Author Archives: secondbysecond

This week in the War, 22–28 April 1940: Clare Boothe Luce

Posted on April 25, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 25 April 1940, American journalist and author, Clare Boothe Luce, left France for England. She had been in Europe since February and had already visited Italy and had toured the Maginot Line in France. She … Continue reading →

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In the news: Romanino’s Christ

Posted on April 22, 2012 by secondbysecond

The Italian Renaissance masterpiece, Christ Carrying a Cross Dragged by a Rogue, painted by Girolamo Romanino, was seized by US officials while on tour in Tallahassee and, as reported in the British newspaper The Telegraph (19 April 2012), returned to the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 15 April–21 April 1940: Hitler’s birthday

Posted on April 20, 2012 by secondbysecond

Saturday 20 April 1940 was Adolf Hitler’s fifty-first birthday. In a typically ebullient radio broadcast, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels said, “The German people have found in the Fuehrer the incarnation of their strength and the most brilliant exponent of their … Continue reading →

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In the news: Resistance hero Raymond Aubrac dies at age 97

Posted on April 14, 2012 by secondbysecond

Resistance leader Raymond Aubrac died recently (10 April 2012) at the age of 97 in a French military hospital in Paris. Aubrac was predeceased by his equally famous wife, Lucie, who died in 2007 at the age of 94. Lucie was … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 8–14 April 1940: Denmark & Norway

Posted on April 11, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, in the early hours of Tuesday 9 April 1940, Danish civilians were awoken by the sound of German bombers flying low over the rooftops. The Phoney War was over and the Hitler’s invasions of Denmark … Continue reading →

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In the news: Eggstraordinary rock

Posted on April 10, 2012 by secondbysecond

  British newspaper The Mail on Sunday reported this week that on 7 April 2012 a toddler on an Easter-egg-hunt found a live grenade, similar to the one pictured above. The event took place at Holford, Somerset. Stuart Moffat and … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 1–7 April 1940: Hitler has missed the bus

Posted on April 2, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on Thursday 4 April, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave an optimistic speech to Conservative Party members, declaring that Hitler had ‘missed the bus.’ Following the collapse of Poland the previous year, Europe had settled … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 25–31 March 1940: Atlantis

Posted on March 26, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war on 31 March 1940, the German auxiliary cruiser, Atlantis, set sail from Bremen for the open waters of the Atlantic. As a commerce raider, she had a dummy funnel and a variety of tricks to change … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 18–24 March 1940: Brenner Pass meeting

Posted on March 18, 2012 by secondbysecond

A much publicized meeting between right-wing dictators, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, took place this week in the war, on Monday 18 March. Only Franco was missing from the mix. Snow was falling in the Brenner pass as the Fuehrer’s train rolled to … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 11–17 March 1940: The Duke & Josephine

Posted on March 13, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 15 March 1940 in Chicago, American jazz composer and pianist, Duke Ellington, recorded Concerto for Cootie, which he dedicated to his trumpet soloist Charles ‘Cootie’ Williams. Ellington and his band were at the height … Continue reading →

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