142-771: The Kingsway Hall in Holborn , London, was the base of the West London Mission (WLM) of the Methodist Church , and eventually became one of the most important recording venues for classical music and film music . It was built in 1912 and demolished in 1998. Among the prominent Methodists associated with the Kingsway Hall was Donald Soper , who was Superintendent Minister at the West London Mission from 1936 until his retirement in 1978. Kingsway Hall took its name from
284-568: A "drafting officer". He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in December 1932 and appointed Head of the Third Section (operations). His service at SGDN gave him six years' experience of the interface between army planning and government, enabling him to take on ministerial responsibilities in 1940. After studying arrangements in the US, Italy, and Belgium, de Gaulle drafted a bill for the organisation of
426-461: A Professional Army ). He proposed mechanization of the infantry, with stress on an élite force of 100,000 men and 3,000 tanks. The book imagined tanks driving around the country like cavalry. De Gaulle's mentor Emile Mayer was somewhat more prophetic than he was about the future importance of air power on the battlefield. Such an army would both compensate for France's population shortage, and be an efficient tool to enforce international law, particularly
568-453: A bayonet wound to the left thigh after being stunned by a shell and was captured after passing out from the effects of poison gas. He was one of the few survivors of his battalion. The circumstances of his capture would later become a subject of debate as anti-Gaullists spread rumour that he had actually surrendered, a claim de Gaulle nonchalantly dismissed. De Gaulle spent 32 months in six different prisoner camps, but he spent most time in
710-643: A capitalist economy, which was followed by 30 years of unprecedented growth, known as the Trente Glorieuses . He resigned in 1946, but continued to be politically active as founder of the Rally of the French People . He retired in the early 1950s and wrote his War Memoirs , which quickly became a staple of modern French literature. When the Algerian War threatened to bring the unstable Fourth Republic to collapse,
852-544: A career as a writer and historian, partly to please his father and partly because it was one of the few unifying forces which represented the whole of French society. He later wrote that "when I entered the Army, it was one of the greatest things in the world", a claim which Lacouture points out needs to be treated with caution: the army's reputation was at a low. It was used extensively for strike-breaking and there were fewer than 700 applicants for Saint-Cyr in 1908, down from 2,000 at
994-710: A child when she heard of the French capitulation to the Germans at Sedan in 1870 , he developed a keen interest in military strategy. He was also influenced by his uncle, also named Charles de Gaulle , who was a historian and passionate Celticist who advocated the union of the Welsh, Scots, Irish, and Bretons into one people. His grandfather Julien-Philippe was also a historian, and his grandmother Joséphine-Marie wrote poems which impassioned his Christian faith. De Gaulle began writing in his early teens, especially poetry; his family paid for
1136-642: A composition, a one-act verse play, to be privately published. A voracious reader, he favored philosophical tomes by such writers as Bergson , Péguy , and Barrès . In addition to the German philosophers Nietzsche , Kant , and Goethe , he read the works of the ancient Greeks (especially Plato ) and the prose of Chateaubriand . De Gaulle was educated in Paris at the Collège Stanislas and studied briefly in Belgium. At
1278-681: A dedication to Pétain (although he wrote his own rather than using the draft Pétain sent him), which was dropped from postwar editions. Until 1938 Pétain had treated de Gaulle, as Lacouture puts it, "with unbounded good will", but by October 1938 he privately thought his former protégé "an ambitious man, and very ill-bred". At the outbreak of World War II, de Gaulle was put in command of the French Fifth Army 's tanks (five scattered battalions, largely equipped with R35 light tanks ) in Alsace. On 12 September 1939 he attacked at Bitche , simultaneously with
1420-509: A hotel of the same name, which opened in 2000. The hotel's reception desk is in the approximate location where orchestra members once recorded. Kingsway was built for evangelistic purposes, as a place of worship, not as a concert or recording hall. However, it was considered to have the finest acoustics in London for recording orchestral and choral repertory. The acoustics resulted more by accident than through conscious design. The size and shape of
1562-413: A laundry basket, digging a tunnel, digging through a wall, and even posing as a nurse. In letters to his parents, he constantly spoke of his frustration that the war was continuing without him. As the war neared its end, he grew depressed that he was playing no part in the victory, but he remained in captivity until the armistice . On 1 December 1918, three weeks later, he returned to his father's house in
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#17328528698381704-511: A manner similar to what de Gaulle had advocated). A rare insight into de Gaulle's political views is a letter to his mother warning that war with Germany was inevitable and reassuring her that Pierre Laval 's pact with the USSR in 1935 was for the best, likening it to Francis I 's alliance with the Turks against Emperor Charles V . From April 1936, whilst still in his staff position at SGDN, de Gaulle
1846-559: A mile, roughly as far as Southampton Row and Holborn tube station . The station was originally named Holborn (Kingsway) as it was on the junction of those two roads. Most of the area lies north of the eponymous road, rather than to the south. The nearest London Underground stations are Chancery Lane and Holborn . The closest mainline railway station is City Thameslink . Holborn is served by bus routes 1, 8, 19, 25, 38, 55, 59, 68, 76, 91, 98, 133, 168, 171, 188, 243, 341, X68 and night routes N1, N8, N19, N38, N41, N55, N68 and N171. In
1988-518: A number of extra-parochial areas, parts of the ecclesiastical parish of Holborn but formed their own (usually tiny) civil parish areas: The St George the Martyr Queen Square area became a separate parish, for both civil and ecclesiastical matters, in 1723; but for civil matters was reunited with the part of St Andrew outside the city ( Above the Bars ) of London in 1767, to form St Andrew Holborn Above
2130-520: A parade of 80 tanks into the Place d'Armes at Metz, in his command tank " Austerlitz ". By now de Gaulle was becoming a well-known figure, known as "Colonel Motor(s)". At the invitation of the publisher Plon , he produced another book, La France et son Armée (France and Her Army) in 1938. De Gaulle incorporated much of the text he had written for Pétain a decade earlier for the uncompleted book Le Soldat , to Pétain's displeasure. De Gaulle agreed to include
2272-454: A platoon commander, de Gaulle was involved in fierce fighting from the outset. He received his baptism of fire on 15 August and was among the first to be wounded, receiving a bullet in the knee at the Battle of Dinant . It is sometimes claimed that in hospital, he grew bitter at the tactics used, and spoke with other injured officers against the outdated methods of the French army. However, there
2414-455: A question about supplies, replying "de minimis non curat praetor " (roughly: "a leader does not concern himself with trivia") before ordering the responsible officer to answer Moyrand. He obtained respectable, but not outstanding grades on many of his assessments. Moyrand wrote in his final report that he was "an intelligent, cultured and serious-minded officer; has brilliance and talent" but criticised him for not deriving as much benefit from
