Identity Are You Still You? Part 2

If a Hacker Steals Your Identity Are You Still You? Part Two

By Charles McCain

Originally appear on Cannon Financial Institute’s website November, 2017

You post photographs of your children, relatives, and friends from your recent family vacation at Sea Island, GA on one of your social media sites. These pics are great. Digital cameras make every shutterbug a pro. Someone could use these photos in an advertisement they’re so awesome! Unfortunately, someone might do just that since these photographs now belong to the site you have posted them to.

“You grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any intellectual property content that you post on PenguinPostsAntarctica.”

I copied and pasted this sentence from the Terms of Service of a large social media site (except for the bit about penguins). You will find similar language in the Terms of Service of almost every social media site. What does it mean exactly? You post something to a social media site, and they can use it in any way they see fit. Anytime, anywhere in the world for as long as they want without paying you a dime or getting your permission. Talk about identity theft.

 

Eight Ways to Protect Your Identity

1) As noted above, be cautious of what you and your family members post on social media sites. In fact, your UHNW clients should consider not using social media until stronger security protocols are in place.

2) If you are flying commercial, never toss your boarding pass into the trash.  Take it with you and shred it when you get home. Besides your frequent flyer number which is usually good enough to hack your airline account, boarding passes contain enough personal information in the barcode for any hacker to steal your ID. How can hackers read a barcode? That’s easy. All one need do is scan the barcode and load it onto a site which reads barcodes. In seconds you have all the info you need to steal someone’s ID. You can get the details from the top internet security blog here:   https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/08/why-its-still-a-bad-idea-to-post-or-trash-your-airline-boarding-pass/

3) When you use an ATM machine, always take your receipt with you, and shred it when you get home. Your ATM receipt has your account number on it so never toss it into the trash bin by the machine. In fact, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says never toss any paper or document with your name on it into the trash before shredding it.*

4) If asked for your Social Security number, the Social Security Administration says you are entitled to ask why it is needed; how it will be used; what happens if you refuse; what law requires you to give your number. **

5) If you make a purchase using a credit card, merchants cannot ask you for your Social Security number. In their merchant agreements, neither Visa, nor MasterCard, nor American Express requires a cardholder to give a merchant their Social Security number as a condition of sale.  ***

6) Once you put your trash out in a public space such as the sidewalk in front of your home or public alley in the back, anyone can legally comb through it. That’s why you want to shred everything. Privacy Clearinghouse recommends using confetti, cross-cut or diamond-cut shredders and not strip shredders. ****

7) For marketing reasons, store clerks and others will often ask for your address. You’re not obligated to provide this information nor is it a condition of using a credit card. If someone insists, several security experts suggest giving this address: 9800 Savage Rd, Fort Meade, MD 20755; the address of the National Security Agency. (This is the contact address listed on their public website).

8) One last yet very important point. When in public refrain from discussing your finances, romantic life, or any aspect of your life you don’t wish to see on the front page of the newspaper. Keep in mind the World War Two adage, “loose lips sink ships.”  Why? Consider this. On  September 19, 2017, two attorneys on President Trump’s legal team had lunch on the patio of a popular Washington, DC restaurant. They discussed legal matters in which the President was involved. Because the men were in a public place, it was perfectly legal for the New York Times reporter sitting with his back to the men to take down everything they said and write a story about their conversation. Isn’t That Trump’s Lawyer? An Accidental Scoop

Copyright ©2017 Cannon Financial Institute – All Rights Reserved

Resources:

  • https://www.privacyrights.org/
    ** https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10002.pdf
    *** https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/what-info-merchants-ask-for-when-using-credit-card-1282.php
    **** https://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/financial-tuneup-what-you-need-to-shred/

 

Contributing Writer: Subject Matter Expert Charles McCain

COMMENT FROM CHARLES McCAIN: Cannon Financial Institute is the “gold standard” for wealth management training, development and consulting. I worked at the firm for many years and my colleagues were the most talented people I have ever worked with.  Last year the firm sought me out to write articles for them which I started doing in January of  2016. After a hiatus of nine years, I am pleased to report that my colleagues continue to be the most talented people I have ever worked with and it is a pleasure to be working with them again.  I take them directly from the Cannon website and the links work.  I will post the articles I write for them on my blog after they appear on Cannon’s website. https://www.cannonfinancial.com

