Cosmic Radiation Research in the High Alps and Bedford, Massachusetts

The trip from Bern, Switzerland, to the high altitude laboratory on Jungfraujoch is two train rides, a gondola that rises more than 1,300 meters (almost 5,000 feet) to a tunnel railway and the place called "The Top of Europe" even in my weather app: 3,571 meters/11,782 feet of altitude.

On the trip up, I talked with Erwin Fluckiger, a physicist who studied cosmic radiation and high altitude atmospheric physics at the Junfraujoch for most of his scientific career.  

As we talked, I learned that the only time he lived in another country for an extended period was one and a half years as a post-doctoral fellow.  He lived in Bedford, Massachusetts, in the early 1980s, less than 20 miles from where I grew up in Stoneham.  

Professor Emeritus Erwin Fluckiger

We made a couple of jokes about Bedford not being at a very high altitude, but he said he learned a lot while in America and liked living in the Boston area.  

We talked about retirement. He is still working on some projects he is interested in and is listed as a part of the staff on the Jungfraujoch web site.  Erwin was a director of the lab from 2000-2009 and President from 2010-2016.

Before and after his post-doc in America, Erwin spent nearly three years in the Swiss army. He was the officer in charge of a radar unit. He liked living outdoors training in Switzerland.  As we talked the trains we were riding in were winding past alpine lakes and forests between high peaks.  

One area Erwin still is involved in is cosmic and solar radiation exposure for the crews of aircraft.  In Europe everyone who flies for a living is monitored for radiation exposure. I had never heard of this and was interested to hear how it evolved. Which led to a discussion of the influence of unions on work environments. 

We talked about language. He reminded me that Switzerland has four official languages, all represented on the currency: German, French, Italian and Romanish, but "Almost everyone speaks English." 

Helpful Guy in a Berne, Switzerland, Laundromat

 

Today in Berne, Switzerland, not too far from the river in this photo, I went to a small laundromat. I got Swiss Francs on the way and bought a sandwich and coffee so I would have change and small bills. But as is often the case with laundromats, the money requirements are very specific.

Outside waiting for his laundry to dry was a guy named Thomas who helped me with the whole process--which coins I needed and where to get them.  The washer needed five one-franc coins, the soap dispenser and dryers would take coins from 10 centimes up to five francs.  Thomas took me over to the bar next door where they gave change for the laundry.  Then he pulled his clothes from the dryer and went home. COVID is far enough from people's minds that we shook hands as he left.

Since I travel with just a backpack, I am in weekly need of a laundromat on a long trip.  Last week I used a laundromat in Paris near the Pantheon, not my favorite one, it was closed for remodeling. 

My favorite laundromat in the world is in Jerusalem where I met an Israeli tank commander who fell from a helicopter and lived to tell about it.

Last year, at a rural boat dock in Denmark, I used the laundromat and met a retired electronics technician who had traveled the world for Siemens Corporation. He nearly died during the civil war in Libya, but hates Las Vegas more than any place on earth. I also met three of four American sisters traveling together in Paris in the renewed travel in 2022.

Just as I was leaving the laundromat today, as guy with a cigarette scratchy voice asked me a question in what I thought was German. I said I only speak English. He said, much more clearly, "I am speaking English." I laughed and passed along the information from Thomas: 1 franc coins only for the washer, any coins for the soap and the dryer.  He thanked me and began pulling off several layers of clothes and putting them in the washer.  

Cold War Manchester Tour from Ian Sanders, Host of the Cold War Conversations History Podcast

 

Ian Sanders, host and creator of the Cold War Conversations History Podcast

pointing out Manchester World War II history. An alarm to get the attention of fire watchers stationed atop buildings in Manchester.

I visited Manchester UK recently to meet Ian Sanders in person, after knowing him for several years as the creator and host of the Cold War Conversations History Podcast. He started the podcast in 2018 as a way to preserve the stories of the people who lived through the Cold War, served in the military in the Cold War, and had stories about their part in this long simmering worldwide conflict. 

The podcast is now in its 277th episode,  about "The Most Damaging Female Spy in Us History." The podcast has had more than two million downloads in the past half decade. 

The tour began with the picture above. Many buildings in Manchester had fire watchers during World War II. In December 1940 the Nazis fire bombed Manchester to devastating effect. More than 700 people were killed in two terrible nights of fire bombing.

Ian showed me a memorial to those who lost their lives. A metal tree with all of the names inscribed in the trunk.

We visited a memorial to the World War II code-breaker and computer innovator Alan Turing. He is from the Manchester area and took his own life near the city during the Cold War.  

We had lunch in the Manchester Art Museum: haddock sandwiches with mushy peas.

Then went upstairs to see a famous painting of the Battle of Balaclava--in the Crimean War.  The painting is the aftermath of the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade in which the brave 600 who charged the Russian cannon were all but wiped out.  

We also saw a funny 19th Century "Union Jack" view of the world:

Almost four years ago, before the pandemic, Ian interviewed me for the podcast. In episodes 38 and 41 we talked about US Army tank training and serving on the Cold War border in Fulda, West Germany. the podcast is audio, but the recording of the second interview about Fulda has more than 7,000 downloads on YouTube.

As we walked toward the train station at the end of the visit, Ian showed me the entrance of a huge underground telecommunications facility built under Manchester during the Cold War. It is still in operation today. 

This was my first visit to Manchester. Now I know the city has much more than a famous football club!! 