2556-511: A two-year posting to Lebanon and Syria . In Beirut he was chief of the 3rd Bureau (military operations) of General Louis-Paul-Gaston de Bigault du Granrut, who wrote him a glowing reference recommending him for high command. In the spring of 1931, as his posting in Beirut drew to a close, de Gaulle once again asked Pétain for a posting to the École de Guerre . Pétain tried to obtain an appointment for him as Professor of History there, but once again
2698-505: A venue for public meetings and exhibitions, for example, a model railway engineering exhibition in 1928. The Hall itself was only part of the complex of buildings that the church had built to re-house its evangelical West London Mission, which was launched in October 1887; its partner was Wesley Hall, where the philanthropic work of the Mission was carried out. Whilst the element of the Mission that
2840-584: Is a list of notable people who were born in or are significantly connected with Holborn. General Charles de Gaulle Defunct Defunct Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French military officer and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of
2982-454: Is nicknamed the Devil's Own , a name given by George III , not due to ferocity in battle, but rather to his dislike of lawyers. In the 18th century, Holborn was the location of the infamous Mother Clap 's molly house (meeting place for homosexual men). There were 22 inns or taverns recorded in the 1860s. The Holborn Empire , originally Weston's Music Hall , stood between 1857 and 1960, when it
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#17328528698383124-566: Is no contemporary evidence that he understood the importance of artillery in modern warfare. Instead, in his writing at the time, he criticised the "overrapid" offensive, the inadequacy of French generals, and the "slowness of the English troops". He rejoined his regiment in October, as commander of the 7th company . Many of his former comrades were already dead. In December he became regimental adjutant . De Gaulle's unit gained recognition for repeatedly crawling out into no man's land to listen to
3266-409: Is no more, its legacy of many great recordings made over 57 years covers every genre of classical music from organ music, string quartets, solo piano, opera and choral works and film scores to full-scale orchestral symphonies. These recordings can be explored by browsing the several discographies compiled by Philip Stuart for a number of London Orchestras (LPO, LSO, ASMF and ECO) and by Stephen Pettit for
3408-670: Is notionally in the very middle of London, being situated between the Westminster and the City , but this Americanisation has been widely criticised and not accepted or used by Londoners. The MPs for the area are: The three ward councillors for Holborn and Covent Garden , representing the London Borough of Camden part of the district are: Holborn is represented in the London Assembly as part of Barnet and Camden by: The following
3550-538: Is thought to be Dutch in origin, and may have derived from van der Walle , de Walle ("from the rampart, defensive wall") or de Waal ("the wall") De Gaulle's mother, Jeanne (born Maillot), descended from a family of wealthy entrepreneurs from Lille. She had French, Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry. De Gaulle's father encouraged historical and philosophical debate between his children, and through his encouragement, de Gaulle learned French history from an early age. Struck by his mother's tales of how she cried as
3692-504: Is unlikely that he stood out among the 19 captains and 32 lieutenants under his command. De Gaulle would have been present at the 1913 Arras manoeuvres, at which Pétain criticised General Gallet [ fr ] to his face, but there is no evidence in his notebooks that he accepted Pétain's unfashionable ideas about the importance of firepower against the dominant doctrine emphasizing " offensive spirit ". De Gaulle stressed how Maurice de Saxe had banned volley fire, how French armies of
3834-580: The École Normale Supérieure , and to civil servants. Pétain instead advised him to apply for a posting to the Secrétariat Général du Conseil Supérieur de la Défense Nationale (SGDN – General Secretariat of the Supreme War Council) in Paris. Pétain promised to lobby for the appointment, which he thought would be good experience for him. De Gaulle was posted to SGDN in November 1931, initially as
3976-509: The 33rd Infantry Regiment [ fr ] of the French Army , based at Arras. This was a historic regiment with Austerlitz , Wagram , and Borodino amongst its battle honours. In April 1910 he was promoted to corporal. His company commander declined to promote him to sergeant, the usual rank for a potential officer, commenting that the young man clearly felt that nothing less than Constable of France would be good enough for him. He
4118-639: The Chamber Orchestra of Europe were among the very few to object, and archeological excavations were conducted by the Museum of London , following which no widespread opposition was raised to the granting of the demolition order, English Heritage being unable to justify preservation. Kingsway Hall was demolished in 1998, and the hotel opened in 2000. Fate seemed to dog the Mission's home; its previous two meeting Halls, St James' in Piccadilly, and Exeter Hall in
4260-650: The Dordogne to be reunited with his three brothers, who had all also served in the army. After the armistice, de Gaulle served with the staff of the French Military Mission to Poland as an instructor of Poland's infantry during its war with communist Russia (1919–1921). He distinguished himself in operations near the River Zbrucz , with the rank of major in the Polish army, and won Poland's highest military decoration,
4402-512: The General Strike , when HMV signed an exclusive contract with the church authorities. That one-year agreement, the first of many, allowed for 130 sessions for a fee of £1,000. At this time, HMV also had exclusive recording access to the Queen's and Royal Albert Halls . The reason for this initiative was the coming to maturity of electrical recording technology that allowed recordings to be made in
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4544-554: The Halle under John Barbirolli , City of Birmingham under Fremaux), very rare visitors to Kingsway for recording included the Vienna Philharmonic . The VPO appeared once only, on 4 October 1949, for a recording of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with Bruno Walter and Kathleen Ferrier for Columbia. This recording was made after a performance in London and after some contractual wrangling between Decca (who owned Ferrier's contract) on
4686-487: The House of Commons , giving his famous " Finest Hour " speech, in which he refers to the recently lost Battle of France and the forthcoming Battle of Britain . The speech was recorded at Abbey Road studios. After the war, Kingsway Hall became an active venue for concerts and recording sessions, and was regarded as one of the best recording locations in the world. Its use for concerts and recordings continued until 1983 when it
4828-522: The Ingolstadt Fortress , where his treatment was satisfactory. In captivity, de Gaulle read German newspapers (he had learned German at school and spent a summer vacation in Germany) and gave talks on his view of the conflict to fellow prisoners. His patriotic fervour and confidence in victory earned him the nickname Le Connétable (" The Constable "), the title of the medieval commander-in-chief of
4970-492: The Napoleonic period had relied on infantry column attack, and how French military power had declined in the nineteenth century because of – supposedly – excessive concentration on firepower rather than élan . He also appears to have accepted the then fashionable lesson drawn from the recent Russo-Japanese War , of how bayonet charges by Japanese infantry with high morale had succeeded in the face of enemy firepower. De Gaulle