 

Family of Austrian Naval Hero Von Trapp Inspires Sound of Music

Heroic Austrian naval officer Baron Von Trapp and his family inspire musical Sound of Music

Georg_Johannes_von_Trapp

Austrian Baron Georg Johannes von Trapp

commanded Austrian Uboats in World War One

(photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Austrian Navy? How is that possible? Isn’t Austria is landlocked? Yes, but it wasn’t when the Austro-Hungarian Empire existed. That multi-ethnic state  collapsed after World War One. Territories ruled by the Austrian Emperor included Slovenia and Croatia which bordered the Adriatic thus giving access to the sea.

Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, in uniform, undated. Credit: Library of Congress

Above is the longest reigning Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph I,  who reigned from 2 December 1848 – 21 November 1916. He was also King of King of Hungary and Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria and Illyria; and retained the heriditay title of King of Jerusalem one of the kingdoms established by the crusaders in the Middle Ages.

In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe, a very loose federation of Germanic states and principalities, finally collapsed. Since the Habsburgs had usually supplied the Holy Roman Empire with its Emperor,  the Austrian Empire, ruled by the Habsburgs, became the successor state. There is an old saying in history that the Holy Roman Empire was neither “Holy” nor “Roman” nor an “Empire,” all of which is substantially true.

Whenever you come across a historical figure whose title was “Elector” then that person was one of the seven princes and kings who elected the Emperor.

Adriatic_Sea_map

Austro-Hungarian main naval base at Pula shown by red arrow on map above

 

The Austrian Empire or Austro-Hungarian Empire had a substantial navy with almost 36,000 officers and men and a large number of ships, including dreadnoughts and submarines. They did well considering that there wasn’t a common language in the Habsburg Empire. Educated people spoke German like the Austrians do today of course but others refused out of sense of nationalistic identity, the Magyars in Hungary being some of the most uncooperative.

singing von Trapps in Vermont in 1946. While pictured as a sweet and loving person in the Sound of Music, Mrs von Trapp was something of a dragon and ordered everyone around.

The most famous officer of the long defunct Austro-Hungarian Navy is Baron von Trapp. He and the singing Von Trapp family were made famous in the movie “The Sound of Music” which is loosely based on their story. Baron von Trapp was an outstanding Austrian submarine commander in World War One. He made 19 war patrols and sank 11 cargo ships, a French cruiser and an Italian submarine.

After the proclamation of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 with the Emperor of Austria becoming the King of Hungary as well as Austrian Emperor, the fleet was known became known as the “Imperial and Royal War Navy.”

That phrase in German is “kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine,” abbreviated as k.u.k. which how the fleet was known. The k.u.k. operated mainly in the Adriatic Sea but during World War One also positioned itself as a “fleet in being” which could enter the Mediterranean if so chose and dispute French, British and Italian control.

 

1280px-Austro-Hungarian_Dreadnoughts_At_Pula

Austro-Hungarian Dreadnoughts At Pula before World War One.

Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museum

 

Austrian battleship Viribus Unitis

 

The fleet was based at the port of Pola, now Pula, in Croatia, then part of Austro-Hungarian Empire. After its defeat in World War One and the collapse of the empire, Hungary was deprived of all of its territory along the Adriatic and hence no longer had ports for Imperial and Royal fleet which was dispersed.

 

01154a_0

Austro-Hungarian fleet on maneuvers circa 1912

(photo courtesy Wikipedia)

A former commander of the k.u.k. was Admiral Horthy who proclaimed himself Regent of Hungary after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This is how a land locked country of Hungary came to be ruled by an admiral for decades.

If you have an interest in learning more,  substantial detail on the k.u.k. can be found here:

http://www.naval-history.net/WW1Navy-Austrian_Navy_WW1.htm

A Grantor and His Trustee, Remainderman, and Fiduciary Investment Manager Meet at a Wine Tasting

A Grantor and His Trustee, Remainderman, and Fiduciary Investment Manager Meet at a Wine Tasting

What do you do? Stand around? I hope I’m not paying you to loaf,” says the grantor, Mr. Gotbucks, to his standby trustee.

