Author Archives: secondbysecond

This week in the War, 27 May–2 June 1940: The Snow Goose

Posted on June 1, 2012 by secondbysecond

The Snow Goose, Paul Gallico’s coming-of-age novel, is set in the lonely marshlands of Essex during World War II. A young girl named Fritha finds a injured snow goose and she and a surly lighthouse keeper nurse the bird back … Continue reading →

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In the news: Transit of Venus, 5 June/6 June 2012

Posted on May 30, 2012 by secondbysecond

If you miss this event, expect to wait over a century to see it again (in December 2117). A transit of Venus happens when the planet passes between us and the sun. Although the last transit occurred in 2004, the … Continue reading →

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In the news: Memorial Day 2012

Posted on May 28, 2012 by secondbysecond

The use of dogs in warfare goes back to ancient times, even as far back as the Greeks, and the Egyptians. During World War I, the Belgians used their Bouviers des Flandres to haul machine guns to the front. In … Continue reading →

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In the news: Bohuslav Kimlicka–One of the Few

Posted on May 27, 2012 by secondbysecond

Bohuslav Kimlicka flew with the Czech air force, defending his country from the Nazi invasion of 1938. Afterwards, he fought with the French, attempting to stem the 1940 German Blitzkrieg , and then with the Royal Air Force. His descendants … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 20–26 May 1940: Maxime Weygand–man of the hour

Posted on May 24, 2012 by secondbysecond

Monday 20 May 1940, General Maxime Weygand (who had been appointed French commander-in-chief the previous day)  met with General Gamelin, whom he was replacing, and with a government which was already beginning to panic. The seventy-three-year-old Weygand had (like de … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 13–19 May 1940: German breakthrough at Sedan

Posted on May 16, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, with their invasion of the Low Countries well under way, German forces attacked the town of Sedan in the Ardennes region of France. Responsibility for the attack fell to Panzer Group Kleist (named for its … Continue reading →

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In the news: 15 May, Nylon Stockings Day!

Posted on May 14, 2012 by secondbysecond

15 May is Nylon Stockings Day! Seventy-two years ago, the famous DuPont product went on sale for the first time ever in US stores. Look at WWII pinup Betty Grable putting her nylons through their paces in this 1940s photo. … Continue reading →

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In the news: Kittyhawk’s Sahara crash site found after 70 years

Posted on May 11, 2012 by secondbysecond

Seventy years after Rommel’s Afrika Korps and Monty’s Eighth Army were battling for control of North Africa, an RAF fighter plane belonging to Britain’s Desert Air Force was found in the Sahara Desert. According to the British newspaper The Telegraph … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 6–12 May 1940: “Wake up! The Germans are coming…!”

Posted on May 10, 2012 by secondbysecond

On the morning of 10 May 1940, American journalist Claire Boothe Luce was asleep in her room on the top floor of the US embassy in Brussels when a maid shook her by the shoulder, urging her to wake up … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 29 April–5 May 1940: Let the games NOT begin

Posted on May 2, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 1 May 1940, the Olympic Games that were originally scheduled to be held that fall in Tokyo were officially cancelled by the International Olympic Committee. They would not resume until 1948. In stalag XIII-A, … Continue reading →

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