5112-729: The National Assembly brought him back to power during the May 1958 crisis . He founded the Fifth Republic with a strong presidency; he was elected with 78% of the vote to continue in that role. He managed to keep France together while taking steps to end the war, much to the anger of the Pieds-Noirs ( ethnic Europeans born in Algeria ) and the armed forces. He granted independence to Algeria and acted progressively towards other French colonies. In
5254-550: The Saar Offensive . At the start of October 1939, Reynaud asked for a staff posting under de Gaulle, but remained at his post as Minister of Finance. De Gaulle's tanks were inspected by President Lebrun , who was impressed, but regretted that it was too late to implement his ideas. He wrote a paper L'Avènement de la force mécanique (The coming of the Armoured Force) which he sent to General Georges (commander-in-chief on
5396-668: The Treaty of Versailles . He also thought it would be a precursor to a deeper national reorganisation, and wrote that "a master has to make his appearance [...] whose orders cannot be challenged – a man upheld by public opinion". Only 700 copies were sold in France; the claim that thousands of copies were sold in Germany is thought to be an exaggeration. De Gaulle used the book to widen his contacts among journalists, notably with André Pironneau, editor of L'Écho de Paris . The book attracted praise across
5538-590: The US intervention in Vietnam and the " exorbitant privilege " of the US dollar. In his later years, his support for the slogan " Vive le Québec libre " and his two vetoes of Britain's entry into the European Economic Community generated considerable controversy in both North America and Europe. Although reelected to the presidency in 1965 , he faced widespread protests by students and workers in May 68 but had
5680-476: The Virtuti Militari . De Gaulle returned to France, where he became a lecturer in military history at Saint-Cyr. He studied at the École de Guerre (staff college) from November 1922 to October 1924. Here he clashed with his instructor Colonel Moyrand by arguing for tactics based on circumstances rather than doctrine, and after an exercise in which he had played the role of commander, he refused to answer
5822-573: The West End of London or of the wider West London area. The River Fleet also gave its name to the streets Holborn and High Holborn which extend west from the site of the former Newgate in the London Wall , over the Fleet, through Holborn and towards Westminster . The district benefits from a central location which helps provide a strong mixed economy. The area is particularly noted for its links to
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5964-556: The "Kingsway rumble". There were also recording problems created by road and construction noise, and even occasional interruptions from the clientele of the mission itself. Engineers complained that takes made with outside traffic noise could not be edited together with those made while traffic stopped for a red light. Despite the drawbacks, Kingsway became the most sought-after recording venue for orchestral music in England because of its central location and excellent acoustics, particularly in
6106-578: The 11th century, before the Norman Conquest. The civil division of the parish is very ancient and predates the establishment of the parish in its settled form. In 1394 the Ward of Farringdon was subdivided into Farringdon Within and Farringdon Without , with south-east Holborn part of the latter. The City Bars mark the boundary of the City of London within Holborn. In 1994 the City boundary shifted slightly to
6248-491: The 12th century St Andrew's was noted in local title deeds as lying on "Holburnestrate"—Holborn Street, but as the street leads from Roman Newgate , and the church was sited on it by the 10th century, it is probably considerably older. In 1394 the population had grown so large that the Ward of Farringdon had grown too large for effective governance and was formally divided into the separate Wards, (rather than separate named areas within
6390-481: The 1950s and 1960s, when companies were converting from monaural to stereophonic recordings. The London Symphony Orchestra alone made 421 recordings there between 1926 and 1983; the London Philharmonic Orchestra made 280 recordings there, including its very first sessions (with Malcolm Sargent conducting choral favourites). The hall had sufficient space for choral and even operatic recordings, and
6532-465: The Army's support and won a snap election with an increased majority in the National Assembly. De Gaulle resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum in which he proposed more decentralisation. He died a year later at the age of 79, leaving his presidential memoirs unfinished. Many French political parties and leaders claim a Gaullist legacy; many streets and monuments in France and other parts of
6674-555: The Bars with St George the Martyr . The Holborn District was created in 1855, consisting of the civil parishes and extra-parochial places of Holborn outside the city; St Andrew Holborn Above the Bars with St George the Martyr, Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, Ely Rents and Ely Place , as well as two tiny units that were added from the Finsbury Division : Glasshouse Yard and St Sepulchre, Middlesex . The Metropolitan Borough of Holborn
6816-536: The Farringdon Without ward of the City of London (later known as St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars ) – which includes the parish church and the part within the Ossulstone Hundred of Middlesex (later known as St Andrew Above the Bars ). It is not known when the parish of Holborn took on its settled form, but it is likely to have been by the time of the introduction of Canon Law around 1180, with records from
6958-636: The French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. In 1958, amid the Algerian War , he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister by President René Coty . He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum . He was elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. Born in Lille , he
7100-463: The French army. In Ingolstadt were also journalist Remy Roure , who would eventually become a political ally of de Gaulle, and Mikhail Tukhachevsky , a future commander of the Red Army . De Gaulle became acquainted with Tukhachevsky, whose theories about a fast-moving, mechanized army closely resembled his. He also wrote his first book, Discorde chez l'ennemi (The Enemy's House Divided) , analysing
7242-661: The French to continue the fight in his Appeal of 18 June . He led the Free French Forces and later headed the French National Liberation Committee and emerged as the undisputed leader of Free France . He became head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, the interim government of France following its liberation . As early as 1944, De Gaulle introduced a dirigiste economic policy, which included substantial state-directed control over
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#17328528698387384-536: The Greater London Council in 1983, after which all recording activity ceased, the final contract expiring on 31 December that year. Exclusivity was maintained throughout the whole time between 1926 and 1983 and shared between EMI, and all its affiliated labels, and Decca, and its affiliates, who joined the agreement in 1944. Whilst both EMI and Decca used the Hall for sessions sponsored by other labels such as Lyrita,
7526-530: The Hall itself using rooms beneath the stage. In the years between 1912 and 1926, including those of the Great War , the Hall was also used for concerts conducted by the likes of Beecham and Boult, with the young John Barbirolli among the cellists, its fine acoustic having been discovered early in its life. The Hall's active life spanned the age of the acoustic cylinder to the coming of the Compact Disc . It remained