Voraigh Sisters--A Paris Boutique of Traditional Clothing

On a very busy boulevard near Bastille on the east side of Paris is the small boutique:

VORAIGH Sisters from Ancient Lands.  They describe the store:

Founded in 2008 by sisters and violinists Olivia & Vivien and their mother Bruna, who taught them a passion for historical and traditional arts. Our workshop is based in a small village not far from Paris, on the edge of the magical forest of Fontainebleau.

I learned about the store from Sarah Gingrich. She found it on line.  Sarah's family accuses her of dressing like a Hobbit (when she is not dressing like a Viking) so this is her kind of shop.

They Voraigh web site describes their business:

Voriagh (synonym of Varangian, in Old Norse: Væringjar; Greek: Βάραγγοι, Βαριάγοι) is the name used by the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Slavs for the Vikings, (víkingar, from Old Norse) traded from their Northern European homelands across central, eastern and western Europe.

We create in deep connection with nature and ancient lands across Europe, influenced by folklore and ancient crafts. 

Following strict guidelines in terms of sustainability for material and craft, our small structure relies on two skilled families: one in France and one in India, mastering an infinite panel of techniques, completing each other by offering high expertise and traditional embroideries for several generations. In addition to this close relation, we provide transparency and certifications by Oekotex and the BSCI for both structures. 

They make clothes in France:  Our wool and linen items are made in a family workshop in Paris. The atelier is located rue Oberkampf and collaborates exclusively with small designer and/or ethical brands.

And in India:  Our cotton clothes are made in New Delhi by a high end workshop certified by the BSCI, a label based on the most important international Conventions protecting the workers’ rights such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions and other important Declarations of the United Nations, the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises and the UN Global Compact. The BSCI Code includes the ten following key elements to improve the worker´s situation:

The shop is in a lovely neighborhood just north of the Seine on the east side of Paris.

 

Meeting High School Classmates at a Paris Gallery Opening: Paul Campbell is a Featured Artist

On Tuesday I arrived in Paris and wrote on Facebook that I had an empty row to myself on the flight over.  One of the commenters was Susan Campbell who said she and her husband Paul were in Paris and Paul had an opening at a gallery in the 11th Arrondisment on the east side of Paris toward Vincennes.

I visited the gallery for the opening and had a lovely time talking to Susan and Paul. They had only been to one of the class reunions so we had not seen each other since Stoneham in 1971.  

Paul and Susan live in Brooklyn and Cape Cod, so we are going to get together in the next couple of months before they go off to live in the most well-known beach community in New England.

One of the gallery opening attendees took a picture of the three of us in in front of several of Paul's paintings.  You can see more of Paul's work here.

Tanks Attack, They are Designed for Offense

 

From their first use as land battleships in World War I, tanks are an attack weapon.  They can be used in defense, but as my last post pointed out, the German force attacking France in 1940 was outnumbered and outgunned by the British and French tanks in defense. And France surrendered in five weeks.  

Speculation is rampant on line and in the media that the Russians will attack in the spring before Ukraine can take delivery of the NATO tanks promised to them recently.  They could be right, but nothing the Russians have done in the past month or the past year gives me much worry that the Russians will put together an overwhelming attack against Ukraine.  

The military generic term for armor is MPF--Mobile Protected Firepower.  This includes not only main battle tanks but armored personnel carriers like the Bradley Fighting Vehicle which the US is sending to Ukraine already.  The Bradley is fast, is armed with a 25mm rapid-fire cannon and can carry an infantry squad into battle.  

With a large number of MPFs and trained crews supported with fuel and ammo, the Ukrainian army can punch through the Russian lines and destroy their command posts and supply lines.  

German Leopard 2 tanks are faster, more reliable and have vastly better gun sights and gun controls than the Russian tanks opposite them.  More importantly, Ukraine has shown in other battles that they will know how to use armor. They will mass their tanks at a weak point in the Russian defense and break through.  

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I bought the t-shirt I am wearing (above) and the Deutsche Panzer Museum.  It says, "Tanks are not Neutral." They are offensive weapons.  I look forward to wearing this shirt while watching or listening to news about Ukrainian victories in the coming year.  

A German soldier I was talking to in the museum said the shirt is also ironic.  The German Army, like many armies and government organization, is trying to use more gender neutral language.  German is a very gendered language and Panzer is a male-gendered word. The shirt is also a protest of making the word Panzer gender neutral.

Tactics, Not Just Numbers, Win Tank Battles

The Panzer I, armed with just machine guns was 

no match for any French or British tank.

The common view of the first year of World War II is that the British and French armies were routed and defeated in six weeks by a superior German armored force using Blitzkrieg tactics. 

The truth is, the invading Germans were outnumbered and outgunned by the defenders of France. They won because Erwin Rommel commanded 7th Panzer Division at the front of the invading German Army carrying out a brilliant invasion plan. The British and French had a combined 3,000 tanks, all of which had cannons capable of destroying any of the German tanks in the invasion force. 

The British Matilda tank. 

Better armed and armored than most German tanks in France in 1940

The Germans had 2,000 tanks, hundreds of them armed with just machine guns. But the Germans concentrated nearly all their armor on a 20-mile invasion front, while the British and French spread their tanks from the Swiss border to the English Channel. Rommel punched through the allied lines. He personally waded into rivers when his engineers were making bridges for his tanks. Rommel broke through the allied lines and captured huge formations. 

Without Rommel carrying out a brilliant invasion plan by General Heinz Guderian, the allied army could have stopped or slowed the German advance and dragged out the war in France. The great early success of Rommel, Guderian and the German Army led Hitler to invade Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Weapons of every kind are wielded by soldiers.  How the weapon is used, as much as the weapon itself, determines the outcome of battles.