“Gentlemen, please be calm and try this Merlot,” says Daniel Smith, Cannon Executive Vice President and Personal Trust Curriculum Chair.

“It’s a 2011 Chateau Laffitte Laujac, a blend of reds from vineyards in Bordeaux and Medoc.”

Both men take a glass and the grantor knocks his back. “Please answer the question,” he says again to the standby trustee. “What do you do and are you charging me for it?”

The standby trustee takes a small sip of wine. “Very good,” he says to Daniel, “a delicate aroma of red fruits, très élégant.”

He turns to Mr. Gotbucks, who has knocked back another glass even though this is supposed to be a wine tasting. “Sir, you are not paying me and I hope you never shall. Were I to receive payment from your trust that would signal I have been compelled to assume my standby powers because you have been deemed too incompetent and therefore cannot manage your affairs.”

“Incompetent! That will never happen to me!”

“Hopefully not. Nonetheless, since you have named me as your successor trustee, I am also your standby trustee. Should you become unable to manage your affairs during your life, then being the standby trustee, I assume the powers of successor trustee.  Usually, your personal trust document will specify how you will be deemed incompetent. Common legalese reads something like: ‘if two or more medical doctors licensed to practice medicine (in your state) deem me incapable of managing my affairs, then my standby trustee will assume the powers of the successor trustee.’ This avoids an incompetency hearing in public court before a judge.”

“Perhaps that is a sound idea,” Mr. Gotbucks says. “Daniel, how about another bottle of merlot?”

“Actually, I want to present an amusing 1986 Bordeaux from Chateau Lafitte St. Emilion. It has a lightness to it but is still hefty in its flavor with a delicate aroma of blackberry.”

Mr. Gotbucks drinks a few glasses then notices five younger people who seem to shimmer. “Who in the world are you?”

“We are your great-grandchildren from the future and the remaindermen of your trust and we thank you for your generosity.”

“What?”

“As you know great-grandfather, a personal trust cannot continue indefinitely. Eventually, the trust you have set up for the benefit of your extended family and their families and so forth will come to an end. The money which remains in the account will come to us which is why we are called ‘remaindermen.’ Get it?”

Mr. Gotbucks rubs his eyes. “This is complicated. Why do you think there will be money left?”

“Because the trust doesn’t disperse principal to the beneficiaries except in an emergency. It is set up to ensure your beneficiaries for three generations will have generous incomes so there should be funds remaining in the account.  If there is nothing left, then we will file a lawsuit against the trustee.”

Much head scratching occurs. Daniel opens a bottle of French burgundy, a heavy wine best drunk in a serious discussion. “Excuse me,” says a man heretofore not identified, “I’m a fiduciary investment manager associated with your standby and successor trustee, the First National Bank and Trust Company of Happy Valley, Florida. It is my job—and the job of those who come after me— to protect the interests of everyone who will— or could— benefit from your trust including these annoying great-grandchildren of yours.”

Mr. Gotbucks takes the bottle of burgundy from Daniel and starts swigging from it. He thinks a moment then says, “if you and your colleagues manage the assets poorly and there is almost no principal remaining in the account, then my remaindermen can file a lawsuit against you?”

“Exactly. So, we keep that in mind when investing.”

Mr. Gotbucks looks at Daniel. “Are all these people necessary?”

“Yes, they are. But think about it this way, your great-children, will lift their glasses to your portrait on a regular basis and say, ‘thanks, great-grandfather.’”

Mr. Gotbucks wipes a tear from his eye while Daniel opens a bottle of champagne so the remaindermen can practice their toasts.

To learn more about this topic, register for our Cannon Trust I curriculum.

