This week in the War, 4–10 August 1941: The Atlantic Charter

Posted on August 7, 2013 by secondbysecond

President Roosevelt joins Winston Churchill for a church service on board the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales, Newfoundland, August 1941 [Public domain, wiki]

President Roosevelt joins Winston Churchill for a church service on board the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales, Newfoundland, August 1941 [Public domain, wiki]

The Atlantic Charter conference took place this week in the war, 9–12 August 1941. United States president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, travelled on board the American heavy cruiser USS Augusta to meet with British prime minister Winston Churchill. Churchill came on the battleship HMS Prince of Wales, famous for its role in pursuing the Bismarck. The meeting took place in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.

American destroyer USS McDougal (right) is alongside HMS Prince of Wales in order to transfer President Roosevelt onto the British battleship [Public domain, wiki]

American destroyer USS McDougal (right) is alongside HMS Prince of Wales in order to transfer President Roosevelt onto the British battleship [Public domain, wiki]

The purpose of the conference was for the USA and Britain to formulate their common long-term goals. Both agreed that they had no desire to gain territory through force of arms. (The USA was still neutral, of course).

The United States advocated strongly for the freedom of the seas and for self-determination of all of the peoples of the world.

Britain, on the other hand, was determined to keep the implementation of a naval blockade as possible weapon in times of war, and equally determined to preserve its empire. (For decades, Mahatma Gandhi had been advocating self-determination for India).

Winston Churchill pats ship's cat Blackie, who is considering leaving the HMS Prince of Wales to join the crew of the American destroyer, USS McDougal [Public domain, wiki/IWM]

Winston Churchill pats ship’s cat Blackie, who is considering leaving the HMS Prince of Wales to join the crew of the American destroyer, USS McDougal [Public domain, wiki/IWM]

The two leaders, both of them strong-willed prima donnas, got along famously. Suitable wording for the charter was eventually agreed upon. In his book Human Smoke, American author Nicholson Baker quotes Roosevelt’s speechwriter Robert Sherwood as writing, “There could be little doubt that the cigarette-in-holder and the long cigar were at last being lit from the same match.”

The British public were delighted by the meeting. It was solid evidence that America was supporting Britain in its war against Hitler and Mussolini. Nonetheless, there was considerable disappointment in Britain that the United States was not entering the war on the British side.

Britain would need to tough it out alone for a little longer.

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 4–10 August 1941: The Atlantic Charter

This week in the War, 28 July–3 August 1941: French Indo-China & the Vichy-Japanese ‘protocol’

Posted on July 31, 2013 by secondbysecond

French Indo-China [public domain, wiki/AWM]

French Indo-China [public domain, wiki/AWM]

On 29 July 1941,  the government of Vichy France and the government of Japan enacted a protocol for the ‘common defence of Indo-China.’ Vichy finally had to accept the reality of the military might of Japan and situation in south-east Asia.

The agreement gave the Japanese access to bases in French Indo-China, which comprised Cambodia, Laos, plus Annam, Tonkin and Cochin China. [The latter three territories make up present-day Vietnam]. The region was the third largest in the world for the production of rice.

In late 1940, Vichy had replaced the French Governor General, General Georges Catroux, with Vice-Admiral Jean Decoux in the hope that the latter would take a firm stand against Japanese encroachment.

Decoux could do little. The Japanese had occupied Saigon and had already entered Cambodia.

General Georges Catroux [Attr: wiki/AWM Creative Commons, Share-Alike 3.0 Unported]

General Georges Catroux in London [Attr: wiki/AWM Creative Commons, Share-Alike 3.0 Unported]

By the end of the year, French Indo-China was controlled by the Japanese, although it continued to be administered by Vichy.

Georges Catroux left French Indo-China and found his way to London, where he joined the Free French forces under Charles de Gaulle. Catroux was the most senior French general to join the Gaullist cause.

 

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 28 July–3 August 1941: French Indo-China & the Vichy-Japanese ‘protocol’

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

Posted on July 26, 2013 by secondbysecond

Giant mortar Karl [Public domain, wiki]

Giant mortar Karl [Public domain, wiki]

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 Wehrmacht had used its 60 cm (24 inch) calibre siege mortar (Mörser, in German).

Karl and his slightly smaller siblings (7 in total, including Karl) were to see service at Sevastopol, and also during the Polish insurrection in Warsaw, and at the Battle of the Bulge. The mortar was named in honour of the weapons engineer and artillery general, Karl Becker.

