Me: Cland?
Sig: ?
Me: You know, C-land, Cland? Get it?
Sig: Oh yeah, I guess that is funny.
But the more germane bit of the story is the following - 'Sealand' is a base off the coast of England built during WWII to deter Nazi attack. It consists of two towers that stand on a sand bar and a platform on top. At one point, 150-300 British soldiers were stationed there.
Things went wonky when one of Britains famous 'pirate radio' DJs, Major Paddy Roy Bates, took up residence there in 1967 to broadcast his station. He named the base Sealand and began ejecting intruders to his 'territorial waters' by threatening them with gun shot. A case was brought against him in British court, and was rejected because Sealand lies in international waters where British law doesn't hold. Bates subsequently printed up passports, made a flag, and invented a currency for Sealand.
According to its constitution (written by Bates) Sealand is a constitutional monarchy. He is 'Prince Roy', his wife 'Princess Joan', and their son is the 'Prince Regent'. In 2008 an athlete represented Sealand in the egg throwing world championship and won.
Here is my favorite part, though. There exists a Sealandic Rebel Government, a self styled government in exile led by the self styled prime minister of Sealand. This all began when some fellow named Achenbach stormed the base with helicopters and motorboats in the 70's and took Bates' son hostage. Bates, though, retook the base and kept Achenbach hostage for ransom money. He eventually released Achenbach, who set up the rebel government, which, to this day, claims to be the rightful government of Sealand.
Home sweet Sealand.
No comments:
Post a Comment