Author Archives: secondbysecond

In the news: Former Fusilier unearths bomb in garden

Posted on March 12, 2012 by secondbysecond

Former Royal Fusilier, Arthur Amphlett, got more than a spadeful of trouble when, according to the Coventry Telegraph (12 March 2012), he unearthed the tail end of a WW II German bomb in his vegetable patch. Friend Jenny Keen wanted … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 4–10 March 1940: The Deuxieme Bureau & The Heroes of Telemark

Posted on March 8, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 9 March 1940 and with the agreement of Norwegian authorities, a team of Deuxieme Bureau (French Military Intelligence) operatives took possession of a stock of heavy water at the Vemork Norsk Hydo plant (shown … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 26 Feb–3 March 1940: Sumner Welles

Posted on March 1, 2012 by secondbysecond

On 1 March 1940, United States Secretary of State, Sumner Welles, arrived in Berlin. This was his first visit to one of the belligerent nations. He had just visited Mussolini in (neutral) Italy and would be going on to London and … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 19–25 February 1940: Arbeit macht frei

Posted on February 21, 2012 by secondbysecond

On Wednesday 21 February 1940, with the concurrence of SS-Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler, work began to convert a former army barracks in the small Polish town of Oswiecim—or, to use its German name: Auschwitz—into a concentration camp. The famous ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (‘Work will … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 12–18 February 1940: The Navy’s Here

Posted on February 14, 2012 by secondbysecond

The Navy’s Here was a popular song written early in the war by British songwriters, Ross Parker and Hugh Charles. They wrote it to commemorate the so-called Altmark Incident which took place in Jossingfjord, Norway, on the night of 16 … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 5–11 February 1940: Pinocchio

Posted on February 8, 2012 by secondbysecond

On 7 February 1940, the Walt Disney animated movie Pinocchio opened in theatres across the United States. The film is named for its wooden puppet hero who is promised by a fairy that he can become a real boy if, among … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 29 Jan–4 Feb 1940: Soviet-Finnish war

Posted on February 1, 2012 by secondbysecond

On 30 January 1940, Hitler made a bellicose speech at the Berlin Sportpalast declaring that the first phase of the war was over with the conquest of Poland. At this time, much of the fighting was outside of the ‘official’ … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 22–28 January 1940: De Gaulle’s memo

Posted on January 24, 2012 by secondbysecond

With France supposedly secure behind its Maginot Line, most French people believed there was cause for optimism. Having the largest army in Europe, they reasoned that their country would surely prevail. This view was not shared by a certain French colonel, named Charles de … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 15–21 January 1940: Hitler’s intentions

Posted on January 17, 2012 by secondbysecond

Poland had fallen and battle was well underway on the Finnish-Soviet front, but, as far as the British and French were concerned, this was the period of ‘phoney war’ or ‘drole de Guerre.’ A huge French army had manned the forts of the … Continue reading →

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