Copyright ©2017 Cannon Financial Institute – All Rights Reserved

Subscribe to Cannon Insights at http://www.cannonfinancial.com/newsletter/subscribe

Contributing Writer: Subject Matter Expert Charles McCain

COMMENT FROM CHARLES McCAIN: Cannon Financial Institute is the “gold standard” for wealth management training, development and consulting. I worked at the firm for many years and my colleagues were the most talented people I have ever worked with.  Last year the firm sought me out to write articles for them which I started doing in January of  2016. After a hiatus of nine years, I am pleased to report that my colleagues continue to be the most talented people I have ever worked with and it is a pleasure to be working with them again.  I take them directly from the Cannon website and the links work.  I will post the articles I write for them on my blog after they appear on Cannon’s website. https://www.cannonfinancial.com

Contributing Writer: Subject Matter Expert Charles McCain

Dunkirk British Army Retreats from Germans

DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1524) British troops during the evacuation from Dunkirk, 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205260329

 

DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1528) British troops in the sand dunes at Dunkirk, 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205222016

Comments Charles McCain: while regular army and elite regiments such as the those comprising the Brigage of Guards, held together, support units and formations of untrained reservists sent over from the UK tended to break under the intense stress of conducting a fighting retreat. Officers sometimes abandoned their men and men sometimes abandoned their officers.

Many people take a certain pleasure in condeming the French for collapsing in World War Two. It bears pointing out that the French rearguards at Dunkirk fought off the Germans until all British and French troops waiting to evacuate could be withdrawn. Only then did they surrender to the Germans.

 

DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1531) British troops in the sand dunes at Dunkirk, 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205260322

 

DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1520) British troops during the evacuation from Dunkirk, 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205260326

 

 

DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1137) Men of the 2nd Royal Ulster Rifles awaiting evacuation at Bray Dunes, near Dunkirk, 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205086985
DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1519) British troops during the evacuation from Dunkirk, 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205260324

 

DUNKIRK AND THE RETREAT FROM FRANCE 1940 (HU 1530) An officer rests in a trench dug into the sand dunes at Dunkirk, May 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205227524

Comments Charles McCain: the sand tended to absorb a portion of the explosion of German bombs. Second, while sharpnel from bombs could be deadly, it blows out and up and not down. If you were in a trench, you were usually safe from bombs and sharpnel unless they landed on top of you.

DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1529) British officers in a trench dug into the beach at Dunkirk, 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205086988

 

DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1152) Rescued troops on board the destroyer HMS Vanquisher, May 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205222774

 

DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1147) A lifeboat with survivors from the Isle of Man steam ferry SS Mona’s Queen, mined off Dunkirk, comes alongside the destroyer HMS Vanquisher, 29 May 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205222770
DUNKIRK 1940 (HU 1148) A lifeboat with survivors from the Isle of Man steam ferry SS Mona’s Queen, mined off Dunkirk, comes alongside the destroyer HMS Vanquisher, 29 May 1940. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205222771

Anderson Shelter Bomb Proof Yet Cold & Wet

Usually tougher than nazi bombs,anderson shelters, were named after home secretary  John Anderson. He also served as MINISTER OF HOME SECURITy, A WARTIME DEPARTMENT, ATTACHED TO THE HOME OFFICE.

 

AIR RAID SHELTERS IN LONDON, 1940 (HU 63827A) Mrs Alice Prendergast of 3 Western Lane, Balham, is not at a disadvantage through building an Anderson shelter where her vegetables grew. She planted her vegetables on top of the shelter, and now has lettuce, beetroots and marrows growing. Mrs Prendergast is seen watering the vegetables on the top of her shelter. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205070170

 

“While a properly installed Anderson shelter could withstand the effects of a hundred-pound bomb falling six feet away, Anderson shelters often leaked, were cold, dark and cramped and amplified the noise of falling bombs.”

http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-to-do-during-an-air-raid

While given free to people of limited means, others had to pay £7.  Anderson shelters were useful only to the middle class because one had to have a garden (backyard in the US) as usually referred to in England. More than three million were eventually erected in gardens throughout those cities in England often bombed by the Nazis. (source: Warrior Race: A History of the British at War, by Lawrence James. 2003)

BOMB DAMAGE IN BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, C 1940 (D 4127) Although some debris has been cleared on this site on James Street, Aston Newtown, Birmingham, brick rubble can be clearly seen. Dominating the photograph, however, are the twisted remains of several Anderson shelters, one of which is still standing and intact, although warped. In the background, all the houses in row of terraced homes is missing a roof. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205198720

Unfortunately, the fourteen galvanized and corrugated steel plates which were bolted together to create the Anderson shelter weren’t waterproof. Unless one took extra measures, as many did, to make the shelter more comfortable, it wasn’t easy to get a restful night’s sleep. The shelters were often damp or even had standing water in them. They were cold. People waited until bombs got close to run to their Anderson shelters because they didn’t like being in one.