7668-471: The Methodist minister of Kingsway Hall in 1936. When German air raids on London started in 1940, Soper opened a "rest and feeding centre" in Kingsway Hall's basement (not far from Holborn underground station ). Here, the victims of the bombing could find refuge, and Soper and his family also lived there for a time. Until the end of 1944, Kingsway Hall ran a breakfast canteen. In one 6-month period alone, 26,232 breakfasts were served (and 34,178 cups of tea). At
7810-530: The Paris Conservatoire under Charles Munch (both in 1947) and the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt . Later, the Israel Philharmonic under Mehta also recorded whilst passing through London on tour in both 1968 (Dvorak and Tchaikovsky) and 1975 (Bartok). James Galway recorded with the Zagreb Soloists for RCA in 1975. Infrequent visiting conductors were Krauss, Celibidache, Kleiber Snr, Furtwangler, Knapperstsbusch, Weingartner, Szell, Dorati, Leinsdorf and Bohm. Although Kingsway Hall
7952-404: The Philharmonia (up to only 1987). It even included Christmas carol recordings by the oddly named Butlin Choral Society. It was also very rarely a location for recorded jazz concerts ( Ted Heath 1958 and 1963) and even Mantovani . Its acoustic added something unique to all these genres. Its demise was brought about by a combination of events but also by factors which related to its location and
8094-416: The Strand, Exeter Hall. These venues were steadily reclaimed as sites for new hotels, so eventually, in 1906, the church found a more permanent home for the Mission at 67 Great Queen Street, where there was a chapel. There had been a chapel there since at least 1709 but the Methodists moved in in 1789 and from time to time refurbished and expanded it. In April 1907 this chapel was renamed as Kingsway Hall, but
8236-557: The Strand, had also been demolished to make way for hotels. One Hall that was used by the WLM whilst Kingsway Hall was being built was the "new" St James, or Philharmonic , Hall in Great Portland Street. The building survives today, but now as a BBC office block called Brock House. 51°30′57″N 0°07′12″W / 51.5159°N 0.1201°W / 51.5159; -0.1201 Holborn Holborn ( / ˈ h oʊ b ər n / HOH -bərn or / ˈ h oʊ l b ər n / ), an area in central London , covers
8378-502: The afternoon of Friday, 6 December 1912, the Lord Mayor of London , Colonel Sir David Burnett, presided over the opening ceremony of a new Methodist Church Hall. Although this was an event that took place in central London , the opening was reported in the national press, including the Manchester Guardian , The Times , Daily Express , The Morning Post and Daily News and Leader . The Daily Graphic of 5 December, as well as several provincial newspapers, published photographs of
8520-401: The age of fifteen he wrote an essay imagining "General de Gaulle" leading the French Army to victory over Germany in 1930; he later wrote that in his youth he had looked forward with somewhat naive anticipation to the inevitable future war with Germany to avenge the French defeat of 1870. France during de Gaulle's adolescence was a divided society, with many developments which were unwelcome to
8662-446: The ancient parish of Holborn, a course now marked by Farringdon Street , Farringdon Road and other streets. The northern boundary with St Pancras was formed by a tributary of the Fleet later known as Lamb's Conduit . The curving alignment of Roger Street follows part of the course of that lost brook, and marked the northern boundary of the parish and later borough. The area extends west from Farringdon Street, for three-quarters of
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#17328528698388804-422: The area is not an administrative unit so contemporary perceptions of its extent can be vague and highly variable. In particular there are overlapping perceptions of the extent of the districts of Holborn, Bloomsbury and St Giles . One of the many factors in this, is a tendency to conflate the Holborn and High Holborn roads with the district. The now buried River Fleet formed the historic eastern boundary of
8946-405: The area occurs in a charter of AD 959, in which King Edgar the Peaceful granted Westminster Abbey an area of land (much larger than the later parish of Holborn) stretching from the Abbey, on Thorney Island , to the River Fleet . The charter mentions "the old wooden church of St Andrew" ( St Andrew, Holborn ). The name Holborn is used in the charter, but it refers to the River Fleet rather than
9088-488: The artifacts and documents of the exhibition are held at the London Metropolitan Archive. Some items are also held in the Local Studies section of the Holborn branch of the Camden library in the Theobalds Road. During the 1930s the Great Western Railway built a series of steam locomotives in its Hall class. Number 5933 was built in June 1933 and was called Kingsway Hall. Its first home was Bristol , before being moved to Reading , Southall and finally Oxford , from where it
9230-410: The availability of the organ offered still another benefit. Since the stage itself was not large enough for an orchestra or chorus, the metal ground floor seating was removed for recordings. The conductor often faced the horseshoe balcony, giving that individual an unusual prospect of looking at the orchestra rising rapidly away from him due to the five percent raked floor that sloped down towards him and
9372-433: The basis for his book The Edge of the Sword (1932). After spending twelve years as a captain, a normal period, de Gaulle was promoted to commandant (major) on 25 September 1927. In November 1927 he began a two-year posting as commanding officer of the 19th chasseurs à pied (a battalion of élite light infantry) with the occupation forces at Trier . De Gaulle trained his men hard (a river crossing exercise of
9514-400: The building being a major recording centre, and so in 1983 it fell into the hands of the GLC, bringing its recording career to an end. In March 1986, the GLC was abolished and the Hall put up for sale once again. In October 1987, a centenary exhibition was held at the Mission's then home at Hinde Street, near Wigmore Hall , and a history published, authored by Professor Philip Bagwell. Many of
9656-494: The building was condemned by the LCC as part of the clearance. It was then decided to join the development taking place on the new Kingsway road and build a new Mission including a spacious chapel. An idea of the nature of the area around Great Queen Street and Holborn just before the new Kingsway was built can be found in the book Old time Aldwych, the Kingsway and Neighbourhood by Charles Gordon, published in 1903 by T Fisher Unwin. A new seven-storey building called Wesley House
9798-454: The construction of its own recording complex at Abbey Road Studios in 1931. From about 1933, EMI used its own equipment designed by their engineer Alan Blumlein , who successfully circumvented the Western Electric patents and thus avoided their substantial royalty costs. At this time, he also developed and patented a stereo disc recording method which was eventually adopted for the LP standard set in 1958. Decca Records only began using
9940-419: The context of the Cold War , De Gaulle initiated his "politics of grandeur", asserting that France as a major power should not rely on other countries, such as the United States, for its national security and prosperity. To this end, he pursued a policy of "national independence" which led him to withdraw from NATO 's integrated military command and to launch an independent nuclear strike force that made France
10082-416: The conversations of the enemy, and the information brought back was so valuable that on 18 January 1915 he received the Croix de Guerre . On 10 February he was promoted to captain, initially on probation. On 10 March 1915, de Gaulle was shot in the left hand, a wound which initially seemed trivial but became infected. The wound incapacitated him for four months and later forced him to wear his wedding ring on
10224-649: The corner of Hatton Garden was the old family department store of Gamages . Until 1992, the London Weather Centre was located in the street. The Prudential insurance company relocated in 2002. The Daily Mirror offices used to be directly opposite it, but the site is now occupied by Sainsbury's head office. Behind the Prudential Building lies the Anglo-Catholic church of St Alban the Martyr. Originally built in 1863 by architect William Butterfield , it
10366-662: The country in wartime. He made a presentation about his bill to the CHEM. The bill passed the Chamber of Deputies but failed in the Senate. Unlike Pétain, de Gaulle believed in the use of tanks and rapid maneuvers rather than trench warfare. De Gaulle became a disciple of Émile Mayer, a retired lieutenant-colonel (his career had been damaged by the Dreyfus Affair ) and military thinker. Mayer thought that although wars were still bound to happen, it
10508-547: The course as he should have, and for his arrogance: his "excessive self-confidence", his harsh dismissal of the views of others "and his attitude of a King in exile". Having entered 33rd out of 129, he graduated in 52nd place, with a grade of assez bien ("good enough"). He was posted to Mainz to help supervise supplies of food and equipment for the French Army of Occupation . De Gaulle's book La Discorde chez l'ennemi had appeared in March 1924. In March 1925 he published an essay on
10650-582: The dates are not verified) and again in 1953. The New Symphony Orchestra was used, a pick up band organised by Jack Simmons, and for some items it was conducted by Walter Susskind . These rare recordings are available on CD. The last recordings made at Kingsway were by Deutsche Grammophon , a partner of Philips and Decca in Phonogram since 1979, of Manon Lescaut , Sinopoli conducting the Philharmonia, recorded between 28 December 1983 and 5 January 1984. Of all
10792-539: The de Gaulle family: the growth of socialism and syndicalism , the legal separation of Church and state in 1905 , and the reduction in the term of military service to two years. Equally unwelcome were the Entente Cordiale with Britain, the First Moroccan Crisis , and above all the Dreyfus Affair . Henri de Gaulle came to be a supporter of Dreyfus, but was less concerned with his innocence per se than with
10934-821: The diamond trade, was leased to a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I , Sir Christopher Hatton, at the insistence of the Queen to provide him with an income. The area was not damaged by the Great Fire of London in 1666, though the area of destruction reached its south-eastern boundary. Charles Dickens took up residence in Furnival's Inn (later the site of " Holborn Bars ", the former Prudential building designed by Alfred Waterhouse ). Dickens put his character "Pip", in Great Expectations , in residence at Barnard's Inn opposite, now occupied by Gresham College . Staple Inn , notable as
11076-484: The disgrace which the army had brought onto itself. The period also saw a resurgence in evangelical Catholicism, the dedication of the Sacré-Cœur, Paris , and the rise of the cult of Joan of Arc . De Gaulle was not an outstanding pupil until his mid-teens, but from July 1906 he focused on winning a place at the military academy, Saint-Cyr . Lacouture suggests that de Gaulle joined the army, despite being more suited to
11218-579: The district. The name "Holborn" may derive from the Middle English hol for "hollow", and bourne , a "brook", referring to the River Fleet as it ran through a steep valley (hollow) in places. However, the 16th-century historian John Stow attributes the name to a different watercourse: the Old Bourne ("old brook"), a small stream which he believed ran into the Fleet at Holborn Bridge. This structure
11360-420: The divisions within the German forces. The book was published in 1924. Originally interned at Rosenberg Fortress , he was quickly moved to progressively higher-security facilities like Ingolstadt. De Gaulle made five unsuccessful escape attempts, and was routinely punished with long periods of solitary confinement and the withdrawal of privileges such as newspapers and tobacco. He attempted escape by hiding in
11502-441: The early 21st century, Holborn has become the site of new offices and hotels. For example, the old neoclassical Pearl Assurance building near the junction with Kingsway was converted into a hotel in 1999. There has been attempts by some commercial organisations to rebrand the southern parts of the London Borough of Camden (Holborn, Bloomsbury and St Giles ; the former Metropolitan Borough of Holborn ) as "Midtown". This area,
11644-458: The era of Edward I . Henry VII paid for the road to be paved in 1494 because the thoroughfare "was so deep and miry that many perils and hazards were thereby occasioned, as well to the king's carriages passing that way, as to those of his subjects". Criminals from the Tower and Newgate passed up Holborn on their way to be hanged at Tyburn or St Giles . Hatton Garden , the centre of
11786-476: The exhibits and artifacts are now kept at the London Metropolitan Archives in London. By this time Kingsway Hall had been out of regular use for some time and was in a poor state of repair. It would seem that there were no takers, and so it was gutted and remained derelict until 1996, when planning permission for its demolition and replacement by a hotel was requested. Gramophone magazine and
11928-480: The facility was one of the best recording locations in the world, refurbishment would be too expensive. Decca's and EMI's recording contracts at Kingsway expired 31 December 1983. The final recording, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli , was made with Deutsche Grammophon a few days later: Giacomo Puccini 's Manon Lescaut , which finished taping on 5 January 1984. At 3.30 in
12070-502: The faculty would not have him. Instead de Gaulle, drawing on plans he had drawn up in 1928 for reform of that institution, asked Pétain to create a special post for him which would enable him to lecture on "the Conduct of War" both to the École de Guerre and to the Centre des Hautes Études Militaires (CHEM – a senior staff college for generals, known as the "school for marshals"), to civilians at
12212-467: The fate of the recording industry. Rumbles from the Piccadilly line plagued its whole life, as did extraneous noise from traffic and aircraft, neighbouring buildings and from the inhabitants of the Wesley Hall Mission next door. There were always complaints about the maintenance of the building, especially when it was owned by the church, whose funds were much diminished after World War II. Indeed,
12354-500: The first time, this started with relief of the poor . The two parts became, for civil but not ecclesiastical purposes, two separate parishes known as St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars and St Andrew Holborn Above the Bars , the Bars being the City boundary markers. The area "above Bars" (outside the city's jurisdiction) was organised by the vestry board of the parish of St Andrew . As well as Holborn's two main civil parishes, there were
12496-558: The freezing Moselle River at night was vetoed by his commanding general). He imprisoned a soldier for appealing to his deputy for a transfer to a cushier unit, and when investigated initially tried to invoke his status as a member of the Maison Pétain , eventually appealing to Pétain to protect himself from a reprimand for interfering with the soldier's political rights. An observer wrote of de Gaulle at this time that although he encouraged young officers, "his ego...glowed from far off". In
