Author Archives: secondbysecond

This week in the War, 21–27 August 1944: Liberation of Paris

Posted on August 25, 2016 by secondbysecond

The Free French 2nd Armoured Division of General Philippe Leclerc reached Paris this week in the war, on 24 August 1944. The next day, the German commandant of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, disobeyed the Fuehrer’s order to destroy the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 14–20 August 1944: Allies invade the South of France

Posted on August 17, 2016 by secondbysecond

Operation Dragoon: This week in the war, on 15 August 1944, General Patch’s US 7th Army landed on the southern coast of France, between Toulon and Cannes. Parachute troops from the US 1st Airborne dropped further inland in support of … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 7–13 August 1944: Americans recapture Guam

Posted on August 10, 2016 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 10 August 1944, American forces completed their recapture of the island of Guam in the Marianas. Organized Japanese resistance came to an end, although isolated groups of Japanese soldiers continued to hold out and … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 31 July–6 August 1944: Author-Aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery dies on reconnaissance mission

Posted on August 3, 2016 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 31 July 1944, French author and pilot Antoine Saint-Exupéry was flying his plane on a reconnaissance mission for the Free French. He flew from an airbase in Corsica to gather information on German troop movements … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 24–30 July 1944: Heil Hitler salute is made compulsory for the German armed forces

Posted on July 27, 2016 by secondbysecond

To confirm their loyalty following the 20 July bomb plot, from 24 July 1944 onwards, members of the German armed forces were required to use the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute, the  Hitlergruss. The salute had long been a common form of greeting throughout … Continue reading →

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The week in the War, 17–23 July 1944: The July Bomb Plot

Posted on July 20, 2016 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 20 July 1944, a German officer named Claus von Stauffenberg carried a bomb from Berlin to the Wolf’s Lair (Wolfsschanze) headquarters in Rastenburg, East Prussia, with a view to putting paid to Hitler once … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 10–16 July 1944: Liberation of Vilnius

Posted on July 14, 2016 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 13 July 1944, Soviet forces liberated Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The fighting was heavy and the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army suffered considerable casualties. Germany’s Army Group North was in danger of being … Continue reading →

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Book review: Spitfire Spies

Posted on July 7, 2016 by secondbysecond

There are two intertwining stories within the Second-World-War novel Spitfire Spies by John Hughes (Austin Macauley Publishers, 2016). One story could naively be labeled male, the other, female. The first concerns the men who are sent to England to spy … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 3–9 July 1944: Liberation of Minsk

Posted on July 5, 2016 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 3 July 1944, troops of Marshal Rokossovsky’s 1st and General Chernyakhovsky’s 3rd Belorussian fronts entered Minsk, the capital city of Belorussia. The German occupation of Minsk, which had lasted for three years, was finally over. … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 26 June–2 July 1944: Liberation of Cherbourg

Posted on June 30, 2016 by secondbysecond

After fighting its way along Normandy’s Cotentin peninsular, this week in the war, on 26 June 1944, troops of the 9th Division of the American VII Corps arrived at the edge of the Cherbourg dockyard. Cherbourg had one of the … Continue reading →

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