Category Archives: World War II

This week in the War, 19–25 August 1940: Stalin settles a score

Posted on August 23, 2012 by secondbysecond

On the evening of 20 August 1940, the same day that Winston Churchill made his historic ‘Never in the field of human conflict…’ speech before the British House of Commons, a man armed with an ice pick entered a house … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 19–25 August 1940: Never in the field of human conflict…

Posted on August 20, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, Tuesday 20 August 1940, Winston Churchill rose in the House of Commons to give his most memorable speech of the war. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 12–18 August 1940: Eagle Day

Posted on August 13, 2012 by secondbysecond

Like every boy who grew up in England, not too long after the war, I loved to read the boys comics: Beano, Dandy, Hotspur. Particulary Lion. The latter featured the weekly adventures of make-believe World War II RAF pilot, Paddy … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 5–11 August 1940: Italians invade British Somaliland

Posted on August 7, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, 5 and 6 August 1940, the Italian army captured crucial positions in British Somaliland, Britain’s colony in the Horn of Africa. The invasion force was 24,000 strong and included artillery, air support, and light and … Continue reading →

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In the news: Curiosity and the ingredients for life

Posted on August 6, 2012 by secondbysecond

In the early hours of this morning, NASA’s Martian rover Curiosity touched down on the Red Planet to tackle a question that has fired the imagination of the public at least as far back as H.G. Wells’s War of the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 29 July–4 August 1940: Invasion 1940

Posted on August 3, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 31 July 1940, Hitler called a meeting of senior naval officers. He decided that the success of his proposed cross-Channel invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion, would depend upon Germany winning the air war over England—what would … Continue reading →

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In the news: World War II seaplane found in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence

Posted on August 1, 2012 by secondbysecond

This week, the Canadian newspaper The Province (30 July 2012)  reported on the ongoing US salvage operations to remove remains and artifacts from an American World War II PBY Catalina flying boat that had crashed and sunk in the Gulf of … Continue reading →

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Vignette: The art of Jean-Pierre Gibrat—The Reprieve

Posted on July 29, 2012 by secondbysecond

La bande dessinée—loosely translated as ‘comic strip’—is a veritable institution throughout French-speaking Europe. Everyone in France (and many in North America) are familiar with the illustrated tales of Asterix the Gaul. Belgian examples include Tintin, the boy detective, and the cowboy, … Continue reading →

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Vignette: Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once.

Posted on July 25, 2012 by secondbysecond

Who said that tragedy is later re-enacted as farce? Maybe Hegel said it. Or was it Marx? Either way, the TV comedy ’Allo ’Allo! fits this idea to a teacup, and is the kind of classic farce that only the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 22–28 July 1940: Special Operations Executive

Posted on July 24, 2012 by secondbysecond

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) officially came into being this week in the war, 22 July 1940. Its purpose: to harass the enemy from behind the lines. Churchill supported ‘butcher and bolt’ raids and was an advocate of elitist special … Continue reading →

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