12638-487: The ghost-writing of Le Soldat had deepened in 1928. Pétain brought in a new ghostwriter, Colonel Audet, who was unwilling to take on the job and wrote to de Gaulle in some embarrassment to take over the project. Pétain was quite friendly about the matter but did not publish the book. In 1929 Pétain did not use de Gaulle's draft text for his eulogy for the late Ferdinand Foch , whose seat at the Académie Française he
12780-762: The hall in May 1944, introducing their famous FFRR recording system developed during war work, but it would become one of the three most-used Decca recording locations (the others being Victoria Hall in Geneva , and the Sofiensaal in Vienna ). The Anthony Collins Sibelius cycle was recorded there between 1952 and 1955. Lyrita used Kingsway from 1965 to 1980 (these recordings were actually produced by Decca's recording team), as did RCA Records from 1957 to 1977. Although primarily used for classical music recording, very occasionally dance bands and
12922-416: The hall was completed with a ceremony on 6 December 1912. The hall included a raked floor with over 2,000 seats. The organ, built in 1912 by J. J. Binns of Leeds, was inaugurated 4 April 1913 with half its cost of £1,500 being contributed by American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie . A fourth manual was added in 1924 by Messrs. Hill & Son and Norman & Beard, along with chimes and timpani. Gatty Sellars,
13064-563: The hall's organist at the time, gave the inaugural performance on the new organ. The organ was rebuilt in 1932 and remained in use until the closure of the hall. The Nigerian composer Fela Sowande was the organist of the hall from 1945. As soon as electrical recording began in the Hall, among the first recordings were those of the solo organ; some of these have been issued on CD by Amphion Records of Malton in Yorkshire. Donald Soper (the well-known pacifist, later to become Baron Soper), became
13206-492: The junction of Chancery Lane and the Bars were moved accordingly. It has been described how the two parts of the parish came under separate civil governance (though without any civil governance at parish level) according to whether the part was in the city or outside. From the Tudor period onwards new local government were introduced in England, and parish areas were obliged to take on civil as well as ecclesiastical responsibilities for
13348-440: The legal profession, for the diamond centre at Hatton Garden and for Great Ormond Street Hospital . Holborn emerged from the ancient parish of St Andrew Holborn and its later sub-divisions. The parish church is first mentioned, and described as old , in a charter of 959, but this is before the parish or the landholdings on which it was based took on anything like their settled form. The earliest surviving written record of
13490-525: The like were recorded there, including Sydney Lipton in the thirties, and Ted Heath in the summer of 1958 and again in 1963. Mantovani made a number of recordings at Kingsway, including a carol concert album in 1953, and a Kismet album for Decca's Phase Four label released in 1964. EMI rarely used the venue for chamber music, but Decca recorded solo keyboard, violin sonatas and string quartets. EMI and Decca had opportunities to purchase Kingsway Hall, which they did not pursue. EMI determined that although
13632-410: The natural acoustics of the concert hall, free of the constraints of acoustic recording and its intrusive sound gathering horns. At first, the new technology allowed the disc recording machines to be located in other buildings in London (Queen's Hall and other HMV premises), the microphones being connected to them using Post Office telephone lines. Soon, however, disc-cutting machines were installed in
13774-403: The new Hall. That Church Hall was Kingsway Hall, well known to record collectors worldwide for the qualities of its acoustic, and it was built to replace a previous Kingsway Hall based in a chapel round the corner at 67 Great Queen Street. A chapel had existed at the site since at least 1709. However, regular recording did not begin in the Hall until January 1926, a year of economic depression and
13916-462: The next 15 years. He later wrote in his memoirs: "My first colonel, Pétain, taught me the art of command". It has been claimed that in the build-up to World War I , de Gaulle agreed with Pétain about the obsolescence of cavalry and of traditional tactics, and often debated great battles and the likely outcome of any coming war with his superior. Lacouture is sceptical, pointing out that although Pétain wrote glowing appraisals of de Gaulle in 1913, it
14058-539: The one hand and EMI/HMV (who owned that of the VPO) and EMI/Columbia (who owned Walter's) on the other. It is available on Naxos Historical 8.110 876 as well as REGIS RRC1153 and EMI 678 722 2. In the aftermath of World War II , Decca needed artists and so invited a number of continental orchestras to record in London, usually while they were on tour. Among these were the Turin Symphony Orchestra under Frede and Rossi,
14200-626: The orchestras to have recorded at Kingsway, the Philharmonia/New Philharmonia spent more days there than any other. Decca's last recording was Beethoven's String Quartet Opus 130 and Große Fuge , Op. 133, with the Fitzwilliam Quartet on 10–12 December 1983. EMI's last recording appears to have been Tennstedt's Mahler 6 with the LPO in May 1983. Whilst the vast majority of recordings at Kingsway were of London or British orchestras (e.g.
14342-456: The political spectrum, apart from the hard left who were committed to the Republican ideal of a citizen army. De Gaulle's views attracted the attention of the maverick politician Paul Reynaud , to whom he wrote frequently, sometimes in obsequious terms. Reynaud first invited him to meet him on 5 December 1934. De Gaulle was deeply focused on his career at this time. There is no evidence that he
14484-460: The promotional image for Old Holborn tobacco, is nearby. The three of these were Inns of Chancery . The most northerly of the Inns of Court , Gray's Inn , is off Holborn, as is Lincoln's Inn : the area has been associated with the legal professions since mediaeval times, and the name of the local militia (now Territorial Army unit, the Inns of Court & City Yeomanry ) still reflects that. The unit
14626-422: The recording teams were always those of EMI or Decca. However, occasionally, when they were not using the Hall themselves, Decca and EMI agreed to allow access to small labels using their own equipment and technicians, even loaning microphones on occasion. Such was the rare case with Bartok Records, established by Peter Bartok, the composer's son, who made a number of recordings of his father's works in 1950 (or 1951,
14768-548: The request of the Ministry of Food , from 1942 Soper also organised the distribution of surplus vegetables from Covent Garden Market to the needy. The Hall was used for public meetings as well as church services etc. One such meeting was held by the Free French on 18 June 1940 at which General Charles De Gaulle addressed them to encourage resistance to the very recent German invasion. On this same day, Winston Churchill addressed
14910-411: The right hand. In August he commanded the 10th company before returning to duty as regimental adjutant. On 3 September 1915 his rank of captain became permanent. In late October, he returned to command of 10th company. As a company commander at Douaumont (during the Battle of Verdun ) on 2 March 1916, while leading a charge to try to break out of a position which had become surrounded, he received
15052-470: The roof collapsed in early September 1969 and put the Hall out of action whilst repairs were made, and imminent sessions for the ASMF Vivaldi Four Seasons were hastily moved to St John's, Smith Square . The Church sold the whole Mission building to British Land in 1972, but this did not improve matters. After a number of attempts at justifying acquiring it, neither Decca nor EMI could envisage