This same week in the war, on 27 July 1941, the Soviet Katyusha rocket launchers made their first appearance at the hastily-organized defensive line east of Smolensk.

The Katyusha (whose name came from a woman in a popular Russian song) was cheap to build and, being mounted on the back of a truck, was highly mobile. Reloading was slow but, since each truck-mounted Katyusha could fire between one and four dozen rockets in a single 25-second salvo, the effect was devastating (and the whooshing sound unnerving for opposing troops). The Soviets employed their Katyushas, usually en masse, throughout the whole of World War II.

Katyusha multiple rocket launcher [Public domain, wiki]

Katyusha multiple rocket launcher [Public domain, wiki]

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 21–27 July 1941: Karl & Katyusha

This week in the War, 14–20 July 1941: Barbarossa 3—Hitler turns south

Posted on July 20, 2013 by secondbysecond

Russian civilians constructing anti-tank fortifications west of Moscow, fall 1941 [RIA Novosti archive, image #3500 / B. Vdovenko / CC-BY-SA 3.0, wiki]

Russian civilians constructing anti-tank fortifications west of Moscow, fall 1941 [RIA Novosti archive, image #3500 / B. Vdovenko / CC-BY-SA 3.0, wiki]

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 was stunningly successful, netted vast territory and half a million prisoners.

Panzergruppe II‘s commander, Heinz Guderian, protested vehemently. The swing south meant abandoning the thrust towards Moscow, putting Operation Barbarossa‘s timetable seriously behind schedule.

By the time the Wehrmacht could resume its advance towards the Soviet capital, Stalin had strengthened the city’s defences. Plus winter was fast approaching.

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 14–20 July 1941: Barbarossa 3—Hitler turns south

This week in the War, 14–20 July 1941: V for Victory

Posted on July 18, 2013 by secondbysecond

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’.

Churchill [Public domain, IWM, wiki]

Churchill [Public domain, IWM, wiki]

In reality, Colonel Britton was Douglas Ritchie, later to become the European broadcasting director for the BBC. The V-for-Victory campaign was his brainchild—demonstrating that resistance to the Nazi invaders was still alive, be it only through such simple acts as a child chalking a ‘V’ (for Victory, or Victoire in French)  on a playground wall.

Churchill embraced the V-for-Victory campaign and frequently delighted photographers by spreading his second and third fingers to make the famous sign. Colonel Britton’s ‘V-broadcasts’ had been going on for months, each one preceded by the opening bar of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, the musical equivalent of the dot-dot-dot-dash of the Morse code for the letter V.

Churchill at the Second Quebec Conference. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King is on the right [Public domain, wiki]

Churchill at the Second Quebec Conference. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King is on the right [Public domain, wiki]

Britton’s message was simple. He told his audience—his V Army—that the war was not yet over, that the least among them could make a contribution, and that together they would win.

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 14–20 July 1941: V for Victory

In the news: SOE operative,Jean-Louis de Ganay, dies at 91

Posted on July 17, 2013 by secondbysecond

SOE motif [Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0 Unported, author: Madelgarius]

SOE motif [Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0 Unported, author: Madelgarius]

The British newspaper The Telegraph reported the death yesterday of Jean-Louis de Ganay. He was 91 years old.

French, and aristocratic by birth, de Ganay offered his services to the French Resistance during World War II. He was recruited by the Prosper network and aided Allied airmen who had been shot down and were on the run.

When Prosper was betrayed, de Ganay fled to Britain. He joined Britain’s Special Operations Executive and returned to France prior to D-Day to commit acts of sabotage against railways and canals.

After the war, he married, inherited the family château and became mayor of Courances.

Chateau de Courances, de Ganay's family home [GNU Free Doc Licence, author: Daniel Villafruela]

Chateau de Courances, de Ganay’s family home [GNU Free Doc Licence, author: Daniel Villafruela]

Posted in In the news | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on In the news: SOE operative,Jean-Louis de Ganay, dies at 91

Book review: Seducing Ingrid Bergman

Posted on July 9, 2013 by secondbysecond

Seducing Ingrid Bergman --- by Chris Greenhalgh (Penguin, 2012) [Photograph by Edith-Mary Smith]

Seducing Ingrid Bergman — by Chris Greenhalgh (Penguin, 2012) [Photograph by Edith-Mary Smith]

‘Cast down, her lashes are so long, I notice, they almost touch her cheeks. When she looks up, her face lifts out of shadow. Her eyes are slices of paradise.’