 

AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS DOG AT WORK IN POPLAR, LONDON, ENGLAND, 1941 (D 5949) An Anderson shelter remains intact amidst destruction and debris, after a land mine fell a few yards away. The three people that had been inside the shelter were not hurt. The effects of air raids in this area of London can be clearly seen behind the shelter. This photograph was taken on Latham Street in Poplar. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205198906

 

The reference to the landmine falling a few feet away is slightly inaccurate. What the Germans dropped were heavy sea mines which could break through heavy roofs, even ones made from cement, and the go off, creating a powerful explosion. Having learned this technique from the Germans, the Allies dropped sea mines on Nazi Germany.

 

A WORKING CLASS FAMILY IN WARTIME: EVERY DAY LIFE WITH THE SUTER FAMILY IN LONDON, 1940 (D 778) Doris and Alan Suter step down into the Anderson shelter in the garden of their home at 44 Edgeworth Road, Eltham, London, SE9, sometime between June and August 1940. Their mother, Mrs Suter, can just be seen behind them outside the shelter. Alan is carrying his gas mask box with him. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205195781

Obviously, this was an upper working class family given how well the children are dressed and that they have a back garden which provided enough room to dug in the Anderson shelter. The box around the boy’s neck is his gas mask.

AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS, 1940 (HU 104527) Sir John Anderson, the Home Secretary, examines hosing equipment used by the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) in Southampton, 25 February 1940. His visit coincided with a large-scale Air Raid Precautions (ARP) exercise in the towns of Portsmouth, Gosport and Southampton. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205229899

 

An Anderson shelter stands intact amongst a scene of debris in Norwich, c.1941

(photo courtesy Imperial War Museum)

“Anderson shelters – named after Sir John Anderson – consisted of two curved corrugated sheets of steel, bolted together at the top and sunk three feet into the ground, then covered with eighteen inches of earth. If constructed correctly, they could withstand the effects of a hundred-pound bomb falling six feet away. However, many Anderson shelters leaked, were cold, dark and cramped and amplified the noise of falling bombs.”

http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-to-do-during-an-air-raid

 

 

England During World War Two

A Royal Air Force Lockheed Hudson Mk VI (AE626) of the Middle East Communications Flight flying over the Egyptian pyramids, 1942. (Photo courtesy Imperial War Museum)

 

Two soldiers of the Royal Military Police with Anna, a four-year-old Austrian girl with whose family the men were billeted, in the Klagenfurt area of occupied Austria, May 1945. (Photo courtesy Imperial War Museum)

comments Charles McCain: since the Third Reich had given few people any choice about anything (Austria had been annexed by 3rd Reich) Anglo-American soldiers were billeted families whether they liked it or not and sometimes troops kicked the Germans out of their home. Payback is a bitch.

Men of the Airborne Division adjust their harnesses alongside an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley ‘PX-G’ of No. 295 Squadron RAF, October 1942. (photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum)

Men of the Royal Navy play cards on board the submarine HMS Tribune, 1942. (photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum)

Sergeant R Gregory photographs Driver A Hardman during a tour of the Acropolis in Athens, October 1944. (Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum)

HMS Howe passes through the Suez Canal on her way to join the British Pacific Fleet, 14 July 1944. (Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum)

A signaller operates an Aldis lamp on board a British warship, 1942. (Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum)

WRNS officers are shown the sights of Quebec by a member of the Canadian Mounted Police Force after the first Quebec Conference, 23 August 1943. (Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum)

Churchill tanks of A and B Squadrons, 43rd Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment, 33rd Brigade negotiate obstacles during training, October 1942. (Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum)

Armourers of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) re-arm a Hawker Hurricane aircraft at the Fleet Air Arm airfield at Yeovilton, Somerset, 2 September 1943. (Courtesy Imperial War Museum)

Members of the ATS operate the height and range finder at an anti-aircraft gun site, December 1942. (Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum)

Chamberlain Betrays Czechs & Countdown to War Begins

“You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war.”
WInston Churchill to Chamberlain in 1938 on the munich agreement.
#######
“…a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing.”