15194-433: The same Ward) in 1394. The westward growth towards Westminster accelerated in the Tudor period. The westerly ribbon development through the parish was complete before the Great Fire of 1666, with the displacement of people accelerating the development of the rest of the area. The northern fringe the last area to be developed, with this process finalised in the 18th century. St Etheldreda's Church , in gated Ely Place ,
15336-493: The seat of government in Westminster , took place along the banks of the River Thames and along the roads leading from Ludgate ( Fleet Street and The Strand ) and Newgate ( Holborn and High Holborn ). This growth, initially limited to Farringdon Without (which includes a part of Holborn) was well underway in the 12th century, leading to the Ward being retrospectively described as the capital's original West End . In
15478-528: The south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars ) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London . The area has its roots in the ancient parish of Holborn, which lay on the west bank of the now buried River Fleet ; the district takes its name from an alternative name for the river: the Holbourne (or Oldbourne). The area is sometimes described as part of
15620-445: The space as well as the plastered walls and wooden floor all contributed, as did the large storage chamber below the hall. Musicians were enthusiastic about performing there since the hall allowed them to hear their own playing very well. At the same time, they found other aspects of the hall difficult since nearby parking was scarce, it was cold in the winter, was dingy and dirty, and lacked food services. For recording engineers, there
15762-472: The stage behind. Cellists much preferred to have the seating this way around so that they played "downhill" rather than up. His Master's Voice began recording at Kingsway Hall on 3 November 1925 using electrical equipment obtained from the American Western Electric company, to whom they paid a royalty on each disc sold for the patents involved, and continued making regular use of it even after
15904-535: The street on to which its main entrance opened. The address was West London Mission, 75 Kingsway, London WC2 . In 1899, the London County Council (LCC) was given the power to proceed with major slum clearance in the area between Holborn and the Strand . The Methodist Church had operated its West London Mission since 1887 occupying a number of rented buildings in Piccadilly, St James' Hall and Princes Hall, and
16046-441: The time the hospital of St Giles was established in 1120 indicating that the parish extended further west at that time, presumably to encompass what would become the combined parish of St Giles and Bloomsbury . A charter of around 1000 shows the boundaries of the city being pushed west to their settled historic extent in around 1000, though this extramural area would have been very sparsely settled. The city's wards take shape in
16188-432: The turn of the century. De Gaulle won a place at Saint-Cyr in 1909. His class ranking was mediocre (119th out of 221). Under a law of 21 March 1905, aspiring army officers were required to serve a year in the ranks, including time as a private and as an NCO , before attending the academy. Accordingly, in October 1909, de Gaulle enlisted (for four years, as required, rather than the normal two-year term for conscripts ) in
16330-564: The use of tactics according to circumstances, a deliberate defiance of Moyrand. De Gaulle's career was saved by Pétain, who arranged for his staff college grade to be amended to bien ("good"—but not the "excellent" needed for a general staff posting). From 1 July 1925 he worked for Pétain (as part of the Maison Pétain ), largely as a "pen officer" ( ghostwriter ). De Gaulle disapproved of Pétain's decision to take command in Morocco in 1925 (he
16472-437: The west of the circus, but originally sited in the middle, is a large equestrian statue of Prince Albert by Charles Bacon, erected in 1874 as the city's official monument to him. It was presented by Charles Oppenheim, of the diamond trading company De Beers , whose headquarters is in nearby Charterhouse Street. The district can best be described in reference to the ancient parish and the sub-divisions that succeeded it, however
16614-548: The winter of 1928–1929, thirty soldiers ("not counting Annamese ") died from so-called "German flu", seven of them from de Gaulle's battalion. After an investigation, he was singled out for praise in the ensuing parliamentary debate as an exceptionally capable commanding officer, and mention of how he had worn a mourning band for a private soldier who was an orphan earned praise from the Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré . The breach between de Gaulle and Pétain over
16756-475: The world were dedicated to his memory after his death. Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was born on 22 November 1890 in Lille , the third of five children. He was raised in a devoutly Catholic and traditional family. His father, Henri de Gaulle , was a professor of history and literature at a Jesuit college and eventually founded his own school. Henri de Gaulle came from a long line of parliamentary gentry from Normandy and Burgundy . The name
16898-467: The world's fourth nuclear power . He restored cordial Franco-German relations with Konrad Adenauer to create a European counterweight between the Anglo-American and Soviet spheres of influence through the signing of the Élysée Treaty on 22 January 1963. De Gaulle opposed any development of a supranational Europe , favouring Europe as a continent of sovereign nations . De Gaulle openly criticised
17040-527: Was "obsolete" for civilised countries to threaten or wage war on one another. He had a low opinion of French generals, and was a critic of the Maginot Line and a proponent of mechanised warfare. Lacouture suggests that Mayer focused de Gaulle's thoughts away from his obsession with the mystique of the strong leader ( Le Fil d'Epée : 1932) and back to loyalty to Republican institutions and military reform. In 1934 de Gaulle wrote Vers l'Armée de Métier ( Towards
17182-623: Was Kingsway Hall was demolished in the late 1990s to make way for the present Kingsway Hall Hotel in Great Queen Street, Wesley Hall still stands but is now used mainly for office accommodation with an entrance in a side street. The main entrance to Kingsway Hall in Kingsway itself is now a sandwich bar. The centenary of the WLM was celebrated at the Methodist Hinde Street premises in 1997, and
17324-483: Was a decorated officer of the First World War , wounded several times and taken prisoner by the Germans. During the interwar period , he advocated mobile armoured divisions. During the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured division that counterattacked the invaders; he was then appointed Undersecretary for War. Refusing to accept his government's armistice with Germany , De Gaulle fled to England and exhorted
17466-452: Was a gifted cadet who would undoubtedly make an excellent officer. The future Marshal Alphonse Juin was first in the class, although the two do not appear to have been close at the time. Preferring to serve in France rather than the overseas colonies, in October 1912 he rejoined the 33rd Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant . The regiment was now commanded by Colonel (and future Marshal) Philippe Pétain , whom de Gaulle would follow for
17608-411: Was a lecturer to generals at CHEM. De Gaulle's superiors disapproved of his views about tanks, and he was passed over for promotion to full colonel in 1936, supposedly because his service record was not good enough. He called on his political patron Reynaud, who showed his record to Minister of War Édouard Daladier . Daladier, who was an enthusiast for rearmament with modern weapons, ensured that his name
17750-574: Was acquired by the Greater London Council (GLC) and closed. At the end of March 1983, the GLC purchased Wesley House and Kingsway Hall for the women's committee. Kingsway Hall was rapidly deteriorating, and an archaeological survey in August 1996 found that nothing significant about it was still present. Despite pleas from some musicians and record magazines, Kingsway was demolished in 1998 to make way for
