Droxford railway station was a rural station on the Meon Valley Railway in Hampshire, England. In 1944 it was used by Winston Churchill during preparations for the Normandy landings. Based in an armoured train parked in its sidings, he met with numerous ministers, military commanders and leaders of allied nations. On 4 June 1944, shortly before the landings were due to take place, Free French leader Charles de Gaulle visited Churchill at Droxford, and was informed of the invasion plans. Churchill told de Gaulle that if ever forced to choose between France and the US he would always side with the US, a remark which instilled in de Gaulle a suspicion of Britain and caused long-term damage to the relationship between France and the UK. In 1955 the station closed to passengers and in 1962 to goods, after which the station and a section of its track were used for demonstrating an experimental railbus and as a driving school, before becoming a private residence.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droxford_railway_station
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1792:
Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver claimed Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest for Great Britain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puget_Sound
1913:
Emily Davison, an activist for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, was fatally injured when she was trampled by King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Davison
1944:
World War II: A United States Navy task group captured German submarine U-505. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505
1989:
The People's Liberation Army suppressed the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, leaving many dead and wounded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
ghrelin: (biochemistry) A peptide hormone, secreted in the stomach when empty, that increases appetite and secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ghrelin
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
If every one of those good words — liberty, equality, fraternity, democracy, human rights — has been called "bourgeois", what on earth does that leave for us? --Fang Lizhi https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fang_Lizhi