Subscribe to Second by Second World War- In the news: Remembrance Day/Veterans Day–11 November 2021Thursday 11 November 2021 — Remembrance Day Once again, we gather to remember that eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the guns fell silent and the great war ended. It is time to honour and … Continue reading →
- In the news: Remembrance Day/Veterans Day–11 November 2020Wednesday 11 November 2020 — Remembrance Day Once again, we gather to remember that eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the guns fell silent and the great war ended. It is time to honour and … Continue reading →
- In the news: Memorial Day 2020We honour our troops and veterans on Memorial Day, Monday 25 May 2020. The photograph to the left shows working dog Army K-9 officer Daga, a Belgian Malinois. Daga is a member of the 793rd Military Police Battalion—a unit that … Continue reading →
- In the news: Remembrance Day/Veterans Day–11 November 2019Monday 11 November 2019 – Remembrance Day Once again, we gather to remember that eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the guns fell silent and the Great War ended. It is time to honour and … Continue reading →
- Book review: Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway: A Biography — by Mary V. Dearborn Only after visiting ‘Hemingway House’—Ernest Hemingway’s former home, now a museum, in Key West, Florida—did I become a keen fan of Ernest Hemingway, the writer. For me, the appeal came partly … Continue reading →
- In the news: Remembrance Day/Veterans Day–11 November 2021
Tag Archives: de Gaulle
This week in the War, 15–21 January 1945: Renault factories are nationalized
This week in the war, on 16 January 1945, the newly formed French government under Charles de Gaulle nationalized the factories belonging to the French car manufacturer, Louis Renault. The nationalization was in retaliation to Renault’s perceived collaboration with the German … Continue reading
Posted in World War II
Tagged de Gaulle, Helene Boucher, Louis Renault
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This week in the War, 21–27 August 1944: Liberation of Paris
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
Posted in World War II
Tagged de Gaulle, France, Paris, Philippe Leclerc
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This week in the War, 3–9 April 1944: Charles de Gaulle and Marie-Pierre Koenig
This week in the war, General Charles de Gaulle appointed his London-based chief-of-staff, French general Marie-Pierre Koenig to head the FFI, the French Forces of the Interior (Forces françaises de l’intérieur). Later, in June and with the full backing of the … Continue reading
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Tagged de Gaulle, FFI, French Resistance, Koenig
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This week in the War, 11–17 January 1943: The Casablanca Conference
This week in the war, 14 January 1943, a conference of world leaders opened in Casablanca—a venue familiar to the American and British publics through the recently released Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman movie, Casablanca. Churchill and Roosevelt attended, as did de … Continue reading
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Tagged Casablanca, Casablanca Conference, Churchill, de Gaulle, Giraud, Roosevelt
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This week in the War, 23–29 November 1942: Casablanca—The Movie
With the Moroccan port of Casablanca in Allied hands following Operation Torch, American cinema audiences were treated to the first screening of the movie Casablanca. The film opened in New York City, this week in the war, on 26 November … Continue reading
Posted in Movie, World War II
Tagged Casablanca, Casablanca Conference, Churchill, de Gaulle, Humphrey Bogart, Ilsa, Ingrid Bergman, Rick, Roosevelt
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This week in the War, 28 July–3 August 1941: French Indo-China & the Vichy-Japanese ‘protocol’
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 … Continue reading
Posted in World War II
Tagged de Gaulle, Georges Catroux, Indo-China, Japan, Vichy, Vietnam
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This week in the War, 23–29 September: Failure at Dakar
This week in the war, on 23 September 1940, the Free French leader, Charles de Gaulle, arrived with a Royal Navy task force at Dakar on the coast of the Vichy-controlled colony of French West Africa. He sailed on board … Continue reading
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Tagged Dakar, de Gaulle, Operation Sealion, Richelieu, Vichy
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In the news: Curiosity and the ingredients for life
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
Posted in In the news, World War II
Tagged C.P. Snow, Churchill, Curiosity, de Gaulle, H.G. Wells, NASA, Operation Sealion
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This week in the War, 8–14 July 1940: Vive l’Angleterre! Vive la France!
14 July, Bastille Day—in happier times a day of national celebration—was observed as a day of mourning throughout France, this week in the war, 1940. In London, General de Gaulle laid a wreath at the Cenotaph and inspected soldiers of … Continue reading
Posted in Book, World War II
Tagged Americans in Paris, Bastille Day, Charles Glass, Clare Boothe Luce, de Gaulle, Free Zone, Marseillaise, Occupied Zone, Polly Peabody
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