17892-550: Was also continual rumbling from the London Underground line interrupting recordings. Directly below Great Queen Street is the main line of the Underground Piccadilly line , which opened on 15 December 1906, and under Kingsway was a branch, the rail extension from Holborn to Aldwych which opened 13 November 1907, and closed in 1994. The sound of the underground could be heard on many recordings, and became known as
18034-495: Was assuming. The Allied occupation of the Rhineland was ending, and de Gaulle's battalion was due to be disbanded, although the decision was later rescinded after he had moved to his next posting. De Gaulle wanted a teaching post at the École de Guerre in 1929. There was apparently a threat of mass resignation of the faculty were he appointed. There was talk of a posting to Corsica or North Africa, but on Pétain's advice he accepted
18176-708: Was at least one stormy meeting late in 1926 after which de Gaulle was seen to emerge, white with anger, from Pétain's office. In October 1926 he returned to his duties with the Headquarters of the Army of the Rhine. De Gaulle had sworn that he would never return to the École de Guerre except as commandant, but at Pétain's invitation, and introduced to the stage by his patron, he delivered three lectures there in April 1927: "Leadership in Wartime", "Character", and "Prestige". These later formed
18318-651: Was created in 1900, consisting of the former area of the Holborn District and the St Giles District , but the small units previously part of the Finsbury Division were instead included in the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury . The Metropolitan Borough of Holborn was abolished in 1965 and its area now forms part of the London Borough of Camden . The westward growth of London beyond the City Wall , and towards
18460-558: Was eventually promoted to sergeant in September 1910. De Gaulle took up his place at Saint-Cyr in October 1910. By the end of his first year he had risen to 45th place. He was nicknamed "the great asparagus" because of his height (196 cm, 6'5"), high forehead, and nose. He did well at the academy and received praise for his conduct, manners, intelligence, character, military spirit, and resistance to fatigue. In 1912, he graduated 13th in his class and his passing-out report noted that he
18602-506: Was gutted during the Blitz but later reconstructed, retaining Butterfield's west front. On Holborn Circus lies the Church of St Andrew , an ancient Guild Church that survived the Great Fire of London . However, the parochial authority decided to commission Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild it. Although the nave was destroyed in the Blitz, the reconstruction was faithful to Wren's original. Just to
18744-556: Was home to the West London Mission from 1911 until 1972, when it merged with the Hinde Street Methodist Chapel (a merger not completed until 1982). Wesley House included a youth club, religious meeting rooms, a luncheon club, mission offices, and accommodation for resident staff. Adjacent to Wesley House, and with a frontage on to Kingsway, the Church also speculated by building the International Buildings, which
18886-421: Was later known to remark that "Marshal Pétain was a great man. He died in 1925, but he did not know it") and of what he saw as the lust for public adulation of Pétain and his wife. In 1925 de Gaulle began to cultivate Joseph Paul-Boncour , his first political patron . On 1 December 1925 he published an essay on the "Historical Role of French Fortresses". This was a popular topic because of the Maginot Line which
19028-446: Was let to many tenants and was a source of much needed revenue to run the mission. The mission was inaugurated at Wesley House on 6 December 1911, but Kingsway Hall, the chapel attached to Wesley House, required another year of construction. Although Kingsway Hall itself has been demolished, Wesley House remains today, no longer a mission, as do the International Buildings. Foundation stones for Kingsway Hall were laid 24 April 1912 and
19170-414: Was lost when the river was culverted in 1732. The exact course of the stream is uncertain, but according to Stow it started in one of the many small springs near Holborn Bar, the old City toll gate on the summit of Holborn Hill. Other historians, however, find the theory implausible, in view of the slope of the land. The Parish of St Andrew, Holborn , was divided by a civil boundary, with part within
19312-562: Was on the promotion list for the following year. In 1937 General Bineau, who had taught him at Saint-Cyr, wrote on his report on his lectureship at CHEM that he was highly able and suitable for high command in the future, but that he hid his attributes under "a cold and lofty attitude". He was put in command of the 507th Tank Regiment (a battalion of medium Char D2s and a battalion of R35 light tanks ) at Metz on 13 July 1937, and his promotion to full colonel took effect on 24 December that year. De Gaulle attracted public attention by leading
19454-689: Was originally the chapel of the Bishop of Ely 's London palace. This ecclesiastical connection allowed the street to remain part of the county of Cambridgeshire until the mid-1930s. This meant that Ye Olde Mitre , a pub located in a court hidden behind the buildings of the Place and the Garden, was licensed by the Cambridgeshire Magistrates. St Etheldreda's is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Britain, and one of two extant buildings in London dating back to
19596-529: Was promoted to first lieutenant in October 1913. When war broke out in France in early August 1914, the 33rd Regiment, considered one of the best fighting units in France, was immediately thrown into checking the German advance at Dinant . However, the French Fifth Army commander, General Charles Lanrezac , remained wedded to 19th-century battle tactics, throwing his units into pointless bayonet charges against German artillery, incurring heavy losses. As
19738-656: Was pulled down after structural damage sustained in the Blitz . The theatre premièred one of the first full-length feature films in 1914, The World, the Flesh and the Devil , a 50-minute melodrama filmed in Kinemacolor . Subsequently, the area diversified and become recognisable as the modern street. A plaque stands at number 120 commemorating Thomas Earnshaw 's invention of the Marine chronometer , which facilitated long-distance travel. At
19880-490: Was tempted by fascism, and there is little evidence of his views either on domestic upheavals in 1934 and 1936 or the many foreign policy crises of the decade. He approved of the rearmament drive which the Popular Front government began in 1936, although French military doctrine remained that tanks should be used in penny packets for infantry support (ironically, in 1940 it would be German panzer units that would be used in
20022-407: Was then being planned, but he argued that the aim of fortresses should be to weaken the enemy, not to economise on defence. Friction arose between de Gaulle and Pétain over Le Soldat , a history of the French soldier which he had ghost-written and for which he wanted greater writing credit. He had written mainly historical material, but Pétain wanted to add a final chapter of his own thoughts. There
20164-408: Was withdrawn from service in 1965 and scrapped at Llanelli . Whilst the opening of Abbey Road studios in November 1931 reduced the need for Kingsway as a regular venue, HMV, now a part of the newly formed EMI, retained it under exclusive contract but available to all other EMI partner labels, including Columbia. EMI were to retain this guarded access to a prized acoustic until the Hall was acquired by
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