Chamberlain (centre, hat, and umbrella in hands) walks with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (right) as the Prime Minister leaves for home after the Berchtesgaden meeting, 16 September 1938. On the left is Alexander von Dörnberg, German diplomat, and SS officer, Chief of Protocol Foreign Office of Nazi Germany. (German National Archive)

 

From left to right, Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano as they prepare to sign the Munich Agreement. German National Archive.

This agreement was then forced on the Czechs by Britain and France.

[Ciano was Mussolini’s son-in-law who later played in role in overthrowing him. There are several versions of how Ciano came to be shot. This is my favorite although apocryphal:  Hitler told Mussolini to have Ciano shot. Musso said Ciano was the father of his grandchildren. He could not have him shot. Hitler replied that Musso was not tough enough to be a dictator. “I will have him shot.” Shortly thereafter the SS in the Salo Republic shot Ciano.]

In the fall of 1938, Hitler had made a fool of Prime Minister Chamberlain through his sham negotiating in Berchtesgaden. The PM had returned to England after betraying the Czechs and forcing both them and the Skoda Works, the finest armament works in Europe, into the hands of a madman.

“I believe it is peace for our time.”

Commentary from the Imperial War Museum: “Neville Chamberlain holding the paper containing the resolution to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself on his return from Munich. He is showing the piece of paper to a crowd at Heston Aerodrome on 30 September 1938.

He said: “…the settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace.

This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine…

….(waves paper to the crowd – receiving loud cheers and “Hear Hears”). Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you …”.

Later that day he stood outside Number 10 Downing Street and again read from the document and concluded: ‘”My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time.” (Photo and caption courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)

Charles McCain: Except, of course, it wasn’t.

Hitler was hardly going to keep his word and anyone who had observed him for a time knew that. The Czechs had been betrayed by Chamberlain.

Said Chamberlain in a radio broadcast, “How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing.” 

Chamberlain (left) and Hitler leave the Bad Godesberg meeting, 23 September 1938. German National Archive)

Czechs had been supplying steel of the highest quality to the Royal Navy

Yet many in Great Britain did know something about Czechoslovakia including this most critical fact: the Czechs had been supplying steel of the highest quality to the Royal Navy, steel of the quality required for warships no longer cast in sufficient amounts in Great Britain. *

The Admiralty knew this. Men of industry and finance knew. Chamberlain and the cabinet knew–but persisted in lying to the people of Great Britain as well as deluding themselves. They continued to live in what Aristophanes referred to as “Cloud-cuckoo-land”

*(Source: “Engage the Enemy More Closely: the Royal Navy in te Second World War” by Correlli Barnett)

Lord Halifax revealed as guilty of high treason–tried to negotiate peace with the Nazis without disclosure to war cabinet.

Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini, Lord Halifax, and Count Ciano at an opera in Rome, Jan 1939

Daily Telegraph of London, 2008:

“Lord Halifax, Britain’s Foreign Secretary at the outbreak of the Second World War, secretly met with an Old Etonian who tried to broker a peace deal with the Nazis, according to newly-declassified security files.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2650832/Lord-Halifax-tried-to-negotiate-peace-with-the-Nazis.html

Charles McCain: A sordid spectacle. History has rightly judged  Chamberlain harshly along with his crony, the leading appeaser of Hitler next to Chamberlain, Foreign Secretary, the arch-schemer, Lord Halifax. Documents released in last 10 years prove Halifax committed treason by carrying on peace negotiations through dubious second parties without informing the war cabinet.

In November of 1937, while Lord President of the Council (a cabinet position), Halifax paid a private visit to Herman Goering, the obese kleptomaniac and drug addled C-in-C of the Luftwaffe. Since Halifax was a member of the Cabinet, the Germans thought of this as an “unofficial” official visit. This was done with Prime Minister Chamberlain’s knowledge and approval.

