A captured Australian soldier refused to break in a Korean War camp and died on a forced march; he was given the George Cross

historyWikipedia1951 · Kapyong, South Korea

A captured Australian soldier refused to break in a Korean War camp and died on a forced march; he was given the George Cross

the gist

Horace William Madden was an Australian private who was captured by Chinese forces at the Battle of Kapyong in April 1951 during the Korean War. According to the historian Craig Blanch, he kept resisting his captors, insulted them when they beat him, and helped fellow prisoners keep their spirits up, even after rifle butts broke several of his ribs and his rations were cut. He died of malnutrition and ill-treatment in November 1951, aged 27, after a long forced march into North Korea. His family did not learn of his death until 1953. Fellow prisoners' witness statements supported a posthumous George Cross, announced in 1955, and his medal is now displayed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

so what

Madden's award was the highest decoration given to an Australian during the Korean War, and it rests largely on testimony from the men who survived captivity with him. It shows how prisoner accounts can carry the record of acts of courage that official channels missed.

fun fact

The George Cross is the highest civil award for gallantry in the British honours system and is also awarded to members of the armed forces for acts away from the battlefield.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