Category Archives: World War II

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

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

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

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

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…”

“…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

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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This week in the War, 16–22 June 1941: If Hitler invaded Hell…

“If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make a favourable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons,” Churchill joked to his private secretary. This week in the war, on the evening of 22 June 1941, Churchill broadcast … Continue reading

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This week in the War, 16–22 June 1941: Barbarossa!

On 22 June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa. Over three and a half million troops with 3,600 tanks and 2,700 planes invaded the Soviet Union on a front that extended from the Baltic coast to the shores of the Black … Continue reading

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This week in the War, 9–15 June 1941: Eighty-eights blunt Battleaxe in Hellfire Pass

If the Luftwaffe had the Messerschmitt 109, and the Kriegsmarine the U-boat, then the German army could surely claim the eighty-eight millimetre anti-tank (originally anti-aircraft) gun. It was the weapon that never lost its edge. Diverting resources for an expeditionary … Continue reading

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Vignette: Les amants de Carcassonne—The Lovers of Carcassonne

If your taste in poetry is inclined towards the pure and noble, but at the same time, tragic, you need look no further than France’s Joë Bousquet (1897–1950). He was born in Narbonne, in the land of the Cathars and … Continue reading

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