Happy Birthday, Switzerland!

[Tonyblack]

Wasn't he captain in the Austro-Hungarian Navy? (the Austrio-Hungarian empire had a few seaports Trieste was one of them)? And also the leader of Hungary after world war 1 was Admiral Horty despite Hungary is also completely landlocked. (I'm sure he was admiral in world war 1 in the Austro-Hungarian navy)

Yes he was in the Austro-Hungarian navy.

[Jan Van Quirm]

Not absolutely sure of this but Von Trapp was a U-Boat captain (WW1) - this was in the book by his wife, not the film but I read that a long time ago and only the once so I could be mistaken

[Tonyblack]

You're right Jan he did. Here's his Wiki.

[Jan Van Quirm]

Blimey! That musical's an absolute load of b*ll*cks! PMSL

It was Maria's book that I read - one of the worst and most boring books I've ever picked up But then I'm not too fond of biographies and that one did nothing to change my mind (but at least they're slightly better than autobiogs *yawns*)

[swreader]

A BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SWITERLAND!

I was about to make a slighlty snide remark about Switzerland being the last country in Europe to grant women the right to vote (in 1971). But when I looked up the history of women's suffrange in Swizterland, I discovered that you've surpassed the US, in that once you got going you managed to pass a new constitution granting Equal Rights to Men and Women, something the US triedto accomplish via an Amendment in l973 (I know, I worked for it) but has yet to make part of the US Constitution.

[Stultus Saxum]

About the lake-patrol boats, i knew aswell, but that doesn't count as "navy" to me. Navy's on the ocean. Or is it?

Navy might be on the ocean, but it's also on a number of flags of the cantons of Switzerland.

F'rexample, Zurich (city of my birth) is navy (blue) and white split diagonally. Blue represents the water and white the mountains. I think Zug is also navy and white and I'm sure there are others - Aargau springs to mind... *Boing boing splash*

But does something have to be seagoing to be in the navy? Aren't naval bases around the UK, which definitely don't float, called HMS [Insert Name Here]. (Couldn't resist )