Author Archives: secondbysecond

This week in the War, 4–10 August 1941: The Atlantic Charter

Posted on August 7, 2013 by secondbysecond

The Atlantic Charter conference took place this week in the war, 9–12 August 1941. United States president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, travelled on board the American heavy cruiser USS Augusta to meet with British prime minister Winston Churchill. Churchill came on … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 28 July–3 August 1941: French Indo-China & the Vichy-Japanese ‘protocol’

Posted on July 31, 2013 by secondbysecond

On 29 July 1941,  the government of Vichy France and the government of Japan enacted a protocol for the ‘common defence of Indo-China.’ Vichy finally had to accept the reality of the military might of Japan and situation in south-east … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 21–27 July 1941: Karl & Katyusha

Posted on July 26, 2013 by secondbysecond

The Soviet fortress of Brest-Litovsk surrendered, this week in the war, 23 July 1941. The garrison had been continuously bombarded by the Luftwaffe and by Karl, a giant mortar that fired a two-ton-plus projectile. It was the first time that the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 14–20 July 1941: Barbarossa 3—Hitler turns south

Posted on July 20, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 19 July 1941, Hitler ordered Panzergruppe II and the German Second Army to  turn south and link with Panzergruppe I in a pincer movement to surround Kiev and the Soviet 5th Army. The manoeuvre … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 14–20 July 1941: V for Victory

Posted on July 18, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, at midnight on 19 July 1941, the mobilization of the V Army was announced on the BBC by ‘Colonel Britton’. In reality, Colonel Britton was Douglas Ritchie, later to become the European broadcasting director for … Continue reading →

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In the news: SOE operative,Jean-Louis de Ganay, dies at 91

Posted on July 17, 2013 by secondbysecond

The British newspaper The Telegraph reported the death yesterday of Jean-Louis de Ganay. He was 91 years old. French, and aristocratic by birth, de Ganay offered his services to the French Resistance during World War II. He was recruited by … Continue reading →

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Book review: Seducing Ingrid Bergman

Posted on July 9, 2013 by secondbysecond

‘Cast down, her lashes are so long, I notice, they almost touch her cheeks. When she looks up, her face lifts out of shadow. Her eyes are slices of paradise.’ Such is the evocative and wonderfully vivid prose that runs … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 7–13 July 1941: US marines land in Iceland

Posted on July 7, 2013 by secondbysecond

On 8 July 1941, United States marines arrived in Iceland to relieve the British forces that had been occupying the island since May. Fearing that Germany might use Iceland as a base for U-boats and the Luftwaffe, Britain had offered … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 30 June–6 July 1941: “…we cannot save freedom with pitchforks…”

Posted on July 4, 2013 by secondbysecond

“…we cannot save freedom with pitchforks and muskets…,” President Roosevelt declared over the radio in his Fourth of July Address. “We know that we cannot save freedom in our own midst, in our own land, if all around us our … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 23–29 June 1941: Barbarossa 2

Posted on June 27, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, Operation Barbarossa continued its spectacular success. In the north, German forces spread out into Latvia and Lithuania. In the centre, a pincer movement cuts off huge numbers of Russian troops in the vicinity of Minsk. … Continue reading →

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