Such is the evocative and wonderfully vivid prose that runs through Chris Greenhalgh’s recent novel, Seducing Ingrid Bergman (Penguin, 2012).

Greenhalgh’s style matches the backdrop: Paris in 1945. The war is over in Europe and the heroine of Casablanca is there to entertain the troops.

Greenhalgh tells the story—based to a large extent on truth—of the love affair between actress Ingrid Bergman and WWII front-line photographer Robert Capa. They meet at the Ritz in Paris. She is tired of the Hollywood rat race and of her unhappy marriage. He is tired of the horrors of war, still haunted by his girlfriend’s death. ‘She was crushed by a tank near Madrid.’

The book is from Capa’s viewpoint. When he features in a scene, the narrative is first person, present tense, and so real that the reader could be forgiven for believing it autobiographical. Scenes that describe Ingrid without him are third person, a little sad, perhaps. Sometimes lonely.

Omaha Beach, Normandy, 6 June 1944-----photograph taken by Robert Capa [Public domain]

Omaha Beach, Normandy, 6 June 1944 —photograph taken by Robert Capa [Public domain]

Robert Capa, the man who landed with the troops on D-Day, whose action shots on Omaha Beach made him famous throughout the world, wins the heart of the world’s most famous actress.

But Robert Capa, it seems is a man intent on going back to war, a man who cannot live in the peacetime world.

Posted in Book review | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Book review: Seducing Ingrid Bergman

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

Posted on July 7, 2013 by secondbysecond

US troops disembark in Reykjavik, Iceland [Public domain, wiki]

US troops disembark in Reykjavik, Iceland [Public domain, wiki]

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 the Icelanders the chance to enter the war on Britain’s side. When the offer was rejected, Britain invaded and occupied the island.

Anxious to use its troops elsewhere, the British persuaded the Icelandic parliament to accept American occupation—and Roosevelt obliged. The Americans were to remain in Iceland for the duration of World War II.

The US Army's Camp Pershing, Iceland, WWII [Public domain, wiki]

Quonset huts at the US Army’s Camp Pershing, Iceland, WWII [Public domain, wiki]

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

This week in the War, 30 June–6 July 1941: “…we cannot save freedom with pitchforks…”

Posted on July 4, 2013 by secondbysecond

President Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcasts to the nation [Public domain, wiki]

President Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcasts to the nation [Public domain, wiki]

“…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 neighbour nations have lost their freedom.”

But his country was not ready for war and did not wish it. Most Americans remembered the previous occasion when their nation had been dragged belatedly into a European conflict.

Even so, Roosevelt saw the threat from Nazism and Fascism. “I tell the American people solemnly that the United States will never survive as a happy and prosperous oasis in the middle of a desert of dictatorship.” The text of his speech was reported the following day in the New York Times. (See also the article by James R. Heintze).

Anxious to avoid a repetition of 1917, Roosevelt would eventually have no choice. Within a few months, America would be attacked and would be at war.

Posted in World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 30 June–6 July 1941: “…we cannot save freedom with pitchforks…”

This week in the War, 23–29 June 1941: Barbarossa 2

Posted on June 27, 2013 by secondbysecond

Operation Barbarossa [Public domain, wiki]

Operation Barbarossa [Public domain, wiki]

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. Only in the southern sector are the Russians strong enough to slow the advancing Germans.

The Romanians were part of Operation Barbarossa from the outset. So were the Finns, who had memories of the Soviet-Finnish war fresh in their minds. Others rushed to join the cause. Slovakia declared war on the USSR on 24 June. Finland (belatedly) on 26 June—the same day that Mussolini sent the Torino division on its way to the Eastern Front. Hungary declared war on 27 June. Albania followed suit the following day.

Within four years, each one of these countries would sue for peace, anxious to abandon Hitler and Germany to their fate.

As for France: Vichy broke off diplomatic relations with the USSR on 30 June.

But in the Far East, and in spite of von Ribbentrop’s urging, the Japanese firmly refused to enter the fight. The time was not yet ripe.

One of the 8th Panzer Division's Panzer IVs negotiates a river crossing during Operation Barbarossa, June 1941

One of the 8th Panzer Division’s Panzer IVs negotiates a river crossing during Operation Barbarossa, June 1941

 

Posted in World War II | Tagged , | Comments Off on This week in the War, 23–29 June 1941: Barbarossa 2