Category Archives: World War II

This week in the War, 13–19 January 1941: James Joyce

Posted on January 18, 2013 by secondbysecond

I have never read Ulysses, James Joyce’s masterpiece, so chock full of dialect and scattered lightly, here and there, with Irish Gaelic. A friend of mine has read it, and someone else I know pointed recently to the podcasts of … Continue reading →

Posted in World War II | Tagged , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 13–19 January 1941: James Joyce

This week in the War, 6–12 January 1941: Lord Baden-Powell

Posted on January 12, 2013 by secondbysecond

Youth hostelling taught me the ins and outs of making beds, cooking a modest meal (eggs and bacon!), and how to use a map to find one’s way around the countryside. Scouting was similar but broader: camping in tents during … Continue reading →

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 6–12 January 1941: Lord Baden-Powell

This week in the War, 30 Dec 1940–5 Jan 1941: Death of Henri Bergson

Posted on January 1, 2013 by secondbysecond

No food, no fuel, no freedom—and precious little to laugh about in the Nazi Paris of 1941. Santa was dead—maybe the Boches had shot him!—and the lump of coal in the stocking of anyone more naughty than nice would have … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged | Comments Off on This week in the War, 30 Dec 1940–5 Jan 1941: Death of Henri Bergson

This week in the War, 23–29 December 1940: Christmas 1940

Posted on December 25, 2012 by secondbysecond

No two men were as different as King George VI of England and Rudolf Hess. They had nothing at all in common, —except that both were largely of German descent (George through George I of Hanover and through Queen Victoria’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 23–29 December 1940: Christmas 1940

This week in the War, 16–22 December 1940: Death of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Posted on December 20, 2012 by secondbysecond

          Read any book on creative writing or, better still, spend time and money on a course. It’s Dallas to doughnuts your prof will thumb through a dog-eared copy of The Great Gatsby to illustrate a point: … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 16–22 December 1940: Death of F. Scott Fitzgerald

This week in the War, 16–22 December 1940: The Garden Hose

Posted on December 16, 2012 by secondbysecond

At a press conference on 17 December 1940, President Roosevelt attempted to lead American opinion away from strict neutrality with the idea of lending ones garden hose to a neighbour whose house is on fire. It was a first step … Continue reading →

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 16–22 December 1940: The Garden Hose

This week in the War, 9–15 December 1940: “I purred like six cats.”

Posted on December 12, 2012 by secondbysecond

“I purred like six cats,” Churchill writes in his autobiographical The Second World War. He was describing his reaction to General Wavell’s plans for a North African offensive. Archibald Wavell was C-in-C for the Middle East and then some—from Iraq … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 9–15 December 1940: “I purred like six cats.”

This week in the War, 9–15 December 1940: Laval dismissed

Posted on December 9, 2012 by secondbysecond

On 13 December 1940, Pétain fired vice-président du Conseil Pierre Laval from the number 2 spot in Vichy France. (They are pictured to the left). It served the scruffy 80-a-day chain-smoking anti-Semitic Laval right for blowing smoke in the Maréchal’s face once … Continue reading →

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 9–15 December 1940: Laval dismissed

This week in the War, 2–8 December 1940: Greeks advance into Albania

Posted on December 4, 2012 by secondbysecond

The Greece-Bulgaria front was quiet. This allowed Greek C-in-C, Alexandros Papagos, to transfer the bulk of his forces to oppose the Italian invasion coming from Albania. Despite the Greek’s lack of armour and inability to oppose the Italians in the … Continue reading →

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 2–8 December 1940: Greeks advance into Albania

This week in the War, 25 Nov–1 Dec 1940: ‘This is London’ — the broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow

Posted on December 1, 2012 by secondbysecond

“This is London.” Such was the signature opening of American broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, speaking on the radio from Britain’s beleaguered capital. Air raid sirens could be heard in the background. Bombs were starting to fall. His broadcasts were … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 25 Nov–1 Dec 1940: ‘This is London’ — the broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow