Category Archives: Book

This week in the War, 25–31 May 1942: Cologne—the thousand-bomber raid

This week in the war, at midnight on the night of 30/31 May 1942, Churchill announced to his dinner guests at Chequers that the RAF was, at that very moment, striking Cologne with over a thousand bombers. The guests included … Continue reading

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 25–31 May 1942: Cologne—the thousand-bomber raid

This week in the War, 19–25 January 1942: The Wannsee Conference

On 20 January 1942, SS-Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich chaired one of the most infamous meeting in the history of the world: the conference held at an elegant lake-side villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. Those present included Gestapo Chief Heinrich … Continue reading

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 19–25 January 1942: The Wannsee Conference

This week in the War, 17–23 November 1941: Get Rommel

This week in the war, at midnight on 17 November 1941, Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Keyes of the British SAS was overpowering one of the German guards at the headquarters of Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel in Libya, North Africa. Keyes was leader of … Continue reading

Posted in Book | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 17–23 November 1941: Get Rommel

Vignette: Les amants de Carcassonne—The Lovers of Carcassonne

If your taste in poetry is inclined towards the pure and noble, but at the same time, tragic, you need look no further than France’s Joë Bousquet (1897–1950). He was born in Narbonne, in the land of the Cathars and … Continue reading

Posted in Book, Vignette, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Vignette: Les amants de Carcassonne—The Lovers of Carcassonne

This week in the War, 19–25 May 1941: The invasion of Crete

On the morning of 20 May 1941, waves of Junkers 52s flew across the Mediterranean Sea and disgorged thousands of German paratroopers onto the Greek island of Crete. Coloured parachutes had been issued to officers, black for other ranks, and … Continue reading

Posted in Book | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 19–25 May 1941: The invasion of Crete

This week in the War, 12–18 May 1941: The ‘pig in a potato field’—Martin Bormann takes Hess’s job

On 13 May 1941, three days after Rudolf Hess had fallen from the sky above Scotland, Hess’s protégé, Martin Bormann, stepped into the Deputy Fuehrer’s shoes. The Office of Deputy Fuehrer was renamed the ‘Party Chancellery’, and Bormann was confirmed … Continue reading

Posted in Book | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 12–18 May 1941: The ‘pig in a potato field’—Martin Bormann takes Hess’s job

This week in the War, 5–11 May 1941: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland on the night of 10/11 May 1941

Deputy Fuehrer, Rudolf Hess, dropped by parachute into Lanarkshire, Scotland, not far from Dungavel House, the country home of the Duke of Hamilton. It was the night of 10/11 May 1941—the night that London suffered its heaviest air raid of … Continue reading

Posted in Book | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 5–11 May 1941: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland on the night of 10/11 May 1941

This week in the War, 5–11 May 1941: London Blitz, the night of 10/11 May 1941

Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum—all were hit during the heaviest and last of the large Luftwaffe raids against London, on the night of 10/11 May 1941. In his book The Longest Night 10-11 May 1941: Voices … Continue reading

Posted in Book | Tagged , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 5–11 May 1941: London Blitz, the night of 10/11 May 1941

This week in the War, 5–11 May 1941: Emperor Haile Selassie returns in triumph to Addis Ababa

On 5 May 1941, Haile Selassie—the man who had addressed the League of Nations to plead for help in the face of the Italian invasion of his country—returned to his Ethiopian capital in triumph. Colonel Orde Wingate—the controversial and highly … Continue reading

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 5–11 May 1941: Emperor Haile Selassie returns in triumph to Addis Ababa

This week in the War, 21–27 April 1941: US aid goes to (Vichy-controlled) French North Africa

This week in the war, on 26 April 1941, the Murphy-Weygand Accord came into force. American diplomat, Robert Daniel Murphy, was Roosevelt’s ‘man in Algiers’. French general, Maxime Weygand, was posted to Algiers as the Vichy government’s ‘Delegate-General’ to their … Continue reading

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 21–27 April 1941: US aid goes to (Vichy-controlled) French North Africa