100 years ago

An article described life in the dug-outs in the trenches at the front.

“Where sniping or rifle fire is alone to be expected, the amount of excavation behind the front line is limited. When the bombardment is, or has been, severe, everyone within range of the enemy's guns, the Brigadier not excepted, will be found ensconced underground in dug-outs, for in the zone under fire houses are no better than shell traps.

"Behind the firing line trenches, are found the shelters for the men holding the line and those for the supports. These are more elaborate and comfortable than the fire trenches. Usually they are roofed over and contain cooking places and many conveniences. For some time the character of the artillery fire has been such as to force burrowing into the earth for some distance behind the firing line in order to obtain shelter.

"This has been carried on to such an extent that behind the front fire trenches of the British, French, and Germans, are perfect labyrinths of burrows of various types. The principal feature of the battlefield, therefore, is the absence of any sign of human beings.”


50 years ago

The Bill to end hanging, just published, laid down that no person should suffer death for murder, and a person guilty of murder should be sentenced to imprisonment for life. It did not set out what represented a term of “life imprisonment.”

An exception was made in respect of persons under the age of 18 at the time the offence was committed. Such a person, the Bill said, “Shall be sentenced to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure, and be liable to be detained in such place and under such conditions as the Secretary of State may direct.”

The short Bill, of two clauses, “to abolish capital punishment in the case of persons convicted in Great Britain of murder or convicted of murder or a corresponding offence by court-martial and, in connection therewith, to make further provision for the punishment of persons so convicted,” was introduced in the House of Commons by Mr Sidney Silverman, Labour MP for Nelson and Colne.


25 years ago

The Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who had fled her Communist homeland for freedom in the West, had arrived in Miami and said she was happy to be in America and planned to settle in southern Florida.

Miss Comaneci, 28, had escaped from Romania during the week, reportedly enduring a muddy, six-hour night time trek through rough terrain before reaching the Hungarian border.

Miss Comaneci gained worldwide fame at age 14 when she became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 in the Olympics, an achievement she repeated seven times during the 1976 Games in Montréal.