Lord Halifax with Hermann Göring at Schorfheide, Germany, 20 November 1937 (German National Archive)

Although Halifax was not then Foreign Secretary, he informed Adolf Hitler and “the evil gang who work your wicked will” * that the British government did not oppose Nazi Germany’s stated policy to incorporate Austria, half of Czechoslovakia and several former Imperial German provinces of Poland into the Third Reich.  However, the honourable gentleman, Lord Halifax, loftily said this must be done peacefully.

(*Churchill in a speech during World War Two describing Hitler’s murderous and evil myrmidons.

Lord Halifax with Hitler on 19 November 1937

This interference in foreign affairs by Chamberlain and his trusted fellow appeaser, the noble Lord Halifax, led to the resignation of Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden. Would Halifax take the position? Certainly, if the Prime Minister asked him then naturally it would be his duty to accept the position which he did.

A deeply religious man was Halifax. Hence, a good man said his acolytes. Not one to dirty his hands with common politics or common people. (As a peer of the realm, he was a member of the House of Lords). There were few among the elite who attended divine service on a more frequent basis then Lord Halifax. Presumably, God was on his side, it was said.  Many who knew him referred to him behind his back as the “Holy Fox.”  It wasn’t a compliment.

CHURCHILL STATES THE TRUTH

Only a few both saw and were willing to state the truth. One of those was Winston Churchill, roundly condemned for what he said in Parliament after Chamberlain returned from Munich waving the piece of paper signed by Hitler which meant “peace in our time.”

Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain reviewing German troops during Chamberlain’s visit to sign the Munich Agreement.

Winston Churchill on chamberlain’s capitulation in Munich to Hitler, house of commons, 5 October 1938.

I will, therefore, begin by saying the most unpopular and most unwelcome thing. I will begin by saying what everybody would like to ignore or forget but which must nevertheless be stated, namely, that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat, and that France has suffered even more than we have.

The utmost my right hon. friend the Prime Minister… has been able to gain for Czechoslovakia in the matters which were in dispute has been that the German dictator, instead of snatching the victuals from the table, has been content to have them served to him course by course…”

He was heckled by other Conservative members of Parliament during this speech. Churchill’s judgment on Chamberlain after the signing of the Munich agreement:  “You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war.”

Chamberlain having a sincere handshake with Adolf Hitler.

You can read Churchill’s entire speech to Parliament on the Munich agreement here:       winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/the-munich-agreement

 

3 September 1939, Great Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany for attacking Poland, whose territorial integrity had been hastily guaranteed by those two countries. After the craven conduct of the British on Austria and Czechoslovakia, Hitler was stunned. He turned to his vacuous Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, who had assured him the British and the French would do nothing, and said, “now what?”

Ribbentrop was an opportunistic, immoral, evil toad of man along with being stupid. At the Nuremberg Tribunal, an American interrogator asked him several questions about German foreign policy during the Third Reich. Ribbentrop said he did not know the answers. Are you telling me, the American interrogator said, that as Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany you did not know what the foreign policy was? “I am sorry but I must say ‘yes'” (As in ‘yes he did not know). him on four counts: crimes against peace, deliberately planning a war of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity

He was rightfully convicted of crimes against peace, deliberately planning a war of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and hanged 16 October 1946.

This iconic photograph of Churchill was taken by famed photographer Yousuf Karsh on 30 December 1941 immediately after a speech Churchill had given to the Canadian Parliament. This photo came to represent Great Britain’s defiance of the Nazis.

On 10 May 1940, Germany attacked France who surrendered within six weeks. On that same day, 10 May 1940, two days after Chamberlain had suffered a humiliating defeat in Parliament, his majority dropping from 280 votes to 80 in a vote of confidence, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain and led the British Empire to victory over the Nazis.

His speeches as Prime Minister rang with defiance against the Nazis and continue to inspire those who value individual freedom.

“He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle to steady his fellow countrymen and hearten those Europeans upon whom the long dark night of tyranny had descended.” 

Edward R. Murrow on Churchill in 1954.